Out in the West Texas Town...: What the HELL do you do in El Paso? (Part I)

...Not really anything for the most part. Ok, let me explain. There are lots of things to do in the city that are typical in almost any city. There's the zoo (which truly is one of the nicest I've ever been to), the normal theme parks, water parks, etc. There is an increasing number of hip, foodie restaurants and night clubs to check out in the University/Kern area. There is even a good number of sporting events to go. El Paso has both minor league baseball and hockey, and there is always UTEP Football and Basketball to keep us sports junkies busy. But what does El Paso have that is different from the norm? Every major city has its "thing". Austin has its music, Vegas has its gambling, Napa has its vineyards. What does El Paso have?

Well, it has it's outdoors. Not really IN El Paso, but around it. You see, the city is positioned in a fantastic place if you are an outdoorsy person. There's a plethera of things to do if you're the type of person that just isn't content with every Saturday and Sunday afternoon being dominated by the couch.

Don't get me wrong. I love U.T. Football and Shiner Bock more than can be put into words gracefully, but sometimes you have to just use the DVR and get outside...

Just on the north side of the city is Franklin Mountains State Park. It's a great place to go for hiking, biking, sightseeing, etc. A couple of mine and Monica's best friends, Bob and Linda came into town a while back and we went for a hike to the top:

One particulary interesting feature of the park is Mammoth (or elephant depending on who you ask) Rock.

The hike is several miles and roughly 1,600 feet above

the beginning of the trail, but it's totally worth the effort.

This is a picture from a cave at the base of the mammoth's trunk.

Another great thing about El Paso's location is the ability to make day/weekend trips to lots of intersting things. One of which is Kilbourne Hole.

Kilbourne hole is considered a volcanic maar. Basically, millions of years ago "liquid hot MAG-MA" pushed up from below the earth's crust to just below the surface. When it rose to the level of the water table it created a massive explosion of steam forming a giant 2 mile wide crater.

The drive there is a lot of fun but can also be creepy at times.

Picture yourself taking a right off the paved road and into the desert where Wiley Coyote may be hanging out. It seems alright enough, paralelling a set of railroad tracks until you realize you haven't seen anyone else for miles. More than just a little desolate. Then you see a truck on the side of the road up ahead. As you get closer, you realize something isn't quite right. This truck isn't that old, and it isn't all dirty like it's been sitting there for a long time. The front bumper has been halfway ripped off, a tire or two are blown out, and the windows are riddled with bullet holes. Did I mention that the murder capital of the world, Juarez Mexico is merely 10-15 miles south with no border fence in this area to keep anyone out? In fact, on many days the only human contact you may have out here is a Border Patrol helicopter buzzing you to make sure you aren't smuggling drugs or people.

So you do the only logical thing. You stop the Jeep 20 or 30 feet away, get out (much to the chagrin of your passengers who weren't expecting this shit by any means), and go check it out to make sure that everything is ok. As you cautiously approach you start to wonder who may be in the truck, who may have off'd the potential victim(s) still in it, why you left your pistol in the glovebox, and most importantly why the hell you even decided to stop. When you finally get to it you see that no one is in it, it's been there a little longer than you thought and was covered in the bullet holes of somebody's game of target practice. After all, all of the signs in the area (not that there are that many) have been victim of the same thing. After you get back to the Jeep you continue on the journey. It's a little quieter as you go on because everyone in the car is thinking about who or what they could run into along the way.

Next, you take a left onto a smaller, bumpier road filled with washouts from the last rain, whenever that was. 4-Wheel drive is a must. The trip goes on for another 20 or so minutes and then the desert starts to change. The sand is slowly changing colors, turning slightly gray. Then you look to your right and see where the floor dropped out: