New Mexico

Today we traveled from San Angelo, TX, into New Mexico - a longer trek than we like to make in one day but there wasn't a planned stop in between. West Texas is flat flat flat - red dirt fields of cotton and wheat dotted with oil wells and, a more recent feature on the landscape, huge wind generators.

It's still warm, in the high 90's, with a few clouds decorating the sky. Pretty good driving conditions actually, and we've seen some interesting sights along the way. One small town we passed through, Tatum, New Mexico, has street signs, public office signs, private ranch sings, all made of iron silhouettes. They're all very nicely done and really added a nice touch to the otherwise sleepy burg.

We arrived at our destination, Bottomless Lakes State Park, around 3 P.M. We're camped at Lea Lake, the largest of the "bottomless lakes". They aren't really bottomless, but look that way, and this one is 90 feet deep. Close enough if you can't swim! The surrounding cliffs are red limestone, so the effect is very picturesque. We stayed in the RV until the weather cooled a bit, then ventured out to visit with a few of our neighbors.

A group just down the road from us had horses, so we asked where they were from.... what an adventure. Most of the riders are from England, and they came here as part of a project to follow the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail. If you aren't familiar with western history, this was one of the most famous of the trails used to drive beef to the northern states, and figured largely in the Lonesome Dove series.

This project, called The Long Ride, was quite awhile in the planning. This group started out near Dallas, TX. Some of the riders will trade off part way along the trail so at the end there will have been many participants. The organizer is hoping to make a documentary out of the experience. It was fascinating meeting the various members of the group, but when the mosquitoes started snapping we decided to go home for the evening.

A short time later the magnificent desert sunset drew us out again. The water tower, part of the stone structures built here by the CCC corp., made a nice silhouette.