Arizona…The Desert’s Beauty!

 

March 24th and 25th, 2014

It had been a few days since my last blog. Monday was a driving day from White Sands Missile Range into the South Western state of Arizona. We parked at a “Love’s Truck Stop” for the night. It was a little town by the name of Benson. Not much to report here other than some 50 other truckers sleeping in a mega parking lot.

Our game plan was to drive near Tucson and visit Saguaro National Park. We wanted to visit the western portion of the park. It is divided by the city of Tucson. I noticed, on the map, that one of the access roads had a note that “high profile vehicles” were banned from the Gates Pass road. With this in mind, I selected the Kinney road entrance. It was a long climb, but we finally arrived at the NP entrance. It is hard to imagine a forest of cactus of several species, with names that are difficult for us none natives to even pronounce. What is easy to take in is the beauty of this desert. With a video at the visitor center that gave us a native Indian interpretation of what the desert represents, we left there with a better understanding of this strange, but beautiful land.

The first thing was to join a Park Volunteer for a bird observation walk close to the Visitor Center. We were told that the snakes were out and to be careful of possibly running into one of the seven species of rattle snakes in this park.

One of our hopes was to be able to see the cactuses in bloom. This only happens in a short time frame each year. Luckily, the odds were in our favor as we started driving the Golden Gate Road. The flowers were everywhere and this gravel road wasn’t too heavily traveled. It was a winey, mostly uphill, narrow road with a few pullouts to stop and get close-ups pictures.

Our destination, on this side road, was to Signal Hill (2,446 feet) to view the ancient Petroglyphs more than 800 years old. When we arrived, it was time to take a short rest (better known as a nap) before hiking to the Petroglyphs. The temperature, in sun was recorded at 94 degrees and very sunny. About twenty minutes later, we awoke to find somewhat of an overcast sky. Off we went on our short hike, to the ancient rock carving site. Another Park Ranger told us to be careful of snakes…that one was spotted under a picnic table. Ok, we moved forward like a recon patrol looking for enemy snipers hiding in the bushes. The Ranger also said that it would rain! She said “30 inches, that’s one drop every 30 inches”. It hadn’t rained in months!

At the top of the mountain, we found the Petroglyphs, took pictures and talked to another couple who were hiking. The sky was now getting darker and we could see heat lightning and rain falling from the sky several miles away. The gentleman said to me (a native), “The rain is falling, but dries up before hitting the ground. Do you see way over by the mountains? It appears that the rain is falling up into the sky! That’s not rain, but dust blowing up from the ground”. He advised us that it was coming our way very soon and we all headed back to the vehicles. We did feel rain drops hitting us just a few hundred feet from the camper. Safe at last!

I had originally planned to take the Golden Gate road up over the mountain to save several miles back to civilization. The Park Ranger had said that this short cut was a passable road, but a high clearance 4x4 was needed. Just my type of vehicle. I was psyched to go for it. Ah, but wait a minute. Remember the possible coming rain. Maybe there would be some of those infamous flash floods coming down from the mountains! Play it safe, I was thinking! We took the long way out of the Saguaro NP and soon were on I-10 heading to Phoenix to our former neighbors Norm and Vi in Apache Junction.

Remember those dust cloud off into a distance? Yup, we were heading right for it! Helen was snapping pictures right and left. It wasn’t noticeable in driving the truck camper, just a light dust cloud covering everywhere. Minutes later, both of our phones went off nearly at the same time with a severe weather text alert about staying off the roads, don’t go out, if your on the highway pullover, shut off your lights and don’t step on your brake lights.

We both looked at each other and wondered what to do! The traffic was still moving, at least at a slower speed. We kept moving forward. At the junction of I-10 and I-8 (Case Grande), it got real bad. A State Trooper was heading in the opposite direction holding back the traffic to 40 miles per hour. Our west bound side was still moving faster than it should be. I tried to keep an extra distance in front of me, but the traffic nearly came to a stop. No good places to pullover were available at this location. Finally, the GPS said to take our scheduled turn off I-10 to County 587 road. It wasn’t more than two miles and the blue skies were all around us. We took another direction as directed and the dust storm caught up to us again! We did this three to four times again before we outran the direction of the dust storm.

We arrived at Norm and Vi’s home safe and somewhat sound. The only casualty was that my waterproof cover on my generator blew off somewhere. That was some adventure for today! Norm said that they never have dust storms like that until August. It isn’t a normal thing for this area. We spotted several photographers taking pictures of the upcoming storm.

All in all the desert is a wonderful and different land for us to enjoy and explore!

That was we did and saw!

