Rode north to Truth or Consequences (yes that’s a real town name), and on a whim decided to take a detour on a nice county road through the desert. The road eventually led to the entrance of Spaceport America.
I couldn’t go in, it’s not open to the public. Too bad I was a day early ... tomorrow Virgin Galactic has a test flight planned.
Got a nice view of the Elephant Butte dam on the Rio Grande while entering Truth or Consequences. I was surprised at how old the dam is (completed in 1916).
My original plan was to ride NM-152 through the mountains but it was closed because of smoke from nearby wildfires. Had to detour on 26 to Deming, then US180 to Silver City, then NM-90 and AZ-80 to Bisbee. On the way I stopped at a roadside table in the middle of nowhere ... which happened to be the spot where Geronimo surrendered to General Miles in 1886. A completely random find.
In Douglas AZ I got within a few hundred yards of the Mexican border.
Bisbee is a gem of a town. An old copper mining town, it reinvented itself as a sort of mountain tourist town. Lots of well preserved buildings, restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, etc.
To give you a flavor of the place, my historic little motel has a working telepoem booth:
So fun watching you tour the southern extremities of our country! I had heard Big Bend had some beautiful areas, but we couldn’t take the time to see it when we were crossing lower Texas 2years ago.
ReplyDeleteWe did stay in Las Cruces and went to White Sands NM, and really loved it. Unfortunately the winds were abysmal - they were plowing sand off the roads, and you couldn’t get out of the car.
I’m really impressed with the pics from Carlsbad Caverns. We were there many years ago, and they had a major change from previous lighting. A New York Broadway Light designer was hired to redesign lighting in order to cause less evaporation of dripping water. Unfortunately, it also caused major issues with actually SEEing the wonderful formations. Maybe they have installed LED fixtures to solve both issues. In any event - your pictures look great.
Love the serendipitous moments along your long drive, as well. Keep sending!
Did you pay for a poem?
ReplyDeleteooops, dial a poem...
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, Rangell and Helman are in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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