Liberal, KS and Hooker, OK

Liberal KS and the Land of OZ - March 26

The thing to see while in Liberal is Dorothy's House and the Land of OZ.  Being the children we are, we immediately headed to Dorothy's house.  We went on a tour of her house, guided by one of the many Dorothys.  Saw Dorothy's room with Toto napping in his bed.  We walked down the yellow brick road and met the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow and into the Land of OZ  A bit hokey, but fun never the less.

The night we stayed in Liberal the temperature went down to 26 and it snowed.  We got up in the morning with snow and ice on the motorhome and car and had some clearing to do before hitting the road.  Oh how I miss Arizona sunshine!

Hooker, OK

While on our way to Wichita we drove through a town called Hooker in Oklahoma.  The town apparently enjoys the humor of it's name as evidenced by their welcome sign.  They even named their American Legion Baseball team The Horny Toads.

Tucumcari NM- Route 66

One night in Tucumcari is all that one needs to take in the sites on Route 66.  I walked from one end of town to the other and took a few pictures.  It's sad to see how run down things have become over the years. 

Blue Swallow Motel was built in 1939 and opened in 1941.
  Listed on the National Historic Register. One of the longest
continuously operated along New Mexico's Route 66.
 

As the Blue Swallow Motel, the property was updated with neon signage proclaiming "TV" and "100% Refrigerated Air". It would continue in operation through both the heyday of post-war tourism on the old US Highway system (when roadside billboards advertised "Tucumcari Tonight!" and "2000 motel rooms" for many miles^[5][6]) and the years of decline which followed the loss of US 66 traffic to a newly constructed Interstate 40 in the 1960s.

Alamogordo, NM

White Sands National Monument 

Glo @ White Sands N.M.

We added yet another National Monument/Park to our list of places we've been.  White Sands is unique in that it is located in the middle of the desert.  Having grown up on at the beach, when we saw the sand we thought no biggy, but we kept expecting to see a body of water somewhere.  The sand is so soft, it feels like talcum powder.

The White Sands National Monument is about 16 miles southwest of Alamogordo and is comprised of 275 square miles of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals.  It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world.

White Sands from a distance.

T @ White Sands

Sands so bright it's almost blinding.  

Pistachio Tree Ranch & Winery

We had a great afternoon at the Pistachio ranch.  We toured the tree farm and learned about how Pistachio's are grown and harvested.  It takes both a male and female tree to produce pistachios.  The ranch has 1 male for every 18 females.  The amazing thing is that when it's time to harvest, they shake the tree and in 1 minute they have 30 pounds of pistachios.  The Pistachio tree is one of the oldest known to man.

Did you catch the fact that it is also a winery.  Of course we tasted wine.  T says, "Any place that offers free wine tasting is never free."  I always buy wine.  LOL  This time was no different. They had a pistachio flavored Chardonnay and a Chocolate Cabernet.  Can't wait to share them.

Toy Train Depot

After the pistachios and wine we visited the Toy Train.  T loved it.  Maybe I've found a hobby for him! Who knows?

The Toy Train Depot is a toy store and railway museum, featuring scale models of train locomotives and passenger and freight cars, in Alamogordo, New Mexico.  There are over 1200 feet of model railroad track with running trains and hundreds of trains with all the different gauges from HO to Z.

Steam Engine toy train

Deming, NM and surrounding area

March 21,2016

Deming, NM
After spending two glorious months in Arizona, visiting friends, playing golf, taking care of my grand daughter, Sammy, hiking two or three times a week, and enjoying the Arizona weather, we are now headed to Lawerence KS.  Why, you ask, would we want to go to Kansas? Well it just so happens our oldest son, Thomas, is going to be in Kansas for a conference and since we haven't seen him in two years, we are willing to drive just about anywhere to spend some time with him.  As we travel to Lawerence, we'll be making several stops along the way and the first of those is Deming, NM.

We are staying at an Escapees RV park called Dream Catcher.  We got here about 3:00 and the group had a social hour at 4:00.  Now I would like to think it was in our honor, but it was already on the schedule.  Never the less, it gave us an opportunity to meet some nice people and ask about places to eat and things to see.  The China Restaurant was recommended, but alas it was closed on Monday.  So we went to the next place that was recommended Si Señor.  Great Mexican food and reasonably priced.  After a good meal, we drove around Deming to see what there was to see.   There isn't much in the town proper but we did see a beautiful old courthouse.

Luna County Courthouse
built in 1910

City of Rocks State Park

City of Rocks State Park

City of Rocks gets its name from the incredible volcanic rock formations found there. The park encompasses a one square mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southeastern New Mexico at an elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen today, creating a stunning, otherworldly landscape.