bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Bama Ed's Retirement Camping Thread For Spring 2021
- Thread starter bama_ed
- Start date
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Thursday June 24, 2021
There was no rush this morning heading out after breakfast. The campground office had suggested places to park near the Plaza so we set off up Cerrillos Road. We parked over on the east side and chose to visit Loretto Chapel first.
Loretto Chapel is a small chapel that was part of a girl's school built in the 1870s. The school operated for nearly a 100 years and the chapel was decommissioned when the school buildings were demolished and the property re-developed. It is currently available to rent for special occasions but what draws tourists is the double-revolution staircase to the choir loft which was very unique in the time period the chapel was built. Designed and built by the same French architects and craftsmen, the chapel was modelled on St Chapelle in Paris and is a beauty in its own right. However, the architect died before a solution for a staircase to the choir loft was found so the chapel was built without one and a ladder was initially used. But that was not a long-term solution.
Loretto Chapel is only 2-3 blocks from the Plaza.
After much prayer, a carpenter showed up one day in the late 1870s and volunteered to build a staircase. He provided his own wood and built the staircase with only wooden pegs and no nails. The staircase was initially built with no railings, only steps, and the railings and pillar brace were added in later decades.
Here is a picture of what it originally would have looked like when the brace and railings were removed for refurbishment.
The craftsman who took months to build this only used his first name and accepted no payment for his work. Due to the small size of the chapel, a traditional staircase would have taken up a good portion of available floor space.
Here's a view from the rear of the chapel with the staircase on the right side of the photo.
The admission fee is minor and the chapel and stairs are a tourist draw in Santa Fe.
The town area of Santa Fe is done in the adobe style of the Southwest which, again, this Alabama boy doesn't get to see every day so it looks "cool".
The Plaza is the center of old Santa Fe. It is bounded on one side by the historic Palace of the Governors and on the remaining sides by hotels, restaurants, shops, and galleries. Then for 2-3 block away from the Plaza in any direction is more of the same. The Palace of the Governors was the end of the Santa Fe Trail where the trade goods would be appraised and taxed before they could be sold.
The Palace of the Govenors and the Plaza.
Ten pics linked in to time to slide to the next post.
Bama Ed
There was no rush this morning heading out after breakfast. The campground office had suggested places to park near the Plaza so we set off up Cerrillos Road. We parked over on the east side and chose to visit Loretto Chapel first.
Loretto Chapel is a small chapel that was part of a girl's school built in the 1870s. The school operated for nearly a 100 years and the chapel was decommissioned when the school buildings were demolished and the property re-developed. It is currently available to rent for special occasions but what draws tourists is the double-revolution staircase to the choir loft which was very unique in the time period the chapel was built. Designed and built by the same French architects and craftsmen, the chapel was modelled on St Chapelle in Paris and is a beauty in its own right. However, the architect died before a solution for a staircase to the choir loft was found so the chapel was built without one and a ladder was initially used. But that was not a long-term solution.
Loretto Chapel is only 2-3 blocks from the Plaza.
After much prayer, a carpenter showed up one day in the late 1870s and volunteered to build a staircase. He provided his own wood and built the staircase with only wooden pegs and no nails. The staircase was initially built with no railings, only steps, and the railings and pillar brace were added in later decades.
Here is a picture of what it originally would have looked like when the brace and railings were removed for refurbishment.
The craftsman who took months to build this only used his first name and accepted no payment for his work. Due to the small size of the chapel, a traditional staircase would have taken up a good portion of available floor space.
Here's a view from the rear of the chapel with the staircase on the right side of the photo.
The admission fee is minor and the chapel and stairs are a tourist draw in Santa Fe.
The town area of Santa Fe is done in the adobe style of the Southwest which, again, this Alabama boy doesn't get to see every day so it looks "cool".
The Plaza is the center of old Santa Fe. It is bounded on one side by the historic Palace of the Governors and on the remaining sides by hotels, restaurants, shops, and galleries. Then for 2-3 block away from the Plaza in any direction is more of the same. The Palace of the Governors was the end of the Santa Fe Trail where the trade goods would be appraised and taxed before they could be sold.
The Palace of the Govenors and the Plaza.
Ten pics linked in to time to slide to the next post.
