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Anyway, it is graduation season.. And the woman has a family of about 500 people.. So I get to go to Austin tomorrow for UTs graduation.. Then drive from there to El Paso for one of her cousins to graduate high school on Saturday.

Apparently her mom made the hotel arrangements... So my joke about not staying where Josh Brolin got killed has stopped being funny.. Because I have a funny feeling that is where we are staying- or someplace equally ghetto.

So having never been to El Paso.. Just how bad is it there?

I am burning 32 hours of Comp Time for this

El Pisso (Or North Juarez) is pretty shitty.

Spicoli wrote:El Pisso (Or North Juarez) is pretty shitty.

Sounds like that is forming into a consensus after taking a poll at work.

Well if I was in Austin still, I'd say hi. Depending on what part of the graduation you're going to, prepare for a long boring show.

captoveur wrote:So having never been to El Paso.. Just how bad is it there?

The best thing about El Paso is the drive from Austin itself.....I enjoy driving west Texas on I-10 or I-20.

Not a lot tourist wise to do there...we've done the Wyler Tramway thing (goes up the side of Ranger Mtn, which overlooks the city)


...actually a neat ride and a good view.



...similar view, but from a much lower vantage point on a drivable scenic overloook.

From what I hear there's a great golf course by the airport (Butterfield Trail's the name).....we stayed at the Holiday Inn and Suites off I-10/Zaragosa Drive on our never-ending west coast roadie two summers ago.

Yeah... you're pretty much farked. ELP sucks, hard. I used to go through there on my way to Las Cruces all the time. Get in and get out as fast as you can. And as a CHL holder, carry with you everywhere you go. If I go back to ELP, I'll be carrying 24/7.

BCAInfoSys wrote:Yeah... you're pretty much farked. ELP sucks, hard. I used to go through there on my way to Las Cruces all the time. Get in and get out as fast as you can. And as a CHL holder, carry with you everywhere you go. If I go back to ELP, I'll be carrying 24/7.

Good Lord, is it as bad as all that?

Wasn't everyone's favourite douch FxRamper from Austin, or was that his first name?

Either way, high school graduations are not something we have to endure too much in the UK.

Uni graduations a different affair though. I see them as a process for one's parents to look at their children and see them in a gown and a hat bearing a certificate which says that they should technically do better in academia than they (parents) did bearing in mind that they never had the chance to get beyond the 11-plus.

At my degree graduation I got wasted and dumped.

At my PhD graduation I got wasted and drunk and all host of other things which involved losing my phone and trying to pull a Blackjack table woman using chips that were given at the door (a free student disco where there was no real money exchanged!)

It's all different now. I jest about the fact that parents love to see their child graduate from school/college/Uni etc. I'm a father now so I can't wait to see my son wearing the stupid "Henry VIII" hat that I wore. I will be so proud...

...So Captain.

... Suck it up for a few days and think what you would do were you the parent of a graduand or graduee. Just think, there's always a pub nearby.

Enjoy mate!

BCAInfoSys wrote:Get in and get out as fast as you can.

Quick story...I was passing through Shreveport, LA one night perhaps fifteen years ago, and my car breaks down. Tow truck comes to get me...red neck driver scoops the car and off we go, first question he asks: "So what brings you to Shreveport?". My answer: "Nothing, we're just passing through". His response: "That's the best way to see Shreveport". Classic response.....ELP's much the same way.

DoctorKieron wrote:Just think, there's always a pub nearby.
Enjoy mate!

6th St.

FTR: I'm not FxRamrat

kmh1956 wrote:

BCAInfoSys wrote:Yeah... you're pretty much farked. ELP sucks, hard. I used to go through there on my way to Las Cruces all the time. Get in and get out as fast as you can. And as a CHL holder, carry with you everywhere you go. If I go back to ELP, I'll be carrying 24/7.

Good Lord, is it as bad as all that?

ELP is across the river from Juarez, the murder capital of North America. It is BAD down there.. you wouldn't believe the border violence that spills over into New Mexico. Property crime, robbery, rape, murder... all are much higher in ELP then most other places in the country.

BCAInfoSys wrote: ELP is across the river from Juarez, the murder capital of North America.

