7 July 2019
I found myself on the legendary Route 66 for the night after wondering up to Utes Lake. The night before the Toruga was in Sweet Water, Texas as Lacy attempted to escape the relentless Texas heat. The Tortuga had started early that day but by early afternoon the local temperature had reached 90 degrees. Even with the new A/C unit in the cab of the Tortuga Truck the heat was siphoning the life force out “The Lacy Dawg”. Sweet Water was the next opportunity for 50 amp power to run the cabin A/C, and the first RV park would do. With the fracking boom, there is no lacking for a “so called” RV parks. Where once you would find grumpy old men and blue haired old ladies driving their Winnebago to the nearest casino now you find Work Camps and full time wonders escaping the subdivision now the kids, (or spouse) are gone. Most licences plates are from out of state, in the private RV parks, unlike the State Parks in Texas on every weekend of the year. With little public lands to explore, Texans fill the State Parks with reservations made 6 month earlier. Wait, back to Sweet Water.
That night Lacy slepted at a very comfortable 68 degrees, especially for someone sleeping in a full time black fur coat. Noticing that the outside temperature never dropped below 80 degrees, there was work to be done the next day: Gain Altitude, find cooler weather.
With a spin of a drafting compass, a 200 mile arch was drawn, on a paper Bench Mark map, toward the North West. Clovis, Tucumcari and Utes lake were just outside the penciled arch. Utes was to the North East of Tucumcari by 20 miles or more. Who would ever drive to such an out of the way destination? Perfect the Tortuga would be on its way at first light and lowest temperatures of the day.
Dancing with windmills. This section of Texas and New Mexico are covered with wind mills, power generations windmills. Giants on the plains, slowly spinning and generating electricity. Each one of those giants cost about 2 million dollars, so Google declared, and generate about 2 megawatt of power. Before Google got me into transmission lost and total energy used to create these tributes to human ingenuity, I turned Google off to enjoy the view.
On several occasions this day, I wanted to wonder near the base of these giants as they stood century on the ridge lines. What a great place to camp. On the edge of the tallest ridge in the region, overlooking hundreds of miles productive farm line the spring green desert. Camping there would be great, If I only had my bolt cutters. Maybe next time.
It was a beautiful drive, few were on the road and the sky was crystal blue with the white puffs of clouds to give that old timely post card contrast. How bad could it be at Utes lake, Yes it was the 4th of July, but Tortuga logic gave us a chance to find a camps site for the evening. Alone on the road for most of the day, the Tortuga started to approach Logan, New Mexico. With in a couple of miles people and cars appeared from, who knows? A left-hand turn through the 3 block main street put the Tortuga on the road to the lake. More than a 3 mile out, the lake appeared sparkling on the horizon. A mile out the RVs and cars were becoming visible and as I turned left into the park, I had turned into an ant bed of people.
There was no one on the back roads to Logan because half the population of New Mexico must have already been here. It was 4th of July, who would have guessed they would come to the Utes Lake. With a tour of the camp site in hopes for an abandoned opportunity, it was clear, people and ants make the Tortuga itch and uncomfortable, time to move on. So much for Tortuga locgic today.
Off to Tucumcari, the day was getting long and there must be an RV park for the night. In the mid 80s the temperature was improving from what was left in Texas. Not only temperature but the blanking humidity was demising. Maybe tonight was that night Lacy wouldn’t have to sleep in the wind tunnel of the cabin A/C. By 2000 hours, oops sorry 8 PM, sitting outside to watch the last flicker of the day pass, there was hope that the oppressive Texas heat was left behind.
Poor judgement be dammed. Just because Utes was packed does not mean there might be another opportunity for a lake breeze. Another drafting compus arch capturing Las Vegas, Santa Fe and look Concha Lake. Concha Lake, it too, on a obscure New Mexico road, North West out of Tucumcari, who in their right mind would be there, Sunday, The Day After the 4th of July. We would be off in the Morning.
With cooler temperature, there was less of a seance of urgency to get moving. The night with open windows, a slow and constant drizzle made sleep easy and the 66 degrees allowed for the comfort of a lite blanket.
