I Found the Mountains

Location: Raton Pass Camp & Cafe; just north of Raton, New Mexico (elev. 7,850 feet)

all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia Icon 929 cell phone
click pictures to enlarge

I found the mountains and they are nearly 8,000 feet high. I left Stinnette early and began the climb. Yep, the 200 mile tow was all uphill, and for lagniappe, we were driving into a headwind. The hill was 4,600 feet over the 200 miles. Those are just numbers, and it was hard to see the hill from the road, but Freedom could feel it. She kept wanting to shift into higher gear but couldn't. Maybe if that dang wind wasn't blowing. It blew consistently at about 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. It was catching us head on when we were driving west but it got a little better when we turned to the northwest. The wind blew the entire time and didn't slow down until we got near Raton. It's that same "crazy wind" that always blows in Oklahoma. It was a slow drive but I needed to go slow because I forgot about the time change when I was figuring out my arrival time at this campground. It all worked out great. I arrived right about noon and led to my site by the pretty lady who checked me in. I was able to pull into a pull-thru site to line me up for backing into my campsite. If I had arrived an hour later, the pull-thru would have been occupied and the backing job would have been tough but doable.

This was unusual. To the left of that string of cows is an open gate which allows the cows into the next field. There was a line of cows, all single file, walking along the fence to get to the gate. The perfect "Follow the Leader". This was the best picture I could get of it. I would have stopped but there was traffic behind me.

Long straight highway straight into the wind. 

These people riding bicycles were riding them uphill and into the wind too. It was near 100 degrees outside. I guess bike riding is like most things, somewhat addictive.

Mile after endless mile of color-less country when this pops up. It looked like a stable but I'm not sure. It was not in use but it sure stood out in that bright red. 

Later on, the clouds started to show up. I was hoping that would be a sign of the wind dying down, but nope.

A lot of the windmills have a tree growing near it. It works great for the cows to get some shade while drinking the water brought up by the windmill. I wondered if the tree was planted and if so, how long ago. 

Two "Hi Yo Silvers" (young-ins need to ask some seasoned citizens what that means). I missed a picture of a while horse the day before but just barely got these two grazing on the side. 

New pavement in the middle of nowhere. 

Finally some puffy clouds showed up with the slow down in the wind. 

First glimpse of the tall mountains in the distance. Looks like there is still snow on the tops.

While setting up Liberty, I visited a little bit with the couple in the next site. Yeah, yeah, I know I will catch grief from some readers about "distraction", "x-chocks", etc, but I didn't want to be rude. They are from Texas and up here in their Casita RV to escape the heat of Texas. Later in the evening I also met a gentleman who with his wife were starting out on their full-time adventure after their recent retirement. They have to detour back south for some last minute work before hitting the road. Good luck to ya'll. By the way, all of these people told me their names but I can't remember them. I'm not worried about that because I've never been good at remembering names. :)

The campground

The campsite

After setting up I went back down the pass into Raton to drive around and see what I could see. I saw gasoline is more expensive in New Mexico, at least in Raton. A Chinese restaurant caught my eye and since my stomach was still on Central Time, it was lunch time. The food was about average, but I was hungry. After eating and slowly cruising through the old part of Raton, I headed over the pass to the first small town in Colorado. Nothing much there but a Walmart and some gas stations. The nice lady who checked me into the campground said there is a good Mexican restaurant at that exit, but since I was full, I just dropped into Walmart and picked up a few things before heading back to the campground. 

I'm not sure what today holds for me but I'll at least head into Raton to find that museum. It has mixed reviews so it will be pot luck. I thought about driving into the Sugarite Canyon State Park but have since changed my mind. Tomorrow is moving day again but it will be a short, downhill tow of a little over 100 miles. With such a short haul, that means a later start. These one and two day stops are beginning to wear on me especially when I don't have much to explore. Fortunately, the next couple of stops have some exciting explorations planned. 

Some rain coming up from the south. It rained a little but not much. There was a small chance of thunderstorms but I didn't hear any.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.