Christmas Day began in El Paso at the beautiful Camino Real in downtown. On the register of the National Trust for Historic Hotels, the Camino Real opened in 1912.

The Dome Bar in the Camino Real Hotel.

We had Christmas Eve dinner in the bar, Chipotle shrimp tacos paired with a lovely Reposado tequila. The setting was stunning.

The Tiffany Dome

Christmas day was quiet in El Paso. A quick tour of the downtown showed us some beautiful architecture.

Southwestern urban architecture.

We picked up a photo for the Moss Motoring Challenge just in front of the hotel at the El Paso Museum.

El Paso Museum of Art

We had a long day ahead of us, so we found an open Starbucks for breakfast and lit out on the I-10.

Shortly after we left El Paso, we came up on a border patrol check point. One look at our car and the officer quickly figured that we weren’t stowing anyone anywhere.

The back seat and the boot are full with essentials.

The I-10 looked like this pretty much the entire day.

I-10 vista

We stopped at an historic marker — a stage coach stop from 1872 (relocated) which had only been in operation for a year. It was rendered redundant by the locomotive.

Stage Coach stop.

We rolled into San Antonio, the only thing on our minds was a steak dinner. We checked into our hotel on Riverwalk. We had a room with a terrace and a fabulous view of the Christmas lights.

San Antonio Riverwalk Christmas lights.

We left our girl in the hands of the valet who posed her in front of the hotel for the pleasure of the passers-by and we went to dinner.

Lost in San Antonio with no where to go.

Stats on the day: 555 miles, no oil needed, gas $1.99/gal.

Total mileage: 2627.4. Next stop: Louisiana.