Back in the Land of Enchantment

In the fall of 1966 while in Air Force basic training, I was handed a sheet of paper called the Assignment Selection Sheet, better known as the "dream sheet", and told to select the bases that I would like to be assigned to after training.  Gosh, I thought, how nice of the Air Force to ask me where I'd like to go, and being from Northeast Ohio, I wrote down my choices as Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.  And that is, of course, how I ended up assigned to Alamogordo, New Mexico.

During my leave at home after air traffic control school, I called a travel agent to get an airline ticket to Alamogordo.  There was a long pause, and finally she replied; "I'm sorry, but there is no Alamogordo, New Mexico".  I started to weep.....telling her "but I've got to go there!  I've got orders!".  Looking back now, I realize that like so many others in the eastern part of the country, she was looking up a location in Mexico, not realizing that there really is a state named New Mexico.  It still happens today; New Mexico magazine has a section that includes true stories of people getting confused - One of Our Fifty is Missing.

So I bought a car and drove across the country, mostly on the old Route 66, arriving at Holloman AFB, just outside Alamogordo, in the spring of 1967.  And I loved it!  So much was new to me - the desert, the mountains, the food....and so I've returned many times with Brenda, who has also learned to love the area.  

We recently spent a week in Tularosa, a small town at the base of the Sacramento Mountains and 12 miles north of Alamogordo.   It's a town that like many in the area, are struggling but it seems to be growing due to the growing number of pistachio orchards.  In fact, the RV park that we stayed is in the middle of pistachio trees, where the nuts are close to being ready to pick.

Tularosa has an interesting history.  Mescalero Apache raids kept settlers from establishing a permanent village until 1863, and hostilities went on for years and didn't come to a halt until after the Battle of Round Mountain in 1868.  The centerpiece of central Tularosa, the Saint Francis de Paula Church was built to commemorate the battle and honor the 28 local volunteers who fought there.

Tularosa Main Street

There aren't a host of services in this little town; most of the restaurants have closed due to COVID, but there's a main street - with a large hardware store and little else.  At one time Tularosa was over 95% Hispanic, and although the population is more diverse today, Mexican food is still the king.  I'll bet your local Kroger or Fry's market doesn't have a "Tortilleria", a large portion of the store devoted solely to making tortillas.  

Fresh Tortillas, Chips, and Chicharrones (Pork Rinds)

But the main reason we're attracted to this area is the Sacramento Mountains which lie just east of town.  Stretching 85 miles north to south, and 42 miles east to west, the heavily forested mountains are home to the resort towns of Cloudcroft, Ruidoso, and the Ski Apache resort on Sierra Blanca which reaches 12000'.

Driving up the mountain, we entered the Mescalero Apache reservation and the tribe's schools, store, and medical facilities.  The tribe's reservation has improved immensely since I was stationed here, thanks to two casinos, resort hotel and golf course, and ski resort.  Brenda and I like to think that we contributed to this betterment of their quality of life through our "contributions" over the years at the casino.

Along the road, we passed the Saint Joseph Apache Mission, built using local materials starting in 1939.  The mission has an interesting history that you can read here.

St. Joseph Apache Mission

The interior is rustic with a Native American theme.  We were intrigued by the "Apache Last Supper":

Continuing up the mountain, we came around a curve where Sierra Blanca came into view.

Sierra Blanca

We Continued up the mountain and took a side road that took us to Cloudcroft, a 110 year-old community that sits at a cool 8675' and boasts one of the highest golf courses in the country.  It's become a popular location for bikers, and to us on this Sunday resembled a smaller version of the Sturgis Rally.

After a stop at the Brother-in-Law BBQ for a amazing brisket sandwich, we made our way through the forest to one of our favorite places to visit, the Sunspot Solar Observatory. While the facilities are closed to public due to COVID, there an informative visitor center and at over 9000' fantastic viewpoints.  

View to the West - White Sands National Monument in the distance

Looking South towards El Paso

Finishing up our stay in Tularosa, we traveled to Las Cruces to visit some of our favorite locations.  We were joined by a visit from our friends Don and Betty, who spend their winters down the interstate in Benson, AZ.  No visit to the area would be complete for us without a visit to La Posta de Mesilla Restaurant a place we've been coming to for many years.

As a young airman in the late 60s, if you ordered enchiladas in Alamogordo, they were done "pancake" style.  Each tortilla was dipped in red or green chili, cheese, onion, and chicken or beef sprinkled on top, then another layer, and another, usually three tortillas stacked, with more chili and usually a fried egg on top.  I don't remember ever seeing a "rolled" enchilada back then, and over the years stacked enchiladas have disappeared from Mexican restaurant menus.  And that's one of the reasons I love La Posta!  Here they serve red chili enchiladas in the old style, complete with an over easy egg on top.  It may seem like there wouldn't be much difference, but believe me, the taste difference in stacked vs rolled is huge - at least to me.  

