Sunday, 9 August 2009
Trek Day 12
First, and most importantly, we were all hugely relived when Kate woke this morning and was absolutely fine. She's lost a few eyelashes, but is otherwise unscathed and the good night's sleep helped her get over the shock.
So, all intact, we climbed aboard the van and continued on through New Mexico.
Tin Foil
Our first brief stop in the morning was at Roswell, famous for the stories of a crashed UFO and subsequent US Government cover-up.
To mark the occasion, Kate supplied us with copious amounts of tin foil with which to make suitable head wear. Many fetching numbers were produced with a variety of crowns and headbands. For some reason, the idea of a Peacock popped into my head, so I fashioned a recognisable little bird with big fan-tail.
We started at the UFO Museum, which is suitably ramshackle and obviously run on a shoe-string by conspiracy theorists.
The rest of town nearby the museum is a series of tacky little Alien gift-shops, all of which were shut.
Santa Fe
The Capital of New Mexico is Santa Fe. It is the oldest state capital in the USA as well as the highest. There are state ordinances in place restricting the style of building to traditional appearance and also a list of permitted paint colours.
These restrictions result in a very attractive, if very slightly artificial look to the city, but not so jarring as to look overly quaint or "theme park" like. Most of the stores are full of arts, crafts and local wares. I could have spent a fortune and was on the verge of buying a real Stetson Cowboy hat, but the size wasn't quite right, even with sponge fillets so the assistant and I concluded it was not to be my hat. Thus, the search for a new cowboy hat continues.
We all liked Santa Fe a lot, for the shopping, restaurants and also for the cooler temperatures from the higher altitude.
Very Dark
The downside of our campsite being out in the dessert is that when we arrived, after an overly long stop for beer, it was dark by the time we pitched our tents. The upside is that there isn't a streetlight for miles around and the light pollution levels are very low. This made for a fantastic star-scape, including a good look at the Milky Way and I even caught a few of the early Perseid Meteors. By my calculations we'll be at The Grand Canyon for the peak of the shower on August 12th and 13th. Could be spectacular, and what a place to see them!
Now, it is actively cold and the crickets are singing away merrily as usual. Now it's time to retire to bed as we have 8 hours in the van tomorrow as we drive to Monument Valley.
Goodnight.
Stats - Day Sixteen
Distance travelled (as the crow flies) - 239 miles Carlsbad RV Park, NM to Rancheros de Santa Fe campsite NM
State count - 12 + DC
Burgers eaten - 4... and this one counted as it was a full half-pounder in a decent restaurant in Santa Fe... I didn't fancy the Tacos which were going to be prepared at camp tonight.
You're going to be in a spectacular place to enjoy the meteor showers! I'm jealous!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI remember one summer in my early teens where I went camping as a final blast of summer (school was just around the corner). It happened to be in the heart of the Perseid Meteors. We were at Red Rock Canyon (OK). It was absolutely amazing to lay there in canyon, no light polloution whatsoever, on a crystal clear night watching these streaks across the sky. There were several a minute... Some short bursts. But some streaking from one end of the sky to the other.
It was humbling.
Enjoy.