South Meadows Campground, Pike National Forest, Woodland Park, CO May 30 – June 10, 2013

The drive from Las Vegas was longer than our usual two or three hours and it was windy the entire way. Rich had a workout just keeping us in our own lane, especially once we reached the mountains.

Shortly out of Las Vegas, I saw pronghorns in pastureland – some on each side of the road; another first for me. I had to look them up in a reference book to find out what they were… Rich said the pastures are usually lush green but because of the extended drought, they were mostly brown.  Gradually we saw mountains in the distance and as we drew closer saw that many of them were still snowcapped. We were in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and they were like I’d never seen before: rocky and rugged with twisty roads and drop-offs that had me holding my breath. In spite of that, I found them beautiful, and we stopped,

at Raton Pass (7,835 feet) at an overlook (we were at 6,000 feet at Tetilla Peak) and I actually felt dizzy when we got out at the pull out. The pass was on the Mountain Trail part of the Santa Fe Trail and I couldn’t imagine traveling through this in a horse, mule, or oxen-pulled wagon.

The farther we go in Colorado, the more beautiful it gets. In fact, as we neared Pike National Forest, I was reminded of the book from

my childhood, Heidi. The lush, green mountain valleys, the rocky peaks so far above, and a quiet beauty that belied the busy little tourist town of Woodland Park we were about to pass through.

We arrived at the campground tired out and were unhappy to see that the site we had reserved was impossible for us to get into. After looking around, it was obvious this wasn’t friendly to RVs with slides. Happily, there weren’t many sites taken so we were able to find one that would work for us.

We were treated to our first dry camping and pit toilets of the trip, and our first time ever of camping at a place that didn’t have a dump station. We also found that sometime since last summer a rodent chewed the fresh water filler hose so we reverted to carrying gallon jugs of water from a  spigot, a la

tenting. Thank goodness the weather was cool enough that we didn’t miss the air conditioner, although there were several mornings when a little heat would have been welcome.

In spite of all that, the location was beautiful – a forest of Ponderosa pine trees, which give off a unique aroma – very different from any other forest we’ve been in. The Ponderosa pine grows up to 150 feet in height and four feet in diameter. As the tree

matures, the large chunks of bark turn from a grayish-black to a dull orange-red color, and once a tree is over 80 years old, the bark gives a distinct butterscotch aroma when scraped (made me hungry for vanilla ice cream). Many of the trees we saw were well over 100 feet tall, but none over about two and a half feet in diameter.

In addition to dry camping, we had no cell or data coverage (nor could we get anything on the weather radio), so Rich went back to town to get some groceries, a battery for the RV, and check the weather.  While there, he heard Gainesville had a 50% chance of getting a tropical storm. We kept our fingers crossed on that one. (Happily, although there was a lot of rain, the winds
didn’t amount to much.)

We had arranged to take the cog railway (the world’s highest) up Pike’s Peak our first full day there and what a trip that was! When we left the railway station in Manitou Springs (elevation 6,571 feet) it was sunny and in the high 70’s. I felt foolish with my long-sleeved shirt and carrying my heavy jacket, especially when I saw many folks in shorts, but knowing how easily I get cold, I kept it with me. As we climbed, the scenery changed from the fir,

spruce, and pine forests to sparsely forested areas with rocky outcroppings, to tundra and snow. At the summit, 14,110 feet, it was 27 degrees with a 60 mph wind for a wind chill of -7 degrees. Boy, am I glad I had my coat!

We disembarked and once we stepped from the shelter of the

restaurant/gift shop, were immediately assaulted by the ferocious wind which turned my nose red and cold within minutes. Rich and I walked around the area and tried to get photos of the area but it was difficult with the wind and extreme cold.

The trip up took an hour and we were at the top for 20 minutes

before we started down again. Apparently, altitude sickness can set in after 30 minutes or so, hence the fairly short stop on top. Once back inside the railway car we warmed up quickly in spite of having no heat – just being out of the wind was a blessing. I can’t imagine living in those kinds of conditions, even when I complain about the Florida heat.

Katharine Lee Bates, English teacher at Wellesley College from 1885 – 1925, wrote the poem “America the Beautiful” after a trip up Pike’s Peak by wagon in the late 1800’s. She received a small sum upon its publication in 1895 and it was the only compensation she ever received.

Pike’s Peak is omnipresent in the surrounding area and until you get back into the mountains beyond our camp, is visible. It is truly larger than life.

We enjoyed walks in the forest, wandered around the nearby lake, and generally relaxed. Rich got a two-day fishing license and caught his limit of trout in the lake two days in a row, we found a wonderful place for lunch called “Margo’s Vienna Beef Station”, and went to the Garden of the Gods.