   

Marathon Day!…2:30AM to 8PM…It was worth the time!

 

March 23, 2014

On Sunday, the main road coming into White Sands Missile Range is closed at 5am. This is because the marathon course crosses the paved roadway at the underpass on route US70. Jerry could only get accommodations in Las Cruces and had to enter the base before the road closed. Well, normally that wouldn’t be a big deal, but remember, this marathon has 6,200 participants and the bulk of them were driving in the day of the event. I told Jerry and Cathy to knock on our camper door so they could warm up. They were on base at 2:30am, but the spot that I had reserved, in front of our truck, was taken by someone else. I was also up at 2:30am figuring they would come in anytime. What I didn’t realize was that the parked car in front of our truck wasn’t theirs. I called him and he was parked over towards the start line. We connected around 5am.

Now, for the unbelievable Bataan Death March Marathon... I’ve seen many events in my life, but this was certainly one that will be remembered for a long time. Here in front of my eyes, were 6,200 participants mostly made up of: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coastguard and even Marines, all of which were volunteers to participate in this remembrance of all the Bataan Memorial Death March  that occurred in 1942.

Jerry was psyched and ready! I still can’t imagine a guy, who never has run a marathon (26.5 miles) with a rucksack weighing 45 lbs. and walk over terrain that is several miles up hill, in desert conditions, from sand to rocky trails, to pavement. What a guy!

After the opening ceremony, the participants were released in different stages. The wounded warriors were first, followed by the heavy (rucksack) military and so on. Each walker/runner had a digital chip tied to their footware to record start, intermediate and finish times. We all cheered Jerry on his quest to complete the marathon. Some professional marathoners would complete the course in unbelievable time, of course with no rucksack. We left and drove to the first and only water station that would allow us to watch Jerry come by and encourage him. Jerry came by and a volunteer gave him a cup of water. Cathy also held a cup and I took a picture. I titled it “The Toast”.

It was some time after 8am when he passed the first water station with another 24 miles ahead of him. Helen, Cathy and myself went back to the truck camper for a rest and contemplation on what Jerry would now be facing. He had figured between 8 to 9 hours. He planned on stopping often to change socks to prevent chaffing on his feet. I took a nap and the ladies went for a walk and soon we were at the finish line. Some of the professionals were already crossing the finish line, but remember with no min 36lbs rucksack. After lunch, the young ROTC teams started to come in. The early afternoon saw more and more cross the finish line. The medical personnel were busy in their very well equipped field hospitals. They were set up to handle hundreds of casualties mostly from foot problems.

Around 4:30pm, Jerry came into sight of the finish line. I couldn’t believe this guy! WOW, I was fortunate to catch him (on camera)crossing the finish line with his left foot stepping on the electronic mat with a time of 9:9.21. I also was able to record them weighing his rucksack with a weight of 45lbs. He met the standards and most of all, did the run/walk in remembrance of the guys who did and didn’t make it back from the Philippines in WWII.

Jerry’s feet were like hamburg. He said he started to have trouble at the 12 mile mark. The medics took him into the first aid station and lanced his blisters. He was tired, but OK!

One has to think that the story doesn’t end with Jerry. Remember the 88 year young, who has run 323 previous marathons (from a previous blog). Well, he came in close to 8pm. What endurance! Burt is an inspiration to all of us! Untold numbers also had a very long day and must also be congratulated for their perseverance.

We are on the road again as I write this blog. I may visit this Bataan Death Memorial March Marathon again as my mind reflects on everything that we have experienced in five days at White Sands Missile Range.

That is what we did and saw! 

Bataan Death March Marathon ~ The Excitement!

 

March 21, 2014

This morning, the Volunteer Park (officially called campground area) was starting to slowly fill up with more individual teams coming in from all over the country. I’m told there will be some 6,200 participants in this marathon. Many of them were eager to stop and talk to us and share information on the great marathon.

We spent the early morning listening to some remarkable stories that Burt recounted of his many marathons. We kept asking and he kept telling. Jerry and Cathy showed up in later morning from where they were staying in Las Cruces. We sat at our picnic table enjoyed the sun and also soaked in the conversations from many people. Jerry had taken care of his registration duties and late afternoon we decided to visit White Sands National Monument with them. The Visitor Center was again the first stop. A video explained how the White Sand area came into being. Now it was time to drive the 8 miles into the great dune area. Many more people were in the area now than in our previous visit. We found a dune with hardly any foot prints to take more (lost in the desert) type of pictures. We all had many good laughs on this private dune of ours in the White Sands of New Mexico.

That is what we saw and did! 

White Sands MR…Bataan Death March Marathon!

