J to K to L: Marfa, TX to Benson, AZ via White Sands, NM

We woke up with our alarm at 6:30am and packed up quickly in the cold morning and drove into Marfa to find coffee. After trying the gas station and bookstore, we found Farma, which had the only espresso machine in town and was happy to make us a red-eye to help us start our long day of driving.Although we could tell on the map that we were getting closer and closer to Mexico, we weren't quite expecting to see the Mexican flag waving at us from the expressway as we drove through El Paso before we headed north to White Sands National Monument. After being briefly stopped by the US Border Patrol just a mile from White Sands, we drove into the park just after lunch and drove through the giant white gypsum dunes. To our surprise, Buzz wanted to jump out when we stopped to climb one of the dunes to get a better view. She followed us almost all the way to the top of the ridge and then another park visitor's dog galloped over and put an end to the walk for the day.We continued on out of the park after stopping at the Visitor Center and getting our trip journals stamped with "White Sands National Monument" towards Arizona. As we were preparing to camp only on Bureau of Land Management land while in Arizona, Emily found an RV park outside of Tucson where we could do laundry and shower before we started dry camping. The first few places in Benson, AZ that we called were not very welcoming, but the Quarter Horse Motel and RV park made us feel over the phone that we would be very welcome there. Our host checking us in gave us lots of information about the region and wisely warned us about coyotes potentially prowling the parking lot looking for cats to eat. As he pointed out, in the city you are not allowed to have guns. Buzz stayed in the van that night.

Links: Farma Coffee Shop, White Sands National Monument

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