The Garden of the Gods was privately owned until upon the owner’s death, it was given to the city of Colorado Springs by his children in 1909. According to his wishes, admission is free to visitors, although donations are happily accepted.  It is a large piece of property full of breath-taking scenery and over 15 miles of paths and was named a National Natural Landmark in 1971.

According to Wikipedia the garden is made up of “ancient beds of red, blue, purple, and white sandstones, conglomerates, and limestone that were deposited horizontally but have now been tilted vertically and faulted by the immense mountain building force caused by the Pikes Peak massif.

“Evidence of past ages ancient seas, eroded remains of ancestral mountain ranges, alluvial fans, sandy beaches, and great sand dune fields can be read in the rocks”, and in 1878, the bones of dinosaur speices Therophytalia kerri was found.

The Garden of the Gods is truly a fascinating place and we’ll plan on stopping again to get some additional education on the area.

In driving to the Garden of the Gods, we passed a little goldenrod colored building on the side of the road that proclaimed itself “Margo’s Vienna Beef Station”. Rich immediately said he wanted to stop there for lunch, and said they had great sandwiches. Now, I can’t say that overly excited me, since I’m not too fond of deli-type food, but  We went back two times before we left, and I was a fan! The Philly steak sandwich was better than we got in Philly, and even the hot dogs were tasty. I can’t wait to find another spot like it!

agreed to try it. We stopped and got an Italian beef sandwich, wet, and a gyro, and I can honestly say the gyro is the best I’ve ever eaten. I found the Italian beef a bit salty, but since I use very little salt, it was probably just me.

We had hoped to get up to the Rocky Mountain National Park, but there were no sites available and we didn’t want to have to just

drive up and back in a day, so will save that for next time. Since our time was getting short, we turned east when we reluctantly left Colorado and began our drive toward New York. We decided to stay north of Kansas and Oklahoma due to the horrible tornadoes they had been experiencing, so my next new state: Nebraska.

Storrie Lake State Park, Las Vegas, NM; May 28-29, 2013

Thank goodness we were only here for two nights on our way to Colorado! YUCK. The park was stark, as much of New Mexico is, but the sites were very small and the sites with electricity were literally jammed so close together our slides would just barely open. Many of the clientele were long-term residents and reminded us

A home in Las Vegas, NM in the Santa Fe style

of those at Chicasabogue, AL.

Abraham's Tamales - YUM!

We did go to downtown Las Vegas – me to do laundry and Rich to try to find a shop that could repair the chip in our windshield. Although no one could fix the chip, we did have some wonderful tacos and dessert empanadas at a little hole-in-the-wall place called Abraham’s Tamales. The town is very small and many stores are empty but they are making a real effort to keep businesses in the beautiful old buildings.One of the businesses we stopped at was Abrahams Tiendata where we got some wonderful tacos and even better fruit filled empanadas. That alone was worth the trip. We also got a chuckle out of the name of a bookstore there - Tome on the Range...
We both were a bit sad to leave New Mexico - we've had a wonderful time here and there are so many more places we want to visit and explore. Next year, we plan on staying lots longer!

Now, it's on to Colorado!

New Mexico, Pecos National Historic Park May 25, 2013

Pecos National Historic Park is an hour’s drive from Tetilla Peak Campground, but well worth the trip. The scenery on the drive alone is worth it and the restaurant where we had lunch, Frankie’s at the Casanova, was an unexpected gem. We had green chili stew and it was
fabulous! 

Rich climbing down into a Kiva

Inside the Kiva

The park, nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, preserves 12,000 years of history including the ancient pueblo of Pecos, two Spanish Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 20th century ranch history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass. The ruins of Pecos Pueblo, the first of which was built around AD 1100 is an impressive site, with stone

Foundation along the south wall

walls built around paths which wind up to the crest of the hill and the remains of a large adobe mission, which the Spanish expedition of Coronado forced the Native Americans to build. 

To visit the other sites, one must be a part of a ranger guided tour, which we’ll plan on doing the next time we’re near.

If you’re interested in more, I found the information below about the Pecos Pueblo, Glorieta Pass, and Forked Lightning Ranch interesting and took it from the nps.gov site.

“On the historic Santa Fe Trail, where the Pecos Indians once commanded the trade path between Pueblo farmers of the Rio Grande and hunting tribes of the buffalo plains, lie the ruins of the Pecos pueblo and Spanish missions. This old frontier brought war and trade, and witnessed the rise and decline of the powerful Pecos, the development of Spanish churches, the creation of the Santa Fe Trail, and the Civil War.  

