Travels in a Tin Can

We followed Tombstone with another extended driving day, the highlight of
which was that we crossed an entire state - New Mexico - with barely a
pause. We knew we had left Arizona only because a sign indicated a state
information centre was nearby. Other than this it was less noticeable than
driving across a county boundary in the UK; I had expected a border crossing
patrol at least.
Other than a lunch stop in a small town, the only sign of civilization that
we passed near in New Mexico was a cattle farm near Las Cruces. What an
evocative perfume to remind us of our cross-country dash. And then we were
in Texas.
An improved road surface was the only indication of the change from
state to state on this occasion. Perhaps this enterprise is aimed at
encouraging car usage and therefore oil purchases by the Texans? Most of
the day was again spent surrounded by desert-like scenery, interspersed with
the occasional settlement. El Paso was the first major sign of civilization that
we came to in Texas. The place had a look of a quarry about it and its own
climate - a dust cloud. Strangely, we declined to stop for a look round.
Driving through this part of the country we were the closest we ever got
to Mexico, and therefore encountered another border patrol searching for
illegal immigrants. We were waved through, either due to our obvious honesty
or because it was the end of the day. We did see a Mexican coyote struggle
to get past the security however, furtively crawling in a ditch and eyeing
passing vehicles for hitchhiking opportunities.
Our day ended one hour later than expected as we changed time zone
just before our planned destination - Van Horn. We were so desperate to