 

March 20, 2014

The Advance Party AKA Jerry’s Support Team has arrived! We were one of the first arrivals at the start/finish line and also the campground area. All of the hookup sites were reserved, but a large area was set aside for dry camping. Just up our alley! Restroom and shower facility just a hundred feet away.

One of the first RV camper arrivals parked just around the corner from us. It was a fellow named Duane with the nickname of “Poncho”. He had run the marathon at least three times, that I can remember him saying. He was very knowledgeable in telling us all kinds of marathon info. Poncho is also an excellent story teller and did so many times in the course of the day. He was a former Ranger and ironically served in Vietnam in my neck of the woods, or should I say rice paddy. We both enjoyed talking to him throughout the day.

Poncho had mentioned that one of his buddies would be coming later in the afternoon and he usually set up his tent right next to us. Burt was his name. Now, here is what is unusual about Burt. He is 88 years old, has run in 322 marathons of which 9 were international. Poncho said, “He only started running marathons when he was 57 years old”. Burt showed up a little later and we found him to be a wonderful character. Burt had come down from Minnesota about a week ago. He has been spending time here in the New Mexico deserts looking for rocks for his collection. He showed us two large bags of his quartz gems. He had some beauties and even gave us the choice of selecting and keeping one apiece.

Jerry and Cathy were still a few miles away at their hotel in Las Cruces. We decided to head over to the commissary for groceries. After the grocery detail, I said to Helen, “I’m going over to the base exchange and see if I can get a haircut”. Helen, stayed back to put the groceries away. I walked to the back side of the BX and spotted the barber shop. I walked up and looked inside. Who was sitting getting a haircut? Nobody, but Command Sergeant Major Jerry himself. Wow, what a surprise! Cathy was parked on the other side of the building and soon we were all reunited. We spent the day back at the campground talking to many people about the marathon course and its difficulties.

There are several classifications that walk or run the course. From individuals to teams. Everybody agreed that the most difficult class was the military heavy class. Some of requirements in the heavy military class…are to have a regulation uniform, carry a 35 pound rucksack for the entire 26.5 mile course. It is to be weighed at the end of the course. I put the rucksack on and let me tell you, you’ve got to be insane to think that you could carry this weight on your back for 26.5 miles! What class do you think Jerry will be competing in? Yup, the military heavy class! Go Jerry! Another important thing to remember is that the elevation here is 4,339 feet above sea level. Back home in Berlin, NH, the elevation is  980 or so feet above sea level. The air is thinner up here and breathing is more difficult. I can’t see how Jerry will survive. He has been training back in New Hampshire, but everybody knows it’s been snowing and the temperature has been below zero making it difficult to train effectively. We will do everything to support Jerry in his goal of completing the marathon.

That is what we saw and did!

 

Alamogordo, NM …White Sands National Monument

 

March 19, 2014

Today’s journey took us from Brantley State Park, over near Artesia, to White Sands Missile Range south of Alamogordo. Brantley SP is located on the Pecos River just above a holding reservoir. The park is well maintained with all sites having water and electricity. We arrived after business hours and did a self check-in. We parked next to a couple who were sitting outside enjoying the early evening. It wasn’t long before we were sitting with them. Ted and Leslie were traveling back home to Georgia. Ted was gracious in giving us a couple of his prized Pumpkin brewed beer bottles. We spent the evening talking about different places to visit. The evening ended as the temperature started to drop. It was a pleasant time at Brantley SP.

In the morning of the 19th, I finished writing my blog on Carlsbad Caverns and downloaded about 150 pictures from our three cameras. It is a little time consuming to sort, pick, resize and upload pictures for the blog. I do this because I enjoy writing about our travels.

On the road north to Artesia, we experienced large open country with the most amounts of oil rigs actually pumping crude from the ground. In some areas, we could smell the crude. In Artesia, I made sure we gased up the truck for our high mountain crossing over to Alamogordo. Several signs warning truckers that they were not allowed on this road were noticed. A descriptive diagram, on the signs, even showed elevation drop from 8,654 to some 4,000 or so feet drop in sixteen miles. The elevation noted on my GPS, here Artesia, was around 3,990 feet above sea level.

The road was straight as an arrow as far as I could see. No trees, just rolling gentle fields with small herds of cattle grazing. The skies were filled with what looked like smog, but it was really fine dust. Later that day, talking to travelers from Tucson, in the west, to San Antonio in the east, all reported the same dust cloud conditions. A local person said it wasn’t normal for this phenomena. Back to the drive west, to White Sands National Monument…The road continued to climb at a slow pace for a couple of hours. The terrain now changed to big pine trees and mountains. More cabins and mountain resorts ranches came into view as we now were at 5,000 plus feet of elevation. One could sense that people would come here in the dead of summer to escape the high temperatures in the valley cities below.

