56 Helpful? Harley Riders

February 24, 2013
     Today we had a plan, head East out of Hobbs, hit some motorcycle roads and head North to Amarillo.  (We've just got to do more research.)  The ground had turned to a reddish brown.
      We headed to Lanesta and picked up a road that had been recommended to us.  We were in no hurry. By lunch time we pulled into Post Texas to gas up and grab a bite to eat.  There was a Greek restaurant kiddy corner from our fueling spot.   As soon as we ate we were going to be on the road.  It was less than 175 miles to Amarillo, it should be an easy afternoon.  There were a couple of canyons to see and depending on the weather and pace we would either see them on the way or take a trip out during our stay.
     Now what follows is either a random act of kindness (which I choose to believe) or one of the best practical jokes played on a Gold Wing rider.  We had a nice meal and noticed a "Harley" couple a few tables away.    You can spot them any where, orange and black, bar and shield.  they are proud of their ride and show it.  If we Honda riders depended on our cycle manufacturer for clothing we would be riding like Lady Godiva, sorry that mental image might require therapy.   Harley's retail merchandising is amazing.  Clothing, caps, shirts, blouses, baby clothes, glass ware, lawn furniture.  I don't know where it ends.  Kind of jealous actually.   Mike and Cynthia, nice people from Post.  Introductions and a short chat, of course Mike had noticed the Harley cover on our camper spare tire.  Gracious people they asked us about our trip plans.  Mike immediately said "you don't want to go to Amarillo today!"  He pulled out his smart phone, (probably said Harley on it.)  he showed me a weather map on his phone, ( could have been from last year, I don't know.  )  it showed a blizzard warning and 31 degrees for Amarillo "they are expecting major snow storms and wind, Possibly blizzard conditions!"  What to do?  After a brief discussion we decided to change our travel plans.  We had our taste of cold and snow in Deming, no sense asking for trouble.  Ruthie was in the drivers seat as we entered the freeway so we would be racking up the miles.  Of course there was a side wind from the West.

   At one time we gave some thought to camping this evening, however the wind was getting stronger and the temperature was dropping.  We arrived in San Angelo just at dusk.  We pulled into a motel parking lot to check on prices and availability.   We made a couple of calls from the parking lot and as we pulled out I noticed our trailer tire had finally given up.

We swung immediately back into a parking lot.  I unhooked the camper and Ruthie was going to drive to the motel and get us checked in while I changed the tire.  I was able to lift the camper high enough and use the camper leveling jacks to support the camper during the swap.  After changing the wheel  I flagged down a passing bicyclist and asked him to collapse the jack while I lifted the camper.  Ruthie returned while I was putting the tools away.  Unfortunately their was a mix-up in the motel that changed its name but not its phone number and she was unable to find it.  We hooked back up and finally made it to the motel..  I had been nursing a ear ache since Deming and with the added stress of our tire problem I was happy to be in for the evening.

   We were a bit chilly and tired.  It had been a long day.   I had teased about the condition of the door spacing in Fort Davis, here are a couple of pictures.  Yes you can pass a breakfast bar under the door gap.  To help with heat we stuffed a towel under it to stop the cold wind from coming it.  
     We were tucked in for the night.  The wind was getting stronger outside.  I had taken some pain medicine for my ear pain.  Why are we so tired?  Think about it as you look at the map, We had left Hobbs wandered around started North, changed directions completely, rode as far South as we had planned on going North. (In most parts of the country we would have traveled in at least two states.)   with a very strong side wind

Good Night, Tomorrow is my Birthday and we will know if Mike and Cynthia are tricksters or Samaritans. 

55 Over the Mountain!

Feb 23rd

     We were now going to retrace our path back to Artesia New Mexico and then continue East into Texas.    A little maintenance first, another can of tire inflator, lets try fixaflat this time!  Drive across Deming to spread the magic potion, inflate to proper pressure and away we go.

     We were looking forward to the trip back across the mountain.  It had been cold and dark when we came over it the first time.
     This would be our day for accident sightings.   Perhaps our tire delay was fortunate at least in 3 intersections this day we arrived within seconds of traffic collisions.   We started up the mountain enjoying the amazing views.  On the way up the mountain there was a traffic delay to bypass a broken down truck, it took a while as the mountain is close enough to touch on one side and drop off on the other.  It didn't leave room for pull-outs.

  

     We stopped to eat in Cloudcroft at the peak of the mountain.  Evidently there had been a little snow that morning.  We visited with some motorcyclists  who were calling it a day because of some glaze on the roads.  We were again thankful for the three wheels. 
     On the way down the other side we stopped to take a picture with the snow in the background and read this sign.   Looks like a bah humbug moment to me.  "no snow play devices" ?

 

     We also got to see the large herds of deer we had passed by in the darkness a few days earlier.  It looked like they were used to traffic.

     Just to the West of Artesia we had noticed what looked like a large man made dam, with no visible water flow it made us curious   Since we were not chasing the Sun today we took the time to investigate.   It looked like they had built a dam in the middle of the desert.  Turns out they built it in anticipation of the next 100 year flood and haven't had significant rainfall since. ( At least that's what the worker at the oil pump fitting location told us.)    We took a little time going through Artesia to admire the larger than life bronze statues in the city.  They remind me of the Frederick Remington bronzes.  At the edge of town was a very large refinery and from that point on the landscape was filled with oil drilling equipment of all sizes.   It was hard to imagine their was enough oil beneath the surface to warrant all this activity.  Old and new pumps, storage tanks, black transfer hoses running along the road.   The highway filled with oil drilling rigs, tankers and equipment trucks of all sizes.  We were definitely in oil country

.   I can't help myself but ever-time I see one of these oil pumps I think of the drinking bird that everyone had on their window sill when I was a child.  Have you seen them or was it a country thing?   Do they still have them?  What makes them work?
     We traveled as far as Hobbs and found a motel for the night.  This notice in the lobby gave our friends and relatives some concern.  However we had a good rest with no unexpected  drug sweeps or canine led search's.

 

54 Dust Storms & Blizzards

Feb 19th 
     Woke up in Alamogordo ready to get on the road to Deming.  Our trailer tire was low but not flat.  We Googled an Auto parts store to find some sort of a tire repair.  We tried green slime, it was supposed to inflate and seal the tire, drive for a few miles and then inflate to the proper pressure.  Sounds foolproof, here we go.

     Not to far out of town we hit the White sands National monument.  It seems so out of place this huge (275 square miles) white beach like area, it should be on the coast of Florida with waves of water flowing up to it.  But no, it is in this basin in New Mexico.  Made of gypsum, the same material as the sheet rock in your living room.  We posted this picture on face book and every one thought we were still in the mountains surrounded by snow.

    Their were a few visitors checking out the dunes, some had even brought saucers to slide down the dunes.
     From the entrance on the highway to the interior of the dune area is only a few miles we were surprised the temperature dropped eleven degrees in in that short a distance.  Back on the highway the temperature was back up, not hot of course but comfortable with the way we were dressed.
      I was happy to see this warning sign.  Because of the unfortunate incident at Stillwell's and Big Bend National park I thought it best I post this picture.  We wouldn't want another alleged illegal rock collection, would we?  As we climbed out of the basin we passed by several missile testing ranges.   This is our trip from Carlsbad to Deming NM.  Here is the interactive Link!

    On the other side it flattens out into a desert area.  There were several highway signs warning of us dust storms.  They warned us of the high winds and limited visibility they went so far as to mention zero visibility on one stretch of highway.  We were relieved when we pulled into Deming.  Because of the wind and forecast cool weather we bypassed the suggested campsite.  Checking some of the motels we settled on a Comfort Inn.  This should be a great motel for us to use as a base.  Over the next few days we planned on driving in the 3 remaining directions to see the sights.  Remember what they say about the best laid plans.
      Our first clue on our motel situation should have been at check in.  We unloaded our belongings onto the motel luggage cart and headed for our room.  As soon as Ruthie opened the room the look on her face told me we weren't staying in there.  At first  I thought it might be under construction but thinking about it now I think it must have been some sort of dusting powder to treat for insects.  Evidently the front desk had not received the word about the condition of the room.  We were assigned another room.  Despite the mirrored closet door ready to fall off it's hinges, problems with complimentary breakfast, and several obvious liability discrepancies we had an enjoyable stay.  It was better then what lay outside.  Over the next two days the wind had slowly increased, we seen a wall of dust coming in from the West until we couldn't see the freeway from our room.  High profile vehicles were warned to stay off the roads and schools closed for the day.  We stayed in the room and only seen the trike from our window, the maintenance person had told us our trailer tire was very low.  That evening we walked a half block to a Mexican restaurant for a bite to eat.  While we were there we heard something hitting the window.  Sand? Rain?  Snow pellets turning into a blizzard.  Fortunately it didn't last long, this is a picture of us after walking the short distance back to the motel. 

