Sorry this is such a long post, we haven't had cell service since my last post on the 15th.

September 19, 2012

Well we are again in an area without cell service but I will get caught up on my journaling.   Tonight we are at Sugarite State Park near Raton, NM.  We were sitting outside enjoying the evening when a fellow camper stopped and said a bear had just walked through his campsite and usually moves through our site, we moved inside.  We had hoped to see him but did not.  Anyway I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Sunday we moved from Hecla Junction to Hyde Memorial State Park in the mountains northeast of Santa Fe, NM.  It always fun to come into a new state for the first time as everyone has different ways of doing things at their state parks.  We did not enter NM on an Interstate highway so we were not able to stop for a map and other information at a tourist information center.  We were dependant on an atlas from 1998 for information (I think we’ll look for a new one soon).

NM camping fees are very reasonable, $14 per night for an electric site without a park permit, $4 with a permit.  A non-resident permit is $220 but would be worth it if you wanted to winter here.

On Monday we started the day at the Santa Fe visitor’s center for some maps and local information.  Santa Fe is an old town and there are no straight streets and they are narrow.  We started in the downtown area and visited Saint Frances Cathedral.  Inside it was beautiful.  Columns had gilded accents at the top, wonderful old stain glass and a huge pipe organ.  They request no flash photos so we respected that and took no pictures.  Outside the streets were so narrow it was difficult to get pictures of the buildings but I attempted some of the opera house.

We visited a number of the shops.  Debbie found two pairs of very nice earrings made by local craftsmen which she purchased.  After that we found the State Parks office looking for more information but they had little.  Then a late lunch at a local restaurant that was very good and way more than we could eat.  I especially liked the chili rellano.   Tomastta was the name of the place.

After lunch we found Santa Fe Stoneworks.  I had seen an advertisement and it looked kind of interesting.  They do custom knives.  It was a small place but they make really beautiful knives.  I purchased a new pocket knife, a 4” lockback with belt clip.  It is a second with a tiny flaw in one stone.  They do the custom knife work for several manufactures as well.  Their latest project was a 110 year anniversary knife for Harley Davidson.  I’ll probably have to look for that one.  It is so cool to actually talk to a craftsman that makes something that you buy. 

Tuesday we drove up to Terrero.  It is listed as a ghost town but we found only a store / trail ride operation and evidence of an abandoned mine.  There was also a stream near the mine where a fairly large flow of water came right out of the side the mountain.  It was pretty cool.

We then drove on up the road to Cowles.  There was nothing there but a few homes, most of them looked to be weekend cabins.  The only other point of interest was a marker for the Glorieta Battlefield.  The site of a Civil War battle in March of 1862, I think.  Who would expect to find a Civil War battlefield in New Mexico?  Well I bet Terry knows about it.

Well that’s got us up to date. Tonight we are staying in the Lake Alice Campground with water and electricity.  Tomorrow we are moving to the Soda Pocket CG.  There is no electricity but the view is breathtaking.

September 23, 2012

Well we are getting much more adept at dry camping.  Soda Pocket is so much nicer than Lake Alice we are extending our stay another night.  By the time we finished laundry and got moved up here Thursday it was afternoon and we spent some time just looking at the other canyon wall to our east.  We actually pulled into our campsite backwards so the view was out our front window.

While we were eating a late lunch the campground host stopped to provide us with some information.  This park experienced a wildfire in June of 2011 and this campground just opened back up in August.  It is primitive camping, the water has not yet been turned on.   He also gave us the gate code, they lock the gate to this road from the highway after dark.

After lunch we walked to the Grand Vista trailhead and up the trail which was listed as a ½ mile loop.  Debbie made it almost to the top but could handle one switchback.  As dusk approached we took a ride into Raton so I could make a phone call.  I bet we saw 20 deer, they are everywhere, not just in the park but we see them in folk’s yards in town too, we saw almost as many turkey as well.

