Near Quanah, Texas
Trip Start
Apr 12, 1992
1
7
65
Trip End
Jun 15, 1992
Capulin,
New Mexico,
United States
Saturday, April 18, 1992
4-18-92
Near Capulin, New Mexico
Cool, dense fog
A very dense fog moved in last night. This morning I could barely see beyond the windows of the van.
Several times during the night I woke to a noise that I couldn't identify. Every few minutes a humming sound started. It was only after the fog began to lift that I could see the huge tractor-trailer rig parked behind me in the smell roadside picnic area. Some sort of automatic device on the rig, perhaps refrigeration, switched on periodically. Mystery solved.
The fog interfered with me getting a good look at the countryside. I could tell it had changed considerably. The terrain was flatter, with almost no trees. The soil is yellow, with sandstone rocks, scrub brush, and stunted mesquite bushes. Finally, about mid morning, the fog burned completely away. There were numerous clouds laying fairly low, blue skies peeking through, the sun casting cloud-shadows across the countryside...very pretty. Wild flowers blanketed the roadside, lavish red, yellow, blue, orange, white, a riot of color. I stopped now and then to snap photos.
It is said that here on the Texas plains you can see tomorrow. Actually, if you turn to face east you can also see yesterday. It's remarkable to me how far you can see and how little there is to look at.
92.114.Capulin Volcano Field
Yet, at the same time there is such beauty and peacefulness.In Childress, population 5817, there is something that ought to please everybody. The town is not large enough to support a variety of restaurants, but one creative cafe owner to offer something for everyone. He runs an Italian and Mexican restaurant that also serves hamburgers and fries.
Opportunities abound in Texas for becoming well traveled. A road sign indicated Memphis was twenty four miles ahead. Yesterday I went from Boston to Paris by way of Detroit and Reno.
The Red River has been my constant companion west from Shreveport. Near Childress I would soon make my fifth crossing over the bright red-orange water.
Across the Texas panhandle into Amarillo there is a gradual climb in elevation. Without really being aware of the gentle grade I reached 4000 feet elevation. It became more arid. The soil is yellow-red to gray and very sandy. Farming is almost non-existent, except in occasional low places where there is moisture. I saw one huge peach orchard and much open space and tumbleweed rolling with the incessant wind. Texas has good roads, nice smooth four laners. Traffic was light, mostly double trailer trucks, long like a freight train.
US-287 joins US-87 in Amarillo. They run north together up to Dumas where 287 continues north to Raton Pass and Colorado. 87 bears off west to New Mexico. For the last two days I had been pushing kinda hard trying to cover some territory. Now it was time to slow down and begin to really look at the countryside I was moving through, to stop and spend more time.
92.118.Near Capulin Volcano
The area was becoming very picturesque. I would soon be in New Mexico and I was much excited about it.Amarillo is an Americanization of the Spanish word, pronounced "Ah mah REE ya", which means yellow. It's a very appropriate name, the local soil is yellow, many of the adobe and pseudo adobe buildings are yellow. Yellow dust overlays everything and the country side is covered with yellow wild flowers.
Near Dalhart, Texas a huge rain cloud formed to the west, dead ahead. The storm was still laying out there, waiting, as I crossed into New Mexico. For a short time I harbored a hope it might pass behind me.
North of the road, to my right, a small mountain poked into the sky, signaling another change of topography. My map indicated this was Rabbit Ears Mountain. It lies north-east of Clayton, New Mexico.
I stopped to take a picture. It was my first time out of the van in several hours. The temperature had plunged about 45 degrees, to below freezing. Winds started howling out of the north. The storm had moved back around in front of me. Within minutes it arrived. I don't think I've ever seen the sky so black before dark. At 5:00 p.m.the sun was bright, it's rays warming,by 5:30 p.m. there was a black sky, lightning,and freezing cold wind.
The leading edge of the storm brought momentary stillness, then came the first raindrops, huge and scattered, so large they rattled when they hit the van. The drops kicked up puffs of dust when they landed on the arid, dusty ground. Then the wind stiffened, gusting from all directions and the raindrops became smaller, quickly becoming sheets of water riding the wild wind. It was a beauty of a storm. Then came the snow. There it was, on the day before Easter, snowing. The storm became a blizzard, turning fields white and it kept falling. Wonderful!
The snow became heavier, so dense I could barely see. It was like driving in a dense fog. I drove slowly, straining to see any approaching traffic. Fortunately there were very few other vehicles on the road.
I had never seen anything like this. Suddenly I could again see the sun, almost directly ahead, a bright spot in the clouds, about 20 degrees above the horizon.
When I parked for the night on the roadside near Capulin (pronounced cah-poo-LEEN, New Mexico, it was still snowing. I decided to stop here because the extinct volcano called Capulin is located nearby. Capulin is Spanish for "choke-berry", a plant which supposedly grows wild in the volcano's crater. My intent was to visit the volcano early the next day before crossing through Raton Pass into Colorado.
Within minutes after turning off the engine I became chilled. Dinner and bedtime came early. I had to crawl into the sack to stay warm. Winds howled fiercely around my van most of the night