Ruthie's eyebrows are not normally white.  I was glad we didn't have to walk far, it was bone chilling walking into the wind. 
     Watching the weather to the North and West we had decided to abandon our exploratory trips in those directions.  The 22nd we decided to head South and visit the border town of Columbus.   We found it hadn't warmed up that much and the crosswind was uncomfortable. 
     The old depot and now Columbus museum was an eye opening window into our political leaders and the ramification of their decisions.   During a civil war in Mexico President Wilson had supported two rebels in Mexico overturning the Mexican government, later Wilson abandoned Pancho Villa in favor one of Carranza.   Villa turned his wrath on American visitors to Mexico slaughtering 18 on one occasion.  And in the spring of 1916 he led the first attack on a US city with the intent of killing every resident of Columbus New Mexico.  Fortunately their was a US Army encampment nearby that included the entire air force, all six planes.  The civilians and military were able to defend the city losing only 10 civilians and 8 soldiers, while their were reports of 200 of Villa's troops killed.  The US then sent over 5000 men into Mexico after him without success.  Did our politics influence Pancho, were we a contributor to his change from revolutionary hero to villain, history is very interesting and disturbing at times.  We heard about him first when Hallie Stillwell was a teacher in Presidio and carried a gun in her dress because of his border raids. Then again when we sat in the Big Bend hot springs and how he had drove the inn keeper from the area.   I think I will study him more!

Strange car in Columbus!

     In 1916 Columbus was a thriving town, bank, drug stores, hotels and even a coca cola bottling plant.  The largest town in New Mexico.  The military closed camp Furlong in 1925 and by the mid 1930's it was classified as a ghost town.  Today it is a small border village again.   We had a burger in a local cafe served by what we like to refer to as our bilingual waitress.  At our table she would speak perfect English and 3 feet later she was speaking Spanish to the staff, it seems like she changed in between breaths, fun to watch the transformation.  After lunch we headed back to Deming.  Tomorrow we were heading back to Texas, it looks like it is not going to warm up here soon. 

53 Carlsbad

 February 18  Carlsbad Caverns  There were two ways into the Caverns.  Our plan was to walk through the natural entrance while we were fresh and then use the elevator to come back to the surface.   Jim White was 16 in 1898 when he entered the cave for first time he had seen a huge cloud of bats coming out of the ground.  The hole which we walked down over 750 feet on an inclined path, he went down on homemade wire ladders.  He later explored and led others into the cave naming many of the rooms.  Mining of bat manure was one of Jim's ventures.  Exploring the cave in earlier days was a daring adventure.  The big room is 4000 feet long and over 250 feet high.   It is hard to imagine that the surface above us was once the coast line of an inland sea.  As you go down it seems like it will never end.  One explorer used a rope tied to a helium balloon to tie it to a Stalactite ( that’s right because it sticks tight to the ceiling )  then pulled him self up to the top to explore other paths.  Lots of trust there. 
  We spent several hours following the paths and exploring the various rooms.  We had rented a handheld audio guide that explained it very well.  We didn't see our new friends from Alaska.  We had been told that once we had seen Carlsbad, we had seen them all.  We were thoroughly impressed. We had seen enough and were ready to move on.  Taking the elevator to the surface we dressed for the ride.We were headed for Deming New Mexico, no particular reason, a campground there had been suggested to us and we figured it was still far enough South to be comfortable.  We headed North thru Carlsbad until we hit Artesia, now turning right we headed stright West. We wanted to get far enough away from the oil fields and the transient over population caused by the oil boom so lodging would be reasonable. 

  We seen several warnings of the upcoming elevation increases and knew that the temperature would decrease with elevation increases.  I think that is called inverse proportional.  Any way Ruthie’s description is a little different.  She hates cold weather.  The temperature started dropping from our comfortable 68 degrees pretty quickly.   We were seeing more areas suitable for grazing larger herds of livestock.   They seemed to be doing some escalating work to perhaps retain some of the rain when it fell.  A deer ran across the road in front of us, either due to a malfunctioning internal GPS ( recalculate, u-turn) or a death wish, it spun around and headed back across the highway in front of us.  Fortunately we had slowed enough to be able to admire it as it exited the right side of the road. 
     When it dropped to the fifty's I detected a different attitude in my co-rider.  I started to seek shelter

