Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Dream Catcher RV Park, Deming, New Mexico

September 26, 2019

Temperature 85

The Turtle 

The Cactus Garden

Pot Luck Barbecue

Today was just another fantastic day in paradise.  A comfortable night for sleeping.  Mid 80’s during the day.  Not a hint of rain anywhere.

Do you know what today was?  National Pancake Day!  That being the case we of course had peppermint pancakes for breakfast.  Juice and coffee rounded things out.

Remember I stated yesterday that I found a turtle in Mexico.  If I had only known what it was going to lead to.  The turtle is a planter.  Well, a planter needs a plant.  And a plant needs soil.  Are you beginning to see what this is leading to?

Speaking of plants, at the entrance to the park they have a very nice Cactus Garden.

At the entrance to the office there are a number of hummingbird feeders.  Look closely and you’ll see one of the little guys at the feeder.

The day was quiet, so much so that I was able to finish my first book.  Time to move on to another.

This evening there was a Pot Luck Barbecue for all Escapees who wanted to attend.

Paula is ready for the feast to begin.

Our barbecue bosses for the evening – Bobby and Robert.

Mary as usual was everywhere making sure all was in order.

You want food?  Grilled hot dogs, sausage, and chicken.  There were salads.  A pot of chili.  A big tray of baked beans.  Shrimp cocktail.  Bags of chips with salsa from mild to extra spicy.  Stuffed jalapeno peppers – my favorite.  Iced Tea and Lemonade.  Apple and Cherry pie.  Watermelon.  I’m sure I’m missing a few things.  If you went away hungry it was your own fault.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Some times I have to pinch myself in order to believe that this wonderful life we are living is actually ours.  Hand in hand we are traveling along, singing our song, enjoying every precious minute of each new day that God grants us to live.

Thanks for joining us again today.  We always appreciate your company and comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Dream Catcher RV Park, Deming, New Mexico

September 24, 2019

Temperature 83

Puerto Palomas, Mexico

New Glasses – As They Really Should Be

Hard to believe but we actually needed the heat this morning!  Not for long, just to take the chill off.  It was down to 50 outside and below 65 inside.  OK, I know for some that’s nothing but when you’re used to mid 80’s and low 90’s ,temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s feel a bit cold!

We’re going to change things up a bit tonight.  We’ll come back to the Museum in a future blog and finish it up.  But tonight we’re going to go to The Pink Store in Puerto Palomas, Mexico.

The Pink Store is talked abut quite frequently around the Park.  It seems those here go there every now and then.  But I had no idea what it really was.  A pink store?  A store that sold pink items?  Or?

Another reason so many gravitate to Puerto Palomas is the number of low cost dental and eye glass facilities in the area.  Definitely worth checking out.  Especially since I have been having issues with my current glasses.

We all gathered as a group at 9 am and prepared to set out.  We were riding with Bobby and Mary so we could sit back and relax, and enjoy the ride.  It was about a 30 minute ride on roads that ran straight as an arrow to the border.

In no time we were there.  Now, one could either drive in to Mexico, or park in one of several lots on the American side and walk over the border.  The group chose as in the past to park and walk over.

Car parked we set out on foot to cross the border.

Destination in sight.

Bobby at the line.

Once across there it was The Pink Store.  How about that, it’s actually named The Pink Store and it’s painted pink!

We’ll come back to this store in a bit but first it’s time to walk the streets and get and then get an eye exam.  There is really nothing special about the town of Puerto Palomas.  The streets and sidewalks are rough and broken up.  It’s clean with no garbage lying around and contrary to what I though I would encounter, no panhandlers anywhere.

You can get your teeth fixed at a very reasonable price.

Boots at very good prices.

Need a place to lay your head down at night?

My goal for the day, an eye exam and a pair of glasses at a very good price.  Yes, they do it all in just two hours!

This is what you look for when you enter a store.  This is the unofficial Escapees seal of approval.  It means those from the Park have been here before and deemed the store favorable for Escapees.

Our doctor for the day.  Following my exam the doctor took my current pair of glasses to exam them.  After several minutes he looked at me with a quizzical look on his face Did you know he said that your lenses are backwards?  The lens in the right should be in the left, and the left should be in the right.  Now I know why I’ve been having difficulty seeing clearly.  Two hours later as promised my new progressive glasses were ready.  I can see clearly again!

Barbara also had an eye exam and ordered a new pair of glasses.  She only needed them for distance.  The good news?  Both exams and both pair of glasses cost far less than what I payed the last time for just my one pair of progressive glasses.

We weren’t the only ones from the park who went.

Let’s go back to The Pink Store.  

The outside greeter.

