Sunday, March 28 - Day 18
Alpine, AZ to Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM
Today was yet another memorable day. Not a single mile on an interstate or freeway, and more scenic beauty than you can imagine.
A cold front passed through Alpine early in the morning, the temperature dropped to 25F, the water hose froze although I had connected it loosely so that a small amount of water was dripping constantly, and I woke up at 5:30 AM. Turned up the heater and promptly fell asleep again. Woke up at 7:30 and the outside temp had already climbed to 60F, not bad, considering that the campground is above 8,000' altitude.
Took US/AZ 180 southbound. After about 10 miles, crossed the state line into New Mexico. The road is really beautiful. Initially, at the higher altitudes, it winds through an unspoiled pine forest. Then, as it drops to around 6,000', the pines give way to conifer bushes, prairie grass, and finally desert brush.
US/NM 180 is reasonably scenic most of the time all the way to Silver City. Crossed the continental Divide at 6,290'. Silver City is a well kept town with some historic sights. Bought gas for $1.099 and treated the Westy to a $5.00 wash.
Took NM 15, the Gila Scenic Byway out of town, headed for the little town of Pinos Altos - tall pines - and it's not a misnomer. It hugs the Continental Divide at about 7,850'. I liked Pinos Altos. It's sort of authentic and commerical in a subdued way - not touristy.
After Pinos Altos the road gets difficult. Wouldn't recommend it for RVs or long trailers, because the hairpin turns are tight and the road is narrow. But it is an incredibly beautiful drive through the forest.
Decided against visiting the cliff dwellings and, therefore, turned right on to NM 35. The first picturesque sight is Lake Roberts.
Beyond the lake lie pine forests and ranch land and I again crossed the Continental Divide, this time at 6,600'. Picked up NM 152 at Lorenzo. It switchbacks through dense forests and ultimately crests at Emory Pass (alt 8,228')
Here are some photos I took on the way up.
From the pass there is a fabulous view.
The road then winds down to the old boomtown of Kingston, goes through the pretty little town of Hillsboro and then through the Lake Valley to Caballo, where I picked up NM 187 and 51 to Elephant Butte Lake State Park. Got a site for $10 and settled in for the night.
Monday, March 29 - Day 19
Elephant Butte Lake, NM to Monahans Sanddunes State Park, TX
The night at the park was less than perfect. People were barrelling by my campsite at high speed until past midnight, playing radios at full blast. In the morning I discovered that the showers had only cold water and that there wasn't a gray water dump site or a place to refill the water tank unless one had paid extra for a full hook-up site. Left at 9:15 AM under a clear blue sky, temperature of 56F, up from the night's low of 45F. Not bad for an altitude of 4,000'.
There had been a missile/anti-missile test at White Sands early in the morning. When I woke up at sunrise there was the most beautiful pattern of two exhaust trails intertwined in the dawn's early sky. You could see how the anti-missile had tried again and again to intercept the missile. It failed, but the multi-colored pattern in the sky was some compensation for the $8 million that this attempt cost us taxpayers.
Picked up the rather scenic I-25 going north. It seems to be the main traveling road for Iowa and Minnesota snowbirds heading home for Easter - passed one huge class A and Fifth Wheel after another. One Iowa rig caught my attention: the toad (a mini-van) had a huge sign in its rear window saying "Don't get mad at me, I'm pushing the motor home as fast as I can."
Picked up US 380 at San Antiono, NM for the long, but mostly scenic drive to Carrizozo. Crossed the Rio Grande and drove through the Valley of Fire with good views of lava beds and snow covered mountains in the distance. At Carrizozo picked up US 54 southbound to Tularosa, and then headed north again on the scenic US 70. It climbs up to Apache Summit (7,591') and shortly after cresting, I had a beautiful view of the 12,000' high snow rimmed Sierra Blanca Mountain.
That was the scenic highlight of the day. Stayed on US 70 to Ruidoso Downs (road construction tie-ups and a good Wal-Mart where I picked up some camping stuff) and on to Roswell. Drove around town for a while, wasn't impressed, and continued on US 380 to the turnoff for Bottomless Lake State Park, where I had tentatively planned to spend the night. It's a pleasant campground and I backed into an empty site and filled the water tank and dumped the gray water into the sewer. I figured the State of Mexico owed me that much, after the Elephant Butte Lake disappointment. Wanted to check out the bathhouse, but it was locked - so I decided to move on. Continued on US 380 (OK, but some construction work) and the scenery got about as flat as can be. Got gas at Tatum, NM for $1.099 and added the first quart of oil since I left home.
Wanted to take the road to Hobbs and then go to Carlsbad, but got hopelessly lost. Instead ended up in Odessa, TX and took I-20 west for about 30 miles to get to Monahans Sanddunes State Park. Got there after dark and the office was closed, but I could get into the park anyway. The park seems fairly deserted, found a spot right against the dunes. Those sand dunes look pretty eerie in the moonlight. At arrival it was dark, and the temperature had dropped to 65F.
Crossed the time zone, lost an hour. Drove 552 miles and was on the road for 9 1/2 hours.