Bama Ed
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Thursday June 24, 2021 continued
The Plaza has lots of tall trees and benches to sit in. Temps were mild, humidity low, and breezes gentle. A few musicians were playing and some temporary jewelry booths had been set up under the Palace of the Governors walkway and on the sidewalk across the street.
One shop that drew my attention in the southwest corner of the Plaza square was the Five and Dime store.
It's an unpretentious store selling cold drinks and snacks, souvenirs, personal toiletries and items visiting tourists might need, and it had a small lunch counter WAY in the back. It reminded me of the small town Woolworth stores of my youth. I did pick up a coonskin cap for only $10 that I had been looking for since Sevierville at the Five and Dime. I put it on and was immediately transformed into a 7 year old again. Who else wore a coonskin cap?
After some walking around, we visited the cathedral (the first Bishop of Santa Fe was a Frenchman and so he built a Gothic, European style Cathedral rather than an adobe style).
But for a late lunch that day I had a specific place in mind. There was a restaurant I had eaten at 40+ years ago called The Shed and it was a half block away from the Palace of the Governors. It is still there and still serving good food.
It has some courtyard seating and then rooms in the back which we were assigned to. Art adorns the walls.
I had trouble deciding what to eat so I went with the blue corn tortillas on the Chicken Enchilada Plate with the red sauce, pinto beans, and posole.
On the way out I snapped a picture of the courtyard (where I had eaten there decades ago). As FYI, the table on the right side of the picture with the two men is (SPOILER ALERT) where we sat to eat lunch the following day.
The Plaza still looked good as we made our way back to the car.
It was a shorter touring day but we would be in the same general area tomorrow and didn't feel the need to squeeze all the sights into one day.
So it was back to the old folks campground (Trailer Ranch) for the evening.
Bama Ed
The Plaza has lots of tall trees and benches to sit in. Temps were mild, humidity low, and breezes gentle. A few musicians were playing and some temporary jewelry booths had been set up under the Palace of the Governors walkway and on the sidewalk across the street.
One shop that drew my attention in the southwest corner of the Plaza square was the Five and Dime store.
It's an unpretentious store selling cold drinks and snacks, souvenirs, personal toiletries and items visiting tourists might need, and it had a small lunch counter WAY in the back. It reminded me of the small town Woolworth stores of my youth. I did pick up a coonskin cap for only $10 that I had been looking for since Sevierville at the Five and Dime. I put it on and was immediately transformed into a 7 year old again. Who else wore a coonskin cap?
After some walking around, we visited the cathedral (the first Bishop of Santa Fe was a Frenchman and so he built a Gothic, European style Cathedral rather than an adobe style).
But for a late lunch that day I had a specific place in mind. There was a restaurant I had eaten at 40+ years ago called The Shed and it was a half block away from the Palace of the Governors. It is still there and still serving good food.
It has some courtyard seating and then rooms in the back which we were assigned to. Art adorns the walls.
I had trouble deciding what to eat so I went with the blue corn tortillas on the Chicken Enchilada Plate with the red sauce, pinto beans, and posole.
On the way out I snapped a picture of the courtyard (where I had eaten there decades ago). As FYI, the table on the right side of the picture with the two men is (SPOILER ALERT) where we sat to eat lunch the following day.
The Plaza still looked good as we made our way back to the car.
It was a shorter touring day but we would be in the same general area tomorrow and didn't feel the need to squeeze all the sights into one day.
So it was back to the old folks campground (Trailer Ranch) for the evening.
Bama Ed
FtW Mike
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2016
Michael don't worry about reaching retirement age it will sneak up faster than you expect. Until then you imitate our own Bama Ed by Putting on some old Foster Grant sunglasses, A Chipmunk on your head in homage to his hero Davy Crockpot and pretend to read a tourist directory. ( I hope he thanked Lisa for making sure he was holding it correctly.)
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Friday June 25, 2021
Another full day to spend in Santa Fe. Yesterday I forgot to mention that since we broke off our touring yesterday after a late lunch, DW asked me to stop at EVERY antique and used book store along Cerrillos Road all the way back to the RV park. "Just looking", of course.
So we didn't buy any thing. But we stopped. And looked. And stopped again. And looked again ......
It was another beautiful day. This time we parked in a city deck one block off the Plaza and hit the Five and Dime Store again. Flipping through selection of tin signs, this Bama boy from Ohio standing in Santa Fe found a keeper that was only $10. It was the proverbial needle in a haystack. It was a tin sign for the Cleveland Indians stadium hotdog brand of mustard, Bertman's. SCORE!
