Well today is Tuesday, and our first rainy day. Up here on the mountain it came in first last night as clouds wafting through the compound. Then it started misting, and by this morning it was raining. Yesterday we had a great day trip. We left here headed for Petroglyph National Monument. Jerry had programmed the GPS with this and another attraction we wanted to see. The GPS had us leaving Ruidoso on Rt. 70 then turning of onto some Apache tribal road on the reservation. We followed it cause it looked like a good short cut. Soon when it tried to make us turn on a one-lane dirt road, we decided this wasn’t the route for us. We went back to Rt. 70, went a little further, then the GPS wanted us to turn again. This time it was a reasonable looking two lane hard surfaced road, so we turned again. Turned out the hard surface road only ran up the mountain to the Apache high school, and once again the old GPS wanted us to turn on a 2 lane dirt road. We tried it thinking it might be a short way, but when the road started dragging the bottom of the car and was marked with painted arrows on the trees, we decided the GPS really didn’t know where it was going. We went back to the hard surfaced road, and forced Ms. GPS to take us via the main roads. When we got to the other side of the mountain range, we realized the short cut the GPS was using, pretty much went over the crest of the mountain that was between our destination and us.
We arrived at the National Monument to be greeted by a very helpful Forest Service person. She helped up fill out our day use permit, and gave us all kind of pointers about the hike. She even escorted Vickie to the ladies room, talking non-stop all the time. We decided she must be a little lonely babysitting a bunch of rock drawings in the middle of nowhere. We were warned to look out for rattle snakes and other desert denizens, took our map, walking sticks, water, and headed out. It was about a 1-mile hike, and we saw many interesting rock drawings (or Petroglyphs) and no snakes. Standing at the overlook sign saying Tularosa Basin, you could see the San Andres Mtns., White Sands Government land, and the El Mar Paris lava flow. The old gimp made it pretty well considering the walk was pretty rugged. My walking sticks again saved the day.
We left there and headed down the road to our other attraction for the day. Along the way we stopped at the 4 Winds Café at Carrizozo NM. We had a late lunch and speculated about an unsolved mystery in the parking lot. There was a Chevy Tahoe with Texas plates sitting in the parking lot with one of the back doors open. It was there when we arrived, and there when we left. Folks came and went in the restaurant, but no one ever approached the Tahoe. We think the occupants were snatched by aliens cause there was no one left anywhere around when we left.
From the restaurant, we went a short distance on NM 380, and ended up at Valley of Fires, which is a National Recreation Area. The Valley is where lava flowed and filled the valley 5000 or so years ago. It consists mostly of the hard black lava like in Hawaii, and is a very rough landscape. It contains a beautiful visitors center, and a bunch of campsites, many with full water and electricity. The camping is $18.00 a day with full hookups, and $15 with just water. The scenery is so beautiful I can imagine this campground stays pretty full when it’s not 115 degrees. When we were there today there was a great breeze blowing and temps in the high 70’s—no AC required and most of the campers had all their windows and screens open. The government has even built a big shower and bathroom building for the campers use. Once again our tax dollars at work for something good. Another cool thing, while we were riding around the campground, I spotted one of those old GMC sort of rounded motor homes that were built using the front wheel drive chassis from the late 70’s Toronado. It was in quite nice shape, and was nice to see one still plying the roads of America.
We availed ourselves of the Malpais nature trail that has been built out through the very rugged landscape. We couldn’t imagine how any type of civilization could ever traverse this indescribable landscape. Growing in and among the cranked and jagged lava are many types of cactus and drought tolerant plants. There really isn’t much soil for anything to grow on so most of the vegetation is quite specialized. The vista seems to stretch off to the distant horizon. The valley is also home to many desert birds, insects, and some small mammals. The coyote is probably the largest predator that is prevalent. Bats are known to habituate in old underground lava tubes that have not collapsed, making caves and a perfect microchlime for their existence. Standing looking down into the cracked and collapsed lava seemed like looking into a bottomless pit. The walk was around .66 of a mile and we made it handily, but after the earlier hike, everyone was ready to head home.
