The month of April started with a bang, the bang of the starter’s pistol to start the Tommy Knocker 10, a 10 hour mtb race in Silver City, NM. The race course was a 13 mile loop that traversed the hills surrounding Ft Bayard. In those 13 miles were about 10 water crossings. They weren’t deep, the deepest maybe about 2-3 inches deep but the splash sure affected the drivetrain. After about 5-6 crossings the chain would be creaking and groaning, crying out “why are you doing this to me”? I finished 6 laps for a total of 74 miles. Don’t try to do the math. The first lap was a shortened parade lap around the venue to stretch the field out. The elevation was a killer and by the last lap, I was barely turning pedals but I finished. I finished in 11th of 22 in my age group. I considered that respectable.

We stayed at the Manzanos RV Park. The owners were extremely friendly and accommodating. We arrived a night early but they graciously met us at the main gate and led us to a boondocking space. The next morning we moved to our site. There was plenty of room and we had a view of the sun rising. After 2 days, we had to move to a different site as ours was reserved. We knew we would have to move before we arrived, so it was not a surprise. The 2nd site had a westerly view that sat on a ridge that gave us a wonderful view of the Silver City valley and the sunset.

We took a walk through downtown Silver City and admired all the old, original buildings on the main street. This was a rebuilt main street as the Main Street was now referred to as The Big Ditch. When the town was first founded, they established Main Street without realizing it was a river path. After rebuilding subsequent to the numerous washouts, main street was moved. There were large murals on the sides of buildings and an artist was in the process of painting one of them as we toured. Ft Bayard was also the site of the Bataan Memorial and the Forgotten Soldiers memorial. Ft Bayard was originally built for protection of the Buffalo Soldiers and then decommissioned. It was recommissioned for WWII and later decommissioned again and is now an historical site.

We toured much of the area to include Mimbres, the Catwalk and Lake Roberts. Mimbres is a small community with many small homes and a lot of agriculture. As we drove through Mimbres, we rounded a curve and were greeted with an unmarked waterfall. It was about 20 feet high and water just poured over the edge. The Catwalk is a landmark from a mining community from years past. The Catwalk received it’s name as the pipeline that was run from the canyon downstream to the mining mill and the community was built on a raised platform above the river. The miners had to walk like cats on the boards to work their way around the operations. The CCC and other federal agencies have since rebuilt the walkway for visitors but you can still see the remains of the original equipment (spikes, cables, etc) pounded into the rocks. The river roars through the narrow canyon 5-10 ft beneath your feet as you walk back into the canyon. We met Chris while we were eating lunch. He was an interesting fellow. He was our age and told us his life story beginning with being a lifeguard in San Diego as a teenager. He spent a lot of his adult life in Search & Rescue in CA.

We wanted a fishing day. The drive to Lake Roberts was something else. Steep climbs, tight corners and a narrow road with no center line or shoulders. There is no way the motorhome would have navigated the corners. We threw our fishing lines in the water with no results, just more casting practice. As we were preparing to leave a family was also packing up the kids and loading the boat. As the husband/father ushered his kids to the bathroom, he looked at me and asked “LEO”? (Law Enforcement Officer). I said ‘Yes, you’? He said yes. I asked how he knew. He said “The Oakleys and the window decal”. He was referring to my Oakley sunglasses and the Thin Blue Line decal I have on the back windows of the jeep. Javier is an LEO of 16 years with the Forest Service recently promoted to Investigator. We wished each other well and safe travels.

A day drive to the City of Rocks was also on the agenda. Our plan was to stop and say hi to Fred and Wilma Flintstone and Barney and Wilma Rubble, but they weren’t available. We did have a wonderful hike through all the rock formations. The sights Mother Nature has created for us are amazing.

The night we were preparing to leave we checked the weather report as we try to do each day before traveling. Winds were predicted at 30-40 mph with gusts to 70 mph. We extended our stay for 1 more day.

The next day we rolled into Las Cruces. On the way there we saw an 18 wheeler that had overturned in the median, presumably from the winds the day before and the crews were still trying to upright it. We felt this strongly supported our decision to delay our travel by a day. We rolled into the Las Cruces KOA that afternoon. The campground sits on a hill on the west side of the city. We had a pull in space where the front of the motorhome sat right up against a block retaining wall with a view of the entire Las Cruces valley. We spent a day strolling through Las Cruces and ended up in Old Mesilla. An old, historic town with some amazing shops and food. The mexican lunch was delicious.

Our next stop was Carlsbad. Our primary reason to be there was to visit Carlsbad Caverns. But first we did a tour of the city. We drove to the Lake Carlsbad Beach Park which is a city park on the edge of a reservoir which allows boating, fishing and even has a swimming area. We found the town to be very industrialized and commercial. The downtown is very congested as the main US highways travel through the downtown area. Lots of cars, trucks and semi-trucks fill the streets. Our park seemed to be filled mostly with long term residents, many who work in the oil fields. PU trucks and work trucks left in the morning and returned at night. We didn’t see anyone lounging on their front porches or walking the park streets. Everyone really kept to themselves. We noticed that the air had a dirty smell to it, an oily smell. Little did we realize the impact the oil industry has on the area with huge oil fields. There are also potash mines in the area. Throughout our travels we have found ingenious ways to stay in shape through walking, hiking, bike riding and strength training using TRX straps, bosu ball, stability ball, dumbbells and try to have fun doing it.

We found a fishing hole called Higby Hole. When we first stopped, there were 2 men fishing, one who’s name was Jimmy. They both grew up in the area and proceeded to tell us of the changes they’ve seen and not all for the good. Later we stopped back to fish. We didn’t catch anything but had a good laugh. We heard splashing in the water beneath tree branches that had fallen into the pond. We thought it was a fish. We tried for about 30 minutes to free it or at least see if there was anything there. We didn’t find anything and the splashing had stopped. As I attempted to cast my line, the fly caught in a bush behind me. As I bent down to lay my pole on the ground, I heard a slap of a hard case hitting rock. I looked down to see my box of flies bouncing off the rocks and into the water. I had forgotten to zip up the pocket of the vest where I keep the fly box. I watched it hit the water, out of arms reach so I grabbed the fishing net from the back of my vest and snared the box without falling in or getting wet. A short time later as we were packing up, Teri asked if I had her car keys. I said I had seen them where I laid my hat when we were attempting to release the apparent fish. We searched for 15 minutes looking everywhere we had been for the damn keys. As we were giving up, I starting laughing and pointed to her waist. There, hanging from a belt loop were the keys. As we look back we laugh at all this.

We took a drive to Sitting Bull Falls park to see the waterfall and have lunch at the picnic area. The Falls were dry and the picnic area was full of people with nowhere to park. So much for that hour long drive. However we saw some amazing scenery. As you drive along all you see is flat land with some rolling hills. As you make a turn between the hills, you find yourself in a canyon with the walls gradually climbing higher and higher above you. It really is amazing.

Yes, we did a tour of the Carlsbad Caverns. We have toured many caverns and caves throughout the country in the past year. This one is amazing and probably the most amazing of all the caves we’ve seen. A mile long hike into the cavern or you can take the elevator down 700 ft. Of course we walked the path down into the Cavern maneuvering around the switchbacks as we wound our way into the blackness. Once you reached the bottom, it is a scene from a Star Wars tavern. The cavern opens up about 100 yards wide by 50 yards deep and a ceiling of 10 feet. There is electricity, running water, a snack bar and modern toilets in this natural opening of the mountain. After a short snack we continued through the cavern for another 1.5 miles around the big cave. The sights are breathtaking. We then boarded a 15 passenger elevator after standing in line for about 20 minutes for the ride to the surface. It is truly an adventure to take in.

From here we traveled to Farmington through the historic towns of Lincoln and Capitan. These were very small towns with the highway flowing through the middle among historic buildings. We didn’t stop, although we probably should have. We spent one night at the Socorro Rodeo Grounds. They have an RV park with electricity, water and sewer and few other amenities. But it served our purpose well as it was inexpensive and easy access.

I have mentioned before the challenges we face when we are identifying the things we want to do, places we want to visit, where we want to park the rig, etc. This was no different, but we always work it out without yelling, hitting, biting, screaming, etc. Mostly. Just kidding.

Upon our arrival in Farmington, we met up with Shaun, Shorell and Kimori. Kimori had a ballet recital which we attended and were quite impressed with her performance. We all had dinner prior to the recital. Shaun and I were able to get in a bike ride, one of my first on the single speed. He put me to shame as he rides SS on a regular basis. We spent one day driving to Durango where we met up with Mikel and Steve and had a nice lunch. Mikel was my Chief at the college until he retired and Steve was a Commander at Mesa Community College while I was a Commander at GateWay Community College until he retired a couple of years ago. We had a great visit.

