This is STOP 17, the 53rd, 54th and 55th days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Silver City, NM.
The Drive from Silver City, NM to Ruidoso, NM
Silver City NM to Ruidoso NM
After breakfast in our cottage, our day begins with a truly gorgeous scenic drive east across NM 152, part of the Geronimo Trail National Scenic Byway. Parts of this trail are also included in the last scenic drive we did (see our last post), but this part is fresh for us. We have 71 miles of winding “S” curves to drive across the Pinos Altos Mountains, through the Mimbres River Valley, up and over the Mimbres Mountains and then through part of the Chihauhaun Desert. We see the pinon and juniper trees of the mountain change over to ponderosa pines as we climb in elevation. The speed limit is 25mph, but we find ourselves going 15mph in most places because of all the curves in the road. Honestly, this drive is one of THE best we’ve done so far and that says a lot. At the of one of the mountains where there is a sharp drop off, we almost hit a group of cows which are in the road. We are happy we are only going about 15 mph but we wonder how in the hell those cows climbed all the way up the steep ridge to get to where they are.
We climb over 3000 feet and the views at Embry Pass at elevation 8828 go on for miles.
We uneventfully drive through the ghost town of Kingston, an old silver mining community founded in 1882 that at one time boasted 22 saloons. Then we drive to the town of Hillsboro, another former mining town that today has a population of 120 (consisting mostly of artists and writers). Here we do see several well-preserved historic structures.
The mountains turn to flat desert as we descend from the mountains and approach I-25 north. Near Caballo, we pick up I-25 north, see a recreational lake / reservoir, and absorb the desert scenery as we travel to Truth or Consequences.
Truth or Consequences’ town name use to be Hot Springs, but they changed their name in 1950 as a result of a “dare” by the Truth or Consequences radio game show to honor their 10th anniversary. At one time there were over 20 hot springs resorts, but today there are less than a dozen. “T or C”, as the locals call it, it now a resort town with lots of spas to stay at for relaxation and healing. Nancy has tried to find a good hot springs place to soak in for a while, but none of the 8 or so places are what we are looking for. While we like to soak in the healing mineral waters, we prefer to do so in a rustic setting. It looks like all the places in this town are where the waters are pumped into hot tubs or indoor pools. There is one place with outdoor stone pools along the Rio Grande River – but they require a timed reservation and all time slots are 2 hours. It just isn’t meant to be for us today.
We decide to drive through the old portion of town to explore it for a future trip and to look for lunch. We pick Del Taco for lunch because it will be fast, yet good.
We continue up I-25 towards San Antonio. In the distance on both sides of the interstate we can see mountain ranges and mostly empty desert, its beautiful none-the-less and at one point we see a crew drilling for water.
We reach the exit for San Antonio and US 380 east which is our turnoff for heading to Ruidoso. San Antonio is interesting from the point of view that it appeared to be a place where bikers hang out as they tour through this area of New Mexico. We didn’t react fast enough to get a photos of bikes and bikers hanging around several of the bars but we did mange to get a few other shots in as we passed through this little town.
US 380 east traverses the north side of White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). We know that the Trinity Site is a few miles south of us, but it is only open twice a year to visitors. In 1945, the first atom bomb was detonated at the Trinity Site as part of the Manhattan Project. From 1946 to 1951, the US detonated 67 of the 100+ V-2 rockets it captured from the Germans at the end of WWII. The WSMR is still an active missile testing site.
The road takes us through a few miles of lava fields and past the Valley of Fire State Park. Next we go south on NM 37 and then south on NM 48 into Ruidoso. Sometime today, we cross the 9000 mile mark.
A few miles past the Valley of Fire State park, we turn off and head up into the mountains toward Ruidoso. Along the way we see signs for the Smokey the Bear Memorial Park. As we get near Ruidoso we start to see ski shops which clues us in that we are nearing ski country.
Ruidoso & Our Lodging: The North Star
Ruidoso is marketed as “an enchanted oasis” and a world class ski resort in the Sierra Blanca mountain range. We are here in the off-season and a few things are obvious. The Pandemic has hit this area hard – many shops & restaurants are closed. This town still operates in fear of the pandemic. Some restaurants are still carry-out only and many shops & restaurants have mandatory mask policies, regardless of vaccination status. We have only seen this in our stops in NM, but not in any other areas. While it is the off-season, we can’t vouch for the “world class ski resort” claim, but we do feel that “enchanted oasis” is a bit of a stretch.
Our GPS gives us a little bit of a headache finding our cabin, but we switch to Google Maps and find it easily. Cabins seem to be extremely popular here in Ruidoso – at least in the main downtown area where we are staying. Our AirBnB cabin, North Star, is just a few blocks from the main shops & restaurants area, so it is an easy walk. We have a fully equipped kitchen with dining area, a spacious living room with 2 comfy couches & 2 chairs and with a large TV and 2 bedrooms to choose from. We unpack and settle in for a few minutes before heading to downtown to get a feel for things and to find dinner.
It is a Wednesday and in the off-season we find many restaurants are only open Thursday through Sunday. Research indicated we would have several options for the type of place we enjoy (bar, TV) yet we only find one place open tonight. We head into Quarters Nightclub and Grill (no website) and the place has no bar stools around their bar (due to the pandemic), so we grab a high top table. The place is much larger on the inside than it appears from the outside. They have a dance floor, a small stage, a pool table and a lot of tables. There are 2 guys at one other table and 8 guys at another. Our waitress is near the end of her shift and she’s obviously tired and tells us as much. Nancy orders a French Dip sandwich and Harrison has a Green Chile Burger. The food was good, but we’re ready to call it a night and head back to the cabin.
