2013-12 Las Vegas New Mexico

2013-12

Las Vegas New Mexico

75 miles on down the road

Campground:  Storrie Lake State Park. Las Vegas NM 87701, Phone Number(505)425-7278:  $4 elect.  Regular price:  $14 w/water/elect.  Only two miles into town but far enough out to be surrounded by Mts and farms.  Ps the lake has pretty much disappeared due to drought conditions.

view from my Ramada (covered picnic shelter) at Storrie Lake

Distance traveled:  75 miles.

Not much distance traveled to get to the next destination, but here I am at Storrie Lake where the lake has disappeared.   New Mexico has had quite a drought over the last couple of years making for a very parched landscape.  I’ve noticed the cattle ranches have no new green grasses and what they did have has been nibbled on by the cattle right to the ground.  I’m sure most the cattle have since been sold at a loss.

this hotel has recently been purchase and is expected to be renovated and reopened.
It's right next to the Amtrak Station

 

Here in Las Vegas New Mexico (not the casino town) the town has a lot of history as it was a major stop along the Santa Fe Wagon Train Trail and was also along the original Route 66 in more recent times.  When the trains came through, it grew even more.  With a current population of around 13,600 it’s a nice size town, especially for us campers.  the town has a ton of historical buildings, everything from Victorian to Romanesque, Spanish, Tudor to traditional adobe construction, even a Carnegie Library that’s still in operation.  You know, Carnegie was one of the Railroad Robber Barons and to help redeem his greedy ways, he funded libraries across the country.  Saying that education and knowledge would lift the poor out of poverty.  It’s also a university town with the New Mexico Highlands University established in 1893.  It’s been featured in about 4 movies.

a cafe on the plaza with working looms

statues, carved from dead cottonwood trees in plaza

Artist touching up his artwork

Unfortunately it has closed down.  Originally a popular local cafe.
  

Interesting how some areas handle traffic.  Here in Las Vegas they love speed bumps to slow speeding autos down.  Some of them here in the park are quite large, making for camper stuff bouncing around even with a show maneuver over those bumps.  And many more are scattered throughout the town.  

I had my stitches removed today from when the cyst on my back was removed two weeks ago.. The Dr,. a black man with dreadlocks and a soft spoken personality did the job near the end of the day.  Around 5pm.  Come to find out, his office is open until 8pm, probably due to the fact that he’s right next to the hospital here.  He was quite chatty and bent my ear so to speak for quite some time after the stitches were removed.  I had the time so took the time to talk about the area and Rv traveling.  He wants to buy a Motorhome that has a built in garage for small car.  

I've had the chance to experience virga. Do you know what that is? It's when it rains but never reaches the ground, as it evaporates before touching ground. Yesterday, dark clouds formed all day long and I could see the rain coming down in sheets, but never reaching the ground. What a site. One local guy was carrying his umbrella, sure it would rain. It didn't. This happens often out west and I'm sure the locals are disappointed each time it occurs.

I’m enjoying Las Vegas NM as it’s an easy town to get around in.  Love driving around on the side roads and seeing the diverse architecture of the homes and buildings.  I haven't done hardly any exploring and my next post will explain why.

What could it be,,,,, hmmmm.  You'll find out next week.

2013-11 Santa Rosa New Mexico, week 2

2013-11

Santa Rosa New Mexico  week 2

Now though I am staying in the area for two weeks, I would not necessarily recommend that length of stay to my fellow travelers. Not a lot to do in the area, but great if you like solitude and a peaceful setting.

wild flowers on the side of the road

Last week I told you about the earthen dam that I cross over to get to the campground.  Well, I found out it’s only 212 feet high, which is equivalent to a 20 story building in height. Still an awesome sight as I cross over it each day.  