I have a whole season's worth of Bertman's on my pantry shelf at home.
We got there about 1030am and didn't have much on the to-do list. The main thing was to visit the New Mexico History Museum which included the Palace of the Governors (rotating exhibits on display there). So it was decided to do an early lunch first and THEN the museum.
As an aside let me say that the number of shops and art galleries and souvenir stores is a little overwhelming in that core area. I'm no art critic nor can I afford the high end jewelry items (I heard one couple from Albuquerque say that these were clearly "Santa Fe" prices and they were glad they had bought things back home at "Albuquerque" prices instead).
So back to the Shed and we sat at the table in the picture I noted above under the huMONGous yellow shade umbrella. Naturally, the umbrella cast a yellow tint over our food pix. DW got Shed Corn Chowder and a small mixed salad.
Note at the bottom of the salad is a thin semi-circle slice of a red something that we didn't recognize. Our waiter told us it was a slice of watermelon radish. It is a radish of course but not bitter. Can't find those around these parts.
I got the Carne Adovada Plate.
Thankfully my choices from yesterday (Chicken Enchilada) and today (Carne Adovada) were next to each other on the menu so here are their descriptions.
If you find yourself in Santa Fe, The Shed has my recommendation. https://sfshed.com/
The NM History Museum was nice.
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My one disappointment was that the Palace of the Governors had been closed for some time due to refurbishment and today was the opening preview day for for Museum Members only. So we could not get in that historic building.
But plenty of history in the museum for me.
They had a nice section on the Fred Harvey company that ran restaurants and hotels along the western train lines starting in the 1880s with "Harvey Girls" and into the 1960s (Santa Fe and Albuquerque had Harvey hotels and were featured stops). Eventually the company sold that business including two historic hotels (the El Tovar and Bright Angel) at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and was renamed Xanterra who also owns and operates the Grand Canyon Railroad and Grand Canyon Hotel.
We had one last look around the Plaza and the Palace.
Then it was time to go.
One more church to visit in the city's core area and that was the Our Lady of Guadalupe National Shrine which was beautiful.
Then instead of antique shops on the way back to the RV park it was thrift stores. However, I also had a stop at a jewelry supply store for some bolo tie parts.
Our last day in Santa Fe was complete. Tomorrow would be our last moving day.
Bama Ed
Another full day to spend in Santa Fe. Yesterday I forgot to mention that since we broke off our touring yesterday after a late lunch, DW asked me to stop at EVERY antique and used book store along Cerrillos Road all the way back to the RV park. "Just looking", of course.
So we didn't buy any thing. But we stopped. And looked. And stopped again. And looked again ......It was another beautiful day. This time we parked in a city deck one block off the Plaza and hit the Five and Dime Store again. Flipping through selection of tin signs, this Bama boy from Ohio standing in Santa Fe found a keeper that was only $10. It was the proverbial needle in a haystack. It was a tin sign for the Cleveland Indians stadium hotdog brand of mustard, Bertman's. SCORE!
I have a whole season's worth of Bertman's on my pantry shelf at home.
We got there about 1030am and didn't have much on the to-do list. The main thing was to visit the New Mexico History Museum which included the Palace of the Governors (rotating exhibits on display there). So it was decided to do an early lunch first and THEN the museum.
As an aside let me say that the number of shops and art galleries and souvenir stores is a little overwhelming in that core area. I'm no art critic nor can I afford the high end jewelry items (I heard one couple from Albuquerque say that these were clearly "Santa Fe" prices and they were glad they had bought things back home at "Albuquerque" prices instead).
So back to the Shed and we sat at the table in the picture I noted above under the huMONGous yellow shade umbrella. Naturally, the umbrella cast a yellow tint over our food pix. DW got Shed Corn Chowder and a small mixed salad.
Note at the bottom of the salad is a thin semi-circle slice of a red something that we didn't recognize. Our waiter told us it was a slice of watermelon radish. It is a radish of course but not bitter. Can't find those around these parts.
I got the Carne Adovada Plate.
Thankfully my choices from yesterday (Chicken Enchilada) and today (Carne Adovada) were next to each other on the menu so here are their descriptions.
If you find yourself in Santa Fe, The Shed has my recommendation. https://sfshed.com/
The NM History Museum was nice.