Day 2 – a Catch Up Morning and a Short Adventure Afternoon
Today is another day of rest and daily life where we do laundry, pay bills, reconcile travel expenses and write posts for our website. After a morning filled with life’s tasks, we decide to drive around Ruidoso and a little of the outskirts to Ruidoso Downs and back. We stop at a place called K-Bob’s Steak House for lunch where we meet bar buddies Baylee & Chance. They are from Dallas and on their honeymoon, trying to kill a little time before they can check into their cabin in another 3 hours. Nancy enjoys a delicious chicken kabob meal and Harrison has a burger with grilled jalapenos.
We decide we need to get some walking in. We head down a promising path behind one of the condo rentals places, but it dead ends within a few hundred feet. We just start wandering down side streets and eventually happen upon the Ruidoso River Trail. We hike to the beginning and the signs tell us the path is 1 mile long. There are three bridges that cross the small river and the trail lists them as “Troll Bridges”.
We hike back to where we initially joined the path and walk more side streets, including one that dead ends and we have to turn around again. Ruidoso is an interesting town from the prospective of its shops and restaurants . Its mostly an old school resort community that is trying to modernize and reminds us somewhat of the types of towns that we have seen in upstate new York in the Adirondacks with lots of old motels and cottages for rent. Although we didn’t look into it, it also appears that there is at least a small or perhaps larger community of retirees that live here. However, its definitely the off season and its a challenge to find restaurants or in some cases shops open.
We stop at the Hidden Tap Room and grab 2 Cherry Wheat beers and sit outside for a little people watching. Across the street is a large Indian mural that helps block out the sun as it sets.
Back at the room, we cook dinner, making spaghetti and some cheesy breadsticks. We purposely make way too much for one meal. We can freeze the leftovers which will help the cooler stay cold AND we can reheat it in any hotel room with a microwave. We spend our evening in the hot tub on our porch listening to music, reminiscing about the experiences we’ve shared in the past few weeks and reminding ourselves of the remaining places we have to see on the final weeks of this 10 week journey.
Day 3 Adventures
The main adventure today is White Sands National Park which is located in WSMR on the east side. It is an hour and 20 minute drive to the park. We drive through Alamogordo where we finally get to the see the world’s largest Pistachio that we’ve seen advertised throughout NM. Needless to say, it isn’t real. Alamogordo is a great size town and we decide we will stop here for lunch on our way back. In Alamogordo we get on US 70 east and start seeing signs warning that this coming Tuesday, the road will be closed for Missile Testing from 3pm – 6pm.
White Sands National Park has just recently been elevated from National Monument status to National Park status (in 2019 after 86 years). What’s the difference? There isn’t a clear definitive answer, but here are a few distinctions. National Monuments are designated by the President; National Parks are designated by Congress. National Monuments are primarily preserved for their historical and cultural value; National Parks are primarily protected for their scenic and inspirational value.
This 115 square mile White Sands National Park encompasses part of the 275 square mile gypsum sand dunes – the world’s largest. This dune field is very dynamic, with the most active dunes moving to the northeast at a rate of up to 30 feet per year. The pure gypsum originates from an ephemeral lake with a very high mineral content. As the water evaporates, the minerals are left behind to form gypsum deposits that eventually are wind-transported to form these white sand dunes. Gypsum is used in many every day products such as drywall and toothpaste.
The first five miles of “Dunes Drive” are paved and the last three miles are a hard-packed gypsum sand road (then 8 miles back). The drive starts in an area with sand dunes that have many different plants growing in them. Here we take a 1 mile hike through the sand to learn about the many species of plants and animals that have developed specialized means of surviving in this area’s climate with very little surface water and highly mineralized ground water. Once you reach the “sand road”, there are no plants to be seen – just white sand dunes. Some people have plastic sleds and ride down the sand dunes – some way more successfully than others.
We make a couple of interesting observations. The first is we continue to learn how much of all the natural wonders in this area of the west are related to when it was an inland sea. The second is for some strange reason alcohol is banned in the winter from Feb 1 to June 1, however during the summer its allowed. Would loved to asked a ranger about that rule, Check out the posted sign below.
We stop for lunch at Applebee’s in nearby Alamogordo New Mexico because it is conveniently located along the route and because it feels good to eat at a familiar place after all this time.
We take a different route from Alamogordo back to Ruidoso via US 82 east to check out the ski town of Cloudcroft (which doesn’t appear to offer as much as Ruidoso in terms of lodging and food). From Cloudcroft we head north on NM 244 – yet another winding, mountainous road with slow speed limits.
After several hours of driving we decide to spend another evening at home, enjoying the hot tub and looking at the stars in the sky.
Our Verdict
After 3 nights, we are ready to leave Ruidoso. It honestly didn’t hold our interest and just didn’t have the types of bars and restaurants we enjoy. This is a once and done place for us and we’re not even sure we would recommend you seek it out.
Here is a link to our previous stop in Silver City, NM.
Next Up
Our next stop will be a quick one-nighter in Odessa, Texas.
[…] This is STOP 18 and 19, the 56th, 57th, 58th and 59th days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Ruidoso, NM. […]