Today we did not plan on much sightseeing because Chris had to work. We figured he would be working a full day but around 2 he called saying he was on his way home. We decided that we would go back to the pottery/chimenea guy and pick up whatever we liked. We knew we had to be back at the hotel by 5:45 to pick up Chris’s co-workers for dinner so after the chimenea place we figured we would check out some of the Spanish Missions in the El Paso area.
We arrived at the pottery guy’s place, turns out his name is Armando Ortiz, a little after 3. We browsed the collection of cool stuff he had and decided we only had room for two chimeneas in the back of the car. Hopefully when we return to Albuquerque on Saturday night to return our car and pick up a new car they let us just keep this one because loading those things into the back was a pain in the neck. Long story on the car situation...a one way rental is usually double the price of a round trip car rental so we did a round trip rental from Albuquerque, we are returning the car Saturday for a one-way rental to Alabama, then dropping that one off, picking up a car for a round trip rental out of Alabama, then dropping off for a third time and picking up a one-way rental back to NY. We want to keep the same vehicle for this whole trip, but we will have four separate rental contracts. We will see if that works out. Back at the pottery place we also bought some smaller items and we think we made Mr. Ortiz a happy man. We talked to him a little while about his business, he has been there for about 2 years, Chris practiced some more Spanish on him, and we were on our way.
The first of the Spanish Missions is called Ysleta Mission, which while still within the boundaries of El Paso, is in a much more rural area of the city. In fact each of the missions was in a more rural area than the one before yet we never ventured more than about 20 miles from the hotel. The mission dates all the way back to 1680 when the Tigua tribe and some Spanish colonists settled the area and founded a mission. A permanent structure was built in 1682 but over the next couple of hundred years was relocated several times as the Rio Grande flooded. Today’s mission was rebuilt in 1908 and it still stands today. This mission ended up being the only one that was still open for the day allowing us to go inside.
After spending a little bit of time at Ysleta we headed east a couple of miles to the next mission, Socorro Mission. This mission, like Ysleta was founded in 1682. The present Mission was constructed around 1840 to replace an earlier mission that was destroyed by the same flooding that affected Ysleta. This mission we learned is particularly notable for its interior. We were unable to see the interior but we read that the finely painted and decorated beams are from the 18th-century mission and were reused when the present church was constructed.
We then travelled a little further east to a very rural area and the San Elizario Chapel, which is not a mission but was built as a presidio chapel. It provided the religious needs of a presidio or an outpost of military personnel. The church as it stands today was built in 1882 after previous structures were lost to flood and fire. The San Elizario Chapel is located in the small community of San Elizario, which we found out is the most Mexican town in the US. 95% of the people there are Mexican according to the 2000 census.
By this time it was getting later and we had to head back to the hotel to pick up people for dinner. We picked them up and headed back east to a working ranch in the desert called Cattleman’s Ranch Steak House. This steak house is a must stop on every trip we make to El Paso. It is about 30 miles east of the city then 5 miles north into the desert. Several movies including Resurrection and Courage Under Fire, as well as numerous commercials have been filmed there and the sunsets are to die for. We made it just in time for the sunset but unfortunately we were too late to see the rattlesnake pit and some of the other things they have going on at this ranch. This gives us a reason to return. We enjoyed a nice steak dinner and we were tempted to buy some steak tips for $2.99 a pound but we had no place to put them for our trip home.
Chris works on Saturday but we will still be heading back to Albuquerque after work where we will hopefully not have to swap cars.
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