Plans change

I left Elephant Butte this morning intending to head for Alamogordo and the White Sands National Monument and a good plan it was. I even checked the White Sands site for road closures and there were none. You see, the White Sands National Monument is also the White Sands Missile Testing range. They sometimes shoot missiles over US highway 70 which is the only route to Alamogordo. When the do this they have deemed it prudent to close the highway. Well today turned out to be one of those days and as I turned onto US 70 I was met with State Troopers and barricades. This effectively ceased any progress I was making. So it was back on I-25 highway heading for El Paso and the decision was made to go on through El Paso in mid-afternoon rather than waiting to join rush hour in the morning. So off we went. Once through El Paso the next major wide spot in the road is Van Horn Texas which is where we ended up for the night. 250 miles from Elephant Butte. White Sands will have to wait for another day when I'm enjoying the good life.