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This Week on the Road - March 23rd-30th

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This Week on the Road - March 23rd-30th

Hello Everyone! It’s been a wildlife viewing week out here on the roads of Northern New Mexico. I’ve seen eagles and hawks in the air, deer, bighorn sheep and pronghorns in the fields and lots of prairie dogs running around searching for their underground tunnels. I like seeing wildlife. These animals make me smile. I’ve actually done a lot of smiling this week as I’ve found myself in wild places surrounded by beautiful landscapes and breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. I’ve managed to keep most of the demons in my head at bay this week and have felt pretty good all around. The weather has generally been great this week as well which hasn’t hurt. Warm, sunny days and cool, pleasant nights work really well for me. I do find that I need to change from shorts to long pants very soon after the sun goes down – it doesn’t take long to cool down in this dry air. It’s hard to believe I’ve been in New Mexico for over a month at this point, but I’m starting to make plans for the final stretch of my time here and then I’m off to Arizona for the rest of my winter/spring. My month in New Mexico has been special and memorable and I definitely understand why they call it The Land of Enchantment.

When I left you last week, I was in tiny Clayton, New Mexico in the far northeast of the state. I did head out to Clayton Lake State Park that evening which has a fascinating “pad” of over 200 dinosaur footprints from when the area was the muddy shoreline of a vast inland sea. Some of the footprints were very pronounced in the evening light and while it was very windy out there it was still really cool to see. I decided to spend the night at one of the campgrounds by the lake and ended up having the whole place to myself which was really nice. It was windy and cold, but I stayed out to watch the sunset and then popped out periodically to check out the stars which were really bright and mesmerizing.

Thursday morning I stuck around my campsite for a bit, enjoying my coffee and the warm sun on my face by the lake. I’ve been rereading the book Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides which essentially tells the history of early American New Mexico. It’s an excellent book, and I’m enjoying it even more now that I’ve been to a lot of the places he writes about. A pair of bald eagles were cruising around the lake while I read which was awesome. Eventually I pulled up stakes and headed back into town to take a few more photos and then got on the road west to Capulin Volcano National Monument. I had noticed on my way out to Clayton Lake the evening before that the landscape was much more volcanic in that part of the state and it became even more pronounced as I went west. I drove past Sierra Grande, which is an incredible example of a shield volcano and then headed towards Capulin which is one of the country’s best specimens of a cinder cone volcano. This volatile and quick-forming volcano (which looks like what you imagine in your head when you think of a volcano) formed sometime around 60,000 years ago. The fertile soil it produced made for some fine grazing land so ranchers have used the land around the volcano for centuries and its distinct and easily recognizable shape made it a landmark on the Santa Fe Trail. Today, you can drive right to the top which is pretty cool but probably not for the faint of heart as there is a pretty severe drop-off and not many guardrails on the road. Once you get up there, though, you are rewarded with remarkable views in all directions and you can hike around the rim and down into the crater. You can look east at the seemingly endless plains stretching to the horizon and west to where they run into the Rocky Mountains. When I left the park, I headed north to Folsom and planned on taking the road over Johnson Mesa to Raton so I could drive past the Folsom Man Site, an archaeological area similar to the Clovis Man Site I talked about last week when I visited the Blackwater Draw museum. Somehow I took a wrong turn and ended up going a half hour down the wrong road but it was a beautiful road and a nice detour. When I finally figured out I had gone astray, I returned to Folsom and found the road I wanted to take. It was poorly marked and when I made the turn, I found it was also closed. Two hours later, I was back at Capulin but thankfully it was only a short drive from there to Raton. Raton is a cute little town on the railroad line with an old theatre and an older train station. I did wander around town a little bit but I was pretty tired and didn’t find out much about it. I stopped in for a great craft beer and one of the best burritos I’ve ever had at the Cellar Brewery (which is actually on the first floor, but they brew the beer in the basement) and then called it a night.