On Friday we did the Coal Town trail along with the trail to mines 2 and 3.  It was right a 3 miles and Debbie did all but the last 100 yards to mine 3; again she couldn’t handle the last switchback.  The town vanished in 1941 when the mine closed and the buildings were torn down to salvage the materials.  The foundations are all that remain with the exception of the post office which is now the park office and the mule barn that is used as a maintenance building.  The old cable house was probably the coolest part.  There was a double track leading from the mine to the train loading area, each track had a string of 6 coal cars.  As the loaded cars descended they pulled up the empty cars and the operator in the cable house controlled the speed of the cars.

It was tough dangerous work.  Miners did not get paid for removing anything that was not coal so they blasted through rock for nothing.  It was referred to as dead work.  If they were injured or killed it was considered their fault and their families received no further compensation.  This class is another reason why we have labor unions.

On Saturday we visited the NRA Whittington Center.  If you are ever in northeast New Mexico this is a must see.  They have a magnificent collection of historical weapons mostly from the southwestern part of the US and not only display them well they go into the local history associated with each piece.  If you are at all interested in shooting sports after you visit the museum there are 17 shooting ranges so bring your guns.  The fee is $20 per shooter for the day.  There is also a coal mine on the property along with full hookup RV and primitive camping areas.  It is unbelievable!

Today we are going to visit a volcano then figure out where to head next, maybe Oklahoma or Kansas.

 September 24, 2012

Yesterday we visited Capulin Volcano National Monument.  It is an extinct cone volcano that erupted 60,000 years ago.  There are two trails at the top, one around the rim and another down into the crater.  The trails are some sort of manually laid asphalt so a little rough but stable walking.  (Dogs are not allowed so Darby stayed at the camper.)  I walked the rim then Debbie and I went down into the crater.  The path is lined with signs that describe vegetation, this volcano and other geological sights visible from this volcano.  It was interesting but of course I retained very little, the breathtaking views made it hard to concentrate.

The ride to the volcano was almost as interesting as the volcano.  We took highway 72 on the recommendation of our campground host.  It was a winding narrow road through a lot of nowhere where the deer and antelope play and we saw lots of them. We were also delayed by a rancher driving cattle down the road.  That was fun.

Today we moved to Black Mesa State Park near Kenton OK.  We are going to miss our view at Sugarite but this is pretty too.  This is definitely cattle country.  Most of the secondary roads are through open range.  The elevation here is about 4320’ above sea level so we dropped around 3000’ today.

Well we are again without cell service so I have no idea when I’ll be able to post this.  We do have water and electricity but no TV.  We haven’t seen any news for about two weeks.  I haven’t had to listen to Brian Williams tell me how great Obama is so I guess it’s not all bad…. J!

September 26, 2012

After arriving at Black Mesa Monday we took our usual drive around the park then to Kenton which is 8 miles northwest.  If you ever visit Kenton don’t expect to see much cause they ain’t got much.  There is a school and at least 3 churches and a general mercantile that we never found open.  I think Debbie said the population was 50.  There is also a museum that is open occasionally that looks to be about 400 square feet.

Tuesday we went to Boise City for gas, groceries, a map and park information.  We were able to find everything we came for and returned to the camper and ate a late lunch before heading up to Black Mesa which is about 5 miles north of Kenton.  After stopping at the trailhead we continued on north until we reached the Colorado state line.  This was all through open range so you cross a cattle guard at least every mile.

This is interesting country.  I have never been anywhere where you have to swerve to avoid spiders on the highway.  These things are huge!  The body is 2 – 3 inches and with the legs I guess they measure around a half a foot.

This morning after checking out the petrified wood display we left and headed to Boiling Springs SP near Woodward OK.  After arriving I set up camp while Debbie tried to figure out how and where to register.  Things seem pretty loose.  They have a drop box but prefer that you not use it and come and pay in the morning while the park office is open, or flag down a ranger or campground host if you see one… J

We’ll be here for a couple of days before heading north and planning on being home sometime next week.  So far this has been a fun trip and we’ve added two states to our map!