La Posta has an interesting and long history, serves great food at reasonable prices, and is visually stunning.  Each room has a different theme with paintings, sculptures, and period furniture.

Fall is the time when the chilies are harvested, and every supermarket has large bags of green and red chilies and most have a large drum outdoors roasting chilies.  And so it was the perfect time for the four of us to make a pilgrimage to Hatch, the chili capital of the world!

Hatch is filled with stores selling chilies by the bag, by the Ristra, canned, bottled, and dried.  Colorful Ristras are proudly displayed in almost every store.

Ristras and Red Chilis

A visit to Hatch wouldn't be complete without a visit to "Sparky's" home of the "World Famous" green chili cheeseburger.  Always busy (for good reason), their cheeseburgers are made with hand made patties and fresh green chilies.  They are fantastic!

Busy Day at Sparky's

Back in Las Cruces, we decided to take Don and Betty on a trip to one of the hidden gems in the area.  The Organ Mountains dominate the Eastern skyline from Las Cruces, but on the eastern side there's little vegetation, just dry desert.

Organ Mountains View from Las Cruces

But driving to the back side is a revelation - the lush desert and memorable mountain vistas are an amazing contrast to the other side:

We've been enjoying the warm weather and sunshine here in New Mexico, but soon we'll have to leave and head north to the Winnebago factory in Iowa for major repairs to our motor home.  We'll be back to posting once we've returned and resumed our journey back to Oregon.  Brenda and wish you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Exploring Southern Idaho

Leaving Joseph, we retraced our route west until we could head north again, avoiding the stretch of highway 3 with its switchbacks and 8 percent up down and up grade.  We entered Washington and passed through Walla Walla (didn't buy any onions) then turned east for a night at Potlatch, ID, a small town with an interesting history as the nation's largest company town. 

We drove north through the "palouse" with its rolling multi-colored hills - a uniquely beautiful area of farmland.  Mile after mile of fields of wheat, barley, canola and other legumes, each a different shade of green, form a picture-perfect patchwork of color. 

Continuing north, we passed through Coeur d'Alene and on to Sandpoint for a short stay and visit with our many volunteer friends at Farragut State Park.  Our friends treated us to ice cream, stories of the summer season, and welcoming hugs.  Then it was off down I-90 to St Regis, MT for a visit with our friends Rob and Syd, volunteers that we met years ago on the Oregon Coast.  

After a short stay, we continued on to Missoula to meet the friends we made at our first volunteer location, Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. We met at a steakhouse and spent the evening reliving our time together in 2006 thru 2008.  It's hard to believe that over 15 years have passed since we first met these folks; we can laugh now how we had no earthly idea of what we were doing, but thanks to friends like this we somehow muddled through.  We reluctantly said our goodbyes and the next day headed south back into eastern Idaho.

We eventually settled in for a week's stay near Twin Falls, a city we've never had the chance to visit.  Once again, we ran into the Snake River, now far upriver from our last visit in Eastern Oregon.  Known as the "gateway to the Snake River Canyon", the river drops from the plains into the canyon at Shosone Falls, a popular tourist site.  During the summer months, the falls are reduced to mostly a single waterfall, but it's still an impressive sight:

Looking south from the overlook, you can see the spot where Evel Knieval attempted his rocket powered jump over the river in September, 1974.  From this vantage point, you can understand the difficulty and danger of this attempt:

Although Evel didn't make it, in 2016 a 54 year old stuntman successfully made the jump.  You can view the video here.

The Snake River has cut some serious gorges in this area, and the bridges spanning them are spectacular.  One of the oldest, The Hansen Bridge, wasn't built until 1916.  Until then, the only crossing of the river was by rowboat!  I can't imagine hiking down those canyon walls....and then having to hike up to the top on the other side.  I think I'd travel as far as needed up or down river to find an easier crossing.  

New Hansen Bridge looking Upriver

New Hansen Bridge Looking Downriver

We finished our visit with a stop at the Visitor Center.  It's an impressive facility, with plenty of informative videos and displays.  On the front lawn, there were dozens of apparently mentally unbalanced people packing their parachutes in preparation for a jump off the nearby highway bridge.  Surprisingly, there is no permit, certification, or mental evaluation required.  You can just show up with your parachute and jump. Lots of people jump - unfortunately some have gotten to the river a lot faster than planned.  Google "base jumping Perrine Bridge" and you'll find news accounts of those unfortunates.  Here's a link to show just how much fun jumping off a bridge  500 feet above a river can be! Video 

Perrine Bridge

From Twin Falls, we traveled further west along I-84 to the small town of Hagerman, just a mile from the Snake River...again.  Crossing river and driving a bit north, we came upon the Oregon Trail Overlook.  Here, the terrain changes drastically, from green fields and trees to the east to barren desert to the west.  We didn't hike to see the wagon ruts since they were three miles away and the temperature was 101, but you can see the type of terrain the trail covered.  This is the same trail we crossed over 200 miles to the Northwest near La Grande, Oregon...and we'll cross it again later in our trip.

