Day #33 - 4/14/2011 - Deming, New Mexico

It sounds quiet outside, but a quick check of www.wunderground.com indicated 14mph headwinds, getting worse throughout the day.  Following yesterday's debacle, Lani remained resolute on the current plan: a circuitous road trip to Washington state, then bike East.  We'd being in Deming at least long enough for me to procure a rental car that we could drive, one-way to Seattle, or thereabouts.   But, for now, we needed something locally...in Deming.

Speaking of Deming (population=14116), it was founded 1881 and, like every other town we've seen since entering Texas, Deming owes its existence to the railroad and the completion of the Second Transcontinental Railroad, named after Mary Ann Deming Crocker, wife of Charles Crocker, one of The Big Four of the railroad industry. The Silver Spike was driven here in 1881 to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. Nothing like Big Business in Local Politics.

Deming has a single car rental location at the airport.  Bob, from Desert Car Rental picked me up.  I drove off with the only one of his 8 cars, a Ford Focus; $45 for the day with 100 free miles.  Lani and I took off for nearby parts unknown.

We stopped first at the City of Rock, a New Mexico state park.  The park encouraged RVs and tent camping and, for only $5, you had some pretty modern facilities.  We went for a walk.

I love a good cactus garden.

Given space to garden, I go for fruit-bearing trees, preferably sub-tropicals and citrus.  If I only have a few square yards, I plant tomatoes, herbs and spices.  If I have to plant something inedible, it's either roses or cacti.  The park had a small cactus garden with some of the cacti flowering.

This is, clearly, an example of the Kingcup Cactus, featuring large flowers and edible fruit.  Yum.

 If every rose has its thorn, the thorniest cacti are the floweriest.

The Chihuahuan Desert has been poorly studied, but may be the most biologically diverse desert in the world, whether measured on species richness, although the region has been heavily degraded over time.

Lani and I went for a walk around the park.

Lani left the cactus garden and stepped into the City of Rocks.

When Susan and I bought our first Santa Monica home in 1985, the garden areas in the backyard and all around the fence perimeter were planted with a species of Agave that had a wicked serrated edge and a steely-hard spike at each tip.

The heart of the Blue Agave is removed when it is 12 years old, fermented and then distilled to produce one of the most repellant liquors known to humankind, Tequila.

 Do they serrated edges and spiked tip look sharp?  In reality, they are way sharper than they look...killer sharp.

I can't tell you how many times I'd be gardening in our backyard, trying to clear out the grass that would grow underneath and I would hear the agave whisper "gotcha" as it drew blood.  I tolerated them until Lani was born and then ripped them all out for safety reasons.

 The Chihuahuan Desert's elevation gives it a different climate from the Sonoran Desert (my favorite desert and home to the Saguaro Cactus.)

You can read all about the Chihuahuan Desert here.

 The City of Rocks was created 34.9 million years ago by a volcanic eruption.

Over millions of years, erosion sculpted the rock formations seen today.

 The Mimbreno Indians settled in the area about 750 - 1250 AD.

Pottery, arrowheads, and other artifacts show evidence of prehistoric Indians in the area. Indian wells, or conical holes, are found in the rocks where water would be allowed to collect.

The park provides opportunities for walks, hiking, camping, picnicking, wildlife viewing, and dark night-sky viewing (including a 14-inch telescope).

If you pitched a tent, you were far enough from anyone to feel quite alone.  The camp facilities included a shared shower.  A great deal for $5.

 There were many interesting rock formations.

I'm sure we are the only people to have ever done this.  Lani pulled a similar stunt with a much more convincing outcome here.

 Almost done with the rocks.

Lani and her dad.

 The City of Rocks  is appropriately named.

Panorama stiched from 3 images.  If you want a 12' wide poster, let me know.

Having seen enough rocks, we took a drive to Silver City, population=10545, once an Apache Campsite and an area that was overrun by American prospectors in the 1860s, becoming a full-fledged city in 1870 after the discovery of silver.  Mining (in copper) is still the basis for the local economy, followed by tourism, retirement and trade.  Why Silver City?  Well, while we were biking on I-10, there were several large billboards imploring me to visit.

Approaching Silver City, there was the usual dusty Western sprawl of increasing congestion approaching the most interesting part of the city, the part near the University.  Once there, we parked and walked…and endless array of art galleries and coffee shops.  

We looked for a suitable establishment for lunch, preferably something representative of the New Mexico cuisine featuring green chiles that I'd recently heard of.  We stumbled into the Jalisco Cafe, which turned out to be a great call.  We hadn't known it was mentioned in the seminal article 36 Hours in Silver City, N.M. in the NY Times.

The chips and salsa were excellent but the green chile...a new taste sensation for us.  In fact, pretty much every menu item was slathered in either green or red chile.  The menu warns you to know what you're ordering before its served.  It was a memorable meal.

 We walked around the shops on Bullard Street, a home to many quaint stores.

Lani is attracted to stores that involve crafts.  Clever name.

 Lani was then sucked into this book store which featured a large selection of old and used books.

Books...lots of old books...lordy, this is boring.  Where can Bob go to have a cup of coffee and a good chocolate chip cookie?

Coffee shops were everywhere and the Javalina Coffee House was nearby.

Coffee, a chocolate chip cookie, WiFi and Bob is good.  The atmosphere was, obviously, informal and the crowd local.

 Returning late in the afternoon, Lani confirmed that a new phase of our trip would commence and continue until we reached Washington State.  The problem: how to get a car with a one-way rental.  In case you’re wondering, the answer lies in renting from a major car rental center, like a major airport.  The nearest one was El Paso, Texas, 100 miles back East. (Didn't I already rent a car from the El Paso airport?)  So, I’m on a Greyhound tomorrow morning and,if nothing goes wrong like last time, I’ll be back by early afternoon.  Lani has a friend in Phoenix and had already arranged for some critical bike parts to be shipped there.  We’re planning on camping at a park about an hour outside Phoenix.