This photo was taken earlier in our travels. Does anyone know what spot the X marks?
MARCH 18, 2008
Got up from our great night’s sleep at Becker Vineyards and enjoyed a little more time, drinking our coffee on the front porch watching the deer We decided that since it was raining, we’d better get going…………we were worried about the dry creek bed becoming wet. So off we went to the Tasting Room to drop off the key and buy some wine before getting back on the road. It was a great way to begin the next part of our journey.
We stopped in Fredericksburg to get some kolachis. Germans and Czech immigrants settled in the area in the 1800s; a kolachi is a Czechoslovakian donut with a filling.
Our next destination was Fort Stockton, TX, a long lonely drive in intermittent heavy rain on a beautiful 80 mph interstate (Peter DIDN”T goes the speed limit). En route we passed almost 20 miles of windmills interspersed with oil wells………..otherwise lots of nothing! It was a good chance to get caught up on the blog. Upon arriving in Fort Stockton, we were greeted by an immense statue of a brightly painted road runner. We stayed in the most basic but clean room you can imagine. Most of the motels were full due to an upcoming rodeo and the discovery of two new oil fields. Since we were in Texas, we decided to treat ourselves to a steak dinner at K-Bob’s Steak House.
MARCH 19, 2008
Today we drove to Big Bend National Park about 100 miles from Fort Stockton. It’s the LEAST visited national park as opposed to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the MOST visited. The weather was beautiful and along the way we spotted an eagle sitting on a fence post on the side of the road………we knew it was going to be a good day. The road was long, perfectly straight and for many miles we were the only car in sight. During the drive we saw a full-antlered buck standing on the shoulder and lots of cattle, first herded by a helicopter and later by some cowboys on horses. Because of occasional flooding, there were many water gauge signs to measure water up to five feet but everything was bone dry!
When we entered the park, we used our Lifetime Senior pass for national parks; it cost us $10 at Vicksburg and we’ve already saved $20!!! What a deal! A short way into the park Peter spotted a javelina, a wild pig, grazing near the side of the road and our first road runner darted across the road in front of us. At the visitor center, we put the top down and started a 60 mile drive through the park. The scenery was spectacular: rugged mountains, dry river and creek gorges, many different kinds of cacti, one in particular is rose-colored. Big Bend is pristine…………..a definite must-see! We stopped at the Santa Elena Canyon, had lunch and then hiked about a mile into the mouth of the gorge high above the Rio Grande River. It was hard to believe that Mexico was just across the river.
Leaving the park we headed for Alpine, Marfa and our destination Van Horn where we planned to sppend the night…..can’t believe we’re STILL in Texas. Along the route we finally saw some Texas bluebells and lots of mountains on the right and left as we drove through the Chihuahua Desert still at an elevation of around 4000 feet. About a half-hour out we had to stop at a Border Patrol station where they asked us if we were citizens, where we were from and never asked for IDs. Guess they thought we looked safe! Most of the towns we’re driving through are barely alive! Marfa is one that is trying to revitalize but it has a way to go! We did, all of a sudden, in an otherwise flat, brown and uninteresting drive, happen upon miles and miles of pecan trees. We finally arrived in Van Horn, another one of those barely alive towns.
MARCH 20, 2008
This morning we headed to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico where we changed to Mountain Time. The road, Route 54 N through the Sierra Diablo Mountains, was a beautiful drive with stark scenery, rugged flat-topped mountains and the Chihuahua Desert. Entered NM on Route 62 and went through the Guadalupe Mountains. At one point a mountain lion crossed the road just ahead of us….pretty exciting!
