February, 2014 HEADING WEST AGAIN: TX, NM, AZ

Friday, February 7

Left a brisk 35 degree morning in Houston and temperatures fell a few degrees en route to Austin.  Misty, drizzly in spots but no issues with roads.  Brief stop at Matt’s in Austin, but decided to push on towards better weather.

Took route 290 west from Austin, through Dripping Springs, Johnson City and the LBJ Ranch, Fredericksburg.  Lots of ranches with goats, horses, cattle, some sheep; barren peach orchards and many deer and exotic wildlife.

Took I-10 the whole way to Fort Stockton, where we stopped at a Walmart with a dozen or so other trucks and rv’s.  Arrived about 7:30, had gumbo for dinner and went to sleep pretty early.  Very quiet night.

Saturday, February 8

Left Fort Stockton about 7:30 after a quick stop at a nearly Mickey D’s for coffee and a breakfast sandwich.  West Texas flat, occasional low mountains; cacti, mesquite and not a whole lot else!  Stopped at an overlook to stretch our legs and then continued on.

 Went through El Paso – very large and sprawling, lots of shopping malls and stores, some signs and store names in Spanish.  El Paso is very hilly and many homes are built into the hills.  Most of what we saw from the highway was very basic housing, small wooden boxes.

Arrived at New Mexico border at 11:20 Mountain Time and stopped at a Welcome Center to pick up a map and information.The White Sands Missile Range website had said it was closed indefinitely so we asked about it.  The man helping us made several phone calls and concluded that it was open, as it usually only closes for one or two hours at a time during testing. 

 

Stopped at the old town of Mesilla, which has a lovely church and many adobe stuctures.  Some of the buildings around the plaza were built in the early 1800’s and most had a story, whether related to Billy the Kid, Kit Carson,  the Butterfield Stagecoach line or other local history.  Many are now shops and we walked around a few before heading toward Las Cruces (the crosses, after which the city is named, refer to a group of crosses that marked the graves of some pioneers killed by the Apaches.)

Inexpensive gas at Las Cruces, which is the 2^nd largest city in New Mexico.  Back to mostly flat land with occasional low mountain ranges.   Very dry and rocky with mostly dried grasses and shrubby trees.  Unfortunately, the White Sands dunes were closed because of the crash of an unmanned plane yesterday morning. “Closed indefinitely”.  Many disappointed people at the Visitor’s Center, where we watched a film and then headed back towards Las Cruces with a stop along the road to check out some dunes.  The sand here is made of  gypsum  and is extremely soft and fine, almost like talc.

Decided to stop at a BLM campground we’d seen along the way – Aguirre Springs.  Very narrow windy road getting there.  It is tucked into the foothills of some mountains.  Nice campsites were probably about half full.  We walked a bit.  It was VERY windy, though and chilly, so we didn’t spend much time outside.  Nice clear , star-studded sky.

Sunday, February 9

Greg woke me early this morning, reporting a nice sunrise so I threw some clothes over my pj’s and we drove a bit to get a clearer view.

  These cattle were having an early breakfast.

 Lots of interesting dead trees – almost sculpture-like. Still winds strong enough to move me, which wasn’t terribly conducive to photography!

Back to the campsite to do morning ablations and have some breakfast – sausage and cheese biscuits.  Then back through Las Cruces and on toward Deming.  Our friend Anne, whom we met on the Alaska trip, called to see where we were and we agreed to meet at City of Rocks State Park, midway between Demming and her home in Silver City.

City of Rocks is an odd array of rocks rising vertically in the middle of flat lands, with trails and campsite scattered throughout.  Formed by tuff from several volcanoes, it is an interesting sight!  We watched a film at the Visitor’s Center then Anne arrived.  We drove to a few sites and scrambled through some of the rocks.

Anne brought her dog, Dixie, that we had met in Alaska.  Cutie and very much a part of Anne’s life.  Followed Anne back to Silver City and her home which is on 2 acres outside of town. Lovely home with rural feel and neighbors with horses, llamas, etc..  Plugged into her handy 30amp connection by the garage and then enjoyed pasta salad and deviled eggs – yum.  

Anne drove us around Silver City a bit to Bear Mountain Lodge, Western New Mexico University (her Alma Matar) and Little Walnut recreation area.  The architecture is definitely southwestern, with some adobe buildings, decorative tiles, red tile roofs…. Very nice.

