We have left our beautiful backyard in the wilds of Carlsbad and Sitting Bull Falls and are heading for Truth or Consequences. On the way we pass through one of our favorite “theme towns,” Roswell, New Mexico.
I love their way of decorating for the Christmas holiday.
In no time, we arrive in Elephant Butte where we are staying at the state park. This area is outside of the planned Space Port. I guess this is their new town icon.
Our “backyard” isn’t quite as beautiful as the last, and our neighbors are a bit closer, but the wildlife in the park makes up for it. Jack rabbits, cottontail rabbits, roadrunners, coyotes, and my favorite Gamble’s Quails.
Our second day here has John itching to do some exploring and rockhounding so off we go into the wilderness. Is that snow on the mountains? Glad I brought a jacket.
It’s starting out okay, with great views and just a little snow.
Then there is a little more snow.
And now a LOT more snow. Wait, didn’t we come south to avoid this kind of thing?
Well, the nice thing is the sun is hot and warms you easily despite the snow on the ground and the fifty-ish degree weather.
We really love the views out here.
After our day of rockhounding, on the way back to camp, we stop to check out this bridge to nowhere, basically.
Built back in 1927, to span a large gorge as part of the Black Range Highway (NM 152 route).
Nineteen twenty-seven? Quite a feat of engineering back in those days. The gorge is deep.
The new bridge, next to the old.
I can only imagine the difficulty of accomplishing this back in the day.
