The spiral . . .

As I type this post the month of October is nearly behind us – as am I with my blogging.  I mentioned in a previous post that I was absent for a couple of weeks due to muscle spasms.  So, this is the point – October 5^th – where it started.  I don’t really want to relive it, but will give a brief summary as it is certainly part of the package.  After that, I’ll get on to better things. 

October 6, 2014: The spiral of pain begins.

On October 5^th severe muscles spasms in my back gripped me for a week at which time a rather slow recovery ensued for the next week or so.  We left Abiquiu Lake on Monday morning heading for Espanola in hopes of finding a chiropractor that would be willing to work me into his schedule.  A wonderful doc saw me immediately.  He manipulated the dislocated rib back into its proper place, worked on the seized-up muscles under the scapula (the culprits that caused the initial problem),  and released the intercostal muscles from my spinal column all the way around to my sternum.  I could breathe again.  The spasms weren’t gone or even slightly diminished, but I knew in a matter of a week they would be.  I could not thank this man enough for his help and wonderful healing touch.  Needless to say, he was a Godsend.      

Not feeling well enough to travel, we spend the night in Espanola. 

As I lay in bed that night – sleepless – instead of counting sheep I find myself counting spasms.  At an average of 5 spasms per minute times 60 minutes, that’s 300 spasms every hour.  If that’s not bad enough I then calculate 300 spasms times 24 hours.  Yikes!  That’s 7,200 spasms per day.  At that point, I don’t want to think about how many days are ahead of me.  In due time, this too shall pass.

October 7, 2014: Santa Rosa Lake State Park.

Jack rises early – I never slept – and we get on the road.  We’ve decided to drive to Santa Rosa Lake State Park, about a 3 hour drive southeast.  It looks like a nice, quiet location for a little R&R.  It seems to me a very long drive, but we reach our destination and Jack sets up camp.  Finally, eight days after the spasms began I see light at the end of the tunnel.  I’m ready to venture out to see if there’s any sign of life beyond my tiny little world here at Santa Rosa Lake.

October 11, 2014: Chapel and Blue Hole.

Puerto de Luna.      

We drive south out of Santa Rosa on Highway 91 along the Pecos River to the little village of Puerto de Luna.  There’s not much here but the church, a few ruins of old adobe buildings, and a few homes.  In 1901, with the first train rolling into the new depot 10 miles north in Santa Rosa, Puerto de Luna’s role as the commercial hub in the county suddenly came to an end.  It is evident as we drive the street.  

On the north edge of the village sits the beautiful Santa Rosa de Lima Chapel. 

The very simple yet beautiful alter of Santa Rosa de Lima.

Scuba diving in Blue Hole.

Back on Highway 91 we drive back to the town of Santa Rosa.  We saw signs for Blue Hole and want to find out what that’s all about.

Well let’s see, Blue Hole is a sinkhole formed by water erosion in limestone rock.  It’s one of the few inland dive sites in the US.    The next closest dive site as deep as this is in Mexico.  Today, a group of divers from Denver and Albuquerque are here; some for fun, some for certification.

We pull into the parking lot to this scene.  Folks in varying degrees of undress.

Blue Hole stats.

Scuba training and certification.

 Off he goes into the wild blue yonder.

Then there were 8.

As we enjoy watching divers and swimmers in the vivid blue water, a young couple maneuvers a rather large group of children in our direction.  The kids are darting about, jumping up and down, scurrying in and out and around and between each other.  I find myself counting kids.  Eventually, I count 8 kiddos a couple of times in a row and figure I’ve got it nailed.  I strike up a conversation with “Dad”.

“You folks sure have your hands full there.  I’ll bet there’s never a dull moment at your house,” I say with a smile.

Dad laughs and responds, “Yeah, life is pretty exciting all the time.”

The kids range from maybe 12 years old down to a few-month-old baby wound up in one of those “baby wrappers” on Mom’s chest.  He tells me he had a roofing business in Oregon with several employees and hated not spending enough time with his wife and kids.  (Could have fooled me.  From the looks of things he spent plenty of time with his wife.)  Anyway, he sold his business and home, bought a motorhome, packed up the family, and is headed for east Texas.  He wants to start a family business where they can have more quality time together.  (Looks like more kids on the way.)  He’s an adventurous and ambitious man, plans to succeed, which means he probably will.

“How big is your motorhome?”

