Thursday, May 13th

We walked 11 miles today and are about 5 miles outside of Portales. Tomorrow we walk through Portales and should be only 14 miles from the New Mexico/Texas border. The walk today was uneventful except for a very sad sight. Along the side of the road, we saw 8 dead calves. How they died and how they ended up in the ditch is anyone's guess.

On a brighter note, everyone is scheduled to walk tomorrow, but it is forecast to rain, so we will see what develops. We found a Nevada license plate. Stay tuned .....

Wednesday, May 12th

Today was a big day for the Coast to Coast Walk. After walking 2 miles, John delivered Carol out to marker 397 as she wanted to walk through downtown Elida. Before long were in Elida and there was John and Ruth cheering us on from the back of their pickup. We looked around for other folks wanting to join in the celebration, but didn't seem to see any. Maybe they only have parades on Friday.

This afternoon, we packed up again and moved to Portales, NM, our home for the next 6 days. They have a Sonic and a Wal-Mart, what more could a person ask for.

We walked to marker 405, found a coffee cup, a dime, a penny and a Mexican 10 centavo coin. Carol said this makes the Coast to Coast Walk a true multi-cultural event. Stay tuned ......

Monday, May 10th

The word for today is "wind". Lots of wind, with gusts up to 35 and 40 mph. But, we persevered and walked another 10 miles, hanging on to our hats all the way.

After we got back to the RV park, it was time to pack up and leave Roswell. Two weeks is enough, besides we didn't see any little green men.

Several days ago, out on the highway, we saw a sign that said RV park in Elida, 22 miles ahead. We didn't think it would be open, but sure enough it was. We met Debra Smith, the owner, and she gave us a tour of the place. She said she and her husband bought the place for $5,000., 5 acres.

They started cleaning the place up and discovered it had an RV park on the property. And everything seemed to be working, so that's how they got into the RV park business. She showed us the old house that she and her husband remodeled. It looked great, rustic but modern. Then she showed the new colt that had just been born yesterday.

Check out the photo. And speaking of photos, we are having trouble getting them posted to this blog, but we are working on it. That is to say, Scott is working on it. We found 2 license plates today, Texas and Illinois. 

Stay tuned ......

Tuesday, May 11th

We started at marker 385 today and walked 10 miles to 395. Saw several Pronghorn antelope along the way. We walked through Kenna and are on the outskirts of Elida.

Meanwhile, Ruth and Carol explored the town of Elida. They stopped in at Memories, a community center, which is only open on Tuesdays, where a man keeps his cowboy and train memorabilia. It also contains an aviary with 30 parakeets. While there, they met a lady that told them that yes, the town has a library, but that it was only open on Thursday, but if they wanted to go there, she could probably find someone with a key, but they probably wouldn't like the book anyway because they were all old. They also found out that the towns only cafe was only open on Saturdays.  And, that the Baptist Church was always open, because the last robbery in town was in 1928.

We found a bright colored highway workers vest and a pack of unopened pack of 10 scouring pads.  Stay tuned .....

Sunday, May 9th

Friday and Saturday, we walked a combined total of 19 miles. The wind was quite breezy both days.

We are on highway 70, walking northeast toward Portales and are about half way there. We are walking in semi-arid ranch land. Lots of ranch, few cows. There is a smattering of oil wells here. John said that was good, means we're getting closer to Texas.

Tomorrow we will be moving to either an RV park in Elida, the Wagonwheel RV Park in Portales or Oasis State Park, just outside of Portales.

The RV park in Elida would be our first choice as it would be closer to driving out to the drop-off and pick-up point. We don't have a phone number, so we don't know if they are even in business.

This being Presbyterian Sunday, we attended the First Presbyterian Church of Roswell. Beautiful church and a good sermon.

In the last two day of walking, we have found another Texas license plate, a fork, a dime, a mysterious cloth bag with a palm tree embroidered on it and sewn shut at both ends and a Stanley Thermos Bottle, complete with coffee. Stay tuned .....

Wednesday, May 6th

Yesterday and today we walked a total of 18.5 miles, stopping at marker 356.

We are walking in cattle country or if it is flat and can be irrigated, farming country. It is also lizard country as the temperature is  getting warmer, the little rascals are scurrying about.

We were stopped by Officer Martin of the Chaves Co Sheriff Dept.,our first stop by law eenforcement of Phase II.  She wanted to know where we were going and were we being safe. We told her that we always wear orange, had a support vehicle, a cell phone  and some pepper spray. Must have been a good answer as she wished us good luck as she left.

