Valley of Fires

September 28.

Drove to Alamogordo to visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History. The White Sands Missile Test Range has played a major part in the development of our space program. After WW-II, the leading German missile scientists, like Werner Von Braun, were brought here to work on the American program. The site of the first nuclear test, the Trinity Site, is nearby. Later in the day we continued to our destination. The Valley of Fires Recreation Area near Carrizozo, NM. “As you look west from the campground the Malpais (Spanish for bad land) dominates the view of the Tularosa Valley. The valley was covered by lava spewing from volcanic vents on at least two occasions , which flowed south along the valley floor for 44 miles. As the molten lava flowed southward, it covered the original valley floor of gypsum and stream gravel. The lava would surround areas of higher ground. These islands of older rock are called kipukas. The campground is on a kipuka made of sandstone. The lava covers over 125 square miles and is more than 160’ deep at the center”. The best feature ,from our perspective, is the ¾ mile raised and paved, nature trail that winds through the lava field. There is a printed guide map that discusses various features at 14 stations. The three of us thoroughly enjoyed the walk. Later we read our books and enjoyed another wonderful day. It’s starting to cool off. Carol, who gets very cold very quickly, has changed from shorts to “longs” as she sometimes refers to them.  An added bonus. Today was the annual “camper appreciation day”. Free camping for everyone. Can’t beat that!!.

Las Cruces area

September 25

Continued south. We drove on NM Hwy 185 to Las Cruces. Along the way we passed lots of fields of chili peppers, some corn & pecan orchards. This area, the town of Hatch in particular, bills itself as the chili pepper capital of the US. The land around here is all irrigated by the Rio Grande River and the different dams & impoundments. With this much agricultural runoff there’s no telling what sort of chemicals are in the water. Las Cruces is the second largest city in NM after Albuquerque. It has all the big box stores, traffic, etc. We picked up our mail at the Post Office. Suzanne & Martha Harris had sent accumulated mail to us General Delivery. Next time I’ll pick a smaller, rural post office. The line to pick up the mail was very long. Went grocery shopping, did our laundry and stopped at Lowe’s to buy a new Bar-B-Que grill. Our old one died. A very productive day. About 4:00 we went to the Leasburg Dam State Park Campground. Got the very last spot with electric service. The afternoon temp. is in the mid-80’so a/c is nice. Took a short walk after dinner through the cactus garden. Some of the plants were labeled; very informative. Wish more places did that. On Friday we just hung around. Took some walks, read our books. I went through the action items in the mail we recently received. We would have a difficult time travelling were it not for Suzanne forwarding our mail and the Verizon internet access. I renewed the registration on one of the cars, got Carol signed up for Medicare Part D, verified her new insurance coverage and cancelled the old. All without mailing anything.
Saturday morning. Off to the 28th Annual Whole Enchilada Fiesta. Found a good parking place near where the parade was forming up. A very typical, small town parade. There were marching bands, horses, beauty queens, school groups, ROTC groups, car clubs, on & on. Things don’t get much more typical American than this. We thoroughly enjoyed it. After the parade we went to the Fiesta. During our travels, we have found local fairs, festivals, etc., to be a great way to really get to see the “natives”. It’s a sad sign of our times, but as people entered the fiesta the police were using a metal detector searching for weapons. Based on the fiesta, I would guess Las Cruces is overwhelmingly Mexican. A lot of the signs on the booths were in Spanish only. We ate ourselves silly. The standard burritos (very hot) and something new to us called a chichuron burrito. Chichuron is refried beans and deep fried pork rinds mixed together. Sounds gross but we’re going to look for it again while in NM. We both enjoyed it. It was you typical fair with a Mexican accent. The foods were primarily Mexican, the things for sale, the entertainment, etc. A wonderful experience.
After the fiesta, we drove to the White Sands National Monument. It’s at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. 275 square miles of great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand. The largest gypsum dune field in the world.
Late in the day we went to the Oliver Lee State Park for the night. Took a nice walk through the cactus garden. Must have been 50 types of desert plants all labeled. Now we only wish we could remember the names.
Another wonderful day.