On Friday morning I headed just down the road to the town of Cimarron. Their sign reads “Where the Plains Meet the Mountains” and you can look west from town and see the Rockies emerging from the flat plains. Cimarron is also home to the Philmont Scout Ranch, a massive wilderness area donated by oilman Waite Phillips to the Boy Scouts in 1938. Way back in 1992, I came to Philmont on my very first trip to New Mexico and my first trip anywhere west of the Mississippi. My Boy Scout troop spent 10 days backpacking through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and covered about a hundred miles on foot if my memory serves. It was an amazing experience for a city kid like me and a formative one…

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Snapshots: Madrid - An Old Coal Town Reborn

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Snapshots: Madrid - An Old Coal Town Reborn

Madrid was the first town I came to along the beautiful Turquoise Trail, the scenic byway which connects Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Pronounced MAD-rid for some maddening reason, I couldn’t find a clear story as to how the town got its name. The earliest Europeans in the area most likely came from Spain, but it doesn’t appear that Madrid got its name until New Mexico was an American territory. First lead and then coal were mined in the surrounding hills and in 1892 a 6 mile spur was built to connect the town to the Santa Fe Railway. By 1906, coal mining in the area was consolidated under the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company and a company town grew to a population of over 3,000, more than that of Albuquerque at the time. In 1922, Madrid boasted the only baseball field with lights west of the Mississippi River, and the Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor league affiliate the Madrid Miners played there for many years. The mines did well until the early 1950s and in 1954 the Coal Company left Madrid and many of the residents went with them. By the early 1970s, Madrid was almost a ghost town but then artists discovered the town and started moving in. Today, Madrid is a vibrant and colorful town with many reminders of the old mining town that it once was, but truly reborn as an artists’ colony and a tourism destination. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful Madrid, New Mexico.

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This Week on the Road - March 17th-23rd

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This Week on the Road - March 17th-23rd

Hello Everyone! First and foremost this week, I want to say how much my heart goes out to those affected by the tornadoes yesterday in New Orleans and across Texas. The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans suffered enough for a lifetime with Hurricane Katrina and I’m heartbroken by the images coming from there today. I wish them well with their recovery. As for me, I’ve spent most of this week traveling across the Llano Estacado or the “Staked Plains” of northeastern New Mexico. This is not an area that sees a lot of tourism, but there is actually quite a bit to see out here and I’ve been enjoying it. The winds, however, have been blowing hard at me all week, which makes it hard to drive and since no matter which way you turn it never seems to be at your back, it doesn’t help with my gas mileage. When I pulled into Clayton an hour ago though, gas was at $3.70/gallon, the cheapest I’ve seen in over a month! It would have seemed expensive 3 months ago, but for today it brought a smile to my face. I’ve spent a lot of the week dodging suicidal tumbleweeds which wait until the last second and then make a beeline for my undercarriage. The beautiful pronghorns I’ve seen out in the grasslands have made up for it, though. I’ve actually been feeling really good this week and have been enjoying seeing this region of the state. Even though towns are few and far between and the wind makes me feel like I’m captaining a boat instead of driving a van, it’s been a really good week out here.

When I left you last week, I was on my way out to take some photos around Santa Fe, but clouds had moved in and it was a bit gloomy. I tucked into a little bar and met the most cantankerous person I’ve met thus far in New Mexico. Since he was the bartender and owner, it seemed like a good sign to call it an early night and get a good jump on my Thursday.

I hit the gym first thing Thursday morning and came out to find it snowing pretty heavily out. Since I couldn’t take my camera out in the snow, I went for an early lunch at a spot called Horseman’s Haven which my friend Estilla had recommended. When I got there, I double checked my phone to make sure I was in the right place because it was a little plain-looking spot tucked into the corner of a gas station parking lot. I’m sure glad I didn’t judge the book by its cover, because it turned out to be a really great restaurant. I had some chicken adovado, a New Mexican dish of chicken marinated and cooked in red chili, and I also got a side of their famous green chili which was as good as I had been promised (Anthony Bourdain apparently said it would “melt your face off”). It may be the best restaurant I’ve been to thus far in the state.

From there I headed back downtown and went to see the New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of Governors. The museum was pretty good and set out to tell the history of the state from the earliest Paleo-Indians to the modern day. I must admit my ignorance on a lot of the details of this region. Even though the names were all familiar from guiding tours here for many years, I didn’t have a good chronological understanding in my head and this museum really helped with that. I also enjoyed their in-depth look at the Harvey Hotels, an early chain of hotels and restaurants that grew up with the railroad, of which Santa Fe’s own La Fonda was one. I’ve been to La Fonda many times, and El Tovar and the Bright Angel Lodge at Grand Canyon, but I’ve always been interested in the brand, which was also one of the first big tourism operations in the Southwest. After early run-ins with locally hired employees, Fred Harvey decided to hire mostly young, single women - lovingly remembered as the Harvey Girls. In doing so, the Harvey brand may have had more responsibility for populating the region than they intended by bringing single, adventurous women to the Southwest. The Palace of Governors, which is attached to the museum, has been on the plaza in Santa Fe since 1600. It’s been occupied by the Spanish, the Pueblo Indians, Mexico, the United States and even, briefly, the Confederacy. The building has been altered, expanded, contracted, and was even given Victorian flourishes at one point. When you learn all of this, it’s amazing that this adobe building has survived for 400 years. Sadly, there isn’t much to it on the inside except a bunch of whitewashed walls and I wish they would furnish it from its many different periods. It was still interesting to see and I’m glad I went.

It being St. Patrick’s Day, my next stop was Boxcar – a very un-Irish bar, but seemingly the only game in town for the big day. To be fair, they did try and they all worked very hard to make it enjoyable. There was corned beef, Guinness and green beer…

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Snapshots: Truth or Consequences - Interesting Name, Beautiful Town

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Snapshots: Truth or Consequences - Interesting Name, Beautiful Town

People have been visiting the natural hot springs in the Palomas Basin for centuries. The Spanish called them Ojo Caliente de Las Palomas and the cowboys called them Palomas Hot Springs. In the late 18th century, a public bath was built on a ranch in the area where people could come and take the waters. When the Elephant Butte Dam was built in 1912 to help with irrigation, the area became more attractive to settlers and the town of Hot Springs, New Mexico was incorporated in 1916. Twenty-one years later, it would become the county seat of Sierra County. In 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the popular radio show Truth or Consequences, promised to air their 10th anniversary show live from any town that would change its name to match that of the show. Hot Springs residents jumped at the opportunity and officially changed its name to Truth or Consequences. Edwards made good on his promise and visited the town on the first weekend of May every year for the next 50 years. His visit was turned into a celebration, Fiesta, which still happens every year at that time. T or C, as the locals call it, is a wonderful and colorful little town full of hot springs resorts and art galleries and with a backdrop of beautiful mountains that light up when the sun is low in the sky. I loved my brief stay in one of the country’s most uniquely named towns, and I hope you enjoy these photos of fabulous Truth or Consequences.

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This Week on the Road March 10th-16th

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This Week on the Road March 10th-16th

Hello Everyone! Well I’m finally starting to feel more adjusted to the dryness of the desert and the altitude here in Northern New Mexico. It definitely takes a few days to get used to in my sinuses and with just walking around. On the other hand, Shadow Catcher has gotten better gas mileage this week than at any time since I’ve had her, and it is definitely the right time for that. Daylight Savings is back and I’m absolutely enjoying the later sunset – it stretches my day out a bit and I feel a little less hurried. I spent a good chunk of this week in Albuquerque, a city I had only visited in passing before. At first it seemed a little bit seedy, but it really grew on me and I enjoyed it quite a bit and look forward to returning. Beyond that, the weather has been near perfect all week and I’ve continued to really enjoy my time in New Mexico. It’s growing nearer and dearer to my heart every day. I guess they don’t call it The Land of Enchantment for nothing.

So when I left you last week, I was in the small town of Truth or Consequences which turned out to be a neat little town and one of the most photogenic I’ve been through so far. I headed out to Elephant Butte Lake State Park to take some photos and grab a quick shower, but the lake out there is really low after years of drought. I returned downtown in the evening and enjoyed wandering around and taking photos until the sun went down. Then I stopped in for a couple of beers at the great little Truth or Consequences Brewery and enjoyed speaking with the lady who worked there who had moved to T & C from El Paso and never looked back.

I was up and off on Thursday with big plans that I couldn’t quite fit into a day. My first stop was at old Fort Craig, an army fort built in 1854 - soon after the New Mexico Territory became a part of the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The fort was established to provide protection from Indians for settlers moving west into the newly acquired territory. It was staffed mostly by recent immigrants, one of whom described Fort Craig as “some lonesome sort of hole on the edge of the hot and dusty desert”. It would become the unlikely site of a fairly important battle (for the Western Theatre) of the Civil War as the Confederacy had its eyes on Colorado and California gold and a Pacific port which would be free from a Union blockade. To get to either, they had to cross New Mexico first, no small feat in the 1860s. Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley, who led the charge, planned on providing for his troops by “living off the land”. I don’t think he was quite prepared for the desolate and sparsely populated desert environment he found. Fort Craig, at the time, had tremendous storehouses and provided food and supplies to the entire region, so Sibley set his sights on the small desert fort. The armies met on the Valverde Battlefield, not far away, and the Confederates managed to send the Union troops retreating back to the fort. Sibley then demanded the fort’s surrender, which was probably met by laughter but was definitely refused by Commanding Officer Colonel Edward Canby who saw no reason to surrender his secure and well-armed fort. Sibley didn’t have the ammunition or the firepower to attack the fort, so he was forced to move on in search of provisions for his men further north. Canby left in pursuit, leaving Kit Carson in command in his absence. A defeat near Santa Fe sent the Confederates high-tailing it back to Texas. The fort would go back to serving its original purpose of fighting off the Apache, but was abandoned by the 1890s. Today it is just a collection of ruins overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, but it’s an interesting place. The caretaker told me they average just 8 visitors a day, but sometimes get as many as 20.

After a few hours at the fort, I headed on to the beautiful Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge just up the road. These natural wetlands are an essential stopover for migrating birds, and seeing it helps to show the importance of the Wildlife Refuge System…

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Snapshots: Hiking Organ Mountain - Desert Peak National Monument

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Snapshots: Hiking Organ Mountain - Desert Peak National Monument

Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument is a beautiful park in Southeast New Mexico managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Just 25 minutes from Las Cruces, this park makes for a great day trip from the city or a stop-off on your way to or from White Sands National Park. I enjoyed a wonderful 7 mile round-trip hike up to Baylor Pass, a saddle with wonderful views out over the Chihuahuan Desert. In the afternoon, I made a 3 mile round-trip hike to the ruins at Dripping Springs. This area, which contains a natural spring deep in a hollow, was once home to Boyd’s Sanitarium and Van Patton’s Mountain Camp. The sanitarium catered to tuberculosis patients while the mountain camp was a fancy hotel and resort. Opened in 1897, the hotel had 15 guest rooms, a dining hall, a concert hall, a gazebo and a roller-skating rink and hosted the likes of Pat Garrett and Pancho Villa. The resort fell on hard times during World War I and Eugene Van Patten sold it to Dr. Boyd who ran the sanitarium. The Great Depression would be the final blow to the resort and it closed for good in the 1920s. Today it is maintained in a state of arrested decay and makes for a cool walk in the late afternoon. There is so much more to this park than just these two hikes, but they were all I had time for during my visit. I hope you enjoy these photos from Organ Mountains - Dripping Springs National Monument.

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This Week on the Road - March 4th-10th

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This Week on the Road - March 4th-10th

Hello Everyone! It has been an amazing week here in New Mexico as I’ve been out hiking, exploring state and national parks, visiting small towns and soaking in some wonderful hot springs. The wind has been blowing tumbleweed across my path and the roadrunners make me smile. I even popped over to Mexico for a couple of beers this week. I’ve been feeling great and riding on a real high since arriving in New Mexico, and I’m hoping to keep cruising happily along for as long as I can. When I started this journey four years ago, I really wanted to take a deep dive into the Deep South and Appalachia and learn more about the history, culture, music and food of those regions. I had a fascinating time doing just that, but I also wanted to get west and visit old cowboy towns and hike through the desert. I didn’t know it was going to take quite so long to get here, but I’m sure glad I have finally made it. It’s so quiet out here and I’ve been so happy to get on the trail and explore a region so different from the places I’ve been for the last few years. I’ve spent some time out here on tour, but very little in New Mexico and mostly just cruising through. It’s been really great to be here and it’s been a fascinating week.