The next morning the routine started: coffee, news, breakfast, clean up, get ready and most importantly, sweep the Lacy hair out of the cabin. A must, if you hand ever been chased by a dust bunny. If not swept-ed out routinely their might not be room for people in the cabin, so now it is part of the daily routine.
An hour later than the day before, it was time to refuel. Concha Lake was 40 plush miles for the next community so if an opportunity presented itself to explore for extended period of time it would be good to have fuel for Tortuga. The Tortuga Truck would be hard to push anywhere.
Left out of the Blazin Saddle RV park and Horse resort, the Tortuga was traveling down Route 66 toward downtown Tucumcari.
If you can only imagine a time before the Inter State Highway system, there was only a loosely connected collection of local roads across our great nation. If anyone wanted to travel or conduct commerce across multiple state boundaries there was no easy way, no fast route with inconsistent construction. Route 66 was that first attempt of the road system we have today, moving goods from the mid west to the west coast and back by road. A direct route across the country in the 40s and 50s, a breakthrough in technology and Tucumcari was major rest stop. Even though Interstate 40 has now by passed this once oasis of the Route, what is been left behind is a museum of travel hotels. Single story, side by side, house shoe shaped hotels that welcomed thousands of travels for decades. Now these hotel stand empty in disrepair with just enough people left so not to call it a ghost town, and in the distance what sounds almost like waves on the beach are the sounds of cars and trucks blowing past Tucumcari at 75 miles and hour without recognition of this vital rest stop of the past.
After getting my kicks on Route 66, it was time for fuel. After a lap around town, down 66 across to 54 and back I had lost hope there was a diesel pump in town. To the Interstate and there I would find the over priced mega stations side by side that had replaced Tucumcaris glory days. 40 gallons of diesal, some ATM cash and a bag of ice is all the Tortuga could stand of the civilized world today. It was time to get on the roads less traveled, Off to Lake Concha.
I have said it before and I will say it again and again. This part of the world is like driving through a painted post card, (for those that know what post cards are or where the post office is located). The colors are over excentuated, the sky is never that blue, the clouds are never that white and the mesequite is never that green, except for today, there I was, enjoying the moment.
For an hour only one car in the review mirror, and they too in no hurry. Once they went around I have more time to enjoy the front porch of the Tortuga. I will say there are only a few things in life that bring the Tortuga as much joy as a lonely road and a clear blue sky.
In a very short hour on perfectly straight blue asphalt road a right turn lead to Concha lake. A United States Army Corps of Engineer project to provide water to the region. With most Corps lakes there is recreation opportunities. Here there was not only the Corps but the State had established a State Park, so iit was worth a try to find a camp site. ONCE AGAIN, the people of New Mexico beat me to the punch, RVs, boats and people littered the land scape. A friendly park ranger stopped by, I wasn’t sure if it was to help or just look at the Tortuga but in either case directed the Tortuga to the last remaining spot in the park with hook ups and to primitive sites along the shore. After talking more about the Tortuga than the park, the Tortuga rolled to scout the situation. Condo living, that is what came to mind. Very nice shelters, with facility in short walking distance of each, but the human density would have been admired by any urban planner. The State Park would not be the answer today. On the way into the state park the Tortuga noticed a small sign pointing the the Corps recreation area and since the Tortuga was on the way out it was worth a chance. Almost back to the main road a gravel road there was another road that lead off back toward the lake. A boat ramp was on the horizon and a Corps of Engineers Office was stopping all boats to check for invasive species. I will state right here they had no problems with Tortuga’s, must not be an invasive species in this park. Right before the office was a camp site. 20 spaces with only 2 occupied. Structures that were built to look like adobe with water at most, primitive plus, I will call them. The front row of sites sat on a little rock ridge line over looking the lake, The Tortuga had found a today’s stop. Taking pictures, long thought provoking walks with Lacy and a nap under that blue sky. Done Good, Got Lucky,
Afternoon thunderstorms with lighting on the horizon and the cool breeze promising a good nights sleep.