The Army Corp has a couple really nice ¾ mile and mile long paved scenic walking loops.  Great for the physically impaired.  My very good friends Debbie and Eddie would really enjoy these paths.  I went along another one of them today and came across what I believe is a Native Indian pit house.  The Army Corp visitor center was closed so I drove over to the State Park visitor center where I asked a young park ranger about the site as well as wanting information on the rock formations in the area.  He hadn’t a clue about either question I asked.  Said he was more of a nature guy, interested in the animals.  Told me about the mule deer in the area and their normal routes down to the lake.  I’ll let you know what I find out tomorrow.

one of the paved hiking loops, Santa Rosa Dam

limestone and sandstone falling into the canyon

Pecos River, drains the entire eastern side of New Mexico

The next day I dropped into the Army Corp office and got a bit of information.  Those big slabs of stone that have broken off and have slid down the sides of the canyon are either sandstone or limestone, both prevalent in the area.  The formations on the first hike I went on are likely shale.  Being thin layers of stone that easily break off into sheets of thin stone formations.  No archeological studies have been done on the circular stone pebble formation overlooking the canyon so it is not known if the site was once a Paleolithic site or a more recent Spanish site.

Paleo Indians hunted mammoth (questionable) and bison in this area over 5,000 years ago.  They were mobile hunters and gatherers of the Archaic Period.  Eventually becoming less mobile and started planting crops.  

Although the restaurants are all pretty much of the same quality, one of them has stood out for me anyway.  It’s the Comet II Drive Inn Cafe.  The owner walks around and greets all of the patrons and if you're in the area on a Sunday, they have some really great lunch specials.  I had a full turkey dinner with sage dressing.  Although the outside doesn’t look all that great on first glance due to an aging shade cover for the autos, the interior is light and airy and all of the tables and booths are in pristine condition.

  

On another day I stopped into the Route 66 Cafe where I enjoyed Taco Tuesdays.  Many of the restaurants out west have Taco Tuesdays where you can get great authentic tacos for only $1.  This place has been around since the Route 66 era and has a homey atmosphere with lace curtains on the windows and big bouquets of silk flowers on each table. Red vinyl stools at the low counter with the words R-O-U-T-E 66 Cafe spelled out on the back of each stool.

route 66 cafe

nice homey atmosphere

Back at the campground Rv-ers come in usually around mid-day set up and many leave the following morning.  Not realizing what a great little campground this is.  About a half dozen of us have been here for a week or more.  Later in the day, a large 5th wheel camper circled the loop, stopped at a site, backed in and a short while later pulled out.  Circling this time both loops, each time coming back to the same site. With each turn around the loop, he appeared to be speeding up and become more frustrated each time. Looked like the guy was backing in ok, but would then pull back out again, each time getting more agitated.  And the last loop around, I noticed that he’d ripped off one of the side awnings and it was dangling over the side of the camper.  Once again he tried getting in the same back-in campsite.  Finally backing in to his satisfaction, stopping and putting down the stabilizer legs.  His wife, meekly watching this unfold each time.  Why he didn’t stay in the spot the first time is anyones guess.     

Little things.

I’ve been using my California Duster on the truck almost every day.  Great way to get the dust off the truck and save the need to have it washed.  the other day we had a light rain that spotted the truck heavily.  After the truck was completely dry a quick swipe with the duster and the truck looked like it had just been washed and polished.

I had about a half dozen hard cover books and donated them to the local library here.  Nice little library serving the community.  Feels good to be able to support a small local library with books I’ve read.  They re-sell donated books and it helps pay for supplies.

A couple more short hikes to the lake and before one knows it, it's the end of another week.

views from my campsite

Next stop, Las Vega New Mexico

more photos on PICASA 

2013-10 Santa Rosa New Mexico

Blue Hole springs, Santa Rosa NM

2013-10

Santa Rosa New Mexico

campground:  Santa Rosa State Park.  Elect/water  reg price $14.  I’m paying $4 after purchase of the yearly camping pass.  4 over the air TV stations.  3g Verizon. 