My one disappointment was that the Palace of the Governors had been closed for some time due to refurbishment and today was the opening preview day for for Museum Members only. So we could not get in that historic building.
But plenty of history in the museum for me.
They had a nice section on the Fred Harvey company that ran restaurants and hotels along the western train lines starting in the 1880s with "Harvey Girls" and into the 1960s (Santa Fe and Albuquerque had Harvey hotels and were featured stops). Eventually the company sold that business including two historic hotels (the El Tovar and Bright Angel) at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and was renamed Xanterra who also owns and operates the Grand Canyon Railroad and Grand Canyon Hotel.
We had one last look around the Plaza and the Palace.
Then it was time to go.
One more church to visit in the city's core area and that was the Our Lady of Guadalupe National Shrine which was beautiful.
Then instead of antique shops on the way back to the RV park it was thrift stores. However, I also had a stop at a jewelry supply store for some bolo tie parts.
Our last day in Santa Fe was complete. Tomorrow would be our last moving day.
Bama Ed
Part-Time Paradise
Is it camping season yet?
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2019
That food is killer
tigger92662
They're more like guidelines than actual rules
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2015
Excellent trip report. 
I was showing DW the pics and she said, "how long were the gone to do all that stuff"? 
That staircase in the church is incredible, to have the vision to be able to do that so long ago with the tools available.
The train pics
I was showing DW the pics and she said, "how long were the gone to do all that stuff"? That staircase in the church is incredible, to have the vision to be able to do that so long ago with the tools available.
The train pics
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Excellent trip report.
That staircase in the church is incredible, to have the vision to be able to do that so long ago with the tools available.
The train pics
Thanks Joe.
In retrospect, I put the biggest tourist draw/destination at the front of the trip which were the two train rides. Being two hours apart from each other, it made sense to do them on consecutive days. Santa Fe was nice but not as much "WOW". But nice and different just the same.
No update for today because it was busy going to Birmingham for most of the day (left at 930a and back at 530p) so will simply pick up the story of our last moving day tomorrow.
Our trip was exactly 14 days/2 weeks of which 6 days were basically "getting there" from Alabama out to New Mexico and back (3 days each way at 400-500 miles per day). 2 days were "moving days" and there were 2 full days of "touring" at three different location. 6+2+2+2+2 = 14 days. DW has some family caregiver commitments that meant two weeks was about as long as we could push the timeline.
This retired thing is pretty sweet. You can travel until you run out of gas or money ......
ED
PS - looking forward to seeing ya in two weeks on the Marceline trip.
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Saturday June 26, 2021
Today was our last "moving day" and the shortest drive of the trip at 160 miles. Moving days are opportunities to take care of behind the scenes stuff like laundry and grocery shopping. And that would be true of today as well. Starting today also we would get the first rain clouds of the trip and they would last for three days.
Again, no rush to leave out in the morning (which is nice in itself). We eased onto Interstate 25 again and headed east/north headed for the town of Cimarron in north east New Mexico which is the home of Philmont Scout Ranch which has a special place in my heart. And I wanted DW to see it and what goes on there since I have made five trips out to Philmont (2 as a Boy Scout and 3 as an adult leader) with the last being in 2012.
After you leave out of Santa Fe you swing around/over the tail-end of the mountain range that peters out there and you are running north along the flat plains. This was also the route of the Santa Fe Trail to come into Santa Fe itself. The traders didn't make a bee-line for the town itself - too hilly. They actually passed south below the town way out to the east on the plains where it was flat then turned northwest through one easy pass (The Glorietta Pass) and into town. Think of the shape of a capitol letter "J". Today we were driving in the opposite direction.
You get off the interstate and head west. The first range of mountains (The Sangre de Cristo) loom in front of you and get bigger. And bigger.
In fact the slogan of the town of Cimarron (population about 1,000) is "where the Rockies meet the Plains" and it's true. As you can see the cloud cover obscured the tops of some mountains which around town exceed 11,000 ft (the tallest I've hiked is 12,400 ft+ on the north side of the Ranch).
As far as available campgrounds, there are very few choices. There is a state park along a canyon about 20 miles away with primitive camping and a local motel that has about 5 sites. That leaves the only real campground in town, Ponil Campground (named for the adjacent creek), as our only option.
