Blackwater Draw(aka Clovis site) is just north of Portales, NM. The earliest human activity
at the Clovis site date to about 13,500 years ago. The Clovis point is the oldest and most
widely distributed single artifact type in North America.
Twenty eight mammoths were excavated at the Clovis site.
A few of the mammoth bones in the museum.
Going back in time 12,000 years.
Those thousands of years ago this area was a spring and bog which
became the death place for hundreds of animals.
This is a current area of excavation. The piles of bones here show just how
jumbled they were.
Current excavations before removal of the bones.
A private collection of windmills.
This homemade windmill made from 55 gallon drums.
Another day we went out to an alpaca farm near Clovis, NM
We learned that the darker colors are very desirable for the
weaving market.
My, after they are sheared they look pretty thin.
When we moved on to Santa Rosa, NM we wanted to check out
the Blue Hole--a favorite scuba location--out here in the desert.
It is open for swimming but the very cold water kept most of us
from testing it.
We did a short day trip south to Puerto de Luna. Now mostly abandoned.
Wondering what this building once held.
The scenery was the prettiest we've seen in a while.
On the 19th we moved on to Tucumcari, NM.
Mesalands Community College offers the most extensive training in wind
technology.
They are the only training facility with their own working
wind turbine. As our guide said "You wouldn't go for automobile
training if they didn't have automobiles."
We were allowed to go inside the turbine. These are the stairs
that go all 300 feet to the top.
The college also has a great dinosaur museum.
The models were made by a local artist and are made of bronze.
Several of the displays are works in progress.
Whoops! Out of order here. The fish hatchery was near Santa Rosa.
The trout move through 4 tanks until they are large enough for
release--about 3-4 months.
Can you count how many fish are in this tank?
And then on to Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO. Here the plaza in the old town, with
log sculpture of a Rough Rider with the Plaza Hotel in background.
Nearby is Montezuma Castle on the closed campus of United World College.
Although on campus we were allowed to visit the Dwan Light Sanctuary.
Set aside as a place of serenity, the sunlight passes through the prisms
and cast the rainbows of color on the white simple interior.
On the drive back this area reminds me so much of Colorado.
We stopped to try out the hot springs along the road. They were HOT, too HOT.
An early photo of the railroad depot in Las Vegas.
Ninety-nine years later and it still looks quite the same.
Now there are two Amtrak trains a day--one to Chicago, one to
Los Angeles.
When the Rough Riders were activated more than 50% of the
men were from Las Vegas, NM. The local museum pays
tribute to them.
Then on to Santa Fe where I needed to have repairs made to the RV.
That took a lot of time so I didn't get many photos. More on Santa Fe
in the next blog. Bye for now--stay tuned.