Finally, at 8600 feet, we crested at Cloudcroft. They actually have a ski lift! We noted patches of snow on the shady side of the highway! Amazing, that we even get excited about seeing snow from two New Hampshire snow bunnies! 

Now, comes the forewarned decent from a high elevation to the valley floor, in just a short distance. My truck has the ability of shifting to a manual mode and this made the decent easy and safe. Nothing to report about the drive down except the shear cliffs that the road cuts along side of the mountains.

White Sands National Monument was our afternoon place to visit. We stopped at the Visitor Center to get our National Parks cancellation stamp in our NP Passport book. It was an eight mile road into the dunes. From a distance, I wasn’t impressed! We were told that the first five miles were a non-stop safety zone, but than we could stop anyplace after the paved road ended. Well, the first thing we spotted were kids sliding down the dunes in a flying saucer type of sled. Next, another bunch of girls were sitting on a high ridge and posed for us, as I took a picture. The whiteness of the sand (actually gypsum) was astonishing! It wasn’t that hot here in New Mexico today, but with the sun reflecting…some girls were in bikini tops! Ah, that was our queue to change into our shorts and grab some of our own (glamour) shot pictures..Ah, ah! We tried climbing untracked dunes, laying on the dunes, writing our geocaching handle in the sand and so fort. It turned out to be a better experience than I originally thought or planned.

Time to head to the Missile Range, another 20 miles down the road. The whole area (hundreds of square  miles) belongs to the government for live firing of missiles and other weapons. They often close US 70 when they do a test firing. This is done regularly, but nothing today. We arrived and noticed heavier than normal security for a base. I stopped to check-in at the Main Gate Office, only to find it closed for the day. A note said, “go to the guard for check-in”. Now, here I am next to the main entrance and just a few feet away, I could see the guard watching me. I started to drive over to the barricades, but didn’t notice a curb. I jumped the curb! What a grand entrance to one of the most secure bases in America. After showing my military ID, I was allowed to proceed to the campground. Here is where we stayed for the night.

That is what we saw and did! 

New Mexico…Carlsbad Caverns…As Impressive as the Grand Canyon!

March 18, 2014
Our stay at Whites City was less than impressive. The campground is located at the turnoff to the caverns. The tourist shops there were ok, but the campground was primitive with restrooms that weren’t very clean. It also had another annoying problem, there were these little seeds that had two very sharp thorns on opposing ends. These thorns would stick and plant themselves to everything. I accidently (first time) walked into the camper and my “crocs” were full of them. Then, I took them off  the crocs and guess what, I stepped on one. They are called “Goats Head” and I soon developed a plan to keep them out of the camper. This campground will not be on our favorite list. We only stopped there for laundry, showers, dumping our tanks and a refill of fresh water. Enough said for a zero star campground.
In the morning, we headed up the seven mile climb to the caverns. In my mind, I imagined that we would be going down into some valley floor to enter the caverns. Not so…we climbed to a 3,275 foot elevation. The top of the mountain was spectacular from a view in every direction. The National Parks have this site very well developed.
The cost to get in with a senior pass…zero dollars! That was a ten dollar savings per person. The ticket agent said, “You have a choice, either take the elevator down or take the natural way in via the one and half mile trail. Guess which one we decided on? Yup, we’re walking the trail. I’m so glad we experienced this route.
A Ranger greeted us on the above ground portion of the trail. He said “You can take pictures with or without flash, but don’t touch anything in the cave to keep it from being contaminated. Another 500 feet down the trail and our first view of the opening appeared. “Oh my” first words out of my mouth. The view is of a large opening, but what really impressed me so far was how deep the opening appeared. The paved trail started with a series of switch backs, that is what gave me the feeling of depth. Slowly, we descended taking pictures from every angle. Note here to explain that the trail is paved with continuous guard railings and low level illumination. What blows one’s mind is that you expect to reach the bottom, but you just keep going down for a mile and a half. Now, let me say that we were not a mile and a half straight down. The recorded elevation at the elevator shaft is 750 feet vertical drop.
The picture taking was somewhat difficult at first. The low light conditions made the camera auto focus nearly useless. I expected that and brought a powerful LED flash light. Helen would shine the light on an object and I would now focus and lock the camera for the picture. That was OK for a few shots, but then I went to another method. I switched the camera and lens to manual mode and was able to overcome the focusing problem.
The most fascinating thing about our decent into mother earth was the size of the cavern. I mean a hundred feet high by at least as wide. The whole trail that we covered was 2-1/2 miles! This included the so-called “Big Room”. That is enough exploration for the average person. There is also a guided extended tour (pay extra) that requires headlamps and crawling to access the lower caverns. (Not on our bucket list). The “Big Room” is a monster of a cavern. One doesn’t comprehend what we are looking at. It is so beautiful that it nearly looks fake! Like a surreal Star Trek movie. It is something that the camera can’t capture. Why, because of scale. You need a person in the picture to demonstrate the immensity.
Back to the trail for an instance. As we descended, on the 1-1/2 mile route, about halfway, we encountered an elderly woman who was possibly having a heart attack. The Park Rangers were on scene and administrating first aid. I believe they gave her nitro and oxygen. Just a short distance from her, another Park Ranger, an older Ranger was pushing a wheel chair to the scene. We watched him coming up the paved walkway. He stopped several times to catch his breath. We thought for sure, he was also going to have a heart attack. Some other tourists asked him if they could push the wheel chair up for him. He reluctantly agreed. Later, on our journey below, we spotted the Rangers pushing the lady in the wheel chair towards the elevator. She seemed to be doing better. She, at least, was holding the oxygen mask on her face. I should mention that once deep into the cave you can hear ones voice a quarter mile away. The Rangers do have radio communications below ground. It was easy to listen to what was going on with the rescue. Everybody automatically  starts to whisper once your in this out of this world in this world experience. 
In summing up our visit to the Carlsbad Caverns, I would say it rivals the splendor of the Grand Canyon and, if you the reader ever have a chance to visit do so. One last thing about the cavern…There are millions of bats that live there and they come out every night to feed, but they like us are “snowbirds” and are gone to Mexico for the winter.
That is what we did and saw!