Anne had made a great dinner of stuffed flank steak with a salsa twist, a corn and green chile casserole, beans and a lovely lemon pound cake.  We were stuffed but pleasantly so.  Talked and planned tomorrow.  Wonderful showers and called it an early night.

Monday, February 10

38 degrees at 7 AM.  Beautiful sunrise. 

Ann had picked up some cranberry and walnut scones from a bakery in town  which were fabulous with coffee and tea.  She wasn’t feeling especially well, so urged us to go ahead to the Gila National Forest and Cliff Dwellings with the hopes that she would feel better and meet us later.

The drive north of Silver City on Los Pinos Road was gorgeous.  After a very short time we climbed in elevation and entered a world of beautiful tall ponderosa pines.  The road was extremely windy but that was ok since we enjoyed the scenery so much.  There were occasional patches of snow in the shaded areas.

We stopped at a few viewpoints along the way, along with a memorial to Ben Lilly,  a famous mountain man from these parts.

Arrived at the Gila Cliff Dwelling Visitor’s Center where we watched a short film and got directions to the path to the Cliff Dwellings.  Talked with a volunteers from Sitka Alaska who was friendly and knowledgeable and then walked the mile long loop to the dwellings.  Another volunteer there provided some good information but we excused ourselves early and we headed onward, hoping to get some good photographs before the others – about 10 folks – made their way into the dwellings.

There are five caves, the first two of which are not open.  There is a path through the others and many of the walls, windows, etc. are still standing.  Very interesting!

Anne and Dixie were in the parking lot when we returned and we spent some time talking with another volunteer there about the area.  Anne has lived in this area since college and is very much an outdoors person and quite knowledgeable.

Anne took us to a nearby campsite where we had green chili stew for lunch and walked a short trail to a pictograph site. 

We headed back towards Silver City on another road and I rode with Anne.  She showed us Lake Roberts which is showing signs of their long (10+ years) drought, Bear Canyon Dam, which is faring better.  The road to and from Gila is the Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway, and is very beautiful.

We next stopped at a ranch that raises goats.  Anne knows the family and had heard that over 100 kids (baby goats that is) had been born in the past week.  They were really very tiny and very cute, frolicking, nursing, and playing.

We went back to Anne’s to re-group and leave Dixie, and Greg drove us the Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House in Pinos Altos for dinner.  Established in 1860, it is now a good restaurant, though from the outside it looks pretty ramshackle.  Lots of saloon type décor and good food! 

Beth worked on pictures for a while, Greg crashed early.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

38 degrees at 7 AM again.  Used the little electric heater last night and was more comfortable.

January 18, 2014 SOUTH TEXAS: BULL FIGHT

January 18th, Saturday    South Texas Round 2

After having some electrical issues fixed, we headed south again to go to some of the spots we skipped a few weeks ago.  Weather is great, sunny and 50's, as we thread our way through Houston traffic and hit the open road of 59S.

Our first destination is a small town called Goliad which is outstanding in Texas History.  First stop is Mission Nuestra Senora Del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga - or Mission Espiritu Santo, established in the early 1700's when Spain was hoping to get a foothold in this new world (as was France).

 Mission Chapel

Baptismal Font

Many of the original "nail bosses" and other hardware remain.

A little further south is the Presidio La Bahia, built about the same time as the mission and meant to protect the mission as well as Spanish trade routes along the San Antonio River.  This fort continued in usage in the Spanish fight for independence, Mexican revolutions and then Texas fight for independence. Spanish, Mexican and Texan soldiers all garrisoned its walls.

During the Texas war for independence in 1836, Col. James Fannin and nearly 400 men under his command were captured and executed here by General Santa Anna , who fought a war of extermination - taking no prisoners.  This massacre fired the revolutionary spirit which resulted in capture and defeat of Santa Anna just a month or so later at San Jacinto.

Our Lady of Loreto chapel is the oldest building in the compound and has been in continuous use since the 1700's.

Many of Col. Fannin's men were held in this chapel at the presidio.  It is also the sight of Texas'  first declaration of Independence.  A memorial to Fanin and his men is nearby.