This store is absolutely fascinating.  It has something for everyone, and something to fit everyone’s budget.  Let me take you on a photo tour of the inside.

Yup, I found a turtle.  A little too big and too pricey, but later I found one in my budget.

Time for the promised photo tour.

There you have it.  A brief tour of the Pink Store.  Trust me, there is much, much more to see. But, hopefully, you’ve had a good visit with the few pictures I shared.

Time now for lunch.

Our tables.

A little music with our lunch.

Eye exam, lunch, and a tour of the Pink Store over it was time to head for home.  Almost.  Bobby decided to support the local economy and get his sneakers, yes sneakers, shinned and spiffy.

The end result.

Now we’re headed back to the American side of the border.

Cars to the left, the building to the right in the background is where we are headed.

On the way out I discovered this really neat mural on the outside wall of the building.  This represents the Mexican side of the border.

The route back to America.

Back home again.  Columbus is on the American side just before the border.

The day wasn’t done.  We all gathered at 5 pm in the Activity Center to celebrate Bobby and Mary’s Wedding Anniversary.  We also celebrated Robert’s retirement, today was his last day.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so no pictures.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We’ve been to the Pink Store.  We’ve got new glasses.  Had a great lunch.  And a fantastic time with the Escapees group.  Honestly, one could not have asked for a better day.  I mean, what could be better than time and conversation with new and old friends alike.  Life is definitely good.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always enjoy your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Dream Catcher RV Park, Deming, New Mexico

September 23, 2019

Temperature 70

Another Project Finished – TV Access Panel

Deming Luna Mimbres Museum and Custom House – Continued

Did you catch the temperature?  This part of the country is one of wild extremes.  It is desolate, deserted, and rimmed with rugged, majestic mountains.  The temperature also varies wildly from day to day.  It was 93 degrees yesterday, today it struggled to get to 70 degrees.  My opinion?  I like it this way.  Warm enough during the day, nice and cool for sleeping at night.

Rain began to fall off and on as soon as we got up.  I had enough time, though, to go out and get my tools so that I could finish up the TV Access Panel Project I started a few days ago.  The cabinets have been reinforced and tied back into the vertical supports.  The access panel is now stained and coated with polyurethane and put back up the proper way.  Take a look.

My lone lobster and my collection of turtles have been reinstated to their proper position on the dash.

I puttered around doing a few other odds and ends.  I started the generator then checked the oil.  I needed to add the remainder of the 2nd quart.  Tried to figure out how to get the spark plugs changed – not going to be easy.  Took a look at the fuel filter, I’ll change that in a couple of days.  I’m trying to decide if I should change the fuel pump as well since they are known to be a problem on older rigs.  I believe I’ll order one and just keep it handy.   I then went around and lubricated the slide tracks for various windows.  OK, enough of that time to go back to the Museum.

The history of this area dates back some 1,000 years when the Mimbres Indians lived in villages along the Mimbres river.  The Mimbres River s a 91-mile-long river that forms from snow pack and runoff on the south-western slopes of the Black Range and flows southward into what is today the Deming area.  Primitive though they were in other respects they were known for their unsurpassed skill in making and decorating pottery.  They were especially known for their paintings of native animals which made their pottery distinct and easily recognizable.  To accomplish the fine detail they painted with a brush made from the Yucca leaf chewed to a fine point.

An exhibit dedicated to their pottery.

Other pictures of their exquisite pottery.

Other exhibits in the Indian Room.

Another Navaho rug made from all natural color yarn.

If this rug could talk.  Not familiar with Madame Millie?  Google her, she has a most colorful past.

More.

I gave this one the title The Thinker.

We’re moving now into the Cowboy Exhibit.  The cowboy rode across the pages of American history from 1860 to 1900 the time of the great cattle drives and the open range.  They came from all walks of life, former slaves free at last to work a life of their own.  Mexican vaqueros who knew how to handle a herd.  Preacher’s sons and farm boys, renegades and men running from the law.  Masters of no man and beholden to none, they signed on to follow the herds.  They rode the dangerous trails from nowhere to nowhere.

Where the cowboy went so did the Chuck Wagon.

From eating to sleeping.

This log was on the mantle of the Roundup Lodge in Deming.  As cowboys returned they would carve their initials on it and the brand of their ranch.

My kind of hat.

 

 

Every hat here was actually worn by someone and every hat here has the name of that person pinned to it’s brim.

A neat piece of sculpture.

Then there’s this.

We’ll end with one more exhibit tonight.  This is the Hispanic Exhibit.

A Mariachi Uniform and a Ballot Folkloric Dress.

Some of the other exhibits in the room.