Texas…Bigger Than Life

March 16, 2014
You got to love Texas! It is such a large and diverse state, from its seven regions; Big Bend Country, Gulf Coast, Hill Country, Panhandle Plains, Piney Woods, Prairies and Lakes to South Texas Plains. We are in the process of crossing from east to west on the long axis of the state.
Coming into Texas, we are on the edge of Piney Woods, with a little Gulf Coast still present. The elevation is still nearly at sea level. The landscape is green and swampy with occasional woodlands. It doesn’t take long to see how industrious the state has become. Oil rigs are sparse along the interstate corridor, but the construction equipment is ever so present. It is the closest thing to North Dakota and the north slope of Alaska that I've experienced. Approaching Houston, the large refineries, chemical plants and very large distributors dominate the land. From Budweiser Brewery, Goodyear Rubber and Ford these mega buildings spread on untold acres. Houston is 50 miles across with every type of neighborhood. They love their highways and have not spared anything when it comes to overpasses and clover leafs. We drove this section on early Sunday morning and the rain that was present yesterday had abated. Next major city was San Antonio on our travels. A previous trip had given us the opportunity to thoroughly check out the downtown with all of the river walks. We were still on a schedule and moved on further on I-10. The wind picked up to a point that the truck wasn’t in overdrive. I switched my navigation software over to the GPS side for more information and discovered that we were now at 2065 feet above sea level. This, along with the wind, reduced my gas mileage. We were now in “Hill Country”. The landscape was getting drier and a little desert like, but stands of Oak and Cotton Wood were plentiful.
It was 3 o’clock and we had already reached our destination for the night. A place called Kerrville. We stopped at the Visitor Center and this charming mature lady gave us all kinds of info. Our plan was to stay at the last “Cracker Barrel” on this stretch of the road. I wasn’t particularly tired and we pushed on to the next town called Junction, TX. We hunted around for a place to bed down for the night. I couldn’t find a good spot and in desperation, I asked this guy coming out of the Post Office. He said “We have a town park down by the river and you can stay there for three days”. It is just what we were looking for. It is one of those spots that the whole town just comes down to and drives by, or stops to fish or what ever. There are picnic tables, play grounds with lots of Oak trees. I just hope the younger people don’t come down here at night to raise hell. It is suppose to get windy and cold tonight, so I didn’t expect too much activity. (note: The only activity was an occasional police car making sure all was peaceful).
We are just about a full day of driving for our next adventure at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, which is in New Mexico. Our last National Park to visit in Texas is Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It is noted for having the highest mountain in Texas at 8,749 feet. We don’t plan on climbing this baby! Tomorrow, we will also be close to changing our time to Mountain time  (from Daylight Savings to Central and now Mountain Time). Our days are just longer for us to enjoy!

That is what we did and saw!