After Rio Chama (4.5 stars in my book) and Trailer Ranch (5.0 stars in my book), Ponil is a 2 star. Maybe. But it was adequate for our short visit. It has maybe 2-3 full timers and 4-5 trailers that are put out there from surrounding areas from spring to fall and used as weekend cabins. And then handful of sites for overnighters like me (maybe 25 campsites total). They run a very loose operation here - very small town.
After a bite of lunch in the camper, the rain started but not very heavy so we drove down to the Philmont Welcome Center 5 miles south of town. Philmont is open to the public with its museums (more later) and Trading Post (gear, souvenirs) but it runs two different programs: a training center for Scout leaders (various week long programs) and then the backpacking operations (9-12 days in the backcountry) where you will get 25,000 kids/leaders through the backcountry during a summer season. Plus it is a working horse and cattle ranch year-round.
For the 25k folks doing backpacking, you arrive at the Welcome Center and are in that area called Base Camp for about 24 hours. They check medical forms, gear, you get the first couple days of food, paying and checking in, etc. There are canvas tents and cots for the one night and a Dining Hall before you hit the trail the next day. On your last trail day when you return to Base Camp (dirty, smelly, hungry, but happy) you can get a hot shower, clean clothes from your travel bag, and head for the snack shop. Again you're there for one night then you head home. It's a cycle that processes 300-400 arriving people per day and the same number leaving every day. Due to the rain I didn't get as many pictures around Base Camp as I wanted to so I will link in other pictures from the internet to fill in the story.
Campers (and visitors like us) arrive at the Welcome Center where the boot sign let's you know you've arrived (not my pic).
Yes I have posed under this sign with my groups. And yes a few of my boys threw their shoes up on the sign (took several attempts). Just to the right of the American flag you can see the Tooth of Time mountain peeking up above the ridge. The ToT was a sign to those traders on the Santa Fe Trail (the Mountain Branch came right down the 2-lane highway before it was there) that they were only about a week away from Santa Fe.
This is the sign after they cut all the boot laces at the end of a summer (not my pic):
Here is a pic I took under my umbrella.
I hiked down that ridge to the right of the ToT into Base Camp on my last trip. We had camped up on the ridge the night before, clambered up the ToT with flashlights in the dark to watch the sun come up, saw a beautiful sunrise, then grabbed our packs and hiked into Base Camp.
A picture postcard example of sunrise on the Tooth of Time (not my pic) looking toward the eastern Plains:
So DW and I walked around Base Camp.
And visited the Trading Post.
At mid-afternoon the rain was a bit more steady so I took DW back into town to the one interesting building in town. The St. James Hotel.
I'll cover the St. James in the next post.
Bama Ed
Today was our last "moving day" and the shortest drive of the trip at 160 miles. Moving days are opportunities to take care of behind the scenes stuff like laundry and grocery shopping. And that would be true of today as well. Starting today also we would get the first rain clouds of the trip and they would last for three days.
Again, no rush to leave out in the morning (which is nice in itself). We eased onto Interstate 25 again and headed east/north headed for the town of Cimarron in north east New Mexico which is the home of Philmont Scout Ranch which has a special place in my heart. And I wanted DW to see it and what goes on there since I have made five trips out to Philmont (2 as a Boy Scout and 3 as an adult leader) with the last being in 2012.
After you leave out of Santa Fe you swing around/over the tail-end of the mountain range that peters out there and you are running north along the flat plains. This was also the route of the Santa Fe Trail to come into Santa Fe itself. The traders didn't make a bee-line for the town itself - too hilly. They actually passed south below the town way out to the east on the plains where it was flat then turned northwest through one easy pass (The Glorietta Pass) and into town. Think of the shape of a capitol letter "J". Today we were driving in the opposite direction.
You get off the interstate and head west. The first range of mountains (The Sangre de Cristo) loom in front of you and get bigger. And bigger.
In fact the slogan of the town of Cimarron (population about 1,000) is "where the Rockies meet the Plains" and it's true. As you can see the cloud cover obscured the tops of some mountains which around town exceed 11,000 ft (the tallest I've hiked is 12,400 ft+ on the north side of the Ranch).
As far as available campgrounds, there are very few choices. There is a state park along a canyon about 20 miles away with primitive camping and a local motel that has about 5 sites. That leaves the only real campground in town, Ponil Campground (named for the adjacent creek), as our only option.
