Author: Henberta

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

A slightly late start, a firecracker send-off  (a practice adopted from the Chinese, who mark significant passages through life in this way)…..

and our first stop is Eastland, TX, about 20 miles south of Breckenridge.

Although still warm, it’s much drier in Eastland than in East Texas, making for a comfortable stroll through  this pleasant town.  The Eastland Historic Hotel was a boarding house in the early days of the 20th century; restored 20+ years ago by transplants from Buffalo, NY!  

It’s right off the main square, down from the courthouse.

The courthouse is the site of a tribute to the local celebrity, Ol’ Rip.  

A clever town father consigned a living horned toad to the cornerstone of the old courthouse in 1897 (along with other memorabilia).  To everyone’s shock and surprise (no less the toad’s!), he re-animated when the cornerstone was opened 31 years later, in 1928.  Sadly, life out of the cornerstone was the undoing of Ol’ Rip, who died of pneumonia only a year later.    

Eastland is also an outdoor museum, with reproductions of almost 40 paintings displayed on walls and fences throughout the town.  What a great way to stimulate interest in traditional culture, while showcasing the skill of local artists!

Road fare will likely take its toll on our relatively pampered tummies.  We simply could not resist the lure of the best onion rings in Anson, TX…. Which came with fried catfish, fried hushpuppies, gloppy mayonnaise-y cole slaw and an appetizer of beans with large chunks of nitrite-laden hot dogs. 

“Delicious,” says Henry. 

West across the New Mexico border is Hobbs, a bleak, sun-baked and windy town where Robbie’s family lived  for a short time 55 years ago.  With an address clue from brother Mike, we found the house – now of course worn out and much diminished, but still standing!  

Continuing across a landscape so different from the piney woods… we knew our road trip was well and truly under way.  Flat, dry and desolate – but rich in resources that provide energy – wind and solar the relative newcomers, but also densely dotted with pump jacks sucking up dribbles of oil as they have for many decades….  a pump on every 5 to 10 acres for as far as the eye can see.  

This area’s hey-day followed World War II…. Oil and gas reserves exploited for the post-war boom; its extraordinary isolation and atmosphere brought pre-war missile testing and later scientists looking skyward… as at the Sunspot solar observatory….

and the Very Large Array Radio Astronomy Observatory.   

Awareness of our perceived Cold War vulnerability is marked by such structures as the Abo Elementary School and Fallout Shelter in Artesia, NM. 

The entire school was built underground, its playground a concrete slab that served as the roof…. 

Built in 1962, it also incorporates a facility for over 2,000 human souls to wait out a nuclear attack (including storage for supplies)!  It was quite a different time, although one we Baby Boomers remember well.

Every landscape, no matter how severe, reveals its beauty to those who look…….

Next we will ascend to the mountains… and that first draught of really cool weather we crave.

Cloudcroft and the Lincoln National Forest are a refreshing contrast to the dry plains.  After sharing an ice cream sundae, we found a lovely area to camp..

and explored the coolness of the forest and dappled meadows on the  4-wheeler (whose tires needed adjustment for the high altitude).

Fully appreciating flora and nature’s phenomena requires looking closely.  A stick….

…shows the story of the bark beetle, as she plows furrows in the cambian layer of a tree underneath the bark in which to lay her eggs…. fantastic tracings that can ultimately kill her host.

A tree’s wound leaks sap…..

…and you can see the stuff from which precious amber comes.

A puff ball….

…is an intricate, lovely, but also highly-efficient way to spread seed at precisely the right time.

A few more beauty shots….. just because they are.

It got downright cold at night – mid-40s (degrees Fahrenheit)!  But warmed into the mid-70s during the day.  Just right!

What a nice state New Mexico is….. you can drive a hundred miles and be in an all-new environment. Maybe that’s why they call it “The Land of Enchantment”!

Settling in for the evening at our camp in the forest, we heard an alert  about a coming cold front, expected to bring heavy rains and high winds.  Not wanting to be caught attempting a descent from the mountains with our high-profile rig in such a storm, we pulled up stakes and retreated to an inn in Alamogordo.

Parenthetically, this area is a pistachio-growing region.  The delicious and nutritious nut was first planted here with sources brought from Lebanon in the 1970s.  So glad they tried it!  And what beautiful colors…..

This diversion allowed for a bit of reflection.  A fellow named Roy and his partner provided us with some kind suggestions about our stay in Lincoln Forest.  Learning that our current trip would take us into Canada, they revealed that their own bucket list included an adventure beyond the Arctic Circle along the relatively new Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean…….

Whaaaaat?  A drive through British Colombia, the Yukon and the Northern Territories all the way to the northern coast of this continent?  Hmm….. we are already outfitted for a long journey…… heading in that general direction…… cool climate is always an attraction.  

The idea had an air of inevitability about it.

So here we go.  Will attempt this run over the weeks to come…. almost 4,000 miles one way.  Should be able to dally a bit, reach this goal and still be in Winnipeg by July 31!

The blog name is changing to “Along the Great Divide”, as our route will roughly track and take us over the Continental Divide a number of times.  (If you’ve never noticed, the Continental Divide cuts across North America and is plotted on most maps….. and if you’ve never asked or wondered, it is a topographic feature whereby virtually all of the surface and rain water to the west of the line ultimately drains into the Pacific Ocean; water to the east of the line drains into the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.  Don’t ask me what you are supposed to do with this information……)

Stay tuned for more on our new adventure.

We found that Henry’s daughter Ivy had business in Farmington, NM as we made this decision to turn decisively north.  (She is the audit chief for a coal company; they were kicking off an audit at a nearby mining facility.)  So lucky timing and routing enabled us to meet up with her there for dinner and a visit.

Hoping to find a good spot to fly the powered parachute at one of our next stops in Colorado……

A last little memento from New Mexico to accompany us on the journey forward…..

Henry heard of a private airstrip near Delta, Colorado.  It was hard to find, and when we did, the entry to the premises looked rather forbidding…..

Always undaunted, Henry rapped on the door and we were welcomed with open arms by Richard and Becky (and their dog Rebar), who had recently purchased the property.  Their 120-acre place is atop a bluff overlooking a valley, with snow-capped mountains in the distance.  It features two rather overgrown airstrips,  as well as a home with fantastic views and several outbuildings containing an extraordinary collection of….. all kinds of stuff!  Henry found some kindred spirits….

Becky and Richard were kind enough to let us set up camp on their property, alongside the abandoned caretaker’s trailer, which (funny coincidence) contained some paneling that was exactly like some Henry used to make our closet doors back home!

Although a magnificent location, we did not take advantage of their airstrip to fly, as we were a bit fearful of what the sticker bushes might do to Henry’s recently-refreshed parachute wing.  We earned a little bit of our keep… Henry buried the remains of a critter that had expired not far from our camping spot….. and Becky got a handmade potholder!

We are so lucky to meet such interesting and friendly folks on our travels.  We said farewell, however, to move on to the next potential flying site.

A few shots from our transit through Colorado….

A late foray into Wyoming to an intriguing spot near Rock Springs…..the Green River Intergalactic Spaceport.  Not making this up…. here it is on the map.

And with an on-coming storm, we felt as if we were going to have a close encounter with a gigantic space ship/cloud…

What a majestic and isolated site! We took a few photos and set up the trailer for the night just before the storm hit.

Clear weather in the morning finally gave Henry the chance to fly!  (On his own this time…. checking out the refurbished gear and practicing his skills.)  A little bumpy, but worth it…

Next post we move into idyllic Idaho.