BCA and I know this, but for those who don't, look at the overlook photo above.....the Rio Grande River can't be seen in the photo, but is right behind the downtown buildings...(that may be a border crossing bridge between the two builldings to the left of the Wells Fargo building). Juarez is on the other side of the river.....something like 1.5 million population and 1,600 murders last year.

BCAInfoSys wrote:

kmh1956 wrote:

BCAInfoSys wrote:Yeah... you're pretty much farked. ELP sucks, hard. I used to go through there on my way to Las Cruces all the time. Get in and get out as fast as you can. And as a CHL holder, carry with you everywhere you go. If I go back to ELP, I'll be carrying 24/7.

Good Lord, is it as bad as all that?

ELP is across the river from Juarez, the murder capital of North America. It is BAD down there.. you wouldn't believe the border violence that spills over into New Mexico. Property crime, robbery, rape, murder... all are much higher in ELP then most other places in the country.

Well, since I don't carry a gun, nor do I ever plan to, I'll be giving ELP a wide berth. Thanks for the info!

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso
I was shot dead by a Mexican girl

Tom in NO wrote:

BCAInfoSys wrote: ELP is across the river from Juarez, the murder capital of North America.

BCA and I know this, but for those who don't, look at the overlook photo above.....the Rio Grande River can't be seen in the photo, but is right behind the downtown buildings...(that may be a border crossing bridge between the two builldings to the left of the Wells Fargo building). Juarez is on the other side of the river.....something like 1.5 million population and 1,600 murders last year.

Indeed, plus an extra 200 slayings in under a month! And in the past (Less than a decade, I believe.) years, they've had over 400 women's bodies found raped and murdered. It's a midden of murder.

I pondered the 6th street thing... Alas, Gregory Gym is on 21st.. Which is a bit of a hike.. And I was driving anyway.

The drive out to ELP was shit. We cut across 290 through Johnson City and Fredricksburg.. Which was scenic, but almost bumper to bumper crown vics running radar.. Out on I-10 the drive was fun, until it got dark when I was at the thriving metropolis of Ozona (talk about nowhere) at least their Sonic was nice.

Anyway, it was probably the most pretentious high school graduation I have ever seen, and ever hope to see. I was excited to hear there was an open bar at the afterparty.. Only to find it was a cash bar that only had anything other than bud light and michelob ultra if you brought it yourself and agreed to leave it there.. So I was sober for the part I was planning on getting blitzed for... Probably for the best as one of the woman's cousin would have likely lost teeth if I had been allowed to drink (and I don't typically hit people, even when I can, and even when I drink).

The drive back was pretty amazing though.. The drive really was the best part. The scenery is unreal, I will post pictures when I am a little more sober. The Acura really proved itself as an amazing road trip car.. Even if the cruise won't set over 92... But sprints over 130mph were pretty unreal.

I also got to experience a Border Patrorl checkpoint.. Talk about a circlejerk.. I want my tax money back.

So I would like to thank the people of Goodyear.. For making an amazing tire- the ResponseEdge.. And the people of Valero for making great premium gas.

Holiday Inn Express is a pretty good hotel... But I didn't know where we were staying until I was in Fort Stockton, so the .45 was there the whole time, with two mags. My girlfriends mother has a reputation of putting us places that would make you think of where Josh Brolin got killed in No Country for Old men.. So that is what I was pre

I am not an alcoholic.. If I finish a 6 pack of Guinness or Strongbow in a month I was hitting it hard. But every time I am around the woman's family I find myself craving mass quantities of alcohol.

captoveur wrote:The drive back was pretty amazing though.. The drive really was the best part. The scenery is unreal,

The west Texas drive is pretty cool.....I'd take it any day over a north-Florida I-10 drive where all you see are pine trees.

captoveur wrote:I also got to experience a Border Patrorl checkpoint.. Talk about a circlejerk.. I want my tax money back.,

Ah, the Sierra Blanca checkpoint...a total waste of time.

captoveur wrote:Holiday Inn Express is a pretty good hotel...,

Did you stay at the Zaragosa Drive one?...on the southeast side of EL Paso, on an I-10 frontage road. Hotel's only a couple of years old.

Zargosa drive sounds right.. I would have to check with the Navigator, but it was pretty much on the East side of town right next to I-10..

A picture from the room:



Where we started.... The view from the gym:


The view from the dorm.. Actually pretty good.


And then the long leg of the trip... The trip westbound was mostly in the dark.. so no pictures. Eastbound is where I took my pictures.

A lot of nothing.. and an 80mph speed limit sign.


Traffic sure is heavy today


A little slow.. The Pandas were everywhere and its both memorial day weekend and click it or ticket month..

Also note I am making 32mpg while cruising over 80mph

Are we there yet!

Sorry I didn't catch your thread earlier, I might have met you down in Fort Stockton for a soft drink or something like that.

captoveur wrote:I was at the thriving metropolis of Ozona (talk about nowhere)

Hey, easy there! I was born in Ozona!

captoveur wrote:The Acura really proved itself as an amazing road trip car.. Even if the cruise won't set over 92... But sprints over 130mph were pretty unreal.

And people wonder why I have a supercharged Grand Prix. It's not unusual for me to set the cruise control at 120 when I'm down in that area.

captoveur wrote:I also got to experience a Border Patrorl checkpoint.. Talk about a circlejerk.. I want my tax money back.

The one near Sierra Blanca? Yep, a bunch of assholes.

captoveur wrote:My girlfriends mother has a reputation of putting us places that would make you think of where Josh Brolin got killed in No Country for Old men.

I'm sure you know part of it was filmed about 40 miles south of Fort Stockton.

They have a hospital in Ozona? They barely had a late night gas station.. Although the Sonic was decent.

I wasn't in Fort Stockton long.. Long enough to get gas and get out... Everybody looks at you funny when you aren't in a pickup truck

I think it was at Sierra Blanca.. The girl was kinda cute but it was a pretty half-assed operation.

I know huge chunks of no country for old men was made in Marfa.. I was considering a detour.. but the nav display was still showing like 6 hours to go at that point.

captoveur wrote:They have a hospital in Ozona? They barely had a late night gas station.. Although the Sonic was decent.

Well, they used to have a fully functional hospital there, but now it's pretty much just a MASH unit owned by the hospital in San Angelo (90 miles away) to hold the patients until the helicopter shows up from their hospital. And that Sonic used to be a Burger King, only the 2nd chain operation allowed into Ozona (the Dairy Queen was the first, opened in the early 90's. Everything in town was locally-owned up until that point.)

captoveur wrote:I think it was at Sierra Blanca.. The girl was kinda cute but it was a pretty half-assed operation.

I think I know which girl you're talking about. Brunette, a bit on the "untall" side, dark eyes, late 20's or early 30's?

Queso wrote:Well, they used to have a fully functional hospital there, but now it's pretty much just a MASH unit owned by the hospital in San Angelo (90 miles away) to hold the patients until the helicopter shows up from their hospital. And that Sonic used to be a Burger King, only the 2nd chain operation allowed into Ozona (the Dairy Queen was the first, opened in the early 90's. Everything in town was locally-owned up until that point.)

That explains the playground.. It wasn't exactly a conventional Sonic.

And you aren't a small town in Texas until you have a DQ

Queso wrote:I think I know which girl you're talking about. Brunette, a bit on the "untall" side, dark eyes, late 20's or early 30's?

That sounds like her.. Shes got a long-ass complicated last name.

captoveur wrote:Zargosa drive sounds right.. I would have to check with the Navigator, but it was pretty much on the East side of town right next to I-10..

That's the one...Peter Piper Pizza on one side, Logan's Roadhouse on the other. Funny thing, we stayed there going both directions on the west-coast roadie, one night each way perhaps 12 days apart...had the same room both nights, 2nd floor looking west.

captoveur wrote:And you aren't a small town in Texas until you have a DQ

First DQ I sampled was in either Snyder or Sweetwater, TX back in '90 or '91.....now I see some of them are paired with Orange Julius. I grew up with those in SoCal, nothing beats an Orange Julius ...

Lets see... that dorm (overlooking UT) is probably Dobie

CO777ER wrote:Lets see... that dorm (overlooking UT) is probably Dobie

That is correct.. You win a cookie