I had no idea what I was getting into when I left Roswell. I had planned a easy day with a trip to Radium Hot Springs and Fort Selden it is only 10 minutes out of Las Cruces, and the place sounded interesting.
The fort is just the ruins, and the hot springs, well let’s
just say there wasn’t enough water in the Rio Grande to make the sand in the riverbed
wet.
I was enjoying the leisurely drive west on highway 70. it is like most roads in New Mexico rural two lane, and not much traffic, this morning.
Around Picacho I noticed what I thought were bugs flying at
me. I quickly identified these bugs as snowflakes. The temperature was around
30 degrees, so I thought that isn’t good, but it was just a few flakes, and the
sun was breaking through the clouds
The sun didn’t break through the clouds, and by Hondo the temperature had dropped to 23 degrees, and it seriously started to snow.
I had to get around one little car as it was going to slow.
After that maneuver (sorry about the white out little car) I positioned myself
where it would be hard for anything to hit me or for me to hit anyone, and if I
did lose control I would just spin out and block the road.
I put on my flashers, for traffic to see me better, I mean a white van in a blizzard is like looking for an owl in a tree.
I was using my best winter driving skill, watching, my speed, oh and the road too. At this point it really wasn’t too slick. It was a dusting of snow anyway, and traction was okay.
Every time I even see snow along the road this trip, even if its just a wee bit I keep thinking that this camper van vehicle, is not a vehicle that I would ever want to drive in snow, and now I am going to be driving in snow. Oh well how bad can it get?
Conditions didn’t become icy real until the town of Ruiduso. Now Ruiduso is in the mountains, at 6920 feet. The town is sort of built into the side of the mountain, and its uphill on one side of the highway and downhill on the other, and its steep. A policeman was stopped
in the middle of the road with a cop light show going on, and the officer was
up the hill trying to push someone’s pickup truck uphill. Wonder how that
worked out.
It was super slick here. I mean close the schools and hoard loafs of bread and orange juice slick, and I needed to make a decision to
either carry on or keg up here until spring. I knew if I pulled down one of the
driveways I was committed, and I would be there till spring if I wanted to be here or not.
Instead, I found a wide part of the highway that was only slightly
uphill. I got out my Googler and Googled weather in Tularosa. It was 38 and, in
Las Cruces, it was 40.
There were some touchy moments with traction control before I maneuvered
over to the middle and the softer snow and FLOORED IT1
I was still in the left lane on powder when the right lane appeared,
and it looked to be pavement. No, sorry I’m not falling for that old black ice trick,
but pretty soon I was riding on pavement, so I moved to the right, because I always lean left, but do right.
I was happy I was riding on pavement, and giddy that by Mescalero
the road was dry, and the temperature had climbed up into the 30’s.
Further down the road in Tularosa I found a place to stop and brew up a cup of
koffee. As I was walking around the van enjoying that the snow still stuck in
places that I had no idea the van had, was melting. I also remembered coming here with Huckleberry and having some
of the best bean burritos on the planet, made from scratch by her cousin. I wonder if that is the street she lives down over there, or maybe it's that street, or that one. A shucks those were some good beans!
The rest of the way out of New Mexico I was thinking if it
was warmer, I would like to explore around here more, so I will have to return,
and see if there are white vans at white sands like there was today.
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