One of our scheduled and anticipated activities was a guided fishing trip on the San Juan River. We sailed with Conner McIntyre who contracts with Fisheads San Juan River Lodge. We arrived early and had a home cooked meal in the restaurant and Connor arrived precisely on time. Originally we had signed up for a wading trip where we would be able to wade out into the river to fish. Connor had called us the day before and suggested a float trip instead due to the amount of water in the river from snow runoff and said we would have a better adventure. We took his advice. We drove to the landing site where he put the boat in the river. We were surprised to see about 5 boats in the area and about 10 folks fishing in waders. Connor set up our lines and we cast off. As we passed each boat Connor and the guide in the other boat would acknowledge each other and share information. As we started at the upper end, Teri and I both fished off the right side of the boat while Connor expertly maneuvered the boat along the river. I had a bite but couldn’t land it. Conner patiently explained what I needed to do differently when fly fishing rather than bait casting. 2 more bites that I couldn’t land and then Teri caught our first fish. I have never seen trout that big in person in the wild. After a few minutes of fighting, Connor was able to snare the fish in the net and haul it in the boat for a photo opportunity. Then the fish went back in the river. This area of the San Juan below the Navajo Dam is a catch and release only area. Teri caught a few more before I landed my first and only. I did have 1 that jumped off the line before we could get it in the boat. Teri caught 6 but she says I caught the biggest. It took about 5 minutes of fighting to get it landed. What a rush. During the day, Connor was super patient with us as he untangled lines, changed flies, netted fish, paddled and searched for the perfect fishing spot. We felt like such amateurs and yet through it all he kept a friendly, patient attitude even when I made a stupid move which tangled lines badly. He stayed calm and kept us in the game. We finished floating to the exit point where he provided us with a fried chicken lunch and then we drove the boat back to the starting point where we fished for a little more. Then the day was done and we headed back to the lodge. What a great day and we are so thankful to Connor for his patience, expertise and knowledge.

We had planned to do the Chama to Toltec train ride while we were there but found out after our arrival they don’t start running the train until May due to weather.

