Southwest Snowbirds



Kokopelli (God of Fertility)
 

On the road again...this time to spend the winter in the Southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona to beat the cold and snow in Central Wisconsin.  First destination...Farmington, NM.

New Mexico is known as the Land of Enchantment with 350 days of sunshine.  It is the 47th state and the fifth largest state. 
Santa Fe is its capital.  The state bird is the Roadrunner, state flower the Yucca flower, and the state tree the Pinon Pine.



We were driving the RV through the panhandle of TX at 73 mph on a two-lane highway when the coach started violently shaking. I saw Le Roy fighting the steering wheel and trying to bring the coach to a stop. We got out to find we had a right front tire blowout.  I tried to place a cell call but realized we were in a valley without cell reception.  I dialed 9-1-1 and told them it was a non-emergency but I needed a service call on our motorhome.  We waited nearly an hour before disconnecting our car and heading west to find a service garage.  Luckily we found a garage about 25 miles from our disabled coach that just happened to have the tire we needed.  The service tech followed us back to the coach only to tell us he couldn't raise the coach to put the tire on.  Leave it to "Jack Woman" (that's me) who was able to raise the right front of the coach to enable the tire change.  We were back on the road in about 4 hours.

Albuquerque, New Mexico is located in the high desert.  The high desert is an inland high-elevation of at least 2,000 feet above sea level. We met up with Dick and Judy in Rio Rancho, NM and spent the night.  On our way to Farmington, NM We travelled through mountainous areas that reached elevations of 7,000 feet above sea level.  Steven and Janet graciously accommodated us and our motorhomes in their lower driveway. They have a beautiful house in a new subdivision of half-million dollar homes and up. 

We attended Steve & Janet's wedding the following Saturday in an outdoor ceremony at a beautiful wedding hall.  A home reception followed the buffet and dance.  All the best to the newly wedded couple who just moved to Farmington, NM from Anchorage, AK earlier this year.




Not only do they have beautiful views of mesas and mountains, but Steve pointed out Shiprock from his living room window. This solidified lava core was surveyed in the 1870s and many who see it say it resembles a 19th century clipper ship.  The Navajo interpretation is "rock with wings." It is important in Navajo mythology and religion.


Shiprock Peak





Four states meet at the Four Corners Monument surrounded by the Ute and Navajo Nations.  Here you can take a photo of yourself touching four states at one time.  From there we took the road to the Mesa Verde National Park.  A billboard along the road read "Land of the Ancients -- Buckle up, you are on a sacred journey.

 Mesa Verde is cited as one of the world's top cultural attractions.


It was home to the Ancestral Puebloans for more than 700 years (550-1300 A.D.)  Many of the best preserved dwellings were built high on cliff walls in alcoves, well-protected from the elements.  This is America's pre-European past, complete with homes and entire villages that have survived with many artifacts amazingly intact.  Brooms, sandals, grinding stones and dog hair weavings capture images of life 800 years ago. The Pueblo cliff dwellers raised corn, beans and squash and were known for their weaving. 


This cultural park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.  I have wanted to see these cliff dwellings since a nun in grade school talked about them.  It was a half-mile down a steep paved hillside, but it was well worth the effort

Salmon Ruins

Salmon Ruins (pronounced Sol-mon) is a small village/community of ancient dwellings connected to the People of Chaco Canyon.  These ruins are located just outside of Farmington.








Aztec Ruins, another UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987), was occupied by ancestral Pueblo people from 1100 - 1300 A.D.  The largest ceremonial chamber within the Pueblo is the only reconstructed "Great Kiva" in North America.  We took a self-guided tour on the interpretive trail that allowed us right into parts of the ruins to see the masonry and the interiors of the rooms.  The ceilings here are original. Early explorers mistakenly believed these ruins had been build by the Aztecs in ancient times rather than by ancestral Pueblo peoples. 


Great Kiva

Inside the Ruins









 We took a drive to Durango, CO to browse and shop in its historic district which included art galleries, jewelry, rocks, furniture, and more.  The historic Strater Hotel has a lobby that is like a museum with display cases of relics of the times from the cliff dwellers at Mesa Verde to the 1890s and early 1900s.  This hotel takes you back to a romantic time in frontier history when Victorian places were a splash of opulence in the wild west.  We had lunch in the Diamond Belle Saloon where a cute, young waitress, dressed in a boostier took our order but Le Roy grumbled her tag was sticking up at the back of her neck.  We went to the train station but they were busy transforming the depot into the "Polar Express" (their Christmas themed ride from late November through December ) from Durango to Silverton.



