Phoenix AZ to Alamogordo NM
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2008
1
43
51
Trip End
Apr 09, 2008
Alamogordo,
New Mexico,
United States
Saturday, March 29, 2008
From Globe we followed hwy 70 through Safford towards Duncan AZ. The irrigation fields in the Gila valley are now lush green and the trees along the river a 'leaf green' in contrast to the gray green of the desert vegetation elsewhere. We took a break in Duncan when we noticed that the visitor centre was open and had a wonderful conversation with a long time resident. Tom arrived in Duncan when in grade 6, left to spend time in the navy and then lived much of his life in California. When he retired, he and his wife returned to Duncan and now at the young age of 75 is running a thriving pump supply business. Today he took a break from his work laying the forms for a gazebo base to tell us about life in the valley and the Coronado artifacts found in this area. In the1600s Spaniards traveled along the Gila Valley in their quest for gold north of Mexico City and in the past half century, weapons and garment fasteners identified with soldiers of this period were discovered. They are now part of the University of Arizona's collection. On an earlier visit to this community we learned that this town has been flooded a number of times with much of the old town being abandoned. Tom belongs to a group called the Pride Society of Duncan that is working to salvage reminders of the history of the town and to prevent the loss of the built history of the community.
Leaving Duncan we passed the New Mexico border and drove through very dry flat mesquite covered land, through areas marked with warnings of frequent dust storms. Today the skies are blue but one can only imagine what it would be like to be caught out in this area when the wind picks up. There is no shelter for miles. Lordsburg is an old railway town that has experienced more prosperous times. From here we turned east on interstate 10 and found even dryer, more desolate desert interspersed with range land anchored by prairie grasses. In one spot we noticed signage that indicated that the fire hazard was extreme and all of the dugouts were dry.
We planned to spend the night in Las Cruses but arrived to find that there was no room at the inn! It seems that this weekend 4000+ people descend on this town to commemorate the death march of Bataan (Philippines, WW2) with an annual march and marathon. This highway was dedicated as a memorial highway in honor of the soldiers who had served in this battle. As a result we traveled on to Alamogordo for the night, through the White Sands Missile testing range, and will backtrack in the morning to visit the White Sands National Monument...
Spring Blooms