From there we dropped into Santa Fe. We walked the downtown plaza area but didn’t spend a lot of time as we have been here several times before. However we found other things to do. We have never been on a white water rafting trip, so guess what we did?! As it was just the 2 of us, Los Rios River Runners set us up with some other people. We arrived at the Rio Grande Gorge Visitor Center about 15 minutes before our scheduled arrival time. The Visitor Center was still closed. As we stood around another car pulled in with a couple in it. As they parked near us, they looked around questioningly. We asked if they were there for the rafting trip. They were. They were Don and Lisa from MA. They were in the west to meet up with family and sightsee. As we waited for our trip guide we were becoming increasingly concerned we were at the wrong location. The instructions said if you were late, they would leave without you. We decided to check another area so we got into our cars and drove a short distance. I saw a sign on an older building that advertised rafting trips. We stopped and I entered the store. The owner confirmed that we were indeed at the right location. The guide had called and said they were having technical problems and were running late. We returned to the Visitor Center and waited. Joel arrived a short time later driving a van and towing an inflatable rubber boat. Joel drove us to the river where we unloaded the boat and he proceeded to provide us with a safety briefing. He explained how to hook your feet under the bolsters that are like seats in the boat. He said to not seat on the bolsters and they would act like a trampoline and pitch you into the water. He said there were few rules, but there were 3 that we needed to know. Rule 1: Stay in the boat. Rule 2: Stay in the boat. Rule 3: Stay in the boat. He then explained how to paddle as we would be active participants and not just riders on this adventure. After this safety briefing we loaded up. Don and I sat in the front on either side of the boat, Teri and Lisa directly behind us and Joel was at the rear in the middle. As we slowly drifted into the river, Joel gave us rowing instructions. All Forward meant we all rowed. Sometimes that was said with a number which represented the number of strokes such as Forward 3. We each paddled forward 3 times in unison. The in unison was an important part. Left forward meant the folks on the left side paddled forward. Backward was just that. You get the idea. Soon we were rolling up to a series of small swells, class 2 rapids where we got our first taste of rocking water as well as looking up at the looming rock walls of the canyon that were several feet high. We felt so inconsequential. We passed the initial test and continued floating down the river. Joel kept up a continuous commentary on the history of the area, identified various landmarks and answered all our questions. Joel explained this was his first trip of the season so he wasn’t sure what water conditions we would encounter. He said we would definitely see some class 2 and 3 rapids. We paddled and floated for about 2 hours, then took a break for lunch. Remember the older building that advertised raft trips, well they were a restaurant as well. We had an authentic Mexican lunch on Los Rios River Runners. From there we headed back to the boat for another 3 hours of river running. The class 3’s were swells of 3-5 ft that were higher than the sides of the boat. When we dropped into the trough, I could feel the rubber hull bend and then straighten under my feet as we crested the trough. Of course, we had to paddle through each of these troughs and over the swells or we would capsize. No chance to take photos of the FUN stuff. We got sprayed as we dropped into the trough and we got wet. Our feet were sitting in water, our clothes were wet and we had grins from ear to ear that wouldn’t quit. We crossed under a low hanging bridge. We felt we had to duck to not hit our heads. The bridge led from the road over the river to a piece of land that had been terraced and looked like it could have been a garden or winery. Joel told a story of the Bikers and Hippies wars of the 70’s that occurred at this site. The story was that the Hippies were growing weed and the bikers wanted a part of it. The Hippies had always declined any offer of ‘help’ from the bikers. So one day the bikers showed up in a show of force to take over the Hippie commune. Unknown to the bikers, the Hippies had hired several Viet Nam vets to protect them. After a gun battle, the bikers left with empty hands. (Teri and I were unable to verify the story through internet searches, but the story sounded good either way). The largest of the rapids were the last of the trip prior to leaving the river. It was also the longest. No time to rest, just paddle, refer to Rule 1 and have fun. When it was over and the water was calm, it was almost disappointing. We said good bye to everyone and agreed to stay in touch with Don and Lisa. We had purchased a waterproof disposable camera, as suggested by Los Rios River Runners, but unfortunately is was 35mm film, not digital, from WalMart. First of all, the photos do not do justice to the turmoil of the river and the rapids. Secondly, I couldn’t photograph and paddle at the same time in the rapids. Thirdly, it takes almost 2 weeks for WalMart to get the film developed and they did not have a process to provide it digitally. Fourthly (?) we weren’t going to be in the area long enough to get the photos returned. I lost count as to where I was in the count, anyway we decided to wait until we could find a store that could develop the film and provide it to us digitally. We finally got it done in Denver a couple of weeks later.

We took a day and drove to Taos. We have always heard what a great place to visit. We were disappointed. It was a long drive from Santa Fe for what we found. We don’t regret the trip, but it clearly didn’t meet our expectations. The small villages surrounding Taos were more interesting to us. The Taos plaza is small and not uniformly laid out. There didn’t seem to be any zoning restrictions as commercial, retail and residential were all clustered together. The homes and many buildings looked in disrepair. The plaza was all retail and there were no historic buildings noted that we could see. Teri had been looking for a turquoise necklace and she found what she wanted so the trip wasn’t a waste.

It was a windy day with winds up to 30 mph. We did take a scenic route home that took us over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. This was an amazing view looking down into the canyon. We arrived home to find that my fiberglass flagpole had snapped due to the wind. Someone (I never found out who) had removed the flag and had neatly and properly folded it and left in on the table for me.

We took a trip to the Pecos River near the town of Terreros to do some fishing. This took us up into the mountains northeast of Santa Fe. A narrow winding road that increased in elevation and had some beautiful scenery. Terreros is an old mining town. We stopped at a small forest service campground and got our gear out to fish. We had decided this was the day to test our wading equipment, so on went the waders and necessary gear and into the water we went. We stayed surprisingly dry. The waders actually felt buoyant as we stumbled over the rocks in the river. We didn’t fall and we didn’t catch any fish but we looked good doing it. The water flow was too strong. We found this out in several other attempts at fishing as you’ll read about in later chapters.

Naturally I found time to ride bicycles and one of the reasons we were in Santa Fe was for a race. The 6 Hours in the Basin of the Commonweal put on by Core-Crew is a race I did several years ago and wanted to do again. The race course was a 10 mile loop with 700 ft of climbing per loop at 6500 ft elevation. My goal was 6 laps but I ended up with 4 for 40 miles total. It was good enough (?) for 13th of 19 in the 50+ age group. Not what I was hoping for, but if you’ve read some of the earlier posts, you’ll know that I’m in a transition phase of my training and that has a huge effect on the race outcomes.