Strater Hotel


 

Diamond Belle Saloon

Strater Lobby

 

Historic District

Wines of San Juan -- There is a boutique winery nestled in the San Juan River Valley.  The owners moved here from Wisconsin.  After some time in the little tasting room, I purchased Sweet Cherry Pie and Girls are Meaner wine.  It's "grape" to be here.

Blake's Lot-A-Burger is a hamburger franchise throughout New Mexico.  We ate these tasty angus burgers three times while in Farmington.  We all declared we were on a Lot-A-Burger diet.

Bolack Museum of Fish & Wildlife is located on 12,500 acres in Farmington. The B-Square Ranch gives free tours by appointment.  Oil millionaire Tom Bolack hunted wildlife world wide.  He player in the San Juan Basin Oil & Gas Industry.  The Bolack Family dedicated the fish and wildlife museum after his death.







Hunted Five Continents

It is one of the largest private collections of its type in the world today with over 2,500 specimens from five continents.  The Bloack family claims the specimens on display, for the most part, were very old animals and would be considered a burden in the ability of the herd to reproduce.



Chinese Water Deer - Note Antlers

Veterans Memorial Park and Hamilton Military Museum in Truth or Consequences, NM displays a half scale travelling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.  There are 58,420 names of men and women who died in the war on the wall.  The museum contains uniforms, photos and displays of every branch of U. S. military from the present back in time to 1754.  I found the  button collection from military uniforms from 1776 - present to be interesting.

The name Truth or Consequences was originally Palomas Hot Springs, then shortened to Hot Springs.  In 1950, the name was officially changes as a result of a radio and TV show by the same name. Ralph Edwards promised an annual fiesta to celebrate the name change along with celebrities to attend.  T or C has the largest aquifer in the USA with 2.5 million gallons that pour from the hot springs daily.  The 100+ degree sulphur water has no odor and has other minerals in it.



Geronimo
 

Geronimo was an Apache chief (born 1829?) whose family was murdered by Mexican troops in 1858.  Geronimo and his guerrilla band terrorized and fought ferociously with intruders who entered Apache lands of the Southwest.  Geronimo surrendered in 1886 and was exiled to Florida, then to Ft. Sill, OK, where he died in 1909.   We toured the Geronimo Springs Museum in T or C. We learned that Geronimo Springs is where Native Americans and early cowboys came to rest and bathe in the hot mineral water.  There are many Native American artifacts such as arrowheads, tools and pottery on display.  The prehistoric pottery collection is world class. Also on display is a Mastodon Skull and a Mammoth Skull that were unearthed in the area in 1989. Attached to the museum is an authentic miner's cabin that was brought in from the Gila National Forest.
We explored the city of Elephant Butte that has a 40 mile lake that is taken over by thousands of tourists each summer.  From our campground we could also see Turtleback Mountain which looks like a turtle atop a mountain.


Turtleback Mountain (see the turtle?)

In 1907, Las Cruces, "The City of Crosses" was incorporated as a town and in 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state.  We visited Old Mesilla, a quiet sun-baked village of historic, colored traditional adobe structures much as they were a century ago. Many people of Mesilla are direct descendants of early settlers. Mesilla (Ma-see-ya) was a stopping place for Billy the Kid and the Butterfield Stage. 

We ate at La Posta Mexican Restaurant, an adobe brick compound built in the 1840s.  It is famous for its steaks and Mexican food, traditional dishes made from century old recipes.  The La Posta is on the National Historic Register. We were pleased to have felt the pulse of the area in this old building where Billy the Kid, Kit Carson, General Douglas McArthur and even Pancho Villa stopped.

A must see is the twin-towered church of San Albino and the Mesilla Plaza, a town the railroad passed by, also kown as "little tableland." Mesilla was named a state monument in 1957.

Famous and infamous visitors included Francisco "Pancho" Villa and William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, who was once tried, convicted and jailed here.










White Sands Missile Range is the largest overland missile test facility in the U. S. After providing identification to obtain a pass onto the base we viewed many missiles on display, including the V-2 missile. Occasionally, Hwy 70 is closed for a short period of time due to testing at White Sands.  They told us we should have come last week as they were testing.  The Tularosa Basin became one of the Army's most important weapons testing grounds with what is now called White Sands Missile Range.  The Trinity Site at the basin's north end was the site of the first atomic bomb explosion.

Thanksgiving Dinner (Grilled Turkey)

The Las Cruces Farmers & Crafts Market is held year round on Wednesday and Saturday on a nationally recognized New Mexico main street.  It is a colorful cornucopia of fresh produce, nuts, jewelry, chile peppers, photography and clothing.