Wed, Sept 29, 2010

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

We start each day with a sketchy plan and are usually content to alter the plan if the need arises.  This ended up being one of those days. 

We left Ft Davis in the wee hours of the morning probably an hour before sunrise.  I mentioned as I was finishing up yesterdays journal entry that I was getting “itchy” and sure enough we decided to drive into the Davis Mountains to watch the sunset.  It was a beautiful drive and the area was once again green and the trees healthy again after many years of severe drought.  Limpia Creek even had some running water which we have not seen in more years than we can remember.  Because we made this drive the afternoon before, we did not mind leaving before sunrise to drive the same area.

Just about a mile before we got to Interstate 10 the sun began to peek over the mountains to our east and it cast the most beautiful orange glow all along the ridge of the mountains.  We stopped for just a moment to savor the view and listen to the silence.   These are the things that make west Texas so special, the large expansive views, the crystal clear skies, the feeling of almost being in another time and the quiet.

Then we began another one of those dreaded Interstate drives that would take us to El Paso, then Las Cruces and finally to Demming, NM where we would once again return to winding two lane roads with little traffic.  We made a brief stop in El Paso to pick up a couple of items missed in the packing but I generally passed this long tedious drive by listening to Charles.  At times it was just his snoring but more often he read to me from one of the El Paso papers.  An interesting fact we learned was that El Paso is one of the safest cities in the US (same size cities).  One thing they have attributed the decrease in violent crimes to was prayer.  They have volunteers who pray for the city.  Pretty cool.

As I mentioned earlier we start with a plan but will change it at the drop of a hat if we want to stay longer at one particular spot or if we read about a place we want to visit or in this case if the weather is not cooperating.  Since we left the house we have been in perfect weather with highs hardly reaching i the 80s.  Today, however as we pulled onto the two lane headed toward Silver City, NM the temperature began to rise and as we tried to take a hike along the San Francisco river we found ourselves in 96 degree heat.  So instead of driving to Glenwood, NM and staying so do some longer hikes, we made the decision to just drive further north and try to get into Colorado tomorrow and head on toward Yellowstone and cooler temperatures. 

It ended up being a good idea for as we continued north for at least another 100 miles the temperatures remained in the upper 90s… quite a surprise as we were in elevations above 5000 feet and often in large ponderosa pine forests.  We have never been in this area when it was this hot and it was definitely a surprise.  We hate to have the windows up but after the short hike it was time to turn on some air and cool down. 

Luckily the day ended on a very pleasant note as the last sixty or so miles we found cooler temps and with the windows back down and a cool breeze we were able to enjoy beautiful scenery as we drove thru the El Malpais National Monument, an extensive area of lava beds and sandstone cliffs.  We are staying tonight in Grants, NM.  Tomorrow we will head toward Colorado. 

We are better tonight than we were early this afternoon.  We hope yall are well.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger