Day 115: White Sands National Park, NM to El Paso, TX

Our morning plan to attend the 7:30 am guided ranger talk at White Sands was derailed by Ali discovering a cactus spine in his foot and refusing to let us remove it so he could walk without pain. Sigh. Ian and the big boys attended the talk while I sat with Alistair and then I completed the short hike solo later. It was not ideal. We’re on a wait and see about the spine/Ali’s openness to having it removed. 

Our next adventure did not involve much walking as we explored PistachioLand by tractor. The guided tour was informative and all enjoyed pistachio taste testing. We tried pistachio nuts sprinkled with every seasoning you can imagine. My favourite was pumpkin spice, Liam preferred vanilla bourbon and Ian opted for lemon lime. Ali and Seamus loved all of them! The pistachio fudge samples tasted like pistachio jello (so delicious) and the pistachio ice cream made on site was delightful. We learned all about pistachio trees in the USA, for example how they are grown on a patented genetically modified rootstock that must be purchased exclusively from University of California, Berkeley. The tour guide indicated that even the pistachio plantation owners do not know the type of the rootstock (Fruit tree? Nut tree?) that they must use for all their trees and they seem to have accepted this. That seemed odd to me. Upon further research it is a bit more nuanced than this. According to my internet sleuthing, the primary rootstock used for commercial pistachio trees in the USA is UCB-1, a hybrid indeed developed by the University of California, Berkeley. It is a cross between Pistacia atlantica (Atlantic pistachio) and Pistacia integerrima (Punjab pistachio). However, there are also other root stalk options that have been genetically modified to address issues water use efficiency, tolerance to cold and salt, and resistance to Verticillium wilt, as examples among others. UCB-1 addresses some of these but not all. Farmers do need to purchase all rootstocks from UC Berkeley as they hold the intellectual property rights on all of them and are the sole manufacturer. Apparently this patent system is common for some apples too, such as with the University of Minnesota holding the patent for Honeycrisp apples.

We also learned that pistachio trees are male and female (you need 1 male for 20 females), they are wind (versus insect) pollinated, and the females produce a major yield every other year with a much smaller crop produced in their off year. Complicated!

See how the base of the tree has been grafted to the trunk?

And off grape press in PistachioLand’s small vineyard.

Pistachios in their hull.

Taste testing.

Our tour tractor.

The farm-made ice cream was a hit!

Our stop was as far South as we could go without crossing an international border - El Paso, Texas. We learned all about the international border dispute between the USA and Mexico when the Rio Grande River changed course in the 1900s. The story was explained as part of the Chamizal National Memorial, emphasizing the importance of cooperation and power of peaceful diplomacy to resolve very difficult disputes. In the end, they moved the river artificially to run through the middle of the disputed area so Mexico and the USA each got a share of the land.

We are right on the USA-Mexico border.

Boys working on their Junior Ranger books.

This is how much the Rio Grande’s path changed over the years. When the river is treated as the international border, I can certainly see how this posed a problem.

Here is the infamous wall between the USA and Mexico. We drove along long stretches of it today. It is as tall as a street light post, with coils of barbed wire on the top and bottom.

The US side and the Mexican sides look different. We drove along a highway in the middle where you could really see the juxtaposition of each side.

The US side.

The US side.

The Mexican side.

The Mexican side with rectangular white buildings and dirt roads.

Back in downtown El Paso we explored the Plaza Square, the free city history museum with its interactive digital wall, and ate tacos at Taconeta. In my opinion the tacos are much better in El Paso than the El Paso branded taco kits you can buy in Canada would lead you to believe - shocking, I know. What was a bit surprising was the boys said that they liked our homemade tacos better than the much more authentic ones we had for dinner. Ground beef and yellow cheese on hard (slightly stale) taco shells for the win? I would take brisket or fish tacos on soft corn tacos any day.

This was an El Paso speciality drink called a Michelada made with Clamato juice and beer. 

Roasted sweet potatoes topped with seeds. Yum!

Fried green beans.

Our evening was spent attending an El Paso Chihuahuas baseball game at Southwest University Stadium. They played the Salt Lake Bees. We had great seats in the fly ball section of the stadium. We caught two baseballs. One a ball thrown to Seamus by a pitcher during warm up and the other a real fly ball! Ian and the boys also made it on the Jumbotron! They are now famous. The game took a surprisingly turn in the top of the 9th when the Chihuahuas lost their three run lead and ended up losing to the Bees by one run. Their closing pitcher had a very bad day. 

The fireworks show at the end of the game was insane. I was a bit unsure when they wheeled wagons of fireworks on to the outfield but it turned out amazing. It was the closest we’d ever been to a fireworks show. They were exploding almost right over our heads! It was hands down the best fireworks we have ever witnessed. Liam said the fireworks show was even better than the baseball game which is saying something since they caught two balls AND were on the Jumbotron! What a day.

The wagons of fireworks on the outfield.

We headed back to the trailer along the highway alongside the border wall. Mexico looks like a twinkling starry sky at night. No coloured lights or tall buildings. Only spaced out white lights studded along the black hills. It was really beautiful. We are staying in a well lit, safe parking lot of a big casino. There is actually water and electricity access for $15 per night so we can run the AC - woot!woot! It didn’t cool off at night here so this will help ensure a good sleep for all of us before our adventures continue tomorrow.

The Mexico side at night.

Our casino sleeping spot.