Tuesday, 2 November 2021
I never did see anyone from security - or in any other official capacity, for that matter. I did see that this fairground houses the Sunray Race Park and Casino - apparently they host horse racing events as well as running a standard casino - but no horse races yesterday and the casino's not a special event that would explain why security never came by my campsite.
Never having figured out where the office was nor having seen anyone official, I contemplated my alternatives. I could leave cash at the site I'd occupied with a note (incredibly futile if I want to pay rent); I could leave a check ditto (even worse because of all the identifying info on it); I'd already tried all the fairground phone numbers so I didn't think I could call anyone to give them a credit card number; or I could just leave without paying. Which is what I did. It felt weird and wrong but I just couldn't figure out an alternative - other than staying for who knew how long to try to track down someone. I waited until after 8:00 to leave but still saw nobody official.
And on my way out I saw that today was election day and one of these buildings was an election polling place. The reason I know is that I saw one of the usual Vote Here signs. Except it just said Vote Here.
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| internet sample of what I saw |
It didn't also say Vote Aquí, which I'm so used to in Texas.
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| also internet sample of the signs I used to post at the TX precinct where I worked elections |
I puzzled over that for a long time (I must not have been fully awake) and finally realized where I was: New Mexico, for crying out loud. It has the highest population of people of Hispanic descent in the country. It doesn't have an official state language but is effectively bilingual, routinely publishing state documents in both English and Spanish. So where on earth was a bilingual voting sign, which is standard all over Texas with a lower percentage of Spanish speakers?
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| today's route |
On the road
I've noticed already that here in NM I'm seeing gasoline brands I haven't seen in months of travels up north - brands such as Marathon and Speedway.
NM has a town named Blanco, as Texas does, but this one has an elevation of 5,568'. I crossed the San Juan River, which looked pretty full to me. I wondered why, given the severe drought throughout the western US.
I heard on the radio that deer and elk are now migrating and for drivers to be especially cautious at dawn and dusk. And a short time later, I came around a bend to see first a Mule Deer on the left, then another one on the right, then more for a total of 6.
This first part of today's drive, from Farmington east to Chama, took me through miles and miles of reddish-brown hard-rock hills and buttes, with the road running between them like a canyon. And there was sage anywhere there was dirt for it to grow.
Soon, I came to the Carson National Forest where miles of pine trees were added to the red-brown hills.
I also started seeing many signs like this one, warning of falling rocks. And twice I saw a large sign that had so much information it was hard to read, even at my slower speed, that said something about "debris" being "possible during inclement weather." Meaning - what? Strong winds or rain could dislodge rocks that weren't already falling on their own? Meanwhile, I was negotiating s-curves and blind curves around these rock hills. Not an easy drive.
A sign told me I'd come to the Home of the Jicarilla Apache Nation. This wasn't a name I'd heard before - I guess I thought the Apache Nation was united - so I looked them up. https://en.wikipedia.org/Jicarilla-Apache They sound like a special people with an interesting history.
Passed a stack of rocks that looked like a trail blaze - except this one was at least 50' tall and was leaning over. Gravity's going to get that one soon.
As I was keeping an eye out for migrating deer and elk, I saw near the top of a hill ahead 7 wild turkeys crossing the road. I had to stop for them because they couldn't all seem to make up their minds right away and dithered at the roadside for a bit before finishing the crossing.
On a 6% grade I saw a sign saying "sharp curves" but what it actually turned out to be was very tight s-curves. Are you getting the picture of this section of highway? And this is still US-64, which I'd picked up back at the state line yesterday.
I came to the town of Dulce, where I found 2 off-brand gas stations (I'd hoped to get gas but decided to wait for a brand I knew); a casino; a warning sign for elk and another for deer; and a large sign with an outline of a bat sporting the phrase: "Operation D.W.I." and underneath was this warning: "Checkpoints Everywhere." (I continued to see these signs everywhere I drove in NM but never saw a hint of a checkpoint, but I've since learned the State throws up 75-100 checkpoints around the state 6 times a year, and they've been doing this since 1993. They say the number of crashes and fatalities goes down 27% each time.)
Coming toward the town of Lumberton, I started seeing signs like this:
This was clearly a farming area, and I saw many of these signs as I drove.
I also saw one of those elk warning signs, but this one was enhanced with flashing lights - high elk traffic area, I guess. Followed by another one saying to expect elk for the next 7 miles. All these elk warning signs and I've never seen one. I almost feel cheated. But I didn't see a tractor on the road either.
More deer signs. More loose cattle signs.
At the town of Chama, elevation 7,800', we stopped at the visitor center for a walk and some lunch. The walk was terrible because there was a lot of trash and litter around the visitor center, plus areas with both dog poop and deer poop - so I spent the whole time trying to keep both dogs from eating anything while trying not to step in anything. The part of Chama I saw wasn't remotely scenic, but the businesses I saw were aimed at tourism. Maybe for outdoors enthusiasts?
On the other hand, Chama is one end of the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, which they claim includes the "highest operational railroad pass in North America." The train operates seasonally between Chama and Antonito, CO, and they offer 3 different types of trips for those with different amounts of time to devote, and 3 different levels of service for those with different levels of money to spend. Here's their website. https://cumbrestoltec.com They already have their 2022 schedule set.