“The Pecos Indians were an advanced tribe with a heritage deeply rooted in the Puebloan culture of the American Southwest.  Like their Pueblo ancestors, the Pecos practiced ancient customs in agriculture, religion, and architecture. Farming was essential to their livelihood.  By applying an ancient agricultural technique that had originated in Mexico, the people of Pecos were able to supply most of their diet of corn, beans, and squash. Farming also influenced the architectural design of the Pecos village, and like many Pueblo tribes of the American Southwest, the Pecos built storerooms to set aside food for the winter and check dams to regulate the water that flowed to their crops. Their impressive architecture also included large multi-story houses built above the storerooms using adobe - a mud and straw-based material they mixed and molded together to look like bricks. To protect the village, the Pecos erected a large wall, which according to one Spanish conquistador, was visible from a far distance.

“The most impressive structures were the kivas, subterranean pit-houses used for religious and ceremonial purposes. Although they varied in shape and size, they were traditionally circular with a hole in the floor. The hole in the ground represented the connection to the underworld, which the Pecos and other Pueblo tribes believed was their people’s place of origin. Kivas connected the world above to the spirits of the underworld, and the floor opening allowed the people to have a closer communion with the spirits below. The Pecos routinely prayed to the underworld through ceremonies and brought offerings to the spirits to receive good fortune. They feared that failing to perform these rituals would upset the spirits, which in turn would cause their crops to die and their overall world to become unbalanced. The Pecos continued to hold onto these beliefs after the Spanish came.”

“ The Battle of Glorieta Pass examines a Civil War battle known as the “Gettysburg of the West”.  Texans invaded this mountain valley, intent on conquering New Mexico. Victory here would be a necessary prelude to detaching the western states from the Union and expanding the Confederacy to the Pacific Ocean. They were met by volunteers from Colorado along the canyon and ridge on 03/26, 1862. A three-day battle ensued, culminating in the Confederates retreating to Texas and the Confederate hopes of expanding west shattered.”

“Forked Lightning Ranch - Tex Austin; the Fogelsons

And Then There Was Tex

“When 20-year-old Clar­ence Van Nos­trand left home in 1908, he rein­vent­ed himself for a life of ad­ven­ture. He changed his name to John Van Aus­tin, but every­one knew him as "Tex." Although born into a strict St. Louis hous­ehold, he claimed to have been born and raised on a cattle ranch in Victo­ria, Texas.

After working on New Mexi­co and Texas ranch­es and briefly joining the Mex­ican Revolution, Tex Austin started produc­ing rode­os. From his first in El Paso in 1917 to his last in Lon­don, England in 1934, Tex was known for his generosi­ty and show­man­ship. When he produced the first Mad­ison square Garden Rodeo in 1922, the prize money was a record $25,­000. Tex had other "fir­sts":

·         The first recorded indoor rodeo in Wichi­ta, Kansas (1918)

·         First rodeo ever held in Chicago Stadium (1926)

·         First contest rodeo to go over­seas--some 114,000 people attended his 1924 rodeo in Lond­on's We­mbley Stadium.

“Everyone agreed that Tex pos­sessed "tremendous charm and bluff" and "spent his last dollar like it was a leaf and he owned the forest." Tall and lanky, he was not consid­ered a decent working cow­hand by his cowboys, but "he did learn to wear a big hat and to sit his saddle as if born to the leather."

In 1925, Tex bought up parcels of land on the old Pecos Pueblo Grant and called his 5,500 acre holdings the "Forked Lightning Ranch." The remains of Kozlowski's Stage Stop and Tavern on the Santa Fe Trail (1858-1880) became part of his new holdings, which Tex converted into ranch headquarters and a trad­ing post.

He hired architect John Gaw Meem to design and build the main ranch house on a bluff above the Pecos River. (The assignment was one of Meem's first.

He later became famous throughout the Southwest for his "Pueblo Revival" buildings.) All rooms in the rectan­gu­lar house faced a grassy patio. Its defining touch was a huge, specially sculpt­ed steer head mounted out­side on the chimney.

When Tex decided to run a dude ranch at the property, he advertised it as "the most complete, mod­ern and comfort­able ranch house in the West. The life of the romantic West is at its doors."

"Way out west an' a Little Bit South"

Tex hoped for a share of the grow­ing East Coast tourist market to New Mexico. The ranch, after all, was less than two days by train from Chi­cago: "Thir­ty-four hours, and you're out where the West is--and will be for some time." Train travelers disembarked at Rowe, just a few miles down the road.

For $125 a week, 18 guests sharing nine bedrooms received "all proper service...to insure the comfort and friendly atmosphere of a country home...Feed--and how!...served ranch style...in big heaping dishes. Pitch till you win and no one keeps track of the helpings!" A highlight? "Pack and chuck wag­on trips to the high peaks."