Caballo Lake & Percha Dam SP's

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Elephant Butte Lake State Park

September 17 through 21

We’re enjoying Elephant Butte Lake SP so much, we’ve decided to stay for a few more days. Two couples in a travel trailer pulled intro the area last night. Brought their jet skis. Nice people but they have a large construction quality generator they run most all day and into the evening. Very noisy. Another couple camping in the same area live right in town. They set up their trailer here and use it often. The woman had a series of three strokes 13 years ago. Her initial medical issues were much like Carols. Over time, she has gotten back the use of her arm & leg. Interestingly enough, her ability to read has never come back. She can’t read anything, even a simply text, without getting a headache. Said her short term memory and memory for names is still very poor. Carol has the very same memory issues. Her recovery story was quite encouraging.
While walking Gopher near the camper this morning, I saw someone down the beach with two Australian Shepherds. We walked down to say hello. The dogs, Harley & Sky, had a wonderful time racing all around. The women is from Ruidoso, NM and is camping in the regular part of the campground. Her name is Bridgett; she is originally from Germany. She walked down later in the day and visited with us for a while. She’s probably in her 70’s. Her husband died while in the Army. He was 24. She’s never remarried.
18th: The neighbor with the noisy generator left today. I was talking to the other neighbor, the folks that live around here. They said tomorrow, Friday, lots of people would be coming in for the weekend. Since the sites are not reserveable, they suggested we do our grocery shopping today rather than leaving the site opened on Friday. A new Wal-Mart opened three weeks ago. She said that was, by far, the best grocery store around here. Off we went, once again, to Wal-Mart, We really wish we could find alternatives but they are really lacking in the very rural communities. Asked if there was a bakery in town. Nope; no bakery either.
On Friday night a big storm came through. Sand blowing everywhere, white caps on the lake, thunder, lightning & rain. Gopher doesn't like the thunder. She got in bed with Carol.
By Saturday, the place was full. Most every waterfront space was taken. Lots of families, jet skies, boats, etc. We took a nice long walk up to the park entry. Watched a group of people were flying model airplanes. There was a guy flying an ultra-light and another sail-boarding.
On Sunday we walked to the marina. Bridgette stopped for a visit in the afternoon. People are packing up to leave. By tomorrow we’ll have the place to ourselves again.
Monday morning. As expected the place is empty. It's us, one couple tenting and the neighbors who live in town. Bridgit, and the dogs, walked down to say goodbye




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Socorro & Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM

September 16

In the late afternoon of the 15th we drove to Socorro along I-25. Stayed the night in the Escondida Lake Park Campground owned by the County. It was just us and the caretaker. The facilities were OK; maintenance was minimal. A decent place to spend one night. In the morning we went into Socorro to see the Old San Miguel Mission. Founded in 1598. One of the oldest Catholic Churches in the US. The Mission was established along El Camino Real; the original route from Old Mexico to Santa Fe and beyond.
Later we drove the back roads to the Elephant Butte Lake State Park. We picked a site at the tip of a small peninsula jutting into the lake. Among the most beautiful campsites we can recall. The lake/reservoir was formed by the damming of the Rio Grande River.

