Friends Come To Visit

Pioneer Store Museum
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338660^o, W 107.681144^o
N 33^o 20.3196', W 107^o 40.8687'
N 33^o 20' 19.17", W 107^o 40' 52.12"
Elevation: 6,186 feet

Friday, 15 May 2015
Today, we made a trip out to Two Bar Hill. "Two Bar Hill" (or Three or Four) is the name we give to a spot near our current location where we can get a Verizon signal strong enough to check emails and make phone calls. Of course it must be a place where we can safely pull off the road and get out of traffic. In our present situation, it's two bars with flashes of three, at a particular spot 9.3 miles from Chloride on the road to Truth or Consequences (NM Rt 52).

There was an email from Jim and Bonnie Spain saying they were headed our way. Jim and Bonnie are friends of ours from The Great Outdoors RV Resort, our winter home in Florida. Early this spring when we compared summer travel plans we discovered that we would cross paths in New Mexico. So we resolved to meet.

We called them immediately and learned they were in Ft Stockton, TX, gassing up on their way to El Paso, TX for the night. They expected to be passing through Truth or Consequences, NM tomorrow.

I described to them our location in Chloride, NM. Although 37 miles from I-25, the road is all blacktop and easily navigated by their Monaco Windsor, but be prepared for a winding and hilly road. I advised that if they needed provisions they should attend to that at the Walmart in Truth or Consequences. I assured them that our little RV park could accommodate their rig and encouraged them to spend the night with us. I gave them Don Edmund's phone number to call for a parking space.

Saturday, 16 May 2015
This morning started windy and cold with mixtures of rain and sleet. I got this shot of a rainbow from our window.

Mid– afternoon, Don came by to tell us he had a message on his answering machine from our friends saying they were getting off I–25 heading our way but he didn't know when the message was left.

A few minutes later, Jim and Bonnie arrived. We saw them coming and Jim greeted us with one of the several tunes on his Monaco air horn. It was good to see them.













They quickly got their rig set up then we visited for a while.

As evening approached, we walked across the street to the Chloride Bank Cafe for dinner.

Chloride Bank Cafe, Chloride, NM

Sunday, 17 May 2015
Don Edmund loaded us (Jim, Bonnie, Michelle, Bob) on his golf cart and gave us the full history tour of Chloride. That took a couple hours because Don knows the history of every building in Chloride and he loves to tell it. He is very interesting and we enjoyed every minute. We finished at the Pioneer Store Museum and spent another couple hours looking at all the artifacts and hearing the story behind them. This museum is a place where seniors could spend a day because the items of our lives are there. Younger adults could spend a couple hours. Kids would go ballistic in about half an hour.

Pioneer Store Museum, Chloride, NM

After a lunch break, we found and logged the geocache by the Hanging Tree, then drove to Two Bar Hill so Jim could log into the Geocaching website and get coordinates for other geocaches in the area. On the way back, we stopped at the General Store in Winston as a curiosity.

The Hanging Tree – Chloride's famous landmark

Our search for geocaches was unsuccessful – a couple we couldn't find and a couple got the "I'm not climbing that mountain for a geocache" verdict.

Michelle and Bonnie had planned a picnic dinner at our camp site and we invited Don, Dona, and Linda to join us. So we spent the evening eating, socializing, and trading RV stories. It was a great evening. When the sun sank behind the mountains, the temperature plummeted and ended our evening. No camp fires here! Fire danger is too great.

Monday, 18 May 2015
We were up early. Jim and Bonnie packed up the Monaco. We said our good–byes, promised to stay in touch through the summer, and said we would meet again back in TGO in November. They pulled out at 0745 and gave us a toot on the Monaco horn as they left.

This is a great part of RVing – meeting friends on the road and sharing a new location and adventure.

First Day on Site

Pioneer Store Museum
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338660^o, W 107.681144^o
N 33^o 20.3196', W 107^o 40.8687'
N 33^o 20' 19.17", W 107^o 40' 52.12"
Elevation: 6,186 feet

It was cold and windy all day but crystal clear. Everyone tells us the cold and wind is unusual.