I know the world is struggling right now, and being partly of Ukrainian descent, I’m very aware of and unhappy with what Putin is doing in Eastern Europe. I don’t think there is much I can do about it, though, so I’m going to keep pushing onward and upward. The price of gas has skyrocketed in the last couple of weeks as a result of this invasion. I paid $2.98 a gallon just a couple of weeks ago in East Texas and today it was $4.49. I have travelled enough to know that that is still cheaper than in much of the world before all of this started, but when I have to fill up my tank every couple of days it hits hard. It means I have to plan things out more to avoid backtracking and make other adjustments accordingly, but I'm not going to let it stop me. It is actually an incredibly small price to pay to support the Ukrainian cause and while I wouldn’t say I’m happy to do it, I’m willing to do it. I’m very grateful to have work lined up for this summer though.

When I left you last week, I had just arrived in Las Cruces. After I finished writing this post, I decided to head down to Old Mesilla and have a look around and maybe grab some dinner. Mesilla is a town just south of Las Cruces which was created after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (which ceded New Mexico to the United States) as a town for those who wished to remain in Mexico. The border was later moved south and Mesilla officially became an American town. It’s a really cute little place, centered on an old central plaza with plenty of adobe buildings surrounding it. I loved that they had ristras of red chiles hanging from their light posts which brought a big smile to my face. I wandered around for a while and then took a seat in the plaza to listen to the Ash Wednesday sermon coming from the speakers attached to the central Basilica of San Albino, built in 1906. It was a quiet and pleasant sermon and I enjoyed listening to it in the quiet plaza as the sun was going down. When the sermon was over and the sun had set, I dropped into the Double Eagle for a margarita. The Double Eagle is apparently one of the fancier places in the area, and one that families tend to visit on special occasions. The bar area was absolutely stunning and the bar itself was constructed from the old high school basketball floorboards. They made a good margarita and there was a perfect single seat in the corner made just for me. When I finished my margarita, I made my way just down the block to La Posta de Mesilla, the other legendary venue in Mesilla and a restaurant recommended by more than one friend. I loved the piranhas and parrots in the waiting area and soon got a seat at the back bar. I had a hankering for a prickly pear margarita and was thrilled they could accommodate this request. The couple next to me were retired Border Patrol, and they were really wonderful to talk with. On my other side was a gentleman who grew up in L.A. but had moved to Phoenix many years ago. Both were such easy and gentle conversations, maintaining my first impression of the people of the region. My second drink was a chile margarita which definitely had a little spice and kick to it. The drinks and people were great but sadly the food wasn’t very good at all. It was quite ordinary actually and quite disappointing for such a large and historic spot. I had a great time in Old Mesilla despite my tasteless burrito, and decided to call it a very early night.

I was up and at ‘em early on Thursday, though, and on my way out to the Baylor Pass Trail in Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument. This is a beautiful natural area just north and east of Las Cruces, and I was happy to get out there while the sun was still behind the clouds. The hike up to the pass was steady and moderate, but gained a good bit of elevation over the 3.5 miles to its crest. It took me through prickly pear and yucca and even some sagebrush on my climb…

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In Focus - White Sands National Park

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In Focus - White Sands National Park

Magnificent White Sands National Park in central New Mexico preserves the largest gypsum dune field of its kind in the world. This dune field in the heart of the Tularosa Basin covers 145,762 acres and includes 4.5 billion tons of gypsum sand. This gypsum was left in the area after the Permean Sea retreated several million years ago, and water and wind shape the dunes we find there today. The dunes are ever changing, though, so you will never see the same landscapes on any two visits to the park.

People have been coming through the area for at least 11,000 years and we believe that a group we call the Jornada Mogollon were the first to farm the area (see my photos of their nearby petroglyph site here). Groups of Apache made their way into the area in the 1600s and European-Americans arrived in the 1800s. White Sands National Monument was created by Herbert Hoover in 1933 and it was made a National Park in 2019.

