Hi Everybody,
Time does fly. Reyna and I have been traveling almost 4 weeks now and it's Memorial Day. (Actually now it is June 6 and I’m still writing this trying to catch up.) Trip has been great so far. Weather has cooperated by being cooler than usual by 5 or 10 degrees, which is good because Reyna and I are traveling in our 1973 VW Bug which only has 250 air conditioning (you know -- 2 windows open at 50 MPH). We managed to load the Bug with everything we need and I'm sure a bunch of stuff we probably don't/won't need and put Reyna's new walker on top and I can still see out the rear view mirror, so that was one mission accomplished.
Since starting, we've sent one box of stuff home and consumed some other stuff, so the load is actually diminished and not been replenished with souvenirs. (I don't know what we were thinking when I packed my DVDs of Have Gun Will Travel and a few movies and all my Field Guides. I sent the DVDs home as we will never crank up the laptop and watch them while we are camping out and don't need them in a hotel or motel with TV. And, I also realized that I really wasn't going to use my Field Guide(s) to Animal Tracks or Trees or Western Reptiles, so sent them home too. The 2 bird guides (Western and North American) have been used, so those and the star guide are the only two still with us.) Below are details of our adventure to date.
5/3 Tuesday -- Left Long Beach about 1 in the afternoon and arrived in Phoenix about 10 or so that night. Didn't want to push the Bug too much at interstate speeds, so mostly kept it to about 65 but found we were going 75 and 80 as we got into Phoenix. Traveled mostly on I-10. We stayed with Dave and Donna Homce on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (thanks again for the hospitality). While in Phoenix the humidity was 2%, which tied record low in their history. As we saw later traveling across AZ, NM and TX, the west is in a drought. Creeks and streams that should be running this spring are bone dry as there was little snow this winter and the last rain was in September October last year.
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5/5 Thursday -- Left Phoenix and headed east and north to Show Low via US Hwy 60 through some nice mountain country. Before hitting the mountains we stopped and visited Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park about an hour east of Phoenix, which has cactus collection and many other native plants. 
We hiked their 2 mile or so nature trail. Reyna did the whole tour using her new walker. It’s got heavy duty wheels and really helps support her back as she can lean on it as she walks. From Show Low we stayed east on US 60 to Springerville where we turned south on US 180 toward Silver City in NM. Spent the night camped out under the stars (no tent) in national forest in AZ somewhere between Alpine and Luna, NM. (Can’t say precisely where since our newly rebuilt replaced speedometer/odometer quit working when speedo cable broke 61 miles before we got to Show Low.) 
5/6 Friday
Drove to Silver City and on up to Gila Hot Springs outside of Gila National Monument. Along the way south on US180 as we headed toward Silver City, we stopped at a place called Catwalk, where catwalks and trails have been built so you can hike up the Whitewater Creek canyon to check it out. 
The catwalks are hung off the side of the canyon, so at points you are hiking above the river. River was low but at least flowing and it was a pretty hike. 
Along the way south to Silver City we sighted a fire burning in the mountains to our east which turned out to be on our west when we got to Gila Hot Springs just south of Gila National Monument which is about 45 miles north of Silver City in the Gila Mountains. 
It was pretty smoky though not all that bad, so we stayed overnight and enjoyed the 3 outdoor clothing optional pools (one younger woman actually took up the option – seems to me we used to do that). Gila Hot Springs charges only $5 per day per person to camp out next to the hot springs. 
There is a little more upscale RV part, but this was a deal and the springs were great. While enjoying the springs, we met a woman who had retired from professorship (had been Chairman of Women’s Studies at Central Manitoba University in Canada) to live in Silver City. She had just taken a job in a doctor’s office to have something to do. Subsequently, we’ve met several “retirees” – none of whom have stayed “retired”. Had planned to stay longer, but the smoke just made it not worth it, so on morning of 5/7 we headed out.
5/7 Saturday
Drove up to the Gila National Monument to see the cliff dwellings. Thanks to being a senior, we have a pass that got us into the Monument for free. This pass works at all the Federal parks, monuments, so if you’re a senior (62) don’t leave home without it (you can get the passes at any National park or monument). The walk up to the cliff dwellings and back is a couple of miles and quite pretty, but trail too rough for Reyna and her walker so I went solo. 
Then we headed out of the mountains and over toward Hatch and Las Cruces. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at a café that I think was near Mimbres. It was near a lake that is not on the map. Lunch was good and only reason I mention this is that the café owner was selling out after 15 years of running it since she had “retired” from being a professor of advertising and marketing at Northwestern University in Chicago. The whole highway in and around the Gila Mountains is quite scenic, so we dawdled along. We were finally able to get cell phone reception on our Nextel/Sprint phones (hadn’t worked since Phoenix) as we stopped at an overlook at Emory Pass (8228’) on NM Hwy 152. Can you hear me now? We camped that night for $8 at Caballo Lake State Park. “Primitive” site with no facilities right on the lake. Really windy as we set up our tent and I discussed with Reyna how much I hated the tent and it’s 4 poles instead of 2 that make it additionally complicated to erect.
