Leaving the Cosmos entering Tucson

The title of this post may not be self-explanatory. When our daughter Jen was in High School, she had a small (6") alien gumby figure named Cosmo which traveled around attached to her backpack. No doubt she got a kick out of yesterday's post with the life size Cosmos we met.

Early this a.m. we loaded the car, ate a quick b'fast and headed out from Roswell NM. The sun was just coming up, and we got a couple of decent pictures thereof.

I love the way the sun underlights the clouds at sunrise and sunset. Here is another shot a couple minutes later when there is more light to bring up the colors.

As we travel west on Hwy. 70 the topography changed at least 5 times in a couple of hours, and the scenery was alternately captivating and stultifying.

 We paralleled the Rio Hondo and climbed up into the Sierra Blanca mountains to the resort town of Ruidoso, then down the other side of the pass to the town of Tularosa where we got some gas.

We continued west on 70 and used the bypass to get around Alamagordo NM. I find it difficult to even pronounce the name of the town without doing it with a funny voice.

After leaving Alamagordo we continued west until we got to  this interesting spot.

The information center is constructed in the pueblo style of architecture. I really like it but Scooterchick is ambivalent towards it. I understand the concept, sturdy thick walls, cool in summer and warm in winter with interior courtyards to protect from the elements. I will show you a couple of pictures to support my thesis of it's elegant simplicity and utility.

 Believe it or not this outbuilding contains the washrooms

This is an exterior shot of the Visitor Center.

Detail showing thickness of wall and Spanish influence of door.

A signboard with information on the area and covered walkway between buildings. Shade is paramount when considering elemental protection.

Long shot down the side of the building. Pole rafters and slope of exterior wall visible.

Interior courtyard between interpretive center and gift shop. Shaded, protected from wind and cooled by the bulk of the buildings around the courtyard.

We took the time to view a movie presentation that gave an overview of White Sands, very informative and colorful. People in the area come out to hike, take photos, explore or use Off-Road day use area.

Here are your genial bloghosts Scootard and Scooterchick being pummeled by the wind. All across from here to our destination for the night the wind was blowing at 15-18 mph and gusting 26-30.

This is a dried stalk of the flower of a yucca. The Apache had multiple uses for this desert plant. Scooterchick found out the hard way that the leaves can poke you quite nastily.

I still managed to get her to pose with the offending flora. She is showing you to beware of the spines.

We took a picture of these dwelling units that the staff live in. Still in the pueblo style.

Here is a picture of the White Sands. It is actually the largest white sand area in the entire world.

And here in the final picture is a shot of the mountains which make the white sands possible. The gypsum deposits of which the mountains are constructed leach out of the stone whenever there is rain. The area does get about 10 inches of rain per year, compared with our home in Squamish that gets 10 feet.

The suspended microscopic gypsum particles flow down to through the Tularosa basin to end up in Lake Lucero. When the rains stop, the everpresent winds evaporate the water and the suspended gypsum forms into selenite crystals. These crystals, softer than a fingernail are pushed across the basin, first in cornflake sized flakes, then smaller flakes and eventually to gleaming whit sand where they blow up the windward side of dunes and softly cascade down the lee side.

At one side of the basin the dunes travel at 12-15 feet per year, and at 24-26 feet on the far side. Byt he time they reach the far eastern edge, the sand is fine and soft as talcum powder.

We drove west on 70, alternately opening the sunroof and running the HVAC, then closing everything and shutting things off, as we passed through dustclouds. Apparently someone representing the EPA held Town Hall type meetings in NM and AZ, where he explained that dust picked up by the wind was considered a pollutant, because it raised the particulate index in the air, and that as a pollutant it must be stopped. 

The audience politely explained that periodically the wind picked the dust up from the desert floor to create these dust storms and that efforts to control the wind to abate the issue had been unsuccessful.

When the official insisted that the situation could not continue without federal citations and resulting hefty fines, someone asked if the federal government could suggest a solution.

The EPA fellow suggested that the area could be watered, and the dust could not be picked up by the wind. Shocked silence ensued, and he smugly though he had played his trump card.

An elderly desert dweller of some repute, considered to be an expert asked him one question.

Son, are you familiar with the concept and definition of a desert? Where exactly is that water supposed to come from? 

Continuing on we came to Las Cruces, which is a town of about 100,000 people where we joined up with I-10. This one runs from San Diego CA to Jacksonville FL.

Leaving humor and foolish government policies apart and continuing with our narrative, we gassed up in Deming. Gas adjacent to the freeway was $3.49. Two blocks further on it was $3.03. I'll let you guess which one we used.

We climbed up over a pass in the Peloncillo Mountains and dropped down to the San Simon rest area.
As you can see the wind is fresh.

There were informative sign boards, one off which gave area information and said in plain print "Welcome to Arizona". Thank you very much I thought, we're glad to be here.

Unbelievably it began to rain on this side of the pass. The rain continued on and off until we arrived at our destination. Once again I love seeing 150 mi.(240 km.)  to go on a mileage post and realizing that's only 2 hours of travel even if we stop for gas.

We arrived at our overnight stop at around 3:45 and got checked in. Yeah, we're definitely in AZ now, note the Saguaro cactus?

We were able to park just outside our room, and Scooterchick lost no time investigating the courtyard. The hotel is undergoing renovation at present, so it didn't appear that they were taking care of the pool, but the courtyard does have a festive feel. Here is my darling smiling her approval.

This is a picture looking from the pool towards the hot tub.

This one looking the other way. It almost looks like a small Mexican all inclusive doesn't it. I'm sure it will be lovely when they finish the reno. It is acceptable for an overnight stay.
 

Here is the room. Pretty average, but for less than $50,  including breakfast it will do nicely.

So, showered fed and having filled you in on our progress, I bid you adieu.

