April 13, 2013 – Travel to Alamogordo

We continued our travels south this morning.

Cool signs:

Notice the nest in the middle – :-)):

The Tularosa Valley:

Love this scene:

We arrived at the Elks in Alamogordo and got set up.  The Elks here has about 15 sites with full hookups for $15.00.  Here is our site:

This afternoon we headed to Wal-Mart to get our Tracker tire fixed and get supplies.  We did a short stop at the visitor center for information on the area. Since the Elks were not serving tonight, we headed to the local Moose for dinner.  And had a wonderful time meeting the local folks.

Our weather channel just issued an fire weather warning and fire weather watch for our area that lasts thru Tuesday.   Since I had never had one of those alerts we had to look it up.

A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now... or will shortly. A combination of strong winds... low relative humidity... and warm temperatures will create extreme fire growth potential. A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur. Listen for later forecasts and possible
red flag warnings.

Strong winds ahead – so glad we are staying put for a few days.

Stay tuned for our next adventure.

Miles Traveled:  64 Miles

Routes Traveled:

New Mexico: US-380; US-54; Panorama Blvd; Hamilton Road

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSANN!

April 12, 2013 - Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

Another road trip day.     We packed a lunch and headed south to the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site and Picnic Area.

On our way:

 

We parked and went into the office to talk to the host who turned out to be a fellow Escape.  We had a nice chat about each other’s travels and then we headed to the trail of the petroglyphs.

A little info on this site:

These Petroglyphs were made by a group of prehistoric Native Americans that archeologists refer to as the Jornada Mogollon.  The pictures were made with stone tools by removing the dark patina on the exterior of the rock.  This patina is formed through oxidation when oxygen in the air comes into contact with the minerals on the rock’s surface.  Some of the petroglyphs were made by scratching through the patina to the light inner layer of the rock.  Others were created by pecking through the patina with two rocks used like a hammer and chisel.

The petroglyphs purpose and meaning are not entirely known.  Some believe that they are picture writing, with each one representing a word or thought.  Others believe that they must be taken together because they relate a story or an idea or directions to travelers.  Currently there are researchers studing these petroglyphs and comparing them to Pueblo and Mesoamerican Symbols.

On this ridge, over 21000 petroglyphs have been identified, making this one of the larges rock art sites in the Southwest.  WOW!

Here are some of the rock art with some explanations per the trail guide.

The circle and dot motif is prevalent at Three Rivers.  Circle petroglyphs account for over 10 percent of the drawings.  Curiously, it is not that common at other Jornada Mogollon rock art sites.  In Mesoamerica, the circle and dot motif is related to Quetzalcoatl (a feathered serpent deity).  Other researchers suggest that the dots represent corn or a population count.

Masks are used by many cultures in their religious ceremonies to depict supernatural beings.  Jornada Mogollon masks are similar to Pueblo kachina masks.  Jornada style faces and masks are usually round, with almond shaped eyes and triangular noses.  (Maybe they did see aliens. – :-0)

Often animals are abstract to the point that they are not identifiable, but in Jornada style rock art, bighorn sheep like this one are usually depicted realistically.  The legs are bent to represent motion.

The body of this bighorn sheep is filled with a Mimbres style geometric design and is pierced by three arrows.

More art:

There were some incredible views from the ridge line.  A dust devil in the Tularosa Basin:

See the white simmering in the middle of the photo?  That is the White Sands Missile Monument:

Sacramento Mountains:

Godfrey Hills:

How about this nice green tree in the middle of the brown!  Turns out that the people who made these petroglyphs lived there next to a water source:

We had lunch at one of the picnic areas.  They have two pull thru RV sites available with water and electric and a number of boondocking sites.  This is a really nice place!

We then headed over to the village trail:

 

 

 

What a wonderful visit.

We saw these things on the way back home – no idea what they are.  Anyone??

Clouds are rolling in….bummer:

We have really enjoyed our visit here and may come back another time.  Tomorrow we are off to another place so stay tuned and enjoy today.

April 11, 2013 – Smokey the Bear

Today we headed to Capitan, New Mexico – the birthplace of Smokey Bear.

We were treated to this small herd of mule deer crossing our path:

Here is a little background on Smokey.

During World War II, much wood was needed to build battleships and military transport crates. The government worried that fires could damage the forests that provided our timber. In response, the USDA Forest Service and the War Advertising Council launched a poster campaign that they hoped would help prevent forest fires. Early posters featured Bambi, but the campaign soon switched to America's favorite toy animal—the bear. In 1944 illustrator Albert Staehle drew the first Smokey, a big-eyed, round-nosed bear in a park ranger's hat. The bear was named for "Smokey" Joe Martin, the former assistant chief of the New York City Fire Department.

In May of 1950, a large fire in the Lincoln National Forest destroyed 17000 acres.  On one of the days a crew of firefighters found a small 5 pound cub bear, badly burned clinging to the side of a burnt pine tree.  They brought him into the fire camp, tended to him that night, then flown to the veterinary hospital in Santa Fe by Game Warden Ray Bell.  Ray later kept Smokey in his home until he recovered.  At that time the Forest Service had Smokey flown to Washington DC to the National Zoo where he stayed until his death in 1976.  His remains were returned to Capitan where he is buried in the Historical Park.”

More info at: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SFD/SmokeyBear/HistoryofCooperativeForestFirePreventionCampaign.html

So the village of Capitan is home to Smokey Bear Historical Park and the Wildfire Museum.

We started watching a short movie on Smokey and forest fires and then went into the exhibit area:

 

 

   

Smokey’s grave:

Part of the museum was on Wildfires – history, preventing, fire fighting, types and more.  This just blew me away:

What a wonderful museum and highly recommended if you are in this area:

From there we continued west to the Lincoln Monument.  Now I have to tell you that I did not do any research on this and found out that most of the town is the monument.  However, we came at the wrong time – most of the buildings and sites were closed.  I did get a picture of this building – I think it was the jail:

We headed back to Capitan with some incredible views:

And had lunch at “The Grazing Bull” – WONDERFUL.  It is a new little place that just serves lunch.  The owner came out to talk with each person after they ordered.  Then as we left, he thanked us for stopping, shook Andy’s hand and gave me a hug..  WOW!

From there we went back to Carrizozo – love these plains:

The dark line in the middle of the photo is the lava field – this is about 8 miles away:

Instead of going back we decided to head to White Oaks that was listed as an 1890’s gold mining town with a few museums.  We first stopped at the visitor center in Carrizozo for information but they were closed. :-(((  So we went ahead anyway. Great scenery on our way there:

And, alas, nothing open.  But I did get a few pictures:

One final view of the lava flow:

What a nice road trip in our incredible country.

Tomorrow we are on another adventure so stay tuned.