From Lake Caballos State Park we went south on NM state hwy 185 that parallels I25 via Hatch to Las Cruces where we headed NE on US 70 and stopped at White Sands Missile Range on saw an impressive display of various kinds of missiles the Army, AF, Navy, Coast Guard have developed. 
Next was White Sands National Monument – it is really white,-- glaringly so. The sand is gypsum. 
Then to Alamagordo and up to Roswell, NM where we overnighted at Motel 6 to get rested up for our visit to the International UFO museum the next morning.
Visited the International UFO Museum ($3 entrance fee). Once you've read all the stuff they have you're convinced that the government covered up something way back when in Roswell. Whatever was found was not a weather balloon.
From Roswell we went south on NM2 to Artesia and then east over to NM206 and south to Carlsbad Caverns. We arrived late in afternoon, so last tour was done. I still planned to drive the 7 miles to the cavern from our campsite to see the bats come out at night, but I inquired at the local store while getting beer and ice and was reminded that bats were migratory and they haven't yet returned to Carlsbad in any numbers, so we skipped that. So we camped out overnight (again didn’t bother to put up the tent as weather so nice.)
5/10 Tuesday
We went to the Caverns where they now send all the visitors down to cavern via elevator rather than the traditional walk in. You have to ask to find the trail to walk down. Reyna made the entire 2+ mile tour around the main cavern with use of her roller/walker. This was our 2nd time to the Caverns. They are magnificent.
From there we headed south and due to the fact that our speedometer/odometer cable broke 61 miles south of Show Lo, we didn't know how far we had come on latest tank of gas. It's important that we know since the gas gauge itself is a bit of an estimate. It registers 2/3 when it is full and when it hits the red zone as empty it has 4+ gallons left - I think / hope. Anyhow we had a bit of a nail biter getting to gas in Van Horn TX next to I-10. Took 10.2 gallons on a 10.6 gallon tank. Speaking of gas we are getting about 25 mpg where I could measure and using a quart of oil with every 8 gallon fill up. Highest gas has been $4.43 in Big Bend National Park. Lowest $3.37! in New Orleans. As you get close to the source along the Gulf in TX and LA the price is decidedly less than other parts. Would say we are probably averaging arouund 3.80 – will know after I complete spreadsheet with our expenses – don’t want to look to closely as I ‘m sure we are over what I budgeted. Anyhow, from Van Horn we crossed I-10 and headed south on US 90. At a town called Valentine, we turned on TX Farm Route 505 and then east toward Ft Davis on SR 166 which is a scenic loop around mountains there. Ft. Davis was center of one of biggest fires in TX history a month or so ago. It burned from Marfa to Ft Davis in 2 hours, which is a distance of about 20 miles and then on north of Ft. Davis up to I10. We had a bit of car trouble about 15 miles outside of Ft Davis TX where we stopped at a historical monument about 4 in the afternoon to learn about Bloys Camp Meeting -- http://www.bloyscampmeeting.org) and car just quit running and would not start again. So, I flagged down a passing car to see if we could use their cell phone since ours didn’t work in that area and the passenger suggested we go see Mr. Virgil in the Camp Meeting. So I walked into this compound of tin houses at Bloys Camp Meeting and found Mr. Virgil (Virgil Gage) the caretaker who allowed us to use his phone to call for a tow. Tow has to come out 40+ miles from Alpine TX and couldn’t come until the morning. So we camped out overnight. Virgil set us up in a part of the Camp area that RVs use. He turned on the water and electricity in the bathrooms. We spent the night.
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| no tent tonight -- one of the "cabins" at Bloys |
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| Virgil Gage and Reyna |
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| Reyna at the office doiing email via wireless connection |
5/11 Wednesday
Virgil brought us coffee in the morning -- an above and beyond the call of duty good Samaritan! I went into town with the tow truck (back to Alpine) where mechanic replaced a fuse and sent me on my way.
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| on tow truck on way to leaving Bloys to go to Alpine TX |
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| La Casita in Alpine TX -- highly recommend |
From the mechanics I went to the La Casita restaurant in Alpine and it was great. Had a dish pictured below that they called the Guadalara. Really tasty small tostada with ground meat and lots of guacamole on top. Also had some chile verde.
