15 March 2006 Wednesday

We slept in a bit this morning.  We went to the Frijole Ranch again and did a 2.3 mile loop trail there to a couple of springs that gave life to the ranch and this area.  We stayed there and had lunch at a picnic table, then headed out for White Sands National Monument for an overnight backpack with a full moon.  

Texas has hundreds of miles of highway with nothing… no buildings, no stores, no rest areas.  They have a few picnic areas with no facilities, but no restrooms.  After driving for a couple of hours without seeing anything.  I stopped at a store/restaurant for a pit stop.  The friendly folks there had a big sign out front that said “This is not a rest area.  Water is expensive out here.  Restrooms are for customers only”.  With such a warm greeting like that, I didn’t even want to walk into their place!  I didn’t know what they had, but I didn’t want it!  We stopped on the side of the road and took care of things.  

We stopped in El Paso, TX at a Wal-Mart (shudder) to find a new Pur water filter.  Our other one blew off the truck in the wind and cracked.  They didn’t have the model we wanted, but we got one that would work.  

We’re heading toward Three Rivers Petroglyph Site north of Tularosa, NM.  We stopped on the way through Alamogordo at a truck stop and had the best $5.00 shower we’ve had in weeks.  We also stopped by a restaurant that we had eaten at before, years ago, but it had changed hands now.  When we came thru in 2002 (?) and ate at a place called Chef Lupe’s and the food was sooo good, but so spicy that Andrew couldn’t eat his.  It was partially his own fault, he ordered “Camerones ala Diablo” or “Shrimp of the Devil”.  According to our waitress, Chef Lupe’s is now in Ruidoso.  The restaurant here is now called “La Hacienda” and the food was really good and not too expensive.  I’d recommend it to anyone passing thru the area.  

After dinner, we continued to Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.  They have a BLM campground there that charges just $2.00 per night.  When we got there, we found out our Golden Eagle Parks Pass gets us camping here for free!  There are lots of spots open, so we found a flat spot and crawl in the back for the night.