Chloride Bank Café
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338515o, W 107.680770o
N 33o 20.3109', W 107o 40.8462'
N 33o 20' 18.65", W 107o 40' 50.77"
Elevation: 6,176 feet
Today blew my mind. Eighteen ladies who are members of the Red Hat Society came to Chloride to have 'High Tea' at our Chloride Bank Café.
I had nothing to do with this and I certainly wasn't dressed (or shaved) for the event. I managed to get some pictures. Here are a few.
Hat by Cassie Hobbs
Bonnet by Cassie Hobbs
Table Setup
Tea Table
WOW! Look at those hats!
More hats
Gaynell Pyle and Krystal Torres did a great job serving the event
Some visited the Museum and Gallery
Those Boots Were Made For Walkin' Really?
Reports are that the ladies enjoyed their afternoon and their visit to Chloride. Thanks to Linda Turner for being the excellent hostess.
The Red Hat used as the center piece for today's event was made by Cassie Hobbs. Cassie, of course, predates the Red Hat Society and knew nothing of it (April 5, 1904 – May 20, 1989).
Here is what I learned about that hat from Linda Turner. Hat makers work on a hat manikin. Cassie didn't have one, so she made one.
Cassie Hobbs' Hat Manikin
She made the hat frame from wire and crocheted the hat onto the frame.
Cassie Hobbs' Hat (ribbon added)
The Red Hat Society (RHS) is a social organization originally founded in 1998 in the United States for women age 50 and beyond, but now open to women of all ages. As of 2011, there were over 40,000 chapters in the United States and 30 other countries.
The founder of the Society is artist Sue Ellen Cooper, who lives in Fullerton, Orange County, California. In 1997, Cooper gave a friend a 55th birthday gift consisting of a red bowler purchased at an antique store along with a copy of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning". The opening lines of the poem read:
“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.”
Cooper repeated the gift on request several times, and eventually several of the women bought purple outfits and held a tea party on April 25, 1998.
After spreading by word of mouth, the Society first received national publicity in 2000 through the magazine Romantic Homes and a feature in The Orange County Register. Cooper then established a "Hatquarters" to field the hundreds of e-mail requests for help starting chapters. She now serves as "Exalted Queen Mother", and has written two best-selling books about the Society, "The Red Hat Society: Friendship and Fun After Fifty" published in April 2004 and "The Red Hat Society's Laugh Lines: Stories of Inspiration and Hattitude" published in April 2005.Wikipedia
Pioneer Store Museum
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338660o, W 107.681144o
N 33o 20.3196', W 107o 40.8687'
N 33o 20' 19.17", W 107o 40' 52.12"
Elevation: 6,186 feet
How many people drive 37 miles into the mountains of New Mexico for the Memorial Day weekend? Answer: A lot.
Our little Apache Kid RV Park was full starting on Thursday; so was the overflow dry camping area. Both of these could have been booked three times over.
Apache Kid RV Park
Overflow Dry Camping Area
Most folks who come to stay and camp do so for the 'four – wheeling' exploration of the canyons. They head out in the morning with a lunch packed in their ATV and return about 4PM; dust covered and happy.
Around here the canyons are deep and rugged.
Even in this out of the way wilderness you can feel safe because Chloride is a gated community.
Pioneer Store Museum
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338660o, W 107.681144o
N 33o 20.3196', W 107o 40.8687'
N 33o 20' 19.17", W 107o 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.
Pioneer Store Museum
Chloride, NM 87943
GPS Coordinates (in three formats):
N 33.338660o, W 107.681144o
N 33o 20.3196', W 107o 40.8687'
N 33o 20' 19.17", W 107o 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.