Santa Rosa to the NM State Fair

September 13

Today we decided to take the back roads from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque. No more Interstate Highways. Took NM 54 south to Vaughn, Encino, Willard and finally Mountainair. Vaughn had a truck stop and a few small stores. Encino & Willard had 45 mph speed limits. That was the only way you knew you were there. Mountainair is a decent sized small town. The highways we drove paralleled the railroad tracks almost the entire way. Must have seen a dozen or more very long trains. Most carried containers. We guessed they came from one of the West Coast ports. Took a picture of an abandoned farm complex. The sign on the barn talked about beans but we couldn’t imagine beans being grown in such an arid area. All we saw were cattle ranches. Perhaps many years ago? Stopped at the Laguna Del Perro. This was the area that until about 1900, was the sole source of salt for most of Mexico. It's a series of lakes that dry out frequently. When they dry, the salt is dug. See the attached photo. We had lunch in Mountainair at the The Ancient Ones Restaurant. The place was packed with locals; always a good sign. We both had Mexican food. A very good lunch. After lunch we toured the Salinas Pueblo Missions Museum operated by the National Park Service. Saw a movie about the Salinas Valley pueblo ruins. Later on we toured the Quarai site.(See the attached photo) The story tells of the original inhabitation of the area by the pueblo Indians then the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores then the ultimate destruction of the Indian culture. It seems every time early Europeans explorers of the Americas encountered the native peoples, the native cultures were destroyed. Passing through Oklahoma we drove near Seminole and Cherokee Indian Reservations. The result of the Indian tribes being relocated to what was called Indian Territory. As time went by, Indian Territory grew progressively smaller as more & more settlers moved West and needed the land for agricultural purposes. All along today’s roads we saw some of the very old barbed wire fences. They used sticks they collected here & there for the fence posts as opposed to the more modern round wood posts or metal posts. At the end of the day we stayed at the Manzano Mountain State Park campground. Unlike the other two State Parks we camped at, this place is almost full.

September 14

Took the scenic road into Albuquerque. Passed very small towns & large ranches. A lot of the land was part of the old Spanish land grants. Now & then you would see a sign saying, “Entering xxx Land Grant”. Most of the towns had small Catholic churches. Some dating back to the 1800’s. did grocery shopping then went to Old Town and walked around for a few hours. After that we went to Tingley Beach. Read the news paper, walked around the lakes and enjoyed a pretty day. When we woke up this morning, it was 51*. Stayed the night at the Isleta Casino. Decided to eat dinner in the camper rather than overeating at their buffet. Saving the calories for some great Indian fry bread.

September 15

Went to the New Mexico State Fair. Turned out to be Senior Appreciation day. $2.00 admission vs the regular rate of $9.00. Very, very enjoyable. Saw the following attractions: The NM Country Store (Bought some Bar-B-q sauce and Green Chili seasoning), Creative Arts Building (Everything on display is for sale), Indian Village (A lot of the people were in native dress. Others wore shirts with the name of their tribe), A 60,000 square foot “Shopper’s haven” (Full of more junk for sale than you can possibly imagine. Every “magic” kitchen tool; slicers, dicers, ginzu knives, you name it, hot tubs, vacuum cleaners, magic dust collecting towels, on & on. Really entertaining.), Villa Hispana (Enjoyed the Mexican dance band & contest), several art galleries (Again. Everything is for sale), the dairy farmers barn , the goat raisers barn (Watched women convert raw wool into yarn, dye it with natural die, then weave it into rugs. Amazing. It’s no wonder a quality Indian rug sells for thousands of dollars. Carol really liked the baby goats. They were cute. Only $75 could buy a quality goat.). We ate our way through the Indian Village. Fry bread tacos, chili, & Navajo cake. The main food court was as you would expect. Corn dogs, popcorn, turkey legs, etc. One booth really stood out. They were selling deep fried Moon Pies. It’s hard to imagine a more unhealthy food. Out visit to the fair has been the hi-light of the trip so far. We’re going to two other fairs later this month. Over the years, we’ve learned to seek out these festivals. You can learn so much about the area you’re visiting.

Our 2008 Southwest Trip, Sep.-Dec.

This will be about our trip to the Southwest from September 3rd until about December 15th, 2008.

September 3, 2008. Wednesday.

Hurricane Gustav finally passed into the Louisiana/Mississippi area. Now we have Tropical Storms Hanna, Ivy & Josephine heading towards Florida. First we were waiting for Gustav to decide where to go. Now Hanna is heading in our general direction. Carol had a doctors appointment at 10:15. She’s so proud of herself. She weighed 126# fully dressed and after breakfast!! I had a lunch appointment with Chuck & Carl; friends from my Harbor Federal days. I got home about 1:00. Since Hanna had stalled near Cuba, we decided to get started before she got much closer to us. Left Fort Pierce at 1:55pm. We got to Georgia about 7:30 and decided to stop at the Georgia Welcome Center to get some sleep. On the road about 7:00am the next morning. While passing through the Atlanta area we stopped at an Atlanta Bread Store. Carol wanted some of their great cookies to celebrate her weight loss.  The next day, Thursday the 4th, we spent the night at the John Tanner State Park near Carrollton, GA. There is a large, clear water lake right near the campground that has a paved path all around it. We all enjoyed two nice walks. Gopher enjoyed swimming as usual. Must feel good on a warm day and after a long drive.