At White City we drove into the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Our elevation, like yesterday and this morning, remained between 4000 and 5000 feet. We climbed up a windy road through canyons up to the entrance to the Caverns. Since there was hardly anyone on the road, we were surprised to see the mass of people readying to visit the Caverns. Once again our Senior Pass to the National Parks got us in free………another saving of $12! After standing in line for tickets, we took the elevator down 750 feet into the cavern. The temperature in the cavern was a steady 56 degrees, the lighting was very low and everyone spoke in whispers! The hordes had disappeared (where, we don’t know!) but we weren’t complaining. It’s impossible to describe the size, scope and grandeur of the Big Room, the largest of the caves. It’s another must-see! We followed a 1 ½ mile path that wound around the spectacular stalactites, stalagmites, massive columns, crystal pools and deep, seemingly bottomless holes. The Big Room is the size of 6 football fields and it’s hundreds of feet high. It was almost like being in a cathedral.
Time to put the top down! Ate a picnic lunch before exiting the park and then began our drive to Roswell. The road (Rt. 285N) was hot, dry and dusty. Saw our first tumbleweed and smelled before we saw our first of several huge dairy farms. Southeast NM is flat and desolate and we passed many more shabby towns. At one point on the road we saw a sign that said, “Don’t pick up hitchhikers. Prison facility nearby.” However as we approached Roswell, things picked up. Roswell is a bustling and vibrant city right at the northern most point of the Chihuahua Desert and the western most point of the Great Plains. We stopped at the Roswell Museum and Art Center and saw some local art along with some Georgia O’Keefe. We had read a very brief note about the museum in one of our books but we discovered that it is a real gem. Along with the art, there is an exhibit of Southwest “cowboy and Indian” artifacts and an exhibit of Goddard’s early rocket attempts. Roswell is, of course, famous for its UFO history and there are plenty of cheesy stores and museums that testify to that history. But this only added to the charm of the town.
We left Roswell via Rt. 380W through more desolate, flat landscape. Suddenly, as we started climbing the Capitan Mountains, the land completely changed to treed mountain passes. We’re spending the night in Ruidoso NM, a cute, bustling resort town in the mountains. Looking to forward to exploring the town tomorrow before we head off to White Sands.
Pete and Barbara: Marilyn took us through Marathon before you posted your comment!
MARCH 18, 2008
Got up from our great night’s sleep at Becker Vineyards and enjoyed a little more time, drinking our coffee on the front porch watching the deer We decided that since it was raining, we’d better get going…………we were worried about the dry creek bed becoming wet. So off we went to the Tasting Room to drop off the key and buy some wine before getting back on the road. It was a great way to begin the next part of our journey.
We stopped in Fredericksburg to get some kolachis. Germans and Czech immigrants settled in the area in the 1800s; a kolachi is a Czechoslovakian donut with a filling.
Our next destination was Fort Stockton, TX, a long lonely drive in intermittent heavy rain on a beautiful 80 mph interstate (Peter DIDN”T goes the speed limit). En route we passed almost 20 miles of windmills interspersed with oil wells………..otherwise lots of nothing! It was a good chance to get caught up on the blog. Upon arriving in Fort Stockton, we were greeted by an immense statue of a brightly painted road runner. We stayed in the most basic but clean room you can imagine. Most of the motels were full due to an upcoming rodeo and the discovery of two new oil fields. Since we were in Texas, we decided to treat ourselves to a steak dinner at K-Bob’s Steak House.
MARCH 19, 2008
Today we drove to Big Bend National Park about 100 miles from Fort Stockton. It’s the LEAST visited national park as opposed to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the MOST visited. The weather was beautiful and along the way we spotted an eagle sitting on a fence post on the side of the road………we knew it was going to be a good day. The road was long, perfectly straight and for many miles we were the only car in sight. During the drive we saw a full-antlered buck standing on the shoulder and lots of cattle, first herded by a helicopter and later by some cowboys on horses. Because of occasional flooding, there were many water gauge signs to measure water up to five feet but everything was bone dry!
