Santa Rosa and Route 66

 

 

When I left Roswell and Bottomless Lakes State Park, I drove north out of the desert and into the high plains area. The terrain changed along the way, the brown of the desert gave way to rolling hills covered in different shades of green grasses and clumps of short green trees. There were tiny little wildflowers scattered along the way.

My first stop was Lake Sumner State Park about 15 miles north of Fort Sumner. When I pulled in, I was the only one in the campground. They have pay stations in these state parks, so there was no one in the visitor center. It felt a little strange being the only camper. Of course, it was early morning and a few other people came in throughout the day. And they left the next morning. One other couple and I were the only ones who stayed more than just overnight.

My next stop was Santa Rosa and the Santa Rosa State Park. It seems like most of these parks are situated around lakes and somewhere along the line, the Corps of Engineers was involved in their development. These last two parks both had dams.

I visited the town of Santa Rosa, built along Route 66, which has been replaced by Route 40, although old sections of the road remain. There are a few remnants from Route 66, some signs that haven’t been taken down, and there’s a Route 66 diner that’s still in business.

I had to stop at the Route 66 Auto Museum, where they had a collection of very nice antique cars, mostly from the 1960s, although some were older and some newer. They had an Auburn from the early 1930s in very nice shape (I had never heard of it before) and a LaSalle, also nicely kept. Others included Mustangs, a Thunderbird, Road Runner, Cadillac, Edsels, a Camaro and a Woody wagon. There were all sorts of signs and other memorabilia on the walls, as well as an old gas pump and air pump. It’s definitely worth a stop if you’re in the neighborhood.



Next stop is Tucumcari, which has more Route 66 sights and memorabilia. They have refurbished some of the landmarks and maintained others.

By the way, the gas station with the above sign was not open - I sure was disappointed!

Full Moon

Above is a shot of the full moon the other night.  Actually, it was the night before, but I like this photo better than the one I took of the actual full moon.  Still in Bottomless Lakes State Park in New Mexico, but planning to leave early in the morning tomorrow.  By the way, the lakes are not really bottomless - the early explorers thought they were because when they tried to find out how deep they were by tossing a line in the water, it just drifted away and they never could get a measurement. 

These lakes all are partly rimmed with a bluff like the one pictured above and also shown on one of my previous blogs.  They're sinkholes, the earth was washed away by water from underground springs until finally the top covering became thin enough to fall in.  The other day I was exploring and found an area that looked interesting.  I parked the truck and wandered over to a patch of land high up on a hill without too much vegetation.  I don't like wandering through a lot of vegetation because I really don't want to run into a snake, especially a rattler.  Anyway, I was wandering around, kicking a few rocks and noticed that the ground sounded funny - unlike other areas I'd been in.  I kicked a few more rocks around and finally realized that the ground sounded hollow.  Mental images of the surface caving in under my feet were enough to make me turn around and hurry back to the road.  Who knows how deep it will be when it does cave in?  I certainly didn't want to test it, but I'm really curious.  It may take years or it might be next week.......



I found these cute little flowers this morning on my hike, I have no idea what they're called.  They are pretty much that size and very low to the ground. 

Tomorrow I'll be leaving here, but I've enjoyed the stay here, and I hope the next park I go to will be as nice.  Well, I could do without the flies, especially the deer flies - they have teeth!  Surprisingly, I have not experienced mosquitoes here, but that might be because it's the desert. 

Valley Area - Bottomless Lakes State Park

Above is a typical picture of the valley area in and around the park and adjoining the rocky bluffs that were pictured in my blog from yesterday. 

Just because it's desert, that doesn't mean that there aren't pretty flowers.  I did find some, although I did miss the cactus flowers and other things that bloomed in April or May. 

These yellow blooms are tiny and on a little bush that seems to be low to the ground.

This is a plant that has some type of vine sprawled over it - sometimes this vine covers multiple plants.  It doesn't seem to harm the plant on the bottom.

First, I thought this little guy was a tiny hummingbird, he's only 2-3" long.  He was flitting from one flower to another and his wings were blurred because he was so fast.  There were bunches of them around that area.  I took lots of shots of them and got a few good ones.  Someone told me he's a moth, but I don't know what kind.  If anyone finds out what he is, please let me know.

I dropped something on the trail and noticed this guy, who was busy blending into his surroundings.  Looks like a grasshopper.

So, these are the most interesting things I saw on my 3 mile hike this morning.  Luckily, no rattlesnakes, although I keep looking.  Not that I want to see one, it's because I want to go the other way if I do!