On the way back to the condo, we dropped Vickie off at the Apache Casino where she had spotted one of here favorite slot machines, and it was senior night. When we got back to the place, Jerry and I switched grills, and were able to build a fire smartly in the one without mechanical problems. We grilled last night’s hamburgers, and spent an interesting evening watching the opposing commentators on Fox News wrangle about the various national and political events. Later on Vickie called and was ready to come home. I went to pick her up, and the fog/mist had rolled in on the mountain. Returning on the way back up the hill, we saw 5 deer standing on the side of the road. They were quite different than the deer at home in that they had huge ears and little tails like rope. After that everyone was down for the night.
More later,
We arrived at the National Monument to be greeted by a very helpful Forest Service person. She helped up fill out our day use permit, and gave us all kind of pointers about the hike. She even escorted Vickie to the ladies room, talking non-stop all the time. We decided she must be a little lonely babysitting a bunch of rock drawings in the middle of nowhere. We were warned to look out for rattle snakes and other desert denizens, took our map, walking sticks, water, and headed out. It was about a 1-mile hike, and we saw many interesting rock drawings (or Petroglyphs) and no snakes. Standing at the overlook sign saying Tularosa Basin, you could see the San Andres Mtns., White Sands Government land, and the El Mar Paris lava flow. The old gimp made it pretty well considering the walk was pretty rugged. My walking sticks again saved the day.
We left there and headed down the road to our other attraction for the day. Along the way we stopped at the 4 Winds Café at Carrizozo NM. We had a late lunch and speculated about an unsolved mystery in the parking lot. There was a Chevy Tahoe with Texas plates sitting in the parking lot with one of the back doors open. It was there when we arrived, and there when we left. Folks came and went in the restaurant, but no one ever approached the Tahoe. We think the occupants were snatched by aliens cause there was no one left anywhere around when we left.
From the restaurant, we went a short distance on NM 380, and ended up at Valley of Fires, which is a National Recreation Area. The Valley is where lava flowed and filled the valley 5000 or so years ago. It consists mostly of the hard black lava like in Hawaii, and is a very rough landscape. It contains a beautiful visitors center, and a bunch of campsites, many with full water and electricity. The camping is $18.00 a day with full hookups, and $15 with just water. The scenery is so beautiful I can imagine this campground stays pretty full when it’s not 115 degrees. When we were there today there was a great breeze blowing and temps in the high 70’s—no AC required and most of the campers had all their windows and screens open. The government has even built a big shower and bathroom building for the campers use. Once again our tax dollars at work for something good. Another cool thing, while we were riding around the campground, I spotted one of those old GMC sort of rounded motor homes that were built using the front wheel drive chassis from the late 70’s Toronado. It was in quite nice shape, and was nice to see one still plying the roads of America.
We availed ourselves of the Malpais nature trail that has been built out through the very rugged landscape. We couldn’t imagine how any type of civilization could ever traverse this indescribable landscape. Growing in and among the cranked and jagged lava are many types of cactus and drought tolerant plants. There really isn’t much soil for anything to grow on so most of the vegetation is quite specialized. The vista seems to stretch off to the distant horizon. The valley is also home to many desert birds, insects, and some small mammals. The coyote is probably the largest predator that is prevalent. Bats are known to habituate in old underground lava tubes that have not collapsed, making caves and a perfect microchlime for their existence. Standing looking down into the cracked and collapsed lava seemed like looking into a bottomless pit. The walk was around .66 of a mile and we made it handily, but after the earlier hike, everyone was ready to head home.
On the way back to the condo, we dropped Vickie off at the Apache Casino where she had spotted one of here favorite slot machines, and it was senior night. When we got back to the place, Jerry and I switched grills, and were able to build a fire smartly in the one without mechanical problems. We grilled last night’s hamburgers, and spent an interesting evening watching the opposing commentators on Fox News wrangle about the various national and political events. Later on Vickie called and was ready to come home. I went to pick her up, and the fog/mist had rolled in on the mountain. Returning on the way back up the hill, we saw 5 deer standing on the side of the road. They were quite different than the deer at home in that they had huge ears and little tails like rope. After that everyone was down for the night.
More later,
Wes
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