September 5, 2008

Left about 8:00am. Drove to the Whitten Campground; a Corps of Engineers Facility on the Tennessee-Tombigbee(Tenn-Tom) Waterway near Fulton/Tupelo, MS. The drive over was enjoyable. Off the interstates for a change on Highway 78 going through Birmingham to Memphis, TN. The campground is very nice. Paved roads, water/electric and a small swimming beach. We have a site right on the water. Enjoyed a mostly suny day walking and looking at the river. The people across from us are from Mississippi. On the way here from where they live to the south, the southbound side of the highway was very heavy with people heading back to Louisiana from the Hurricane Gustav evacuation. They said the news reported I-10 west to also be very busy with traffic. Glad we decided to come this way instead of the usual I-10 route. The weather report indicates Hurricane Ike will likely head into the Gulf of Mexico. A relief for us.

September 6, 2008

Left the campground about 8:00am heading for North Little Rock, AR. Drove through Memphis, TN, the location of the Elvis Presley house Graceland. Stayed the night at a city park, Burns Park, in North Little Rock . A nice place. There is a golf course, soccer fields, tennis courts, etc. When we went into the park the office was closed. A sign said to pick a spot and someone would be around to collect the $16 fee. No one ever showed up and when we left in the morning the office was still closed.

September 7 & 8

Continued west. Stopped at Lake Dardanelle State Park near Russellville, AR. On the Arkansas River. Stayed two nights. The campground has a visitor center with an aquarium with fish from the river. Lots of nice paved paths for Carols scooter. Our campsite is right on the lake. Pretty view. The people camping next to us are from the New Orleans area. They came up here escaping Hurricane Gustav. Now they’re staying here while they see where Hurricane Ike is going. Right now, it looks like it’s heading to the Louisiana coast. According to the local paper, thousands of the evacuees stayed at a military base in Fort Smith, AR, about an hour west of where we are now. They finally left on Saturday. Depending on Ike, they may be coming back. Hope not.

September 9
Drove to Fort Smith, AR, the only town of any size around here, to go grocery shopping. Plus stop at Panera Bread. Carol really likes their cookies. Last night Carol went through the different cookbooks we brought with us looking for different dinner ideas. Got the ingredients for veggie pizza & a Mexican dish. We had the pizza for dinner tonight and it was just wonderful. Stopped at the OK welcome center and got lots of useful information about OK.
Our destination for the day was the Corps of Engineers campground, Applegate Cove, on the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River south of Sallisaw, OK. The directions said to go south on Hwy 59 and follow the signs. We saw no signs. After going further than I knew was necessary, we turned around. Finally saw a C.O.E. sign pointing to the engineering office. Went in and asked for directions saying I saw no signs. The lady agreed there were no signs and directed me to the campground which was only two miles away. She said this happens all the time and just shrugged her shoulders. Oh well. The campground was OK. Right on the reservoir. Nice for the fisherman.

September 10,11

The plan was to spend the night at the city campground in El Reno, OK. The weather turned very wet. Rained most of these three days. Instead of stopping to visit towns here & there along the route, we mostly just drove west. We saw the cheapest gas on our trip so far. $3.41 in Shawnee, OK. We had just filled up Wal-Mart for $3.45. When we got to El Reno, the city campground was closed because the road was being repaired. Stopped at a very nice park to let Gopher run around for a while. It was raining but she needs to get out all the same. We went to the Lucky Star Casino and spent the night in the parking lot. Water, electric & sewer hookup. All for free, Can’t beat that. We had dinner in the casino. Carol had chicken fried steak; I had an Indian taco. Both very good meals. After I walked Gopher in the morning, when we got back into the camper, Carol was fully dressed and drinking her morning juice. She was so proud of having done that all by herself. Getting better day by day. I think one of the reasons we both enjoy traveling so much is Carols ability to do so much for herself in the confines of the small camper. Seems much easier than at home.
We continued West driving in moderate to heavy rain. Spend the night on the 11th at the Ute Lake State Park near Logan, NM. New Mexico sells an annual camping pass for $225. The pass entitles you to “free” camping at any of the State Parks. The typical rate is $10/night. Since we’ll be here for a few months, it should pay off. We need to stay 23 nights for it to pay off. We’ll see. Our campsite at Ute Lake is right on the water. It’s only us and four others in the entire park. Still raining. Rained all day and the rain is supposed to continue through the weekend courtesy of Hurricane Ike.

