I went to Sparky's in Hatch today for my last green chile cheeseburger for a while. They simply don't exist outside New Mexico. It's the Hatch chiles that make the difference. My old friend David pulled into the RV park today, so we'll have a chance to get caught up a bit before I leave, but we'll meet up again in a couple of weeks. I'll park it a night on the way to Mesa. I'm not in a hurry..
I've picked up a great butterfly collection on my deer-catcher, likewise an excellent display of squashed bug guts on my windshield. It's not far from Deming to the mountains. You can head to Mimbres to see the pueblos, maybe go to the cliff dwellings. You're in Mimbres country, an Apache colony that excelled in pottery. The museum in Silver City is an "Oh fuck" experience when it comes to the pottery. And the museum in Deming is equally...
Scattered thunderstorms wet the desert pretty good last weekend, but even so I've been touring around a bit. I found a good green chile cheeseburger in Columbus, down by the border, and a good BBQ place in Hatch (not Sparky's). Last summer I had a problem with my batteries, and yanked the big inverter I had installed but wasn't using. This week I'm putting it back into the circuit and watching, but see no problems. It will come in handy this...
It's been off-and-on rain and thunderstorms here, so I have plenty of time to browse the news. The Washington Liquor Control Board said on Friday (yet to be confirmed) they were seeking to raise the amount of marijuana growing space from 2 million square feet to 8 million square feet for the state. The 2 million number was a guess, based on no dependable information whatsoever. The 8 million number is just as flakey. By my estimates, the current...
I pulled into the Low-Hi RV park and paid for two weeks. I'm tired of driving. Deming is one of my most favorite places in the SW. It's a small, quiet, railroad town loaded with excellent Mexican restaurants and some truly unique attractions nearby. All services normally needed are available. The weather is warm and sunny, but some rain might come in this weekend. Oh well, it'll still be warm.
The Liquor Control Board published it's list of enforcement actions against retail marijuana establishments. Three fines were issued for not following the rules, a bunch of warnings were issued for not paying taxes on time. I have to hand it to the LCB in WA in putting out a lot of information about what they are doing. The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division doesn't come close to what LCB is doing. In this Grand Experiment, no one in WA or...
I come here to see the wintering grounds of the sandhill cranes (Western Flyway), stay at the eclectic and funky Birdwatchers RV Park, and eat green chile cheeseburgers at the Owl Cafe. The weather is outstanding. I stood for a while in front of the chile-roasting machine in the village taking in that wonderful aroma. At dawn tomorrow I'll go out on the refuge to watch the cranes go off for work, and see what other species are around. Two nights...
USA Today ran an article by a Coloradan comparing their retail stores to Washington's. And I've had the opportunity to do the same in reverse. The two models are very different, but not without similarities. Washington does not permit retailers to grow or process marijuana. In fact, they can't even touch to stuff as it is all packaged by processors. Colorado converted medical marijuana operations to retail, so the new storefronts are probably in...
New Mexico, that is. The run along I-25 in NM from the north is sure impressive. Very wide-open range land with few signs of humans. So big it was a bit intimidating. And the Spanish Peaks in Colorado were stunning: Yesterday's storms covered them with snow, the sun was bright , and the sky was a cloudless bright blue. Back on the road tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a two-week vacation from the road in Deming.
US50 drops down from the Rockies and lands on the high plains nearest to Pueblo. I'm in a great little RV park on the plain in great weather. Town is 15 miles away. Beautiful. After I left Cripple Creek, it snowed. When the rain let up today the tips of the mountains were white. Pikes Peak was outstanding. The first snow of the year? The forecast is for general warm temperatures, but I'll be heading to Deming quickly anyway. Well, quickly after...
Going to the top of Pikes Peak would be futile, but I did get an early start to Cripple Creek before the rains became heavy. There is no end to the scenery around here, even in the clouds and rain. I passed 10,000 feet and reminded myself that I'm useless above 9K until I can get acclimated, so no walking around. Cripple Creek is rebuilding it's main street, an extremely tight schedule between summer season and winter, and it's a mess. I did get...
Best that I can tell, prices for retail pot in Colorado are about half that in Washington. I use websites of the retailers in WA and CO, which are really bad as a rule, to gauge this. I use the best sites I can find to do comparisons, but it's always flakey. Colorado does not require independent lab testing for products sold at retail ("recreation" is the word they use), Washington does and it's required on the label of the product being sold....