I want to ask (but don’t), even though I already know the outside limit has to be no more than 45 feet.  How do you fit 8 kids and 2 adults in a 45 foot motorhome – fulltime?  I don’t know.  Just wondering.

As we’re leaving Blue Hole we see the whole “famn damily” filing into the MH.  It is long – maybe 42 or 45 feet with a large enclosed trailer attached at the rear.  Where do they put all those children?  Are there enough seat belts?  Better yet, where do they all sleep?  These folks are pioneers of a whole new sort.  I sure wish them well.         

We say goodbye to Santa Rosa Lake.  It’s been a nice peaceful stay.  Just what the doctor ordered.

Sunrise at Santa Rosa Lake before hitting the road for the “oasis”.

October 14, 2014: Oasis State Park, New Mexico.

On the road again we are planning a stay at Oasis State Park a few miles north of Portales, NM.  How nice.  A little oasis in the desert.  We’re looking forward to our stay.

Pretty sunset, but . . .

A very pretty sunset.

What you can't see in the photo is the thousands of flies from the nearby dairy farms that invade our space and infest our wine, cheese, and crackers.  Oh yes, the wasps.  It’s impossible to sit outside anyway due to the multitude of wasps buzzing around and crawling all over our lounge chairs. 

Lovely view over the grasslands as the sun goes down. 

Only thing is, there’s no grassland in sight.  There’s nothing but stickery burred bushes – everywhere.  If you take a couple of steps off the road you’re in trouble – snagged and devoured by bushes.  Imagine that. 

Beautiful in photos, but folks, there’s nothing out there.  Wide open spaces full of sticker bushes, flies, and wasps.  We’re outta here.

October 16, 2014: Next stop, Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM.

We hit the road bright and early to get away from everything “oasis”.  Down the road to Portales we catch Highway 70 and head in the direction of Roswell.  We get down the highway a few miles, I review our trusty Benchmark map, look up at Jack and exclaim, “Hey, I think we can knock off quite a few miles and time if we take this shortcut.  County Road 51 heads straight south and completely misses Roswell.  Maybe we should take that.”

Jack’s agreeable.  So, it’s the shortcut.  We hang a left at CR51.

In the first quarter mile we cross a very rough – beyond rough – railroad track.  After that maneuver Jack gets out to check the hitch and make sure the Jeep wasn’t going to be left behind along the tracks.  All intact we head down the road.

“Whoa!  Slow down.  Cattle guard.”

“Another cattle guard.”

“Watch it.  Cattle guard.”

And so it went – about 8 times or so in 15 miles.

Yeah, so much for the shortcut.  I guess it was a shortcut, but it sure took a long time to get that 15 miles to Highway 380.

A few miles west on US380 and we turn south and make our way to Bottomless Lakes State Park.

The sinks are caused by the collapse of underground cavities.  They’re mossy green and cloudy.    

We set up camp and take a walk to Lea Lake, one of the several sinkhole lakes here at the park.  Mosquitoes!  They’re thick.  We cut our walk short and head inside the RV to escape – yes, more insects!

We will not be deterred.  In the morning I cover up – long pants, long sleeves, cap, insect repellent.  We’re going to see all the sinkhole lakes along this ridgeline.  It’s miserable.  They’re buzzing in my ears, I feel like I’m snuffing them up my nose.  I really hate mosquitoes.  Back into the RV. 

Mirror Lake.  It a mosquitoes breeding ground in there.

I’ve never been to Roswell so we decide to spend one additional day to take a drive into town, you know, to check out the alien situation.  We sign up for one more night at Mosquito Camp.

The "Roswell Incident".

In 1947, "something happened" outside of Roswell, NM.  The Air Force first reported that it had recovered a flying saucer.  Within hours they changed their story and said it was only a weather balloon.  After nearly 70 years people are still wondering what happened.  Was it a UFO?  Was there a cover up? 

Roswell Space Center: Alien Toys, T-Shirts, and more.

Some of the locals are making out okay as they have storefronts and sell "alien stuff" to tourist (such as ourselves - although we don't typically partake in tourist goods, alien or otherwise).

The UFO Museum and Research Center opened in the early 1990s.  There's also an annual UFO celebration the first week of July.  That's got to be quite a sight.

A day in Roswell and we head back to Mosquito Camp.  We're ready for a new camp tomorrow.  We're hoping for far fewer insects than we've seen the last several day.  Here's hoping.

Sunset as we return to Bottomless Lakes.  Until next time - be safe.