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.