After Rio Chama (4.5 stars in my book) and Trailer Ranch (5.0 stars in my book), Ponil is a 2 star. Maybe. But it was adequate for our short visit. It has maybe 2-3 full timers and 4-5 trailers that are put out there from surrounding areas from spring to fall and used as weekend cabins. And then handful of sites for overnighters like me (maybe 25 campsites total). They run a very loose operation here - very small town.
After a bite of lunch in the camper, the rain started but not very heavy so we drove down to the Philmont Welcome Center 5 miles south of town. Philmont is open to the public with its museums (more later) and Trading Post (gear, souvenirs) but it runs two different programs: a training center for Scout leaders (various week long programs) and then the backpacking operations (9-12 days in the backcountry) where you will get 25,000 kids/leaders through the backcountry during a summer season. Plus it is a working horse and cattle ranch year-round.
For the 25k folks doing backpacking, you arrive at the Welcome Center and are in that area called Base Camp for about 24 hours. They check medical forms, gear, you get the first couple days of food, paying and checking in, etc. There are canvas tents and cots for the one night and a Dining Hall before you hit the trail the next day. On your last trail day when you return to Base Camp (dirty, smelly, hungry, but happy) you can get a hot shower, clean clothes from your travel bag, and head for the snack shop. Again you're there for one night then you head home. It's a cycle that processes 300-400 arriving people per day and the same number leaving every day. Due to the rain I didn't get as many pictures around Base Camp as I wanted to so I will link in other pictures from the internet to fill in the story.
Campers (and visitors like us) arrive at the Welcome Center where the boot sign let's you know you've arrived (not my pic).
Yes I have posed under this sign with my groups. And yes a few of my boys threw their shoes up on the sign (took several attempts). Just to the right of the American flag you can see the Tooth of Time mountain peeking up above the ridge. The ToT was a sign to those traders on the Santa Fe Trail (the Mountain Branch came right down the 2-lane highway before it was there) that they were only about a week away from Santa Fe.
This is the sign after they cut all the boot laces at the end of a summer (not my pic):
Here is a pic I took under my umbrella.
I hiked down that ridge to the right of the ToT into Base Camp on my last trip. We had camped up on the ridge the night before, clambered up the ToT with flashlights in the dark to watch the sun come up, saw a beautiful sunrise, then grabbed our packs and hiked into Base Camp.
A picture postcard example of sunrise on the Tooth of Time (not my pic) looking toward the eastern Plains:
So DW and I walked around Base Camp.
And visited the Trading Post.
At mid-afternoon the rain was a bit more steady so I took DW back into town to the one interesting building in town. The St. James Hotel.
I'll cover the St. James in the next post.
Bama Ed
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Saturday June 26, 2021 continued
The St James Hotel is a draw in its own right. Built in the 1870s in "Old Town" Cimarron (south of the Cimarron River) it was part hotel, part restaurant, part gambling hall. Given that gold was discovered in the area in the 1870s it became a thing of legend. A Who's Who of western history slept there (and signed the guest registers). Kit Carson, Bat Masterson, Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Billy the Kid, and Bama Ed (didn't sleep there but I signed the register ). This is the St James today.
https://www.exstjames.com/
It was built adjacent to the Santa Fe Trail in its later years but even after the railroads reached Santa Fe, the area still had gold miners and soldiers and stage coach lines and lots of people coming through Cimarron (also a short-cut to Taos).
The hotel was even featured in the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.
(The Colfax County War was a long running dispute about who owned and could live on the surrounding land).
Thankfully in our present day, a rich guy bought the hotel about a decade ago and has completely refurbished the old historic hotel rooms and redone the restaurant VERY nicely (it has an outside courtyard for dining and drinks) and a section of motel rooms from the 1950s or 60s. DW enjoyed looking at the open historic hotel rooms and lobby area.
An example of one of the historic rooms (The Bat Masterson Room) pic from hotel website (Full + Twin with full bath starting at $175 per night):
We stuck our nose in the restaurant, saw how nice it was (ate there on all three adult trips to Philmont but it never looked this nice inside) and made a reservation for dinner later that night (small so can get crowded).
There are a few old buildings around the St James that are now antique shops (and one other eatery) but it's a very small area. We headed over to check out the one tiny grocery store in town and to freshen up before dinner.