First let me show you our home for the next two months. We are in the Apache Kid RV Park.

We spent the day setting up and settling in.

We had a good lunch at the Chloride Bank Cafe ...

Chloride Bank Cafe, Chloride, NM

... got our first look inside the Monte Cristo Gallery and Gift Shop ...

Monte Cristo Gallery and Gift Shop, Chloride, NM

... and the Pioneer Store Museum

Pioneer Store Museum, Chloride, NM

All of these buildings have a history different than their current life. I'll explore each in later posts.

My major accomplishment today was getting Old Glory flying. That makes any place home.










Dona took Michelle to show her what the rental cabins are like. Very nice inside.

One of several vacation rental cabins

Chloride sits on the edge of the Gila National Forest. People come here as a base for outdoor adventures: hunting, hiking, ATV riding, climbing, exploring.

Every day has to have a learning experience. Today we learned that the nearest laundomat is at the General Store in Winston three miles away and that we have to use our own shower. Uhh Ooo, there goes Michelle's second wardrobe closet. Now we are really roughing it.

Today We Arrived

Pioneer Store Museum
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338660^o, W 107.681144^o
N 33^o 20.3196', W 107^o 40.8687'
N 33^o 20' 19.17", W 107^o 40' 52.12"
Elevation: 6,186 feet

Travel Day 8 – El Paso, TX to Chloride, NM

Today's trip was a short 144 miles. We were lazy and didn't get started until 1000. We finished the trip, including a lengthy stop at Walmart in 4:15. During our short ride, our trip odometer passed through 2,000 miles.

Yesterday, I mentioned the fact that our overnight stop was in a neighborhood of "agricultural wealth". Today on our way back to I-10, we passed through the other neighborhood. Here were the houses of the farm workers that made that wealth possible – not a pretty sight.

We said goodbye to I-10 after a short distance. In Las Cruces, NM we switched to I-25 for the rest of the trip north. Our last city was Truth or Consequences, NM. Yes, that is a real city and here is the story of how it got its name.

Truth or Consequences is the county seat of Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. In 2012, the population was 6,411. It is commonly known within New Mexico as T or C. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

Originally named Hot Springs, the city changed its name to Truth or Consequences, the title of a popular NBC Radio program. In 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs won the honor. Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event was called "Fiesta" and included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May. Wikipedia

Somewhere the literature about Chloride says the nearest Walmart is 40 miles away (we clocked it to be 37.7 miles). Taking that as a warning we stopped at the Walmart in Truth or Consequences to do a major grocery and gas fillup. We later learned that the locals refer to the town as "T or C" and so do many of the road signs.

The last 40 miles (or 37.7) were brutally winding roads west into the mountains.

Almost there, we stopped at the General Store in Winston to verify directions and to check out the store. It is a real old fashion general store and I'll get back there soon to investigate further.

About 1415 we arrived in Chloride. I knew we were there when I saw the Hanging Tree ahead in the center of the road.

The Hanging Tree – Chloride's famous landmark
The little sign says "Chloride National Forest"

Don Edmund, the owner and our host, drove out to meet us as we arrived. He greeted us warmly and showed us to our campsite. In a few minutes his wife Dona and daughter Linda came to meet us and we chatted for a bit.

We did our initial setup. I'll finish tomorrow. Seven days and 2,095 miles of travel. Two very tired travelers went to bed early.

Another adventure begins.

From the Vine Came the Grapes, From the Grapes Came the Wine

La Vina Winery
4201 NM–28
Anthony, NM 88021 (just outside El Paso, TX)
GPS: 31.96938, -106.651428

Travel Day 7 – Ft Stockton, TX to El Paso, TX

Today's travel covered 258 miles which we did in 7:20. We pulled out at 0900 but stopped almost immediately for breakfast while still in Ft Stockton at the Ft Stockton Steakhouse. This time I had the Chorizo & Egg and Michelle had an omelet.