I arrived for my visit to the park just after dawn. The mountains to the east block the sunrise, but the skies were blue and full of amazing white clouds. I headed straight out to the heart of the dunes and hiked the wonderful 5 mile Alkali Flats Trail. The sun reflected brightly off the white sand making photography difficult, but I was grateful that there was no wind. In the late afternoon I set out to capture some of the beautiful plant life in the park, mainly different kinds of yucca, which contrast nicely with the white sand. I stayed to watch the sunset and found real peace and solitude out in the middle of the park. It was a wonderful day in White Sands National Park. You can find some of these photos for sale in my store , but please contact me if the one you want isn’t there and I’ll be happy to add it. I hope you enjoy these photos from my time in White Sands National Park.

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Snapshots: Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

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Snapshots: Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

The Three Rivers Petroglyph site offers an amazing look into the ancient rock carvings of the Jornada Mogollon people. These rock carvings, created between 900 and 1400 AD, are scattered across a boulder field in the Chihuahuan Desert between the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. There are over 20,000 recorded petroglyphs in this area, making it one of the most prolific petroglyph sites in the country. While nobody knows the exact meaning of these chiseled carvings, some of the more recognizable animals and birds offer a glimpse into what these ancient people found important. Located 17 miles north of Tularosa and 28 miles south of Carrizozo, this site, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, makes an excellent detour. There is a $5 admission fee to the site, but it is federal land so all National Park passes are also accepted. You could make the one mile out-and-back hike in under an hour, but the longer you stay, the more you will see. I hope you enjoy these photos of a tiny fraction of the carvings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.

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This Week on the Road - February 24th-March 3rd

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This Week on the Road - February 24th-March 3rd

Hello Everyone! Well it was a fun romp across the country and I’ve made it to New Mexico. I’ve definitely been having a wonderful first week here in The Land of Enchantment. I’ve traveled from the oilfields of the southeast, through UFO country at Roswell and into the Old West at Lincoln. I paid my respects at the grave of Smokey the Bear, passed through some beautiful ski resort towns and then down into the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert where I saw some cool petroglyphs and incredible White Sands National Park. My week is ending here in sunny Las Cruces where I celebrated Mardi Gras last night, far from New Orleans, but close in my heart. It’s been an amazing and incredibly diverse start to my New Mexican adventure, much like the people of the state itself. I can honestly say that my first impression of New Mexican people in the short time I’ve been here is that they are very sweet. That’s probably not a good word, but it’s the one which constantly comes to mind. I’ve had quiet and pleasant conversations with roughnecks, bouncers, a bartender missing his front teeth and a guy with neck tattoos and every one of them just seemed like a teddy bear who would giggle if you tickled them (an impression I did not test out on any of them). I have, of course, met wonderful people all over the country, but there are places where you get a particularly good feeling and so far this part of New Mexico has given me that feeling. The places I’ve traveled have been great and the food has lived up to my memories of how good New Mexican cuisine can be. All in all, it’s been a fantastic week on the road and just what I needed to start off this leg of my journey.

When I left you last week I was headed towards Luckenbach in the Hill Country of Texas. On my way, I stopped into Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Site in Johnson City, a town named after one of Lyndon’s relatives, James Polk Johnson. The site was fascinating and included LBJ’s boyhood home in Johnson City and the Johnson Ranch and “Texas White House” a few miles down the road where he lived later in life and eventually retired. It’s also where he is buried in a very simple family cemetery. LBJ grew up in a humble home with no electricity, one of five children born to two local teachers. He went on to become a teacher himself and taught impoverished children of Mexican descent. LBJ entered politics in 1931 as a legislative secretary and went on to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate (where he rose to be the Majority Leader). In 1960, he ran against John F. Kennedy for the Democratic nomination for president, joining JFK’s ticket after his primary defeat. When LBJ became president after Kennedy’s assassination, he often returned to his Texas ranch, inviting friends, colleagues, and foreign dignitaries to join him there and experience some Texas hospitality. Their barbecues were both massive and legendary. While the Texas White House was closed during my visit, the grounds were open and I enjoyed learning more about Johnson, his early life and his political successes. I had always pictured Johnson as a Texas rancher, but never realized his humble upbringing and had always assumed he was just carrying on with Kennedy’s agenda instead of how much actually came from him. I’m glad I made the stop and after a few hours there, I was off to Luckenbach.

