We travelled from Austin to El Paso in about 8 hours thanks to my lead foot and Sean’s iron bladder. The wind was killing our gas mileage and we averaged only 20 mpg from Fredericksburg to Van Horn. This area clearly is appropriate for all the wind farms dotting the plateaus along I-10 on the route to El Paso.

There was also a lot of varied terrain in this part of our trip. The last time we came out this way by car was Christmas 2008 and there was virtually nothing growing. Now look at all the green!

Once we arrived in western El Paso, Grandma Miller warmly greeted us and helped us settle in for the night. Karen Miller, Sean’s aunt was due home in a couple hours (we arrived much earlier than all our technology told us we would) and Lorne and Rich Schriver from Las Cruces, NM (Sean’s aunt and uncle) would also join us for dinner.

Dinner was at a great place to celebrate the southwest into which we were about to head: Great American Land & Cattle restaurant, home of the famous steakburgers. There were a lot of antlers and leather rugs on the wall. Doesn’t that make you think of the southwest?

To wrap up the evening we connected via Skype to Sean’s parents in Magnolia. We wanted to test out the connection and give Bonnie a chance to chat live with her mother and sister. It was fun to see the enjoyment on all sides. Sean looks a lot like his dad via video camera.

The next morning, I made up a workout in the local park to try and keep myself primed and ready for the World Club Championships with Showdown in Prague. Great scenery and the cool dry air made it easy. I got back and we had breakfast with Grandma and Karen then headed out.

We gassed up after crossing in to NM at a Chevron and have now officially contributed to the bottom line for all the major oil companies (here’s to you Kim B., Amber A. and Julie S.!) and will undoubtably spend plenty of money to help you guys stay employed. We are now officially crossing in to uncharted territory for both of us.