Show Low, Arizona, has an interesting name and an interesting legend as to how it came to be. The photo below and the story is taken from another website. "Marion Clark and Corydon E. Cooley owned a 100,000 acre ranch. They had a falling out and decided to play a game of cards and the winner would own the ranch outright. The game lasted all night. When the last hand began, Cooley needed one point to win. Clark told Cooley “SHOW LOW and the ranch is yours.” Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs, thereby naming Show Low. The main street became the Deuce of Clubs." The roads from Show Low to Capitan, New Mexico are mostly smooth, mostly straight, and mostly deserted. That makes for pleasant driving. There are mountain passes followed by vast stretches of range land, varying from desert to grassland. We had seen something on the map about VLA. Upon investigation, we discovered that it meant Very Large Array. Upon further investigation, we discovered that this was an array of radio telescope dishes, which receive radio signals from space and feed all the info to a central location. This data is combined to make a 'picture' of something out there. It's like looking through a really powerful telescope at an observatory. Therefore this place is called an 'observatory'. There are 27 of these out in the desert in a 'Y' shape. 9 in each leg. Each dish is 82 feet in diameter and they say a baseball diamond (infield) would fit inside. These arrays are the equivalent of a very large telescope, and the farther apart the dishes are, the larger the telescope. There are some larger arrays in other locations in the world. Scattered around the United States there are 10 dishes linked together to form a huge telescope. One of them is in Fort Davis, Texas. As we crossed New Mexico, the towns of Socorro, Carizozo, and Capitan got progressively smaller, dustier, and poorer. Camping outlook was poor until we discovered BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land near Capitan. As you may recall, there are ‘boondocking’ (camping with no hookups) opportunities in these areas at little or no cost. We have come to love camping in these places because of the peacefulness and solitude. In this case, there is an Equestrian Trail Head facility where people come park their horse trailers and ride the many trails. When we got there we also found electrical hookups for $8. Ideal! (We're not completely alone. There is a 'host' or caretaker about 100 yards away.) In the evening and early morning there were several pronghorns (like deer, but more related to antelopes and goats) grazing nearby. Taken from the front window, over the top of the jeep. It was totally dark at night, so all the stars were clearly visible. We stayed two nights. Our goal here was to visit friends in Ruidoso, about 20 miles away. We jeeped there and found the town to be a tourist mecca, much like Sedona. One highlight was the 'Inn of the Mountain Gods' Casino. All the casinos in Arizona and New Mexico are operated by American Indian tribes. This one is operated by the Mescalero Apache Indians and is probably the most elegant we have seen. The outside, while imposing, is rather plain. This is the main hotel lobby area. Note the view of the lake. Enough of Ruidoso and back to Capitan whose main claim to fame is Smokey Bear. This is his final resting place. We spent the afternoon exploring some of the backroads on the BLM land. The roads were not too rough and afforded wonderful vistas on both sides as we traveled along a high ridge. Great fun. Back at our nice campsite, we spent a last night stargazing and enjoying the solitude. Tomorrow we head for TEXAS, baby!! Stay tuned.
6 Comments
|
Who Are We?
Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling in their RV since 2002 and have lately been taking longer, extended trips. This is our way to share our experiences. Trip Reports
All
|