Day 47 17 December 2015 Fort Davis TX to Carlsbad NM (176 miles)
We spent the night at the 2-star Fort Davis Inn and RV Park. Our first room hadn't been serviced since the previous occupant left. We got a new one that was OK. It was our first night in a motel since 9 December in Fredericksburg TX. The hot shower and warm bed were nice, but the motel breakfast was a let down after cooking for ourselves. Instant oatmeal, Cheerios with our own banana, mediocre coffee, Swiss Miss Cocoa and no tea. But it was a beautiful day. We headed to Fort Davis National Historic Site, run by the U.S. National Park Service. The fort was on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail. It was one of many constructed to protect travellers heading west. Today Fort Davis is the best preserved of these forts, although some buildings are dilapidated.
Other buildings have been extensively renovated, such as this officer's quarters.
Enlisted men's barracks.
Quartermaster's store
Stores wagon
In the hills to the west of Fort Davis and on Route 118 is Fort Davis State Park. The photo below was taken from the top of the Skyline Drive at the eastern end of the Park. Another 20 minutes along Route 118 is the McDonald Observatory, on the skyline of the photo below, about 1/3 of the way from the left margin. The large white building on the left in the middle distance is Indian Lodge, part of the state park.
CCC-built lookout shelter at the end of the Skyline Drive.
We drove to Indian Lodge and had a nice lunch at the Black Bear Restaurant. Caldo de pollo (in this case a chicken stew) and generous salad bar for $7 each.
Main lounge inside the lodge.
Just outside the state park on the way to Balmorhea.
It was a 30-minute drive to the San Solomon Springs at Balmorhea.
The water from the springs is a constant 22°C, but the air was 14°C and windy.
We had the springs to ourselves.
Somewhere south of Pecos TX on Route 17.
Gas flare at well north of Angeles TX on Route 285.
Crossing the border from Texas to New Mexico
Day 48 18 December 2015 Carlsbad Caverns (55 miles)
Carlsbad Caverns National Park has over 120 caves. The public visits Carlsbad Cavern, while the larger and deeper Lechuguilla Cave is limited to exploration and research.
From spring through autumn, visitors gather at dusk near the cave entrance to watch bats emerge as they go out to forage. Seventeen different bat species have been seen in the park, but it is the Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) that visitors come to see. These bats weigh about 13g and have a wingspan of 27cm. The population fluctuates from less than 400,000 to almost 800,000. Two other species are also regulars that roost in the cave, cave myotis and fringed myotis bats.
Elevators are usually available to get visitors in and out of the cave, but they have been under repair for a while. We walked a zig-zag path to descend into the cave.
The descent continued long after daylight was replaced with artificial lighting
Once well into the cave, we met up with our guide, Josh Nelson. Josh is from Farmington ME, and has worked in 10 National Parks over the past 7 years. He now has a permanent job at Carlsbad.
Our group included Tatjana Hubel from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. She is part of a group studying the bats that roost in the cave.
The largest room covered 8 acres. As with most of the cave, there was little colour in the calcite, but for sheer size and variety the cave is magnificent.
There is a café at the point where the elevators were meant to whisk visitors back to the surface. Without this transport, there wasn't much on the café menu. On the bright side, tourist numbers seemed low so our visitor experience was enhanced.
A formation called the Lion's Tail
With no elevators, we had no choice but to walk back to the surface.
Nearly there.
The seven-mile access road from Whites City to the Carlsbad Caverns visitor center.
It was warm in the sunlight, but the air temperature hovered around the freezing point.
Day 49 - 19 December 2015 Carlsbad NM - Guadaloupe Mountains - Las Cruces NM (234 miles)
Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in Texas just south of Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We returned here in January--link to that blog.
We didn't have the 8 hours needed to climb El Capitan / Guadalupe Peak, but plenty of time to do the McKittrick Canyon Trail as far as the Pratt Cabin.
Texas madrone
The two miles in to the Pratt Cabin are along the bottom of McKittrick Canyon
Pratt was a geologist who gifted his cabin to the National Park.
About 1/2 mile before returning to the trailhead.
El Capitan
We passed through El Paso TX on the way to Las Cruces NM. El Paso didn't have much to recommend it, and we had the same impression when we passed through again in January.
Number 1 Auto Salvage, 12801 Montana Ave, El Paso, TX 78838
We pitched our tent at the Las Cruces KOA and then headed for Café Paisano in the suburb of La Mesilla. The restaurant had a good write up on Trip Advisor and we were not disappointed. After reading the menu, Midge and I both opted for the Chili Nogota ($13 each). It was superb. The chilis were stuffed with beef mince, pine nuts, dried fruit and spices. They were covered with a walnut-based cream sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds.
Downtown La Mesilla was getting ready for Christmas, complete with horse rides around the main square.
Day 50 20 December 2015 Las Cruces, White Sands, Dripping Springs, Silver City (261 miles)
The KOA had no place to cook inside. It was cold, so we went to Starbucks for breakfast.
We had a look at the visitor center and learned how the white sands formed. The sand is made from gypsum that dissolves in the rain, washes down to lake beds where it drys, and is then blown by winds that break it down to fine white grains.
Ed enjoyed running down the steep sides of the dunes.
Picnic shelters for sun and winds. They looked more like sailing ships headed out across the white sands.
Driving back towards Las Cruces from White Sands. We could have stopped in at the White Sands missile range, but we wanted to get to the mountains and Dripping Springs Natural Area.
Dripping Springs was variously a ranching property, tourist destination and Sanatorium before becoming a park.
Sunset on the way to Silver City NM
We reached Silver City after dark. On the internet, with a bit of sleuthing we'd found the address of a friend we'd known from 1969, and knocked on the door. It worked and Kate Schilling warmly welcomed us to Silver City.
Day 51 21 December 2015 Silver City NM to Show Low AZ (201 miles)
In the morning we wandered around the Silver City CBD. It had interesting buildings, coffee, second hand books, art galleries, bakeries, beautiful colors and well preserved facades.
Looking out over the Aldo Leopold Wilderness in the Gila National Forest.
We read about the Catwalk Trail we could take through a part of Gila National Forest. The local forest service, however, told us it was closed for repairs, so we tried a higher alternative about three miles back the road to Mogollond. Although there were some good views down into the canyon, the sign proved very accurate
Catwalk Canyon.
The local cows kept an eye on us as we walked back to the car.
Between the Reserve turn off and Luna we stopped for tea, coffee and breakfast burritos at The Adobe Cafe and Bakery. We also got two nice stollen loaves to take with us.
Day 52 22 December 2015 Show Low to Williams AZ (178 miles)
Ruth Nelson is Ed's second cousin. They share the same great grandfather from Atwood, Illinois. Ruth's husband worked for Chevron and they travelled to places like Indonesia, Australia, England and Nigeria.
Ruth has done a lot of genealogy work, and generously shared photographs and what she knew about Ed's grandfather, Alfred Gross, and the Gross famiily.
The Deuce of Clubs Avenue is named after the winning card in a game of poker called Show Low, and hence the name of the town, Show Low, Arizona.
Petrified wood outside Navajo County Courthouse and Museum at Holbrook AZ.
Cholla Power Plant between Holbrook and Joseph City AZ. Cholla is fueled by coal from the McKinley Mine in New Mexico.
It includes an art gallery with works by Tina Mion.
In case you've forgotten, Take It Easy and remind yourself of the real reason why Winslow AZ is known in popular culture.
From Winslow, we drove on to Williams AZ to meet up with Cassie, Ethan, Sophie, Ansel and Kiana for a family Christmas.
.oOo.
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