Woke
up to sunshine with a cool breeze. Not
shorts weather yet and I’m still wearing 2 shirt layers but I’ve downgraded
from winter jacket to sweatshirt...that’s progress.😎 My fingers are a bit chilly though.
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Although
it was a solid 60o when we arrived at sunset last night, it was
breezy. Throughout the evening we heard
the wind and this morning upon waking there was a breeze. I think I’m sensing that this might be one of
those perpetually windy spots. The
elevation of this camping area is 5000’ so that might be a factor. Right now the breeze is a bit on the cool side
and I’ve been rubbing my hands together to keep them warm. But the sun is out, the sky is clear and there
is minimal vegetation so Mother Nature should be throwing some heat our way
soon. When that happens that cool breeze
will become my friend. It’s all about
perspective.
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I’ve
been walking almost every day at home even when the temperature dropped into
the low teens and the sudden sedentariness of travel was making me antsy. Today
I was able to get out and take a 2 mile walk on the road. Felt so good! And the fact that it was above
40 was a bonus!
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Got
back from my walk and Kim said that the camp host had let him know that one of
the water/electric sites had been vacated and we could move there if we
want. Cost is $18.00 a night but with
our national park pass it’s only $9.00.
After weighing the pros (water/electric) and cons (moving the camper) we
decided to go for it. There is a potable
water faucet a short walk from our campsite and we’d already filled up our gallon
jugs twice to do some cleaning in the kitchen. So while having the ability to
turn faucet inside the camper to get
water was appealing, water really wasn’t the determining factor in our decision. No, the determining factor for me was that we
wouldn’t have to use the generator all night if we moved to an electric site. We had used it beyond the 10 p.m., basically
breaking the quiet time rules and I was very conscious of the fact that we were
probably disrupting the other campers’ sleep. Yes, we had the permission of the
camp host but I still felt like we were being obnoxious neighbors.
The
generator is transported on a rack out in front of our truck; when setting up
last night Kim had turned the truck so it was facing the camper, hoping the
truck would act as a sound barrier for the other campers. But the night was clear when I went to the
bathroom at 11 and the generator noise seemed louder than ever. I had a hard time falling asleep with it
puttering away right outside our bedroom and I fretted over the noise
throughout the night. Seriously...throughout
the whole night. When the camp host came
to tell Kim about the open RV site he also mentioned that the generator wasn’t
a problem at all, no one had complained and we were free to continue using it
at night.
In
our discussion about whether it was worth it, I suggested we stay an extra
night. That made it was easier to
justify the hassle of making the move.
So Kim started making the camper moveable and I took care of the
financial end of it. Paid an extra
$14.50 and now we’re on a level site with water and electric. No need for the generator...I’ll sleep easier
tonight.
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After
a quick lunch we set out for the Three River Petroglyphs Site which as it turns
out is located right beside the campground.
Easy peasy! Picked up a
self-guided walking tour pamphlet and took off.
It was a busy place today...lots of people willing to pay the day use
fee to come see the rock art of ancient people but not us...it’s a perk of
camping here.
 |
| A common picture |
 |
| A face or mask |
 |
| Bighorn sheep with arrows in it |
 |
| The basaltic ridge |
The Petroglyph Trail is about 1 mile in length (2 miles round trip). This segment follows the basaltic ridge rising above the Tularosa Basin and contains over 21,000 petroglyphs. The number and concentration of petroglyphs here makes this one of the largest and most interesting rock art sites in the Southwest.
Questions
that bubbled up as I was reading the literature/signs today: How do the archeologists know what this people
group was called if there are no known modern descendants? Did they get to make
up a name? Some of the rocks had what
looked like arbitrary scratches on them...how do they authenticate the
petroglyphs and are the scratchy ones considered part of the over 21,000?
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So
while we were willing to walk a couple of miles to get to the petroglyphs we
didn’t have to...but all told we walked over 3 miles in among them. At these that’s what the Fitbit
indicates. The petroglyphs are mainly
located on a nearby ridge with some wandering farther up the hillside. The map indicted that the trail was a loop of
sorts with a picnic area and a bathroom at the far end of the loop. We kept walking looking for petroglyphs, all
the while keeping that bathroom in mind.
We went as far as we could, like to the end of the trail at the peak of
the large hill...never did find the bathroom/picnic area but found a couple of
secluded rocks that we discreetly made use of. 😏Then we started back down the trail.
Both of us knew our knees were going to be
angry with us after all the climbing but it was worth it as far as I’m
concerned. And I can’t tell if my face is feeling the
burn from the sun or the wind but it’s feeling it, that’s for sure.
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I
walked the trail to the prehistoric village....it was a much quicker trip than
our walk among the rock art.
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Flame
started right away last night when it was time to take the bikes out of the
camper. Zeus wouldn’t start last night
but Kim was able to push him off to the side to deal with the issue today. This morning Kim was hopeful that once it got
warm maybe Zeus would turn over because he really didn’t want to take the seat
off. No luck. Then after taking off
the seat he was hopeful that attaching the charger to the battery cables
protruding out front of the battery would do the trick because he really didn’t
want to take the battery cover off. No luck.
Then he was hoping that Zeus didn’t need a new battery as he struggled
with taking the battery cover off so he could attach the charger directly to
the battery posts. Waited a few minutes
and soon I heard the throaty rumble of a bike coming to life. Getting Zeus started certainly didn’t go the
way that Kim had hoped but I love his optimism. 😊
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