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| The Guadalajra at La Casita |
Then, I went and bought more fuses at Auto Zone and then I went to Verizon and got a cell phone that works in TX where our Sprint/Nextel phone didn’t. Good thing because the car blew fuse on way back to Bloys Camp. In fact it blew the fuse several times as I replaced it, so I called our mechanic back in Long Beach and he told me how to hot wire the car. That worked pretty well except I didn’t use heavy duty enough wire (used some speaker wire) and this ended up burning out. Meanwhile, Virgil had been calling me to see if I was okay and he finally couldn’t stand it and drove about 30 miles from Bloys Camp to check on me. He hotwired the car by using both wires in the speaker wire (I had used only one) and it held out to get us back to his place. That night we went out to dinner in Ft Davis to celebrate Virgil’s 65th birthday. We ate at the Drugstore and that was fun as all the locals were coming in to get ice cream and everybody said hello to Virgil and his wive Beverly.
5/12 Thursday
Virgil spent the morning helping trouble shoot the bug and we got it going and didn’t need the hot wire anymore, but we lost the headlights in the process. But since it stays light until 9 at night that didn’t bother me. Reyna and I were finally able to finish our drive around SR166 and visited the McDonald Observatory and saw the Hobby-Eberly telescope below.
We saw javelina as we made the loop in the afternoon. Also a herd of Aoudad Sheep. And antelope.
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| SR166 loop road around "Ft Davis Mountains in TX |
5/13 Friday
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| Ride of a Lifetime -- hearse in Marfa, TX |
The Pizza Foundation restaurant in an old gas station in Marfa was recommended to us and it was worth the stop for lunch. They also offered an eclectic selection of beers.
From Marfa we went on down to Presidio on the border via US67. Turning East on Farm Road 170 we drove through Big Bend Ranch State Park paralleling the Rio Grande.
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| Rio Grande alongside FR 170 in Big Bend Ranch State Park |
Roadside picnic rest area enroute to Terlingua, TX where we spent the night in motel.
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| Picnic area on way to Terlingua TX |
Sunset in Terlingua
We drove around Big Bend some more and went on the Dagger Flat Auto Trail and learned about half dozen different kinds of yucca. From there we drove back to the Rio Grande via Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. At the end of the drive is an overlook of Santa Elena Canyon. I hiked up the Canyon a mile or so to where the sheer wall came down to the river and you couldn’t go any further. Canyon wall on the other side was Mexico. We camped overnight here in Cottonwood campground.
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| Looking west where Rio Grande comes out of Elena Canyon |
5/16 Monday
Enjoyed breakfast at the Cottonwood campground. Six or 8 javelina came visiting, but seemed content to graze on the grass or whatever they were finding. They are notorious for tearing up campsites looking for food and the Rio Grande Village Campground provides metal storage boxes like bear boxes in the Sierra so you can protect your supplies. None were provided in this campground where we actually saw javelina.
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| Texas Breakfast |
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| Javelina visitng the Cottonwood campground |
5/16 Monday
Packed up and headed back toward Ft Davis on TX Hwy 118 to pick up the gear we had left behind. On the way out of Big Bend we drove to a spot called Burro Mesa Pouroff. It’s a ½ mile or so walk up a canyon to a dry waterfall that is quite impressive to imagine all the water that could pour off from the mesa above to create the canyon.
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| Flower in wash on way to Burro Canyon Pouroff |
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| Burro Mesa Pouroff -- this seemed to be 200 - 300 feet high. Couldn't get this waterfall face all into one picture. |
5/17 Tuesday
Said goodbye for now to Virgil and Beverly and went north from Ft Davis back to I-10. We visited Balmormorhea State Park which has worlds largest spring fed outdoor pool. It's huge. It was closed for cleaning the day we arrived. It had been drained and was just refilling after a week. From Balmorhea we headed east on I-10 for a pretty boring drive as TX turned flat after enjoying the West Texas mountains. We stopped that night in Junction TX and next day went through Hill Country to Austin.
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| Rick, Reyna, Beverly, Virgil |
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| Pool at Balmorhea State Park in process of being refilled -- about 6' to go |
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| Notice that the pool is 3 to 20' deep |
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| I-10 in TX - boring road -- we did not threaten the speed limit |
The catwalks are hung off the side of the canyon, so at points you are hiking above the river. River was low but at least flowing and it was a pretty hike. 
Along the way south to 
It was pretty smoky though not all that bad, so we stayed overnight and enjoyed the 3 outdoor clothing optional pools (one younger woman actually took up the option – seems to me we used to do that). Gila Hot Springs charges only $5 per day per person to camp out next to the 
There is a little more upscale RV part, but this was a deal and the springs were great. While enjoying the springs, we met a woman who had retired from professorship (had been Chairman of Women’s Studies at 
Then to Alamagordo and up to Roswell, NM where we overnighted at Motel 6 to get rested up for our visit to the International UFO museum the next morning. 
Had a nice lunch at the lodge where Reyna got a huge club sandwich (who knew) that made for dinner breakfast and lunch the next day.
Had a nice lunch at the lodge where Reyna got a huge club sandwich (who knew) that made for dinner breakfast and lunch the next day.
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