When we entered the park, we used our Lifetime Senior pass for national parks; it cost us $10 at Vicksburg and we’ve already saved $20!!! What a deal! A short way into the park Peter spotted a javelina, a wild pig, grazing near the side of the road and our first road runner darted across the road in front of us. At the visitor center, we put the top down and started a 60 mile drive through the park. The scenery was spectacular: rugged mountains, dry river and creek gorges, many different kinds of cacti, one in particular is rose-colored. Big Bend is pristine…………..a definite must-see! We stopped at the Santa Elena Canyon, had lunch and then hiked about a mile into the mouth of the gorge high above the Rio Grande River. It was hard to believe that Mexico was just across the river.
Leaving the park we headed for Alpine, Marfa and our destination Van Horn where we planned to sppend the night…..can’t believe we’re STILL in Texas. Along the route we finally saw some Texas bluebells and lots of mountains on the right and left as we drove through the Chihuahua Desert still at an elevation of around 4000 feet. About a half-hour out we had to stop at a Border Patrol station where they asked us if we were citizens, where we were from and never asked for IDs. Guess they thought we looked safe! Most of the towns we’re driving through are barely alive! Marfa is one that is trying to revitalize but it has a way to go! We did, all of a sudden, in an otherwise flat, brown and uninteresting drive, happen upon miles and miles of pecan trees. We finally arrived in Van Horn, another one of those barely alive towns.
MARCH 20, 2008
This morning we headed to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico where we changed to Mountain Time. The road, Route 54 N through the Sierra Diablo Mountains, was a beautiful drive with stark scenery, rugged flat-topped mountains and the Chihuahua Desert. Entered NM on Route 62 and went through the Guadalupe Mountains. At one point a mountain lion crossed the road just ahead of us….pretty exciting!
At White City we drove into the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Our elevation, like yesterday and this morning, remained between 4000 and 5000 feet. We climbed up a windy road through canyons up to the entrance to the Caverns. Since there was hardly anyone on the road, we were surprised to see the mass of people readying to visit the Caverns. Once again our Senior Pass to the National Parks got us in free………another saving of $12! After standing in line for tickets, we took the elevator down 750 feet into the cavern. The temperature in the cavern was a steady 56 degrees, the lighting was very low and everyone spoke in whispers! The hordes had disappeared (where, we don’t know!) but we weren’t complaining. It’s impossible to describe the size, scope and grandeur of the Big Room, the largest of the caves. It’s another must-see! We followed a 1 ½ mile path that wound around the spectacular stalactites, stalagmites, massive columns, crystal pools and deep, seemingly bottomless holes. The Big Room is the size of 6 football fields and it’s hundreds of feet high. It was almost like being in a cathedral.
Time to put the top down! Ate a picnic lunch before exiting the park and then began our drive to Roswell. The road (Rt. 285N) was hot, dry and dusty. Saw our first tumbleweed and smelled before we saw our first of several huge dairy farms. Southeast NM is flat and desolate and we passed many more shabby towns. At one point on the road we saw a sign that said, “Don’t pick up hitchhikers. Prison facility nearby.” However as we approached Roswell, things picked up. Roswell is a bustling and vibrant city right at the northern most point of the Chihuahua Desert and the western most point of the Great Plains. We stopped at the Roswell Museum and Art Center and saw some local art along with some Georgia O’Keefe. We had read a very brief note about the museum in one of our books but we discovered that it is a real gem. Along with the art, there is an exhibit of Southwest “cowboy and Indian” artifacts and an exhibit of Goddard’s early rocket attempts. Roswell is, of course, famous for its UFO history and there are plenty of cheesy stores and museums that testify to that history. But this only added to the charm of the town.
We left Roswell via Rt. 380W through more desolate, flat landscape. Suddenly, as we started climbing the Capitan Mountains, the land completely changed to treed mountain passes. We’re spending the night in Ruidoso NM, a cute, bustling resort town in the mountains. Looking to forward to exploring the town tomorrow before we head off to White Sands.
Pete and Barbara: Marilyn took us through Marathon before you posted your comment!
2 comments:
I find myself waiting in anticipation for new posts to this blog...great stuff. What does this say about me? Is that the spot where JFK was killed
Is that where JFK was shot?
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