Whether I'm traveling in Europe or in a tiny town like Cimarron, I like to get the vibe of a place by going to and attending church services there and visiting their groceries/markets. Whether its food for the body or food for the soul, you get a sense of place and people in both. Russell's One Stop sells gas too and while the one or two other gas stations in town have a little convenience store section, if Russell's don't have it, you don't need it. (not my pic)
I don't have enough linked photo slots left in this post so I'll cover dinner at the St James in one more post.
Bama Ed
The St James Hotel is a draw in its own right. Built in the 1870s in "Old Town" Cimarron (south of the Cimarron River) it was part hotel, part restaurant, part gambling hall. Given that gold was discovered in the area in the 1870s it became a thing of legend. A Who's Who of western history slept there (and signed the guest registers). Kit Carson, Bat Masterson, Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Billy the Kid, and Bama Ed (didn't sleep there but I signed the register
). This is the St James today.https://www.exstjames.com/
It was built adjacent to the Santa Fe Trail in its later years but even after the railroads reached Santa Fe, the area still had gold miners and soldiers and stage coach lines and lots of people coming through Cimarron (also a short-cut to Taos).
The hotel was even featured in the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.
(The Colfax County War was a long running dispute about who owned and could live on the surrounding land).
Thankfully in our present day, a rich guy bought the hotel about a decade ago and has completely refurbished the old historic hotel rooms and redone the restaurant VERY nicely (it has an outside courtyard for dining and drinks) and a section of motel rooms from the 1950s or 60s. DW enjoyed looking at the open historic hotel rooms and lobby area.
An example of one of the historic rooms (The Bat Masterson Room) pic from hotel website (Full + Twin with full bath starting at $175 per night):
We stuck our nose in the restaurant, saw how nice it was (ate there on all three adult trips to Philmont but it never looked this nice inside) and made a reservation for dinner later that night (small so can get crowded).
There are a few old buildings around the St James that are now antique shops (and one other eatery) but it's a very small area. We headed over to check out the one tiny grocery store in town and to freshen up before dinner.
Whether I'm traveling in Europe or in a tiny town like Cimarron, I like to get the vibe of a place by going to and attending church services there and visiting their groceries/markets. Whether its food for the body or food for the soul, you get a sense of place and people in both. Russell's One Stop sells gas too and while the one or two other gas stations in town have a little convenience store section, if Russell's don't have it, you don't need it. (not my pic)
I don't have enough linked photo slots left in this post so I'll cover dinner at the St James in one more post.
Bama Ed
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bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Saturday June 26, 2021 continued
Dinner at the St. James was very nice. We had a table in the old gambling hall room which was nicely appointed and also has the bar on one side.
That's an old roulette wheel in the table in the middle of the room in the pic above.
If you read the pics above from the NM History Museum, you saw that the St. James (particularly the gambling room) could be a rough place in the late 1800s. It says 26 men died at the St James (booze, gambling, money, gold, guns - what could possibly go wrong? ). Several others were shot out in the road outside the hotel over the years. Fortunately the old pressed tin ceiling from those days remains with the bullet holes still in them.
I asked how there could be bullet holes in the ceiling yet still hotel guest rooms in the floor upstairs directly above. Wasn't that dangerous for guests in their rooms? The answer was that the ceiling of the gambling hall, when the hotel rooms were built on top, was reinforced with several inches of thick local lumber to stop a bullet from going through the ceiling.
DW got a salad and I got some enchiladas (I had squeezed my sour cream on before I remembered to take a photo):
Their food service truck had not made its scheduled resupply delivery that day so they were all out of ground bison so I could not get the bison burger on the menu that was my first choice (and has been my go-to here on past trips).
There was one small-town extra touch at the end. The dessert menu is not extensive but for $2.50 we got the ice cream sundae to share with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and TWO cherries on top (we had asked for two spoons). It was cheap and ample and delicious. The refillable sodas were only $2 each too and much better priced than what WDW charges. <ahem>
So that was our Saturday. Since it was a short drive on moving day we actually got some touring time in too at Philmont's Base Camp and the St. James. We have two full days yet in town before we start home.
Bama Ed
Dinner at the St. James was very nice. We had a table in the old gambling hall room which was nicely appointed and also has the bar on one side.
That's an old roulette wheel in the table in the middle of the room in the pic above.
