Got an early start out of Joplin which wasn’t all that much of an accomplishment since I was already hooked up an all I had to do in preparation to getting under way was roll out of the rack and go into the store and buy a cup of joe. I didn’t want to leave Joplin before 7:30 as an earlier start would have put me in Tulsa during rush hour, something I was not keen to do.
I arrived in Lawton around 1:00 and decided to stay at the wildlife refuge. Those of you who have followed my past trips know what a neat place the refuge is. It is really the eastern edge of the west, you could easily film a cowboy movie there. I didn’t make use of the many benefits of the refuge as all I really wanted for the evening was a place to park the camper. At $8 bucks it is hard to beat, $16 gets you an electric site but there was no need for that. While in town I saw some good friends from the faculty and several of the men from the Lambda Chi Alpha colony. I had not seen any of them since last summer and most of them since last May. They are great guys and I am proud of them.
Departed the refuge at about 8:00 this morning and headed west. About an hour into the drive I hit fog. Fog of the pea-soup variety. Of course, the running lights acted up so I had to run 30 miles with hazards to the next town. I found a small repair shop to find the problem. I assumed a blown fuse. Wrong answer, somehow the fuse had come out! It took the mechanic about 5-10 minutes to find the problem and send me on my way. He wouldn’t charge a penny. Reassuring in this day and age I think.
Stopped for fuel at the Flying J’s in Amarillo, fair warning they have the RV lanes torn up doing some kind of work. By Tucumcari, I was a bit saddle worn, so I headed up to Conchas Lake SP for the night. Since I invested in the camping pass last fall the camping is free. I really have to admit I got my money out of the pass. I am boondocked right on the lake. As I write this I am sitting in the door of the camper while the sun goes down listening to the waves lap against the shore.
From Conchas to Jemez was a fairly easy days drive. By keeping the speed around 60 MPH I was able to get about 14.5 MPG which I thought was exceptionally good given the winds. Once in the canyon I was struck by how much cooler it was there compared to when I started out. For convenience, I decided to overnight at the National Forest Service campground in the lower canyon. Once settled in, I headed up to Spence hot springs for a nice soak. As always, it was a pleasant and relaxing pastime. I have to say, the water did seem cooler than normal this time. As I was about to leave there was a snow shower that lasted for a good bit. Overnight, temps dropped to around freezing- yikes! I had thought about going up into the Sangre De Christo mountains between Cimarron and Taos, but given the temps, forget about it- this guy is sticking to the low lands.
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