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?