Day 8 – Dunes and Aliens – April 30, 2018

This was another travel day, but we caught a couple of wonders of the southwest. First stop was the White Sands National Monument. The 8 mile loop road is paved for part of the way and the remainder is on hard packed white sand. There was a brisk wind blowing today and driving down the road was very much like driving in a snowstorm – without the cold. We ran up and down the dunes in our bare feet and the sand felt almost cool to the touch even though the air temperature was in the high 70’s. The visitor center, built in the 1930’s, has good information on how the dunes were formed from the breakdown of gypsum on a dry lake bed.

Sometimes, when out in the desert, you start to see double - looks like two Karens out there!

From there, we headed up over Apache Pass (elevation 7500’) through the town of Ruidoso and down into the hotbed of space alien conspiracies and cover-ups:  Roswell, NM.  

With the racing pulse of anticipation, we went directly to the International UFO Museum and Research Center on Main Street. Our excitement was intensified when we learned the admission price for seniors was only $3. Let me tell you, the experience was worth every penny (even the penny we crushed in the souvenir penny machine)!

Located in what likely was once the best movie theater in town, the museum/research center is ground zero for those who crave a kitschy look at mysterious events that began in July 1947 when a local rancher discovered the remains of both a flying saucer and its purported occupants. To lend a touch of academic credibility to the whole thing, there is even a ‘Research Room’ lined with shelves of archival material related to local space alien activity.

Tonight is laundry night and leftover taco night. Tomorrow is Big Spring, TX.

OMG if we go to another hokey tourist trap, I am going to________. (you can fill in the blank)
We are going to go thru Texas as quickly as we can and get ourselves to New Orleans. Nothin' touristy about that! LOL!
I've never been and am looking forward to some real deal food - beignets, etoufee, shrimp and grits....
We are currently close to the border of NM and Texas at a very quaint mom and pop RV park, just a few spaces backed up to a hay field. It is soooo windy, if it doesn't die down, it's going to be a rough nite.

Day 7 – Kartchner Cavern Tour, Tumbleweed Twisters, Chile Capital of the World, the Rio Grande River – April 29, 2018

After a late night around the campfire (the highlight of which was Bill channeling his inner Marty Robbins while singing a stirring rendition of ‘El Paso’, and which was preceded by Tim using his axe to split some geodes, and which was followed by great conversation with Pam and Susanne), we got the first tour of the day for the caverns and it was well worth the wait. Much care has been taken by the State of Arizona to ensure the caverns stay as pristine as possible.

We then left the mesquite forests of Kartchner and went east. Just inside the New Mexico border, we spotted a huge dust devil about a mile ahead of us. Just as we approached it, it shot across the highway in front of us hurling tumbleweeds and other debris up to 100ft in the air. Pretty exciting.

We pulled into Hatch, NM, the self-proclaimed ‘Chile Capital of the World’ at just before 5:00PM.  The town sits right along the legendary Rio Grande River (Karen had to convince me that this was, indeed, the same Rio Grande that serves as the border between Texas and Mexico). Fortunately, we made it into the Village Market just before it closed for the day and got the supplies necessary to cook a taco dinner in the Aliner.

The Leasburg State Park closes at dusk, and we made it just in time to get in the gate and get set up before dark. Our campsite overlooks the Rio Grande River. This is just a stopover night and we plan to get out early in the morning to head off to White Sands and Roswell.

Day 6 – Buffalo Soldiers, Government Security Access, Picnic on the Base

Day 6 – Buffalo Soldiers, Government Security Access, Picnic on the Base

 

We packed a picnic lunch this morning and headed a few miles down the road to Fort Huachuca, a still-active U.S. Army base. You can Google it to get all the details, but the short version is that it started as a remote border outpost back in the 1880’s and has morphed into a principal training base for military intelligence. It is also open to the public, subject to a pre-entry security check, and you can visit the museums there.

At the entry gate, we were directed into a security building to get our temporary id badges. Inside, it looked like a smaller version of a DMV office – except the clerks were heavily armed military police. You took a ticket with a number and they called you when it was time to get processed. In the meantime, you had to fill out a form with all your personal info. After about 45 minutes, it was our turn – I think they did a real-time criminal background check and if you passed, you got your badge. While were waiting, Karen overheard a conversation between the clerk and a young fellow who was seeking access to the base. It turns out he had been dishonorably discharged from the service at some time in the past, and he was denied entry today – no excuses accepted. We got in.

The highlight of the Fort Huachuca museum is the exhibit chronicling the history of the so-called Buffalo Soldiers – the African-American troops who were stationed at the base beginning in the 1880’s all the way through the end of WWII. It’s quite a story, and one that is worth learning more about.

The base is a sprawling facility in the foothills at about 4300’ elevation. We were allowed to drive around just about anywhere along the main roads. We had a great picnic lunch at an observation point above the base.

We returned to camp in the early afternoon to make plans for the next couple of days. Tonight, we’ll socialize again with our camping neighbors (Tim, Pam, Bill, Susan) and then get up early tomorrow to take a Kartchner Caverns tour.

Next:  Off to New Mexico.

Day 5 - Trail Run, Bisbee, Not-So-OK Corral

Day 5 – Trail Run, Bisbee Mine Tour, and the Not-so-OK Corral – April 27, 2018

I took my first trail run of the trip this morning. The Foothill Trail Loop is about 3.5 miles and climbs up about 400 feet from the campground, which is at an approximate elevation of 4100’. The rocky limestone single-track reminded me of a ‘yellow’ level Ragnar trail loop. The air was cool at sunrise and it was just me and the jackrabbits out there.

After breakfast, we drove down to Bisbee. It’s an old mining town tucked away in the mountains of southeast AZ at about 5300’ elevation. The temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than at our campsite. Bisbee is like many old mining towns we’ve visited in California – it’s a mix of hard-scrabble locals and artsy/hipster/old hippie folk. A bumper sticker in one of the shops summarized the blend:  “Bisbee – It’s Like Mayberry on Acid”. It’s also the home of the fall classic ‘Bisbee 1000’ stair climb/run in which runners go up and down the many near-vertical stairways that are a prominent feature of the town.

We kept our stair climbing to a minimum and opted for the Queen Mine tour. Our tour guide was a former copper miner who actually worked in the Queen Mine back in the early 1970’s just before it closed. We rode a train into the mine and got to see how the miners did it back in the day. In 1915 these guys got 34 cents an hour and that was considered good pay.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at Tombstone, AZ. I’m not sure what we expected of this town, but it was way different than we thought it would be. It was kind of like walking down a carnival midway, with barkers in every doorway pleading for you to come in and spend $10 to $20 dollars to experience some aspect of the old west. Signs were everywhere forbidding you to photograph any of the ‘Westworld-like’ tableaus that were strategically placed all over town (unless you wanted to offer a small ‘donation’ to the merchant).  The famed OK Corral is completely surrounded by a high wall that keeps all non-paying tourists from seeing it. I went into the souvenir shop that leads out to the corral and was stopped by a large character dressed like Black Bart, who was standing next to a sign that said, “Stop Here Unless You’ve Purchased a Ticket”. I couldn’t even look out the window to see the site of the legendary showdown between the Earps and the Clantons. Hey, the movies are better anyway!

Tomorrow: Fort Huachuca