and very desolate.
Very beautiful.
Vacant land with little vegetation.
4 cows allowed per square mile.
Absolute must trip for adults and kids.
A very foreign country
within the United States.
lenty of camp sites.
Nice people everywhere.
Good paved roads.
The old west preserved in rock,
sand,
and cactus.
Friday noon
we took off for New Mexico.
drove past Fort Union.
Made it to Las Vegas
300 miles
by 8pm and a great dinner
at the El Rialto
near the ancient square
and the old remodeled hotel
we stayed at last time.
Comfort Inn
was great for us this time.
Stopped at a small museum
at the spot
where Billy the Kid was killed.
Drove on past Santa Rosa,
Carlsbad and the Guadalupe mountains
before dark.
Stayed in Van Horn.
Ate at Chuy's a small cafe.
Their lifetime made happy
by a visit from Football
luminary John Madden.
I'm very surprised by the size,
frequency and ruggedness
of the mountains.
Marfa, Texas.
Ate in a new steak house
that didn't have their act together.
Shafter ghost town.
Built by historical
Cattleman Milton Faver 1820-1889.
He built a big town
that has dozens of "ghost ruins" today.
Cibilo Creek ranch.
You can stay overnight
in the original adobe buildings
on the ranch.
Presidio/Ojinaga.
Important river/border crossing
since the days of the Comanche
raids into Mexico.
Lajitas, Texas.
Reconstructed frontier fort
you can stay in for $100.00 per nite.
Condos available
on the banks of the Rio Grande.
I sat on the porch
for two hours
watching the river
and the Mexican village
on the other side.
Many roosters crowing.
Timeless.
Eat at the Starlight night club
10 miles away.
Has the best book store
for Western history I have seen.
We spent too much.
Fort Stockton.
Fort and Museum.
A Geologist volunteer
gave us a tour
and never stopped talking.
He had a smooth way
of leaving one subject
and starting another
without a pause.
His wife passed on 3 years ago.
He enthusiastically announced
his marital availability
every few minutes.
No one had a chance to say yes.
Ate at Sarah's.
A small house restaurant
since 1929.
The overly eager grandson
proudly shared old menu's
from the 40's and 50 's.
He also couldn't stop talking.
Showed us all his artifacts.
Alpine, Texas.
The 30 minute museum
had a 20 foot Petroglyph arm fossil.
These birds were gigantic
35 million years ago.
Marathon, Texas.
Gage hotel 1927.
Very little used $120.00
Old style bath down the hall
and very unique new parts.
Most uniquely decorated hotel room
I have slept in.
Frontier/Early Mexican adobe.
Lunch at a unique home/cafe
of a Cowboy poet
and his singer/cook wife.
Poetry for lunch anyone?
It was hilarious.
Unreplaceable.
Did some important Christmas shopping
in nearby shops.
Monahans, Texas.
Million Barrel Museum.
Is 14 acres large.
Site of the annual chili cook off
and other fun events.
Much more than I expected.
It also has a 1900
perfectly restored house tour.
You can stay there as a B and B.
East of Monahans.
Texas sand dunes.
Large like White Sands New Mexico.
Up to 70 feet high,
3840 acres.
Tan sand rather than white.
10 miles west of Odessa.
Second largest meteor site in the USA.
Was 550 foot diameter,
185 feet deep,
20 to 30,000 years ago.
Impressive?
Two vans of students
from Vermont seemed
to be making serious field studies.
Replica
of Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London.
Replica
of Anne Hathaway's cottage.
We attended a show friday nite.
"The Gondolier"
by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Midland, Texas.
Comfort Inn again,
$43.00 for a suite.
Cattlemen Restaurant a must.
Drive 300 miles
out of the way
for this big traditional TEXAS T-bone for two, $20.00.
We took home half of it.
The very caring proprietor
looked very old.
He acted like
he was about to die
but was watching every aspect
of his pride and joy restaurant.
------------------
Oil museum.
One of the best museums I have seen.
An expensive set of exhibits
of the oil discovery,
geology, wealth building,
story.
Allow 4 hours.
Confederate Air Force Hangar.
A great set of planes
from my childhood.
Similar to Lowry collection
but much older.
The museum attached
is very complete.
Allow 3 hours
for a very complete run down
on World war II.
------------------
Portales, New Mexico
Blackwater Draw.
A gravel pit
that turned into the site
of a very important archaeological dig.
From dinosaurs
to Mastodons
to bison
in the same water hole.
Occupied
by humans since 8500 BC.
Great museum and artifacts.
Archaeological texts
that we can use immediately.
---------------------
Clovis, New Mexico.
Finally,
a few minutes for shopping.
Bought 5 1880's antique chairs.
Previous owners
from Hereford, Texas.
Made it back to El Rialto
at Las Vegas
for another great dinner.
Drove on non-stop arriving home
at 2.00 am Sunday, Denver.
This was a continuation
of our previous trip
down the Santa Fe trail.
I am impressed
with the historical
Comanche trade routes into Mexico.
Some adobe ruins 300 to 500 years old.
A Much more important place
than I expected.
--------------------
Partial Task Card
for the New Mexico/Texas field trip
two years ago.
Discovering the west end
of the Santa Fe trail.
The civil war battles
in New Mexico and the role
of Colorado troops
in changing the outcome
of the battles and possibly the war.
Leave Denver at 7
arrive Trinidad motel at 10:30pm
Raton Pass.
Raton - an orderly collection
of well cared for buildings.
Massive expanse of level terrain
that was easy for the cargo wagons
from 1830 to 1880.
Las Vegas - a bustling university town
that became the terminus
of the trail for the trade goods
that didn't go on to Santa Fe.
Over 100 historic buildings
including our hotel.
Stayed at the 100 year old Plaza Hotel
on the original city square.
Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Museum.
Fort Union - An impressive set
of adobe structures
that still dominates
the skyline after 150 years.
I was introduced
to an exciting textbook
"The Civil War in the American West".
Dr. Joseph interrelates
the Civil War battles
with the Union and Confederate
resources required
to control the problems
with the Indian tribes
west of the Mississippi.
A chapter "Gettysburg of the west"
whetted and kept my attention.
Major new insights
on Secession of the south,
the role of Colorado volunteers,
the early successes
of Col. Chivington
who later lost his reputation
as the commander
of the Sand Creek Massacre
in colorado,
and political maneuvering
in the west
to deal with the slavery questions.
Santa Fe - museum
in the Palace of the Governors
and the La Fonda hotel.
Taos and 20 other small cities
in immediate area.
The affluence of Santa Fe
has spread to the surrounding communities.
The homes on nearby Indian reservations
were the best kept
I have seen in any area of the country.
In other small towns I compared
the upkeep of homes and trash pickup
with Mexico City.
Mexico City won.
Perhaps the Mexicans in the USA
have less interest in their communities?
Much more Graffiti than in Mexico City.
Pecos - the 1450 Pueblo
and Glorietta Pass battle sites.
El Paso Museum.
McGuffin house.
More needs to be added
This trip went all the way to El paso
and resulted
in the Susan Mcguffin biography text
we use in our schools now.
Happy trails, Carl Peterson