Also at the visitor center I saw a historical marker but wasn't able to get a photo of it, so I'm including this link here. https://www.hmdb.org/Old-Spanish-Trail This made me curious so I looked up this trail and found more than I'd expected. https://en.wikipedia.org/Old-Spanish-Trail This was a trading trail between Santa Fe and Los Angeles during the early 1800s that was in heavy use for years, despite being considered "one of the most arduous trail routes ever established in the United States." A lot of history walked through this area.
Luckily for me, I was driving. US-64 made a right turn at Chama, and that next section of the drive was a subject of great concern for me. AAA says it's a scenic route, probably because it goes through mountainous roads with switchbacks (you can see them on the AAA map). But what I knew was that I'd tried getting a camping reservation at several RV places in Chama, all saying they were closing due to weather. So of course I worried that this weather might extend to mountain roads. And the National Weather Service had predicted freezing temps last night along this route, though it was supposed to warm up during the day.
I had a Plan B all routed out that would take me south to Española and then north to Taos, where I'm staying tonight. But that route would be much longer and likely not quite as scenic. I'd decided to wait till I got here, to Chama, and see what the road looked like. The road had been clear all morning up to this point, and I figured, since it was nearly noon, anything frozen on the road ahead would have melted, so I went with Plan A.
At first what I saw were lots of tractor signs, a couple of deer signs with flashing lights, lots of cows and horses and sheep, lots of magpies and ravens and crows. And the sun finally came out from behind the clouds.
The road started climbing so much my ears hurt. I counted 4 switchbacks and many s-curves. Signs warning the road was slippery when wet (it was wet); signs warning of loose cattle. My real concerns though were the patches of snow I could see beside the road, especially at those switchbacks, making me worried about the road I was driving. Then I noticed I was driving through clouds. I came to the top of the hill, though there was no summit sign or information about the elevation we'd reached.
I saw 10 or 12 wild turkeys that almost crossed the road but changed their minds when they saw me. I was willing to stop for them, but they turned around and headed back into the brush.
More rocks-on-road signs. More loose cows signs.
Then I came to a house that looked nearly buried in the ground and I wondered if this were the home of a survivalist. But then I saw another and another and then a whole group of them and, just before wondering what sort of community I'd wandered into, I saw a sign: Earthship Architecture. A big relief. Each of the buildings looked distinct from the others - this was definitely not a housing project with identical dwellings. Some of them looked quite sophisticated - not your basic hippie dwelling. It's an interesting project and here's their website, including photos. https://www.newmexico.org/earthships They say you can rent one of them if you want to see what they're all about. And they have a global perspective in more ways than one: they build these houses all over the world. https://www.earthshipglobal.com
And then suddenly I found myself passing Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument Visitor Center and the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge. I'd never heard of either one and I was stunned by the view I had as I drove across the bridge of a gorge I didn't know existed. It was just suddenly there, and then suddenly wasn't. And there wasn't anywhere I could see to turn around and go back to the visitor center where the parking lot anyway looked completely full.
This national monument is managed by the BLM and here's their web page about it. https://www.blm.gov/visit/rgdnnm And Taos touts it as an area attraction, and I'm including their web page because of the photos. https://taos.org/rio-grande-gorge-bridge But various pages were giving me conflicting information about both the height of the bridge and its subsequent placing on the list of America's highest bridges. This Wikipedia page addresses that question. https://en.wikipedia.org/Rio-Grande-Gorge-Bridge The answer is: the bridge is high but just how high hasn't been agreed on. Weird.
I stopped for gas at the town of El Prado just north of Taos and noticed across the street the extreme popularity of Toribio's Mexican Restaurant. It was nearly 2:00 in the afternoon, but the parking lot was packed, including 3 police cars. That was enough recommendation for me, though I saw high marks in online reviews. Unfortunately, it was way too long before dinner time and I don't think Mexican food tastes as good lukewarm. That's if I could have found any place to park.
I went on through Taos, where I saw adobe buildings everywhere. I guess the climate here makes this a reasonable building material. But it also makes the streets feel a little crowded, though when the town was founded in 1795 they weren't as worried about driving access for RVs. They urge visitors to come by the Kit Carson House, which has somehow passed to the ownership of the local Masonic lodge. They charge fairly high admission ($8 for seniors), but they offer free entry to a whole raft of various people. Here's the entry to their website. http://www.kitcarsonmuseum.org
Having already come through the Carson National Forest, and now passing a museum where he'd lived, I began wondering how he'd gotten so revered when I had the impression that he ranked with Custer and Stonewall Jackson for his treatment of Native people. As often happens with human beings, the truth is complicated. It seems he had a change of heart during his life. Plus, his role in opening up the western wilderness was significant and shouldn't be completely overshadowed by his other actions. Here's the Wikipedia page that describes these various aspects of his life. https://en.wikipedia.org/Kit-Carson
And then on to tonight's campground about 7 miles south of town. And there I had a strange experience.
This was a nice campground, privately owned but well-run and clean. Entirely xeriscaped, so I had to pay attention to what the dogs were sniffing on our walks. During the before-bed walk, I was suddenly hit by dizziness so strongly that I was almost sick and had trouble standing up. I had to disappoint the dogs and cut our walk short and still could barely make it back to the RV. Even there, where I had things to hang onto, I had trouble standing up. I had to lie down for a bit to wait until the dizziness and nausea had abated somewhat. I was still dizzy when I went to bed. It was a very strange and scary feeling.
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