Santa Rosa State Park, NM

                   

Before I headed out on Tuesday, I was able to fit in a visit with my friends Kathy and Randy.  It was Kathy’s birthday and we celebrated by going to The Range, a most fab restaurant in Bernalillo.  Great food, atmosphere and prices.  Randy wasn’t eager to go on the tram ride to the top of the Mt overlooking Albuquerque so Kathy and I ventured onward and upward.  It was a perfect day as the there were no winds, something one wants when ascending almost 4,000 feet in a tram dangling from two cables.  The views as always were awesome and a drink in the lounge at the top was pretty cool too.  Actually it was friggin warm in the restaurant/bar area but the cool drinks helped.  

Kathy on her Birthday, wish I could have taken a better pic.  

Distance traveled  145 miles

Santa Rosa

I kind of hated to leave Cochiti Lake campground.  It’s a great location for touring and I didn’t do half of what I had originally planned, but I did get a chance to meet up with many friends in the area, though not all of them, darn.

On my last day in the Abq/Santa Fe area I had a Dr’s appt to finally have a sebaceous cyst removed from my back, which I should have had done while in Tucson, but oh well, at least the little irritant has finally been removed.  Making for much more pleasant driving down the road without having that irritating pain in my back.  Of course in two weeks I’ll have to drop into a Urgent Care type place to have the stitches removed, but that won’t stop me from heading on down the road.

I headed out around 8:30 this morning and traveled along hwy 285 (between Santa Fe and I-40) which is just one of those perfect secondary roads that we RV-ers love to drive on.  Very little traffic, nice wide paved shoulders on either side of the smooth two lane road.  The views of the prairie with it’s golden yellow close-cropped grasslands, dotted with low growing juniper trees stretching from horizon to horizon.  Finally reaching Interstate 40 where I headed east towards Santa Rosa for another 60 miles.  I was able to get to Santa Rosa State park just as the winds started to pick up.  The final drive being a winding road and finally a breathtaking crossing over the top of the earthen and rock covered dam.  A wedge shaped dam a thousand feet high with a strip of asphalt pavement across the top. 

late afternoon shot through the Ramada at my campsite

Santa Rosa Army Corp Earthen dam

I’ve really gotten spoiled with the low camping rates here in New Mexico and will hate to leave the state eventually.  The most I’ve paid this past month has been $4 -$10 a night.  Much less than my budgeted amount of around $18 a night.  The Santa Rosa State Park is actually owned by the Army Corp, who built it along with the earthen dam here along the Pecos River.  The Army Corp has leased the campground out to the New Mexico state parks for operating it.  

The Santa Rosa St pk is only 7 miles from town, but is truly high desert prairie and you’d never know you were that close to town.  Although there may not be that much to explore in this area, I’m enjoying the prairie type scenery and the feel of a small town of only 2,800.  The only national commercial businesses are a McDonnells, Family Dollar and a new Dollar General.  With a number of good motels and all the local historical Route 66 restaurants.  Even a couple Rv campgrounds right on route 66 in town.  

Santa Rosa is one of those way stops that so many highway drivers end up at either for the night or a meal along the way.  Being half way between Albuquerque and Amarillo tx. Rv-ers will love the wide road through town and the numerous places to pull off the road near restaurants etc.  

historic route 66 signs

The one attraction here in Santa Rosa besides Blue Hole springs is the Route 66 Auto Museum.($5).  I’ll dedicate this section to my friend David “Butch” Bird as he’s a real car nut.  I can just see him drooling over all the cars.  I just wish they had some placards with details on each of the cars on display, as I don’t know that much about these classic cars and I’m sure some have a great history as to the original owners etc.  Still I enjoyed seeing some really great antique cars.  

Did Elvis sign this car?

I’m not sure I’ll have anything to write about next week as I’ll be in this area for another week and touring looks pretty limited.  But at least I’ll enjoy the beautiful sunny days and perfect temperatures this time of year.  

more photos on Picasa

The adventure continues.....