On the Road Again, with apologies to Willie Nelson

If you have been following along, you'll know that we were readying ourselves for the road home to the Great North Wet. It is about 2500 mi. (4000 km.) give or take. Accordingly we had the trunk loaded yesterday, and it only remained to load the back seat, feed the ferrets, make coffee and head out.

It had been raining lightly overnight, and it was still misting lightly as we got ready to load up. Here is a picture of the pile of stuff that is to go in the back seat.

Once everything was loaded up, we hitched up the trailer, which is coming back with us, while the bikes rest in Oklahoma in sweet repose until our return in May. With lights checked, coffee at hand and tuneage on the radio we are ready to roll.

The official "thumbs up has been given by the Scooterchick, and we are now officially BC bound. To avoid weather we are going the long way, but the predictable way.

After about an hour and a half, I snapped this picture because there is something about a red barn. I'm not sure what it is....but, something.

We took a couple pictures in Duke Oklahoma. The townsfolk have a large mural on a building wall downtown. It took 2 pictures to get the whole wall in.

The same holds true for our next stop, Hollis Oklahoma. 2 pictures were required to get the whole wall in.

In spite of the lovely large mural, Hollis was, is and remains a small town. To illustrate how small, here is a picture of the Hollis Police Station, which also houses the Harmon County Sheriff's Dept.

So now we come to the Texas State Line. There are about 200 mi. to go to NM., then another 116 mi. to our destination for the night.

But first, we have oodles of Texas to go. By now, it's mid-morning and we have traveled the equivalent of 20 days journey for those Westward faring pioneers in their covered wagons.

We continue to pass through towns with great historical interest and little current activity. This is Memphis, no not Memphis Egypt, no not even Memphis Tennessee, Memphis Texas population 2,290 down from a historic high of 4,257 in the 1930's. When passing through towns like this, Scooterchick and I just look at each other and say WOW!

We continue west through Texas and approach a promontory of which I've read in Larry McMurtry novels. This is "the Caprock", a mesa where the elevation changes from the westernmost reaches of the Great Plains, and climbs roughly 1000 feet to the Llano Estacado in far West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.

During the westward migration there were a line of stakes erected  across the llano (plain) marking the trail west, giving the area the name "staked plain". Without the stakes travelers could easily become lost and wander in circles until they died of thirst or exposure.

As we climb up the Caprock on a stretch of road called Schott's Gap, named after the man who built it in the early 1900's the speed slows to 30 mph to negotiate the curves.

The rock that makes up the Caprock is easily visible as we climb the narrow canyon to the top.

At the top there is a small picnic area and we can look back down the canyon. The change in elevation is easily seen from this point.

Here is a Schott.....haha looking back down the road to the plains below. The wind at the picnic site was steady and strong. Although the temperature was around 72 F. it was cool standing in the shade.

It was now about 11:40 a.m. and time for a wee nosh. We had double creme Brie, Green and Red grapes, Smoked turkey sausage and water. A quick bite, a couple pictures and we were ready to go again. The wind was strong enough that the water bottle would not stand up, but blew over.

Here is Scooterchick standing in the sun and breeze, looking adorable as always. By now we have finished nibbling, and are ready to roll out again.

A short 145 mi. later we come to the border of New Mexico. We thought this sign somewhat anti-climactic.

That was until we went another half a block and saw this sign. Much more realistic. Now entering The Land of Enchantment, particularly is enchantment involves incendiary chilies......haha

We stopped at Wally World to get water and a few snacks. It was interesting to note that they sell beer, wine and liquor in the Wal-Mart, but not in New Mexico on Sundays. Good says I.

It also appears that every cloud does have a silver lining in NM.

As we continued west I saw a sign that read 45 mi (72 km.) to our destination. Have I mentioned how I love the road system in the US. I remember looking at the sign and figuring okay, about 1/2 hr.

We come now to our destination for the night, Roswell NM. Entering town we wondered if we would see anything of an extra-terrestrial nature.

Roswell was larger than I thought. Just under 50,000 people. They proclaim themselves the "dairy capital of New Mexico, but I think most people visit for different reasons. This is the City Hall.

Travelling a little further down Main Street the going definitely gets a little weirder. Signs on the buildings hint at the contents. What might we discover?

Relaxing in the front window over a leisurely hand of cards we find some other tourists. I don't see any betting taking place, perhaps the lack of earth money limited their ability to wager.

When you consider that the Roswell incident of 1947 kicked off the whole Air Force Project Blue Book era, it certainly was good business for Roswellians. The cashing in continues to this day. Heck, I bought a fridge magnet, there's $3 right there..................haha.

Inside the store one found UFO related kitsch, including the aforementioned magnet and this fellow, relaxing over a Coke.

Here is another recent arrival. I believe this is supposed to be a landing pod. For such a supposedly advanced species, it looks somewhat crude and hoky no?

 Here we have a worthy opponent for a game of Foosball. When you consider that only one of the contestants is alive, it seems like a fixed fight.

 Finding ourselves famished after our long day of travel, and hobnobbing with outer worldly ambassadors, we decided to go with something a little more mundane for dinner.

Predictability thy name is IHOP. The added advantage of their current promotion of never ending pancakes clinched the deal, although my appetite only stretched to 4 pancakes. Sad, I know but although I could have crammed 6, I wisely considered my expanding girth, my increasing bulk and drew the line early rather than regretting my excess later.

And so with the sun sinking low in the western sky, we freshly fueled up, gas was $3.09 gal. We headed for our accommodations.

Breakfast starts at 6, and so it's shower, blog and bed in that order. We have another long day tomorrow. Who knows what wonders we'll discover?

Good night faithful companions. Your observations will be warmly welcomed in the comment section.
Buona Notte as they say in Milano.