Before leaving the area we took a drive on the Turquoise Trail. This is the name given to a route that goes from Santa Fe south to the east side of Albuquerque and follows the turquoise mining history. Our first stop was Cerrillos. A cute little town, almost a village that has a visitor center, a park that provides miles of hiking trails, a few shops and restaurants. We stopped in at one of the bars/restaurants for something to drink before stopping at the trading post. The bar is small and intimate and had a duo playing guitars in the corner. The trading post is owned by a couple who have an active mining claim and all the rocks, minerals, and trinkets are hand made and come from their claim.

Next was Ma’drid with the emphasis on Ma unlike Madrid, Spain. This is a tourist town. Larger and more retail oriented than Cerrillos. This was a mining town that became a ghost town that then became an artist’s haven which it is today. As you drive through the valley you can see all the tailing piles on the canyon walls. The town is filled with food, drink, arts, crafts, and jewelry establishments. It is definitely a tourist attraction as the road and parking areas were filled with cars and motorcycles. As we continued to the end along I-40 we were looking for the Musical Highway. This is a segment of Route 66 that if you run on the rumble strips, the harmonics play America The Beautiful. We searched the area for 30 minutes and couldn’t find it. Then Teri found an obscure post on the internet that revealed it had been removed.

Our last stop of the month was South Fork, CO. This was our introduction to CO on this trip. Our hosts were Mikel, Linda and Steve. As we arrived in town we stayed at Peacock Meadows Riverside RV Park. The managers, Debra and Ron were friends with Mikel and Linda and had been warned about us. Mikel and Linda made sure they gave us the welcome we deserved…. LOL. We had a great visit. The park was largely empty as the summer season hadn’t started yet. Ron stopped by each morning to say hi while on his rounds. Mikel and Linda met us as soon as we had set up and drove us around South Fork showing us the sights as well as stopping at Steve’s house. His house sits right on the river. We saw a few spots where we thought we might be able to fish, but never had the opportunity. We had dinner at Ramon’s Mexican food which was delicious. The banter between Mikel, Linda and our waiter was fun to watch. We woke up the next morning to deer munching on the grass in our front yard. The park is right along the Rio Grande river. We tried fishing, but again the flow was just too fast. One morning I watched our neighbor open his door to take one of his dogs out for the morning business. One of the other dogs saw the deer and he was gone…. He wasn’t gone long and no deer were hurt. We took a drive up over Wolf Creek Pass into Pagosa Springs. This small city was quite inviting with the downtown area filled with small shops that grabbed our attention. We walked past the Springs Resort and saw the multiple hot springs pools and decided we needed to do that. We scheduled a couple massage for a couple days later. Mikel and Linda spent another day with us as we drove to Creede and then to the North Clear Creek Falls. Creede is a small community with very friendly people. We walked the downtown area and stopped in at some of the shops. Everyone was very welcoming. After a small lunch we took a drive over the Bachelor Loop. Creede is a mining community and the Bachelor Loop took us into the mountains surrounding Creede up to the mines that supported Creede, or was it the other way around? We were at a very high elevation and the views were spectacular. We continued up the highway and ended up at the North Clear Creek Falls. This view of the waterfall was amazing. We had to walk through some snow to arrive at the viewpoint. The wind was blowing hard and it was cold. We didn’t spend much time marveling at the views. On the way back home we stopped at a few signs that gave the history of the area. I was surprised that toll roads were in place back in the mining days.

We all ran into Pagosa Springs on Saturday to attend the Brews for Rescue event. This was a beer tasting event with the proceeds going to a dog rescue shelter that was run by one woman. Can you say Craft Beer? There were more than I’ve ever heard of and dogs all over the place. It was a great afternoon. On the way home we stopped off at Treasure Falls on the way up Wolf Creek Pass. A short, steep hike to the falls for an amazing view of a waterfall. On Sunday we drove into Pagosa Springs and had a wonderful massage. Then we relaxed in the hot springs pool. Very relaxing. Of course we tried to fish again. We drove to Beaver Creek Reservoir only to find it was still frozen over. I didn’t trust the ice to try any ice fishing although I did see what I thought was a hole cut in the ice. Mikel and Linda had driven us to Million Lake and we thought we might try fishing there but the day we were going there, it had snowed that morning and so our plans changed.

As I wrap up this segment of our travel, we want to thank all who hosted us, guided us, participated with us and generally just showed us a great time. From here we are headed to Ouray and then to Golden and the Denver area.

Stay Safe.