Instead of being "West of the Pecos" (I believe that is the title of an old western book or movie), we are now east of the Pecos. We were a bit disappointed with the Pecos River. Expecting a clear moving scenic stream, we saw a muddy creek instead.

Counting Phase I and Phase II, we have walked a total of 967 miles. We found another New Mexico license plate today. Stay tuned .....

Tuesday, May 4th

We walked into Roswell today. After walking about 3 miles, Carol and Jolie Blonde joined me. We turned left off of 2nd street and walked down Main St. I wondered what people thought, two people in very bright orange shirts with a white dog on a leash. On we walked, pass McDonalds and to the campus of the New Mexico Military Institute. It is a residential school for high school juniors and seniors and a two year college awarding graduates an associate degree.

At about mile 6, John and Ruth picked up Carol and Jolie Blonde and I kept walking. Walked passed franchise row, Wendy's, Cici's, Motel 6, Days Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Subway, etc. Finally arrived at Wal-Mart and the edge of town. I walked on to where Main St. intersects with Highway 70 and that is where we stopped today, 8.5 miles. Carol and Jolie Blonde were waiting. I found 3 pennies today, disappointed, should have found more. Stay tuned ......

Monday, May 3rd

Yesterday, being Baptist Sunday, we attended the First Baptist Church of Roswell. It was a nice service, great music, but the pastor preached too long. How ya gonna beat the Presbyterians to Dixie Cafe if you preach too long?

Starting at marker 321, we walked 8 miles today, which took us to the outskirts of town. We can either bypass Roswell, or walk through downtown. We decided to walk in downtown Roswell, which we will do tomorrow. We saw 3 Pronghorn antelope today, found a Texaos trailer license plate, 4 knives and a spoon. And a 12 ft section of clear plastic tubing which may come in handy if we have to suction John's hematoma.

John is doing better today, which is very good new. And Ruth is doing good also. Her physical therapy starts next week. 

One observation we have made is the fact that you can't walk more than a couple of hundred yards before you see a pile of bone lying on the side of the road. This is what's left of some poor unfortunate deer or antelope that wasn't fast enough to get to the other side of the road. There must be hundreds of deer/antelope that are killed each year on just this section of highway.

Haven't seen any little green men, but we are constantly on guard. Stay tuned .....

Saturday May 1st

We saw some hot air balloons this morning as we drove to the starting point. They tried to fly yesterday, but it was too windy. They got off the ground today, but with very little wind, it didn't look like they were going very far.

 

Yesterday we walked 10 miles to marker 213 and today another 8 miles to marker 221.

Friday was quite windy, but today the wind hardly was a factor. We are walking along pastureland. Every once in a while, we even see a cow. We also saw a jack rabbit today. The last two days have been uneventful, so there is not much to write about. I did find a Texas license plate, 2 spoons and 21 cents, which brings our total money found to $1.39.

 

We were thinking. We passed through the town of Hondo, NM. What do the people of Hondo call themselves. You can answer by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of this blog. Stay tuned ....

Thursday, April 29th

Yesterday we walk from the junction of highways 380 and 70 to marker 295, a distance of 10 miles. We are on highway 70 now, with a new set of mile markers. The highway follows the Hondo River and is a study in contrast. On my left is the arid desert, with prickly pear cactus and shrub growth. And on my right, in the river valley, are green trees, green pastures, cattle, horses, etc.

There are many guard rails and concrete barriers that we walk behind for safety. For the most part, the walking is easy and much, much safer. We passed through the communities of Hondo, Tinnie, Picacho and finally Riverside, our stopping point. We startled a wild turkey on the way.

Today, we walked another 8 miles, to marker 303. Within a few minutes of starting our walk, we saw what we thought was a dog on the shoulder of the road, but thinking it can't be a dog, maybe a coyote or fox. It was too big to be a fox, so I thought it was a coyote. Arriving at the spot, we saw this cute dog looking down on us from the rocks above. We thought it very strange until we spotted the deer carcass on the shoulder. The dog was patiently waiting until we walked by to enjoy his deer dinner.

On we walked and said goodbye to the Hondo River. It continues its flow to the southeast where it flows into the Pecos River, while the highway takes a slight turn to the northeast.

Did I mention the wind? It has been windy ever since we started walking back in San Antonio. But today was exceptional. After walking 5 miles and climbing a steep hill, the wind really picked up. We walked another 3 miles and threw in the towel. Too windy ! Winds were 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph.

In the last two days, I have found a Oklahoma license plate, two New Mexico license plates and a No Hunting/Fishing sign. Stay tuned .....