Wednesday, January 30, 2013
We hit Fort Davis during morning rush
hour. Where were the cars? The breakfast rush at the Drugstore was
over, too. Good country music playing, a good ol' girl waitress,
funky plumbing in the bathroom and overly salted food completed our
breakfast and we left for New Mexico.
Our route took us through half of the
75 mile scenic route through the Davis Mountains. We had elevation
climbs and twisty roads. We passed only one car in the 50 miles to
the interstate. At Interstate 10 we drove west for 37 miles. Greg
commented that it seemed like a lot of traffic. We calculated that
for the entire state of Texas we had driven about 160 miles of
interstate highways. The majority from the Louisiana border to
Houston, then a few miles north of Laredo, and the 37 miles
yesterday. Lots of “blue highways” for us!
After leaving I 10 at Van Horn, which
has another restored 1930's hotel by the same architects as the ones
in Alpine, Marathon, and Marfa, we headed north through desolate
countryside, the Sierra Diablo (devil) Mountains. Again, we only
passed one car across that long stretch. On the horizon we saw a huge
upthrusting of rock, named El Capitan and we reached the beginning of
the Guadalupe Mountains and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. This
range includes the highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, 8,749'.
The Guadalupe Mountains are an ancient
sea reef that was later thrust up and the surrounding area eroded
down. The north-south spine of the range overlooks a huge flat desert
to the east. Both Guadalupe Mountain NP and Carlsbad Caverns NP are
connected along this reef. The latter park is in New Mexico.
As we drove into Guadalupe Pass the
wind was howling and struck us sideways. Greg pulled into a rest area
to take pictures of El Capitan and quickly jumped back in and fought
our way up the pass. At the top we stopped at the Visitor's Center.
There was snow on the ground, and it was 40 degrees with a windchill
of 29 degrees! (It was 67 degrees back in Maryland...) We toured the
center, picked up hiking brochures, and drove through the campground.
There were actually two small tents pitched in the howling wind! We
want to come back and hike this park, but when it is warmer!
Another stretch of straight road and
desert brought us to the New Mexico border and Mountain Standard
Time. No big sign to photograph. I guess we were sneaking in the back
way! A little further and we reached the turn-off for Carlsbad
Caverns National Park in White's City. We reached the Visitor's
Center shortly before 3 pm, just in time to take the elevator down 75
stories through solid rock to the Big Room. We walked through on the
self-guided tour and made plans to come back the next day.
We stayed at the only RV park close by.
The national park has no campground. Otherwise, you stay in Carlsbad
and drive the 20 some miles back. Not fuel efficient with most RV's.
The park had gotten some bad reviews due to its bathrooms, but we
have our own. The bathrooms were one room with a toilet, sink and a
shower head coming out of the wall. Shut the door and take your
shower. In some RV's they have what is called a wet bath, where
everything is molded into one piece like a shower stall with a toilet
and sink. But, that is in your own camper, not a separate building.
So, no showers for us! But, even stranger was that Greg said there
was a rooster crowing this morning and the sound was coming from
behind the closed door of the women's bathroom! I guess the rooster
wanted a shower, but picked the wrong gender bathroom! Anyway, lots
of other quirkiness at this park, but it was quieter than the crazy
truck stops we've over-nighted in.
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