September 12

Left the campground and took a drive through Santa Rosa along a part of the old Route 66. Route 66, aka The Mother Road, runs from Chicago to Los Angeles. It was the first cross country highway. Built in the early to mid-30’s. Saw some of the original motels & one restaurant. Did laundry. While in Santa Rosa, we saw two men selling roasted chilies. They had several large bags of green chilies and a large rotating drum over a fire. The chilies went in green and came out red. Wish I knew what to do with them. I would have bought some. Spent the night in the Santa Rosa Lake SP north of Santa Rosa. Parked on a dirt road leading to the water for most of the day, then went to the campground in the early evening. Another time change. We’re now two hours earlier then at home.

Virginia Part 2

Sherando Lake
CCC sign at Camp Roosevelt
Big Meadows Campground

Black bear cub.
Mother bear

Virginia Part 2

July 23^rd

Drove to the Sherando Lake Recreation area south of Staunton near the Blue Ridge Parkway; a Forest Service campground. $10/night. The 23^rd was a cloudy and rainy day. I cold front was passing through. Went shopping in Roanoke on the way here. Carol was about out of books. Went to a Boarders and bought five new books.

Sherando Lake is a nice campground. Our site is nicely wooded with a large area by the picnic table. No electric hookups. The solar panels are a lifesaver in situations like this. I can charge the battery on Carols scooter without needing an external source of electricity. That’s exactly why I ordered the panels with our new Lazy Daze.

The weather is just perfect. Carol thinks it’s the best yet. The low last night was 58*. During the day it was in the mid-70*’s. The lake is a ten minute walk from our campsite. Gopher is having a ball chasing sticks & swimming.

After walking all around the park, we decided our camping loop, White Oak, was the best of the three. Sherando Lake Recreation Area will be one of our stops the next time we’re in the area.

Saturday, July 26

We decided to continue on our trip. Drove into Waynesboro for grocery shopping and laundry. Took VA 340 north towards Loray. Spent the night at the Camp Roosevelt NF Campground outside of Louray. This is the first Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC) project; started on April 17, 1933. In 1933 during the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the CCC to provide jobs for single young men between the age of 18 and 25. Over 25% of the population were unemployed at the time. The War Department ran the project much like a unit of the military. The men were paid $30/month of which $25 was sent home to their family. By July, 1933, over 250,000 young men were part of the CCC. By the time the program ended when WW-II broke out, over 2,400,000 young men had participated in the CCC. This was the most successful of all the job creation programs tried during the Depression.

Sunday & Monday:

We drove to the Shenandoah National Park (Skyline Drive). Camped at the Big Meadows Campground. When we arrived on Sunday morning the campground was close to full. By noon it was perhaps 25% full. We had our choice of nice campsites. There are deer everywhere in the campground. They’re accustomed to being around people but not at all comfortable when they pick up Gophers scent. On Monday, a mother bear and her two cubs were walking near the campground. Got some good pictures. We had been wanting to see some bears on this trip and finally, on our last day in the mountains, we did.

The three of us enjoyed some nice walks around the Big Meadows area. There are a lot of paved trails.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday:

Drove into Luray then to our campground for the next three days; Low-Water Bridge Campground in Bentonville. The campground caters mostly to tenters, pop-ups, etc. When we were there we were one of only three campers in the place. The manager said they are only busy on weekends with tubers, kayakers, etc. In Luray, we discovered the new Hawksbill Greenway. It’s a wonderful ADA compliant walking path through downtown Luray. We stopped there twice during our visit to the area. The manager of the campground told us of a new grocery store in Front Royal. We went there on Thursday. The store is as nice as any we’ve been in. Well worth the trip. During our trip to Front Royal, we stopped at the Shenandoah River State Park. Right now they have tent camping only but are in the process of building an RV campground. Will be a nice place to stay in the future.