Looking West from the Overlook

South of town is one of the most unusual rock formations we've seen - the "balanced rock".  Part of a state park, the area is filled with unusual rock formations, picnic areas, and a canyon with a spring-fed stream.  

Yes, it's a real picture!

Balanced Rock is 48 feet tall and weighs over 40 tons.  All of this tapers to the base which is only 3 feet by 17 inches.  Truly a natural wonder!

From Hagerman, we backtracked to the east on our way to visit friends in Wyoming.  We stopped in the Pocatello area for a short stay and then drove south to see the City of Rocks National Reserve.  On the way, we took the road to the top of Mount Harrison, at over 9000' the highest peak in the region.  The road was paved and well maintained to the top, where it ended in a parking lot and fire lookout tower.  

Fire Tower Built in 1937

Looking West from Summit

On the way down the mountain we stopped at Diamond Lake, a scenic lake with camping, fishing, and kayaking.

Coming off the mountain, we headed south to City of Rocks National Reserve.  The reserve is a wonderland of granite rock formations, large and small.  A popular place for climbers to train, we saw groups from climbing schools from Montana to Washington.  It's a large are with plenty of places to camp and hike:

Once again we came upon the Oregon Trail.  This was a popular area for wagon trains to rest before pressing on across the desert.  There were many areas where travelers recorded their names and dates on the rocks.  It was fascinating to stand where they stood and read the inscriptions:

 

And finally, as we left we passed this old stone house.  We wondered, like the signature rocks, what stories it could tell of the thousands that passed through here.

A few days later we left Idaho and entered Wyoming for a visit with our good friends Don and Betty.  We first met in 2010 when volunteering for US Fish & Wildlife in Oregon and have kept in touch ever since.  They spend their summers in Star Valley, a huge complex of RV and park model sites with golf course, pickleball courts, and other activities.  We spent our time relaxing on their beautiful site, catching up on old times and eating too much.  We did some sightseeing, visiting - once again - to the Snake River and an area of waterfalls.  

Too soon it was time to leave and head east for an unexpected trip to the Winnebago motor home factory in Forest City, Iowa.  The large slide-out on the driver's side had become misaligned and was stuck in the retracted position and because of the size of the word required, we didn't believe a typical RV dealer could handle the job.

Our route made it necessary to travel through Teton National Park, a place we've visited before and weren't looking forward to since it was the height of tourist season.  It was a beautiful drive, but we didn't stop to enjoy the scenery until we were clear to the east.  Looking back, we had a nice view of the Tetons:

Once clear of the Teton/Yellowstone tourist area, we had an easy drive with typical Wyoming landscapes:

We'll be taking a break from exploring while we travel to Forest City and the Winnebago factory.  We'll post again once we're done with our maintenance visit and have traveled down south to New Mexico.  Thanks for traveling with us!

Eastern Oregon Part III

Hidden away in the far Northeast corner of Oregon is the town of Joseph, a small
town at the base of the Wallowa Mountains.  Sometimes called the "Little Switzerland of America", Joseph sits on beautiful Lake Wallowa under snow-covered peaks of over 9000'.  It's not an easy place to get to - only two roads lead to Joseph, and both end in town.  And one, highway 3 to the north, involves a white-knuckled switchback drive that starts at 4000', drops to 1200', and climbs back to 4200', all within 16 miles.

We took the easier route, highway 82 from Le Grande, and stayed at a neat little RV park right in the heart of town.  With only 11 sites and a gracious owner, Five Peaks RV Park featured large, fenced sites with patio umbrellas and a "misting" system.  Best of all it was only a short walk to a great Mexican restaurant that had ice-cold Dos Equis Amber on tap.  Perfect!

The town of Joseph is picture-perfect.  Shops, restaurants and museums are all beautifully maintained, and trees, sculptures and murals complete the main street views.  And always, the mountains in the distance.   

 

Driving around the area, we came across farms with breathtaking scenery.  How they can get anything done with the views surrounding them is hard to imagine :

There's so much to do and see in this area.  Eagle Cap Wilderness, with over 350,000 acres of high mountain meadows and lakes and 535 miles of trails.  Even larger, the Hells Canyon Recreation Area, at over 650,000 acres includes scenic overlooks, the Snake River, and the deepest gorge in North America.  

We took a drive into the Eastern Wallowas and stopped at the Hells Canyon overlook.  From up high, we couldn't see the river itself, but the view was still impressive:

On another day, we drove east to the Imnaha River gorge.  The road wound its way along a creek, getting deeper into the gorge with the hills rising higher and higher around us.  It was a beautiful drive:

Finally we arrived in the little town of Imnaha.  It's hard to believe anyone lives here - so far from any shopping or medical facilities.  The centerpiece of the town seemed to be the little post office:

While it was in the 90s in Joseph, it was just a bit toastier along the Imnaha River where it was over 2000 feet lower:

After visiting Joseph, we headed north to visit friends in Idaho and then on to Missoula.  C'mon back and see what we've been doing!