 knowing that if we waited to leave at mid day we would have some comfortable riding weather.   The ditches were filled with mule deer.   They seemed well behaved and intent on grazing.  Good for us.  We hit Mayhill a quaint little village part way up the mountain, no luck.   They sent us to a cabin not far up the road.  Not acceptable.   The owner heard air escaping, we had punctured a trailer tire.  (remember Eldon's warning at Stillwell's) We traveled on with a slow leak.    We seen a couple of motels however my co-rider was now determined to get off this mountain and on to a city.
   The temperatures were now in the 40’s.  My co-rider was in no mood to look at a motel all she wanted to do was get off this mountain.  We entered the ski area and the hills were covered with snow.  We hit the peak and the Gold Wing was telling us it was thirty degrees, we had plugged in our heated jackets long ago and Ruthie had her rain parka on to keep the wind out and heat in.  It was getting darker, we reached the ski villiage of Cloudcroft. and headed down the other side, 17 miles steep winding turns with truck turn outs for run away semi’s, reassuring?  It meant they would be coming behind us.  We found lodging in Alamogordo,  shared a meal  at Applebee’s . Now all that was important was to warm up and start again tomorrow.   It's all good. 

52 Davis loop

     We had been given a complimentary night due to the inconvenience of the unnecessary room swaps.  We took advantage of it to retrace the route I had taken our Valentine's guests on.  At the Santa Cruz ranch we had the opportunity to meet the owner and builder.  From the ridge ride at the Davis Mountain park I took a picture of the view to the south where the terrain flattens out with buttes in the distance.  I have cropped a section of the same picture so you can get an idea of the enormity of the tomato growing green house facility.  A year before a wildfire fueled by drought and 35 mile per hour winds had swept across this high desert from the South for 25 miles and destroyed over 50 homes.  It came to the very center of town, it was very fortunate the whole town wasn't destroyed.  A year later however you wouldn't realize it unless it is pointed out.

      With some daylight left we also headed South-east toward Alpine, hate to miss anything while we are here.  Stopped at a marker to read about an adobe home built in 1881 by the Pruetts, one night Mrs Pruett had to make a midnight ride to warn the Texas rangers of an Apache raid.  Looking at the ground, rocks and cliffs it is incredible to think of the danger riding here without light.  Later it became the site of the first school house West of the Pecos river.      

      The 17th we packed up and headed out.  One of the advertised routes here is called the Davis Loop, having wandered in and around the Fort Davis area for the last few days we had completed part of it with our trip to Davis Mountains park and observatory.
 We now headed South out of Fort Davis and veered West on 166, the loop completely circles Mt Livermore.
Not far and we noticed a camp on the left that seemed deserted, the gate was open so we wandered in.  Probably 50 or more metal living structures.  Where was every one?  We found a monument in the center of the dwellings.  It was dedicated to William Bloys and why is it deserted, because it is only used 5 days a year.   Because of the distance between ranches and settlements and also the mode of transportation, missionary Bloys started a camp meeting in 1890 when 43 people gathered to worship in Skillmans grove.  Today the non denominational contribution camp hosts over 3000 people during the camp meetings.
      The terrain changes drastically from high desert (hope I remember dessert has two s's because you always want more, thanks Michelle!) on your left to the mountains on your right.  Then as you leave the mountains to the North it changes back to  Chihuahuan desert with scrub trees.  We were enjoying the ride when we started to be concerned with our fuel level, we tapped into our auxiliary tank and started thinking about when the next town would be.  Checking the GPS we seen we were headed for an interstate and figured there would be a gas station.   Ahhh there it is, looks like we are a few years to late.  Heading west on the interstate we are confident there will be fuel stops. 

Fill with gas and pick out a saddle!

A welcome relief a gas station, restaurent, more of an oasis a little of everything, saddle shop and even a pan handler asking for relief from a head ache, of course Ruthie dug thru our luggage to help them out. 
We left the interstate and headed back North toward the Guadalupe Mountains, we got a great view of El Capitan which was used by early travelers as a travel marker and guide.  How much earlier?  Perhaps 10,000 years.
    Later we crossed into New Mexico and arrived at White city.  This would be our base to tour Carlsbad caverns, we had thoughts of checking out Carlsbad NM for lodging but were told the  rooms were all taken by Halliburton oil employees.   As we pulled up to the only motel in White NM,  a couple beckoned from balcony, come up for wine and snacks,   ( did some one phone ahead? )  Rita and Dan another friendly couple from Fairbanks Alaska, again our cheese and crackers came to the rescue coupled with their snacks we were all set.  Later we all walked to the restaurant down the road.  We meet the nicest people.  Maybe we will see them tomorrow when we tour the caverns?