We next headed further south to Lake Corpus Christi State Park, arriving just before 5:00.  We found a nice site with hookups (wi-fi too!).  Saw several deer as we walked around the area.  This is a 21,000 acre reservoir which serves the Corpus Christi area (the city is about 30 miles away).

 Signs of civilization across the lake.

 Experimenting with some night photos and an almost-full moon.

We talked with neighboring campers from Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa.  Lots of "Winter Texans".
One man was 88 years young and still going strong!


Sunday, January 19
Quiet night.  The morning was near 50 and a bit foggy with heavy dew.  We had breakfast and explored the park a bit before heading south again, towards LaGloria and today's bullfight.

 Many cardinals in the area.

 Early dew drops made for bejeweled spider webs.

 We spotted several crested caracaras along the road.

Pretty desolate roads with only a few small towns, (like Alice, Edna, Inez) and entrances to ranches.  Cattle is a huge industry.

Arrived in La Gloria about 1:00 and found the bullring owned and operated by Don Fred Rank.

Wandered around and watched some preparations for the upcoming event.  We could see some of the bulls and they were already feisty, kicking up dirt and looking like they were ready to charge.  There were alot of photographs and history of bull fighting.  The owner of the bullring also raises "brave bulls" (the bulls used in bullfighting).  Lineage is everything and breeding is done in only two places in the US.  There are still close to 1000 bull rings in the world, with the majority being in Spain and France, then Mexico and South America. They say the bulls get their bravery from the mother and nobility from the father.  These bulls will attack targets with little or no provocation.

 The matadors also have extensive training and experience.  Today we will see a Cesar Castaneda , world-ranked from Tijuana and Karla Santoyo an up-and-comer at 20 yrs. whose father and grandfather were world renowned matadors.

There is a 15 minute "Intro to Bullfighting" lesson with demo.

 It is quite choreographed with required elements and judges who award "ears" and "tails" to the matadors.   Once from the bull which was slain, they now use what we assume were artificial ones. Most of the moves are named after the matador who introduced them and some go back to Greek and Roman times. We are instructed in when to call "Ole" and how to express enthusiasm, as the judges are often swayed by the crowd.

Here are some shots of the action.  We saw 4 bulls over the next 2 hours, fought by 2 main matadors and a couple of "assistants" who distract or move the bull at times.  It was near 80 degrees.

 You can see the flower with ribbons that the matador must grab after he has completed all the required elements.

 Showing bravery by turning his back and walking away.

 This bull was getting very close and eventually knocked the matador down.

The event ended about 6:00 and we drove for about an hour to a town called Edinburg, which is adjacent to McAllen.  Boondocked at a Walmart there, dinner, some photo work and reading.

Monday, January 20
55 degrees at 7:30 this morning.  We headed a little further south to Estero Llano Grande State Park, where we walked some trails and saw many varieties of ducks as well as pauraque, Chachalaca, hummingbirds and a few birds. This area is neotropical and there was lantana, citrus trees, bougainvillea, hibiscus and a few other flowers. Beautiful morning.

 Ducks and marshes.

Chachalacas - also nicknamed Mexican chickens.  Large, pheasant-like birds.

The land around here is mainly agricultural and we passed fields of broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, corn and squash.  Other fields were being prepared.   There is an intricate network of underground canals with concrete tower controls covering miles of the valley.

Had sandwiches for lunch and headed to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, which is on the border with Mexico.  

 Walked several trails here which included a three observation towers and this hanging bridge which connected two of them.

spiral stairs to the tower. 

 Temps in the low 80's, as we walked a few miles.

 Saw several of these colorful green jays - with blue heads, green backs and yellow undersides, they are striking….noisy too but camouflaged well.  And speaking of noisy, there were many red-winged black birds making quite a racket.  Some other as yet to be identified birds like this one:

By mid-afternoon we decided we had walked enough and began the journey northwards.  We stopped at a small fruit stand where I bought 15 oranges, 2 grapefruits, a dozen tangerines and a couple of tomatoes - all for $4.00.

Back through the ranch land.  As we neared Victoria, we saw large herds of grazing deer.  We stopped at a Smokehouse for some bar-b-que, listened to some music and aimed for home.  We were past rush hour traffic in Houston so sailed through town, arriving home around 8:30.  Tomorrow we will unpack and get ready for Chap and Mam's visit, as they arrive Wednesday afternoon!