Ft Stockton Steakhouse

Our travel direction was WNW until just before Ft Hancock, then NW along Mexican border to El Paso. That black line on the map is the US/Mexico border. Today we crossed into the Mountain Time zone. We'll stay in this time zone until October.

El Paso, TX of song and story fame was a grubby, lawless border town with mexican music, pretty senoritas, and gunfights. I'm sure some of that is preserved somewhere as "Historic El Paso". But now El Paso is a sprawling metropolis with big buildings, freeways, and traffic jams like every other big city; and a terrifying driving experience for RVers like us who have become used to the slower pace of senior living in the country. It is still a border town, squeezed between Mexico on the south and New Mexico on the north and west. El Paso suburbs are in a different state and a different nation. What a nightmare that must be.

Our overnight stop this time was in Anthony, NM; one of those New Mexico suburbs, at La Vina Winery, another Harvest Host site. After we left the highway and got on to the back roads approaching the winery, I was struck by what I will call "agricultural wealth". Mile after mile of meticulously manicured vineyards and pecan orchards (read no weeds) spotted with very expensive homes. Also visible were elaborate irrigation systems. I'm pretty sure the water source is the Rio Grande which runs south through this region before it turns southeast and becomes the dividing line between the US and Mexico.

We arrived at La Vina Winery about 1530 Mountain Time, stopped in the store to introduce ourselves and get directions to our parking location.

Then we set up for the night.

Our setup at La Vina Winery

After getting setup, we returned to the store and did a wine tasting. Each of us got five samples, with crackers and a free wine glass (glass not plastic) for $5. Of course we bought a couple bottles. I just had to copy this information from the Wine Tasting list. This is to impress you with our wine sophistication and my ability to create a table in a blog post. Are you impressed?

	Type	Name	Description
Bob	Off Dry	Viognier	French variety. Mineral and white peaches hints.
Bob	Dry Red	Sangiovese	Earthy spicy black cherry flavor. Origins in Northern Italy.
Bob	Dry Red	Dolcetto	Lighter bodied red wine with hints of cherry. Pairs with pizza or spicy dishes.
Bob	Dry Red	Primitivo	This zinfandel clone is fruity with medium tannin, spice, and pepper flavors.
Bob	Semi–sweet	Oro Loco	"Crazy Gold" Muscat blend with lovely citrus notes. Great for a picnic.
Michelle	Semi–sweet	Rojo Loco	"Crazy Red" blend of Ruby Cabernet and Zinfandel – some liken it to Sangria.
Michelle	Semi–sweet	White Riesling	Hints of strawberry and rasberry – perfect with bread and sharp cheese.
Michelle	Semi–sweet	Gewurztraminer	Fragerant white wine, pear and peach flavors with honeysuckle hints.
Michelle	Sweet	La Dolce Vina	Sparkling Muscat with spectacular citrus and floral notes.
Michelle	Sweet	Late Harvest Viognier	Apricot and honey characters and sweet mouthfeel balanced with soft acidity.

A young man came into the store. One look and you knew he was a GI; the walk and the haircut give it away every time. We got into a conversation and learned his name was Matt. He is a soldier stationed at Ft Bliss. He came to the winery to buy some wine to send to his mother and sister for Mother's Day. We chatted while the winery clerk packed up his selection for shipping. He knew nothing about wine; neither do I. So I treated him to a wine tasting. He is unhappy in his job and with the anti–education attitude of his fellow soldiers. Nearing the end of his enlistment, he plans to leave the service return home to Sacramento, CA and finish college, then maybe rejoin the military. We wished him well.

Soon the winery store closed and all the customers and workers were gone. We enjoyed a quiet evening alone in the parking lot.

Seems like a good time to honor all those insects who died to make our trip possible

As it got dark, we could see in the distance the lights of the traffic on I-10 and the glow in the sky from the city of El Paso. Another day in the books.