Virginia Part 1

Carol. Hungry Mother SP
Our campsite. Hungry Mother SP
The Festival.
Claytor Lake SP

VIRGINIA:

July 15:

Entered Virginia about 2:00. We stayed the night at the Raccoon Branch Forest Service Campground right off VA Hwy 16. A good choice. There is a small creek running through the campground. Some sites even have electrical hookups; very unusual for a FS campground. Read & played some Mexican Train. Carol’s catching up on the score.

July 16:

Our next stop is the Hungry Mother State Park near Marion, VA. Stopped in Marion
for some bread & milk and to do laundry. Got to the campground and they were booked up for the weekend. This is the 35th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival. They had room for tonight only so we took what we could. The battery charger on Carols scooter died. The closest one I could find was in Roanoke; about 1 ½ hours from here. We’re going to pick it up tomorrow. Oh well. We needed to find another campground anyway. I checked other nearby state parks. They are filled for most Friday/Saturday nights. No surprise there. It’s prime camping time. That’s why we like traveling in the off season so much. No reservations required.

About 9:30pm, I tried the on-line reservations for VA state parks one last time. Amazing. Must have caught a last minute cancellation. Plus, it’s in the very best located camping area.

July 17

We got up about 7am. Had breakfast then went to check-in at our new camp site. Checked in then drove to the camping area to select our site. At VA State Parks, they don’t assign sites; you just take any empty site then put your reservation card on the post. This early in the day, there were no unoccupied sites. We saw a site right on the creek where the people’s reservation sign indicated they were leaving today. I asked if I could put my reservation sign on the post and they said yes. We wound up with what’s probably the best campsite in the entire park!! Very private, nice shade trees, right on the creek leading into the large lake. About 8:30 we headed to Roanoke to get the battery charger. Nice uneventful trip. On the other side of I-81 there was a truck on fire. Traffic was backed up for miles. Glad it wasn’t our side. Stopped at Wal-Mart on the way back for some last minute items. Arrived at the campground about 2:00. After resting from the drive, we all took a walk around the park. We’re about two blocks from where all the festival events are being held. The trails throughout this part of the park are all paved. What a perfect day.

July 18

The Festival starts today. After taking Gopher for a long walk, Carol and I went to the Festival. There are over a hundred exhibiters, food vendors, etc., as well as daily entertainment of different types. We had lunch in the on-site restaurant. Read our books & enjoyed a wonderful day. Tomorrow we’re going back again. Carol wants some sugar coated nuts and caramel corn.

July 19, 2008

Spent most of the day at the Festival. Carol got her sugar roasted pecans. We enjoyed the blue grass music, Appalachian Highlanders Pipes and Drums and the Celtic musicians. The weather was perfect for an outdoor festival. The campground has filled up with families with little kids. A “joyous” noise I suppose. Gopher is going crazy with all the children’s noise, scooters, bikes, etc. Some of the kids keep running through our campsite to get to the creek. We keep Gopher tied on a very short rope, but she still jumps & barks each time a child comes running close to her. She sent one little boy screaming away. We wish parents would tell their children to respect others privacy. We enjoy watching the children having fun, but get concerned when they run right at the dog.

July 20

Left Hungry Mother SP about 9:30. Stopped at the Wal-Mart in Wytheville. Filled up with gas. “Only” $3.79/gallon. The cheapest gas so far, for this trip. Stayed the night at Stony Fork Forest Service Campground located a few miles north of Wytheville. A nice campground. There’s a small creek running next to our campsite. Picked lots of blackberries. For desert tonight, we had ice cream with blackberries.

July 21,22

Camped at the Claytor Lake SP. There is a large lake that is easily accessible from the campground by a paved path. We enjoyed several walks to the lake. Read our books & played Train. We’ve probably played 30 games so far. The score is about even.