We’re going to end here tonight.  Oh yes, there is much more.  The next time we’ll get into the history of Deming, the place that the railroad played in its formation, and we’ll view more exhibits from the remainder of the Museum.  Stay tuned there is so much more to come.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Once again a few more projects were accomplished.  The day itself was cool and rainy from dawn to dusk.  No complaints, however, from us.  We spent the day together and enjoyed one another’s company and the day that God had given us.

Thanks again for coming along we enjoyed your company.  All and any comments also appreciated.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   Dream Catcher RV Park, Deming, New Mexico

September 23, 2019

Temperature 93

Deming Luna Mimbres Museum and Custom House

What a beautiful morning we awoke to.  Fall may be the season but the temperatures have not gotten the message yet.  It’s been very comfortable at night, still a bit warm during the day.  Today, in fact, would prove to be one of the warmest.  No complaints, though, from either one of us.

This morning I coated the front TV access panel with polyurethane.  Once it dries I’ll put it back up the right way.  Probably tomorrow.

We decided today to visit the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum.   We both figured that this being Deming how big could this museum be?  We’ll be in and out in probably no more than an hour.  How wrong we were!  Three hours and we still really had not gotten to everything.  The museum is housed in a former Armory that in the past served as a community social center and USO activity center.  Luna County Historical Society purchased the building in 1977 and transformed it into the current museum.

We’ve got a lot to see and discover so let’s get started.  Down the stairs toward the entrance door, just before you enter you discover what looks like the entrance door, but it’s just a mural, a very nice one at that.

Inside the entrance door we noted this quilt, yes, this is a quilt.

Just inside we entered the first room which offered an overview of Deming and some of its residents.

Deming’s letter carrier from 1918 to 1948.

Deming’s Flying Grandmother.  Marget Todhunter had a practical reason for wanting to fly, she had a 50,000 acre ranch to manage.  She first covered the ranch by horseback, later by car but she knew there had to be a better way.  With a plane she reasoned she could do in minutes what had taken her hours, even days in the past.  Though she turned out to be an excellent pilot, she had an utter disdain for flying terminology.  She never flew a plane rather she drove the plane.  The flaps were not flaps but brakes.  

An early boy scout troop.

The Deming Cody Theater Fire of 1918.  The fire started in the Deming garage when a worker threw a lighted cigarette on an oil soaked wooden floor.  Though those in the garage tried desperately to extinguish it, it quickly got away from them.  The fire wiped out a good portion of then downtown area with the greatest losses sustained by Sam Watkins who owned the local car dealership.  Unfortunately, he was not covered by insurance.  Witnesses stated that had it not been for the prompt assistance provided by the Camp Cody fire department the blaze would have been even worse.

A bit further into the museum we discovered some more pictures of Deming’s past on this exhibit.

Some pictures from the past.

Moving on, the next room we entered and explored was the Southerland Doll Room.  In here we discovered dolls carved by pioneers, elegant German made dolls, storybook dolls, and a rare doll discovered in the rubble of Hiroshima after the Atomic bomb had been dropped on it.

This is Suzy adoll discovered by a sailor in the rubble of Hiroshima after the Atomic bomb had been dropped on it.  He put her under his coat, returned to his ship, and ultimately brought her home with him to the states.

Two dolls – a shoe maker and a wood chopper – hand carved out of Linden wood by an early resident of Deming.

Jed and Granny Clampett.

The Campbell Kids.

Ginny Dolls.  They reminded popular until the 1960’s when a new doll by the name of Barbie replaced them in popularity.

Dolls from around the world.

We have so much more to cover in this fantastic museum but right now we’re going to move outside and cover Veterans Park.  We’ll return to the museum tomorrow.

This is Veterans Park which is next to the Museum.

From here on I’ll let the various monuments erected tell their own stories.

 

We’ll move back to the Museum tomorrow.  We have the story of Deming to tell, we’ll go to the Art Room, cover the Indian Exhibits, the Hispanic Room and more.  We also have the Custom House to visit and the Visitor Center.  Stay tuned.

Now we’re going to lunch.  Enough of the fast food restaurants we wanted an authentic Mexican Restaurant.  We asked at the Museum if they could suggest a place and this is where they sent us.

Guess who is holding up the menu?  Still the cutest one around.

We discovered only one issue with this restaurant, their Spanish is much better than their English.  Of course.  We both ordered what on the menu was Combination Three and guess what we ended up with Combination Four!  No problem, we both again joined the Clean Plate Club.

That’s it for now.  More coming shortly.

Our day on The Road of Retirement has ended.  It’s been a full and exciting day of new discoveries and yummy food.  You can’t go wrong with a day like today.

Thanks again for joining us.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

See you on down the road!