Homecoming

As soon as I passed into New Mexico and started weaving my way through deserts and mountains, I new I was home. This is the land that I love, something about the wide open skies, land, variation, it resonates with something inside of me.

After leaving San Antonio I made my way off the highway to have lunch at Mack and Ernie's in Tarpley, TX . This is the one and only food stop that I had seen on "Dives, Digs, and Diners" that was convenient enough for me to go to. Truly a shack on the side of the road consisting of all country fare made of burgers and chicken, I was starving and could not wait to dig in. Like most of my trip so far, I did very little planning ahead and so I neither called or checked the web before I drove 50 mi. slightly out of the way. It turns out that of all the weeks in the year, I chose the one that the crew takes off to go fishin. So needless to say, I did not get to try their fabulous fare. But all was not lost, in the same local the locals were have a craft fare (5-6 booths) and were serving pulled BBQ pork sandwiches that were quite tasty.

On driving through Texas on I10 after San Antonio: Much better highway and I passed a HUGE number of wind farms. Also dotting the landscape were a bunch of oil wells. It was kind of cool seeing old and new energy in contrast next to each other.

Once done with that detour, I continued west and again last minute decided that I was going to try and make Carlsbad Caverns and the bat flight by dusk. About 100 mi. from the turn off onto 285 from I10 I started calling the store in SRQ because I did not have Internet. They told me that sunset was at 19:45 in Carlsbad and so I had just enough time to make it (there was a lot of initial confusion because I was in the central time zone and the sunset was reported in mountain time, so it was either "youv got lots of time" or "haul ass, you might just make it"). In the end, after following some questionable signs and being certain that I was not only lost but also miles out of my way, I made it to the caverns about 20 min. before the bats flew. And it was worth it. According to the park ranger, there are about 1.3 million bats in the cave and they take about 2 hours to exit. The setting is that you are standing up on a hill and there is a large crack, almost canyon cutting into it. Digging horizontally into the floor of the crack is the cave. When the bats start to fly, you hear a mellow chattering (it reminded me of locusts) and then they swarm out in a spiral-kinda like a tornado. They shoot out and spin in a circle for a bit and then head off in a plume to the east, toward a river (Pecos river?) which is where the bugs are. I would have taken pictures but there were signs saying that I was not allowed and the place was swarming with cops carrying high caliber sidearms to make sure that I followed the rules. Very glad that I made it. On a side note, the family that I was standing next to was from Austin, TX and they said that they have a bridge over a river that was constructed from concrete I-Beams that had about a 1.5-2 inch gaps between the ridges. Inside live about a million bats also, that fly out every night and go all the way to the coast, about a 300 mi. round trip.

I crashed that night in a motel as there were, unfortunately, no hostels in the area but this one only cost $50/night. I was completely famished by the time I checked in so I went to Chillies to have a burger and a beer.

Today, I made my way to White Sands National Park and am glad I did. It is the worlds largest pile of gypsum and it forms acres of sand dunes that are pure white. It was amazing driving up to it as all you see are the desert scrub and then a ridge of white. Once inside the park (well worth the $3) there is an 8 mile track that you can take back into the dunes. Everything is pearly white with the odd patch of plants. The dunes were really cool, I had thought before getting there that I would have to dig out my walkin' shoes but I noticed that everyone was hiking around barefoot. It was like being at the beach. It was great. I just walked around for a bit but it was amazing to get on top of a dune and all you can see for miles is white. The pictures below really don't capture the texture of the landscape, it gets all whited out (I dint know the proper photographic term). What thrilled me the most was that even only 8 miles from the highway, when on top of the dune, there is complete silence. No cars, wind, animals, people - just silence. It made my ears buzz. The sand was so white and the sun so intense that if I did not have sunglasses, my eyes would be fried. As it was I got a sunburn in less than 10 minutes. I also found heaps of sage plants that smelled great.









From White Sands, I made a run for Albuquerque and this is when I knew that I was home. I went from hot, dry desert to the mountains where it was cool, rainy, and lush with green trees. I just makes me want to start walking and see where I end up, it is so intensely accessible.



Continuing on I25 I had to go through a traffic stop for customs that was weird because I never left the country, I didn't even go near Mexico. Regardless, they directed everyone off the highway and through a guard station. Now I consider my truck a very respectable and well kept vehicle but I do know that with an old, used, beat up topper with the windows blocked out by newspaper (I covered them before N.O. figuring that people will be less likely to try and steal my bikes if they cannot see them) must look sketchy to a boarder patrol agent. But no! I fully expected them to ask me to pull aside and to look in the back but all they asked was if I was a US citizen and what was in the back - to which I answered: "Yes sir I am and I have bikes, gear, and cloths back there". And I was on my way. The reality is, as unfair as it may be, it is great to be a white, blond, blue eyed male.

Tonight I am crashing at the Route 66 Hostel that, again, is nice enough.