We spent one night in Dodge City, Kansas. Not much happening there, but we did feed apples to two mules. Did you know a mule is the offspring resulting from breeding a male donkey with a female horse? That makes for a very strong animal. These mules were just “parked” on the street waiting to pull a wagon load of people. Their owner was sitting on top of the rig. We asked if we could feed the mules apples and he said they would love that. Their names were Frank and Anne. Those mules threw their heads in our direction as we walked across the street with the apples ….they could smell them from that distance.
We drive off the freeway as much as possible. We find traveling that way is much more interesting. Yesterday we left Kansas, cutting across the corner of Oklahoma into the Northeastern part of New Mexico. It was a small road taking us to explore the Capulin Volcano U.S. National Monument in Raton, New Mexico. The volcano is a well-preserved, symmetrically-shaped cinder cone. It is considered a young volcano – only 58,000 – 62,000 years old. (Makes me feel young!) If I can trust my quickly written notes with cold fingers, it is the most “perfectly-shaped” volcano in the U.S. (See photos) The elevation at the top is 8182 feet above sea level. Brrrrrr…it was very cold and very windy….and we had shorts on! But we wore warm jackets. (We do have long pants with us!) Temperature was about 32 degrees Fahrenheit. From there we drove to Taos, New Mexico. We fed apples to a couple of horses, and beef jerky to a poor old dog. It was jerky or pretzels for that old guy! We spent the night in Taos. Next day we drove the Enchanted Circle. This 84 mile drive passes through the ski villages of Eagle’s Nest, Red River, Angel Fire, and Questa. Lots of ski slopes, chalets and an abundance of smoke rising from chimneys. The Enchanted Circle lies within the Carson National Forest. Kit Carson was a U.S. Army Officer, a mountain man, wilderness guide and an Indian agent. There were signs along the road indicating Rocky Mountain Sheep might be crossing the road, but none showed their faces. The prairie dogs (I think they were) popped their heads up to see what we were all about and then quickly scooted down into their burrows, but I caught one on camera. A few alpacas could be seen grazing on the open fields. Snow fence lined the highways in each of these little towns. When I was growing up in Northern Minnesota, every winter snow fence was put up in the fields to stop much of the snow from drifting onto the roads. Along the snow fence the drifts would be so hard, we could run on them for long distances without breaking through the snow. It was great fun! The photo I took of this snow fence is a bit different from the stuff I knew as a kid, but it serves the same purpose. (See photo) The Enchanted Circle was a beautiful drive up and down, around and through the mountains. We were amazed at how the terrain changed from pine-tree covered to rocky to what looked like sandy soil. Cold and windy all the way, and yes, we were in shorts again. The elevation is about 8000 feet at Questa. We knew it would be cold – just didn’t want to give in!!! (This is New Mexico and it is supposed to be warm.)
Spoke with a friend on the phone as we traveled to Santa Fe to find out we missed the Earthships near Taos. Michael Reynolds started this Biotecture project. He wanted to create a home that would use sustainable architecture/materials indigenous to the area or recycled materials. One that would rely on natural energy sources and be independent of the “grid”. One that would be possible for a person with no specialized construction skills to build. He actually wanted to…… and I quote “take care of his ass without having to depend on the political, economc and fossil fuel scenarios of living.” Check it out on the Internet….very interesting.
As we continued on our way to Santa Fe, the temperature rose to 42. We drove on some very narrow roads through very Mexican-looking towns. Not sure where our GPS was taking us at times, but we loved the scenery. BUT…guess what welcomed us in Santa Fe…..Yes, SNOW falling and covering the ground. We had a nice dinner. At out hotel, we swam in the heated indoor pool…..that was a pleasure.
The only road construction we encountered all day was about 15 miles with little traffic. Hardly slowed us down at all. And we saw at least 3 signs along the construction area we had never seen before (see photo).Bright red-orange signs saying Slow Down, My Mommy and My Daddy Work Here. ( Pretty cool message.) Got a photo of one of those signs just for you.
Tonight we are safe, well-fed and warm in Santa Fe. We will stay here for at least 2 days, maybe 3. It is hard to believe we left Minnesota only 6 days ago and we have done so much and seen so many interesting things already.
Long pants tomorrow!!!