51 Star party

February 15 Friday:
     Checked the internet and it was officially colder here than our home in Kellogg Minnesota, what gives?

Davis Outfitters here we come.  Your first UPS packages came by Trike

At the motel breakfast this morning we met a new couple from the Houston Texas area, Mary Lea and Jim,  nice folks they were on a little holiday and planning on attending the star gazing party this evening also.
We knew it wasn't going to be very warm today so we dressed up for a chilly ride, getting used to it.

     We toured Fort Davis, it was home to the Buffalo soldiers, Because of their service record during the civil war Black troops were now protecting the settlers along the 600 mile San Antonio- El Paso trail, their were also over 20,000 Hispanics that served in the civil war.   Another interesting story was about Loreta Velazquez a woman who masqueraded as confederate soldier, fought in the Civil war and became a spy for the confederates.  The Fort also had lots of information on Black leaders like Sojourner Truth who not only championed her race, but also all women's rights.  The underground railroad was also very interesting, Harriet Tubman especially so.  Born a slave she made over 19 trips into the south leading over 300 slaves to freedom.   It is hard to imagine the courage it took to stand up for others the way they did.  I wonder if we would have the same conviction?  Bless them all!   One last thing on the Fort, I was surprised there were not walls around the forts in this part of the country.   The guide told us they were never attacked in large numbers by the Indians to warrant the building of walls.
     Since we had some motel time and it was cold we used this opportunity to address our luggage situation.  We decided we still had far to many clothes, especially warm weather gear.  After sorting it all we were going to jump on our trike and head for our friends at the Davis Mountain Nut factory, as they said we could help ourselves to their supply of boxes.  As we were getting ready Jim offered to give us a ride,  we took him up on the offer and also accepted a ride to the star gazing party this evening.   We located a brand new UPS facility at the Fort Davis Outfitters, as soon as we walked in we liked these folks.  Karen and Kevin were the owners  "Look around and let us know if there is something we should be carrying on the shelves." they said.  A new facility with lots of variety we checked out the store.  If you are in the area check them out, they will have something you need.  I don't know if it was on this visit or when we returned with our packages that Ruthie and Karen started talking about our daughters bandana's, fortunately we had some along, Ruthie brought them in and Karen put one on a western hat, magic, it looked great!  We gave them Michelle's card and website.  We found out later that they now carry Bandana's byMichelle.  When we had our extra baggage packed and ready we had 40 lbs to send back, with the boxes we sent from Russelville AR that makes 80 pounds  we have sent back to Minnesota.  Guess we have some things to learn about packing for four months.  We have been getting some grief from folks back home about our returning packages.

     Dinner/Supper (now I'm getting confused, I hate it when they change things) Okay the last scheduled meal of the day.   We had a wonderful meal at the Blue Mountain Bistro right on main street, nice atmosphere, food quality and prices more in line with our budget.

      Now back to motel to gear up for the star gazing party we had been warned to dress appropriately as it may be chilly, breezy, cold, quite cold.  Reminds me of a book chronicling the early settlers to Minnesota titled Bring Warm Clothes!  Jim and Mary Lea picked us up and we were on our way, little did we know that we were in for a real treat.  The sun was setting as Jim drove us up Davis Mountain and with each change in elevation, curve and lowering of the sun brought a spectacular sunset.  We snapped pictures until  it disappeared behind the mountains.  The Fort Davis area had been thoroughly studied before chosen for the site of the observatory.  The night sky is perfect for star gazing and you can see telescopes in the back yard of many residents of the mountain.  The twilight program at McDonald observatory started with a lecture in which the guide used a laser to point out the solar system.  The star party involves walking to several high powered telescopes that are targeted on specific solar objects,  we have never seen them that clear.  My favorite was the surface of the moon, I don't think I will ever forget it.  Now into the observatory to visit with our new friends and warm up with hot chocolate, we were chilled to the bone.  A big thank you to Mary Lea and Jim for the welcome ride, it would have been uncomfortably cold after standing outside for hours not to mention we had been told that the Javelina's were known to lie on the road surface to absorb the warmth.  More precious memories!