Luckenbach was settled in 1845 and steadily grew to a population of 492 people in 1904. By the 1960s, though, it was virtually a ghost town and the town was advertised for sale in the newspaper. Two men, Hondo Crouch and Guich Koock, bought the town for $30,000 and set about trying to revitalize its aging dance hall and country store. The town’s fate was sealed when Waylon Jennings recorded a song called Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love), a song he hadn’t written about a town he’d never been to. The song hit #1 on the charts and people have been coming to check out the town ever since. It hosts concerts, festivals and live music daily. The night I arrived the scheduled musician had called off due to the weather but luckily a group of musicians just happened to be there to celebrate a friend’s birthday and jumped at the opportunity to take the stage in such a storied venue. They were great and I enjoyed chatting with them after the show. I also enjoyed meeting the locals and talking about the history of the town and the people who have passed through over the years. It was a really fun night.

Freezing rain came overnight and caused both shows to cancel on Thursday so I decided to head on down the road. The rain had frozen in the trees, creating an absolutely mesmerizing landscape as I descended out of the Hill Country and into the flatlands of West Texas. When I got to a lower elevation, the frozen trees gave way to prickly pear cactus and I felt as though I had arrived in the West. I made my way through Mason, Menard and Eden before landing for the night in San Angelo. I hit the gym and then headed out for some delicious Tex-Mex food and a quick beer before calling it an early night.

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Snapshots: Lincoln - The Baddest Town in New Mexico

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Snapshots: Lincoln - The Baddest Town in New Mexico

The area in southeast New Mexico that now includes the town of Lincoln was originally inhabited by Mogollon people and later by the Piros and Mescalero Apache. When a group of settlers arrived from the Rio Grande Valley, they named their new town La Placita del Rio Bonito, or “the place by the beautiful river”. The town was renamed soon after the Civil War in honor of President Lincoln and was made the county seat of the massive Lincoln County. In 1873, Irishman L.G. Murphy opened a general store and won the contract to supply beef to nearby Fort Stanton. When Englishman John Tunstall set up a rival store down the street and challenged Murphy’s monopoly on the beef contract, the Lincoln County War broke out with each man hiring his own army of gunslingers. One of Tunstall’s men, who the world remembers as Billy the Kid, has gone down in history as one of the most notorious figures from Old West lore. The Kid was arrested and tried for his role in the murder of the county’s sheriff and was held in the county courthouse, which had once been Murphy’s store, to await his hanging. He outsmarted and overpowered the two deputies who were watching him and escaped, only to be cornered and killed by the new sheriff, Pat Garrett, just a few months later at Fort Sumner. The volatility in Lincoln led President Rutherford B. Hayes to call the town’s main street "the most dangerous street in America". Today there are quite a few remnants from its wild past and much of the town is an historic site. I found the whole place fascinating and learned a lot while I was there. I wish I had had more time to explore it, but I hope you enjoy these photos from my brief stay in tiny Lincoln, New Mexico, once one of the Old West’s baddest towns.

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Snapshots: Roswell - Alien City

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Snapshots: Roswell - Alien City

Roswell is a town of about 48,000 people, making it the fifth largest city in New Mexico. The area was originally settled in 1869 when Van C. Smith and Aaron Wilburn built a small store, inn and post office. They named their settlement Roswell, which was Smith’s father’s first name. Roswell was the home of Walker Air Force Base from 1941-1967 and housed a POW camp during World War II, holding mostly German prisoners. In 1947, a UFO purportedly crashed in the area and the military seized the aircraft and its alien operators. This alleged incident has brought interest and controversy ever since, and you can read all about it and decide for yourself at the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Roswell has embraced the tourism opportunity from their UFO encounter and there are no shortage of T-shirts and bumper stickers to be had. Beyond that, I found Roswell to be a pleasant place full of kind and welcoming people and I’m definitely glad I stopped in for a while. I hope you enjoy these photos from fun and beautiful Roswell, New Mexico.

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