Back to San Carlos-October 2020

 We took off for our annual trek to Mexico in October after a quick trip to the dust bowl area of Colorado in the southeast corner of the state, near the Oklahoma border.  We had a lovely time with Gail and Harley visiting the Sand Creek Massacre Site, Queens State Wildlife Area and the Comanche National Grasslands.  Not to be misleading though, the flies were horrible and the roads a huge challenge but the sense of isolation and closeness to the land, the wildlife and the topography of the area more than made up for the inconveniences.

This site sits along the creek at a desolate location way off
the main roads.  It commemorates a horrific and senseless
slaughter of the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples (mostly
women, children and the elderly) by 675 US Cavalry
soldiers.

      

We  camped at the Queens Wildlife Area near Eads.
 It is very barren but beautiful in many ways-multi-hued grasses
bending to the winds and a cloudless blue sky!  There is a lot
of dispersed camping around here.

Until the food comes out we can visit outside. But, if the food
is anywhere outside, the flies attack from everywhere and we
must go in.  

The evenings are glorious and the night sky is
one of the best parts of being here.

After two nights near the Nee Shaw Reservoir, we headed south through Lamar to the Comanche National Grasslands.  These grasslands are a patchwork of federal, state and private land which range from steep canyons to gently rolling hills covered with sage, yucca and cacti.  

This area was settled in the 1800s under the Homestead Acts, which opened up the area to people who settled the west.  A prolonged drought in the 20s and 30s caused much of this land to dry up and, with it, the hopes and dreams of many of the early settlers, mostly farmers.  Now, being a national grassland is a indicative of efforts to restore the area to a multiple of uses.  

The land is still just as susceptible to drought and high winds. Evidence of American Indian occupation are in the rock art found in the Vogel and Picket Wire Canyon areas.

You can see a little bit of why they call it the Dust Bowl.  The
roads are all dirt and, when windy, fill the skies with dust.

One of the beautiful hikes into canyons where there are
petroglyphs.  It was hot but worth the walk in.

And of course, as we do so often in the west, we ran across 
many cattle, often blocking the roads for awhile.

This was probably our very favorite site as it sits atop a canyon.
Unfortunately, we got lost and separated from the Lyons for a few
hours, so arrived late.  Can you see the dust storm forming in the
far left of the picture? Some wonderful woman drove up and warned
us to get everything inside and close up our rigs tighter than a drum
as a dust storm was coming.  We have never been in anything like
this.  Within moments it was gaining on us.  We brought everything
inside and Gail and Harley popped into Maxine with us.  Huge winds,
started howling and the air was filled with so much dirt and gravel
pounding on the RV that we couldn't see anything.  Within another
15 minutes it had passed and life got back to normal.  SCARY!

We took off early the next morning for Albuquerque.

We have joined a group called Harvest Hosts which, for an annual fee gives you free nights at attractions, breweries, wineries, etc.  Our first stop was in Albuquerque where we stayed at the Wildlife West Nature Park. and Rescued Wildlife Zoo.  We arrived, noticing warning signals about tires on the CRV, so went the following morning to Discount Tire, where we found that we needed 4 new tires and struts- $4,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost as bad as the cost, was the inconvenience.  We had to take everything out of the car and leave it in the parking lost of the tire place in downtown Albuquerque.  I'm sure most people walking by thought we were having a garage sale.  

After spending the day in the parking lot and freed from our $4,000, we went back to the Zoo for another night of listening to wild animals.

Then it was off to a lovely winery, DH Lescombes) in Deming where we spent the day eating chili cheeseburgers and sampling flights of wine.  Our favorite was a St. Clair Port.  It was hot as could be but we got there early enough to get the only spot in the shade and spent the afternoon in the lovely outdoor tasting area.

We took off separately (better safe than sorry after yesterday's experience) early the next morning and not ten minutes into our trip I saw a huge black tire in the middle of I10.  I tried to warn Jim but was too late and he ran over it.  It managed to tear off the automatic step and damaged the basement.  It also was not starting (which later we found out was a switch that activates in an accident to cut off the flow to the engine.). So, we sat on the side of the road (with cars and trucks whizzing by us at 75+ mph), trying to talk to insurance and towing and finding a place that might be able to fix it, or at least tell us all was OK for driving.  As luck would have it, the closest tow had to come from Las Cruces, a good hour away.

He was very capable and told us about the switch.  The RV repair shop couldn't take us until the following week (no way we were staying here that long) but he could tell us that the only thing he would be concerned about was that the propane tank might have been damaged.  He recommended a propane company nearby.  So off we went to find Angel at Griffins Propane.  He literally was an Angel.  He spent a good deal of time, looking at everything, checking for leaks, and proclaimed her safe and ready to go.  When we asked for the bill, he said that he enjoyed helping us and wouldn't take our money.  He said we should just pay it forward.  He told us that his mother called him Angel because it would be something to live up to.  He did not disappoint her.

So, off we went to Tubac, a lovely small artist colony that was originally a presidio, a fortress in the borderlands of Mexico and Arizona.  We stopped at a pretty deserted outdoor restaurant - remember, its still pandemic times so we are very careful to be away from people and masked up except when eating or drinking.  Tubac was a great place for a celebratory margarita and Mexican food and unwind from the stresses of the last few days.

We stopped on the way at our friends', the Neubauers, chili company in Tumacacori and loaded up on spices and gifts for friends.

Our final two days we spent at Sunflower Camp in Tubac.  It is hard to even describe what this place was like.  The daughter  (Jennifer) of a scientist inherited the property from her Dad and has turned it into a most unusual Campground.

The main house where Jennifer lives.  She
could not have been more helpful to us.  We
had talked to her several times from the road
regaling her with stories of our misfortunes.

She saved this special place for us, away from anyone else,
big yard for Boo, privacy and close to the laundromat.  We
found this to be a real find-within walking distance of Tubac,
safe, quiet and relaxing.

Jennifer even found a palette for us to put under our footstool
so we could get in and out of Maxine.

Amado RV and Storage

And, after finding a suitable RV storage facility for poor bruised and battered Maxine, we took off for Mexico once again.