The Forked Lightning was a work­ing cattle ranch, too, reputed to run sever­al thousand head of cattle on 100,000 acres of leased grazing land in the valley. One story had Tex tak­ing the train to Chicago, finding a bar, and then complaining to pa­trons that he had all this cattle to go to Las Vegas, New Mexico, for loading on the train and no one to do the work. He found "dudes" who volun­teered to take the trip to Forked Lightning at their own ex­pense just for the chance to be on a cattle drive. After the ani­mals were at Las Vegas, Tex took the train back to Chicago and complained about all the ani­mals he had at Las Vegas that he needed to get to his ranch!

“The dude ranch only operated for seven years; the last guests left in May 1933. Tex had heavily mortgaged the ranch and could­n't pay the debt. A year later, his attempt to produce anoth­er London rodeo fell on hard times--British animal rights groups tried to stop the show on the grounds that steer-wrestling was cruel. Tex lost more than $20,000.

After losing the ranch, Tex moved to Santa Fe and opened the Los Ran­cheros Restau­rant near the Plaza. In October 1938, Tex com­mit­ted suicide. Rumor at the time was he had been told he was going blind. Tex Austin, the "Daddy of Rodeo," was named to the Na­tional Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1976.

“A New Breed

In 1936, W. C. Currier bought the Forked Lightning Ranch, and five years later sold it to E. E. "Buddy" Fogelson, a Dallas oil man and ranc­her. Over the next 25 years, Mr. Fogelson purchased land to the south, expand­ing the ranch to 13,­000 acres. The Forked Light­ning be­came a small cattle ranch and Tex's ranch house the Foge­lson summer home.

“After Mr. Fog­elson mar­ried the actress Greer Garson in 1949, the ranch house became a center for gracious enter­taining. Active in ranch life, Mrs. Fog­elson unsuc­cessfully tried to raise white Short­horns imported from her native Scotland. While attending a cattle auction in 1958, Mr. Fogelson im­petuously pur­chased a purebred Santa Gertrudis bull named "Gee Gee" which, with three heifers pur­chased at the same auc­tion, became the founda­tion for the Forked Light­ning Santa Gertr­udis herd.

“Santa Gertrudis, the first offi­cially recognized American breed of cat­tle, was developed on the famous King Ranch in Texas. A cross be­tween a Brahma and Shor­thorn, the breed resulted from an effort to pro­duce good beef ani­mals better suited to the heat, humidi­ty, and range con­di­tions of South Texas. When Mr. Fogelson brought Santa Gertrudis to the Forked Light­ning it was the first time the breed was win­tered at high alti­tude. A tire­less pro­moter of the breed, Mr. Foge­lson was the first to ex­hibit San­ta G­ertr­udis at the New Mex­ico State Fair in 1961.

“When Mr. Fogelson died in 1987, the Forked Lightning was divided along the old southern boundary line of Tex's original Forked Light­ning. Greer Garson Fogelson re­ceived the "old" Forked Lightning Ranch and Mr. Fogelson's son inher­ited the southern portion. In January 1991, Mrs. Foge­lson sold the Forked Light­ning to The Con­servation Fund, which donated it to the National Park Service to be­come part of Pecos National His­tori­cal Park.

“The ranch house has remained rela­tively unchanged. Tex's Forked Light­ning brand still marks the origi­nal fixtures in the living and dining rooms and the steer head still stares down the Pecos. It is not difficult to imagine the fa­mous and not so famous gath­ered around the huge fireplace, sip­ping drinks on the wide front porch, or enjoying the sun on the patio, all basking in the warm atmosphere that wel­comed so many guests for more than 60 years.”

New Mexico, Tetilla Peak, Petroglyph National Monument

The Petroglyph National Monument, just outside Albuquerque, protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers.

 Most of the petroglyphs were made using a technique called “pecking”. The nps.gov site tells us “an early method of pecking may have been accomplished by striking the basalt boulder directly with a hammerstone removing the dark, desert varnish on the boulder's surface. Later, a more controlled execution was developed by using two stones, in much the way a chisel is used, to peck boulders. This “hammer and chisel” method gave petroglyph makers the ability to peck images with detail.”

Our trip to the Petroglyph National Monument was rushed, as we spotted the signs for it while we were doing errands in Albuquerque and hadn’t put the backpack and water bottles in the truck. None-the-less, it was quite an experience, seeing designs and symbols carved onto volcanic 400 to 700 years agok.  It was too hot for Rich and I only did a couple of short loops, so didn’t see too much, but I’d like to go back sometime when we’re prepared and take our time going around.


There are three different areas which you drive to, then get out and walk trails to the drawings. One of the areas has over 100 petroglyphs and we could easily spend four or five hours here.









You notice me walking with my head down - that was because there were signs all over warning about rattlesnakes and I didn't want to take a chance.