Our departure from El Paso is approaching quickly. This evening the family took a brief drive up the south end of the long north-south mountain that divides east and west El Paso and nearly touches the Rio Grande River and the border with Mexico. The view is amazing. We weren’t able to get the best vantage point at the highest overlook that is closest to the southern end of the rim drive because every parking space was taken by others who were enjoying the sunset view in the cooler temperatures somewhere in the mid to upper 90s!
In these pics you’ll see both portions of Texas as well as Mexico and even much further away…though I don’t know that the Moon should be compared to viewing Texas and the edge of our southern neighbor. You might be able to detect the border area as it is lined with rows of lights. The large red “X” is a famous monument on the Mexico side.
Also, the painted rocks on the side of the distant mountain is a message directed to the people of of the sister city to the south. In Spanish is reads “CD JUAREZ. LA BIBLIA ES LA VERDAD. LEELA.” In English that translates as “JUAREZ CITY. THE BIBLE IS THE TRUTH. READ IT.” That’s a great exhortation for all of us.
In the bottom middle of this picture taken from Interstate 10, you can see just above the tops of those white cargo trucks, the upper portion of the black, border fencing. Everything beyond that fence is inside Mexico.
Sitting on an exit ramp off I-10 and awaiting a light change for our left turn was this view to our right. Everything you see in this photo is inside Mexico. It’s amazing how close the infrastructure of Mexico is in this location. This scene is filled with roughly built houses and commercial buildings, poorly constructed streets, mounds of garbage, relative poverty, etc. And having lived in urban areas of Mexico for nearly 20 years, all of this looks quite normal to me.
This building is where our oldest niece here attends high school.
I’m surprised this photo is halfway clear. You can see the moving vehicles on the elevated Interstate 10 give evidence of a slower shutter speed. I didn’t have a tripod or monopod to steady the camera, so this was rather fortunate that it is worth sharing.
I sort of promised the Moon earlier in the post, so you don’t get much of it, but there it is.
I don’t recall every using the panorama feature on my Nikon. I don’t think I even knew how to use it. Pretty neat though a bit grainy. It probably would work much better with daytime lighting. Most of these lights are in Mexico.
Knowing Your ABCDs 