If you read the pics above from the NM History Museum, you saw that the St. James (particularly the gambling room) could be a rough place in the late 1800s. It says 26 men died at the St James (booze, gambling, money, gold, guns - what could possibly go wrong?
). Several others were shot out in the road outside the hotel over the years. Fortunately the old pressed tin ceiling from those days remains with the bullet holes still in them.I asked how there could be bullet holes in the ceiling yet still hotel guest rooms in the floor upstairs directly above. Wasn't that dangerous for guests in their rooms? The answer was that the ceiling of the gambling hall, when the hotel rooms were built on top, was reinforced with several inches of thick local lumber to stop a bullet from going through the ceiling.
DW got a salad and I got some enchiladas (I had squeezed my sour cream on before I remembered to take a photo):
Their food service truck had not made its scheduled resupply delivery that day so they were all out of ground bison so I could not get the bison burger on the menu that was my first choice (and has been my go-to here on past trips).
There was one small-town extra touch at the end. The dessert menu is not extensive but for $2.50 we got the ice cream sundae to share with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and TWO cherries on top (we had asked for two spoons). It was cheap and ample and delicious. The refillable sodas were only $2 each too and much better priced than what WDW charges. <ahem>
So that was our Saturday. Since it was a short drive on moving day we actually got some touring time in too at Philmont's Base Camp and the St. James. We have two full days yet in town before we start home.
Bama Ed
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Sunday June 27, 2021
Our last Sunday of the trip and time to check out the local church in little Cimarron, Immaculate Conception Parish.
The oldest portion of the church dates back to the 1860s or 1870s.
They recognized visitors during the service (we waved). Nice bunch of people.
After lunch back at the trailer, DW had an opportunity to wander around the antique stores around the St James. She didn't buy anything but it was fun to look.
We had scheduled a 2pm tour for that afternoon at the Villa Philmonte, "The Big House", that was part of the Philmont Training Center. The Boy Scouts were gifted the land that became Philmont in the late 1930s and early 1940s by a man named Waite Phillips, an Oklahoma man who made a fortune in oil and gas in the 1920s. He later sold his company which became the Phillips 66 gas station chain. He built a large summer house on his New Mexico ranch in Cimarron in 1926 and 1927 in the Spanish Mediterranean style (similar to his main home in Tulsa). Phillips built his ranch to operate year round. Restless for a new challenge in life, he and his wife moved to California where he was an active commercial real estate developer. But the Boy Scouts kept the home and give tours as it is a living museum.
The Villa today (not my pic).
Here is the living room through the arches in the middle of the ground floor. Summer breezes instead of AC (not my pic).
Waite's Trophy Room (not my pic).
There's much more (not my pic).
The upstairs bedrooms were off limits because they were small and couldn't meet social distancing rules (New Mexico opened up more on July 1 but we were there in late June under the earlier rules).
By the end of the Villa tour, the rain had stopped so we ran down Hwy 21 a couple miles more to Philmont's Rayado camp which was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The adobe enclosure has been rebuilt and it staffed by Philmont summer workers. The camp has/had a blacksmith, store, and sold livestock and horses to people nearing the end of the Santa Fe Trail. Didn't get any pics down there sadly. But then driving back towards Base Camp, we got a great view of the Tooth of Time.
A nice wide view of the Tooth and the Ridge coming down into Base Camp.
Way down to the left of the Tooth is a another signature stone formation. A little hard to get close to for a photograph unless you are on the trail under it but Grizzly Tooth is out there too (not my pic).
For dinner we had a bite at the Cree Mee, a sort of local Dairy Queen style food and ice cream shop.
Bama Ed
Our last Sunday of the trip and time to check out the local church in little Cimarron, Immaculate Conception Parish.
The oldest portion of the church dates back to the 1860s or 1870s.
They recognized visitors during the service (we waved). Nice bunch of people.
After lunch back at the trailer, DW had an opportunity to wander around the antique stores around the St James. She didn't buy anything but it was fun to look.
We had scheduled a 2pm tour for that afternoon at the Villa Philmonte, "The Big House", that was part of the Philmont Training Center. The Boy Scouts were gifted the land that became Philmont in the late 1930s and early 1940s by a man named Waite Phillips, an Oklahoma man who made a fortune in oil and gas in the 1920s. He later sold his company which became the Phillips 66 gas station chain. He built a large summer house on his New Mexico ranch in Cimarron in 1926 and 1927 in the Spanish Mediterranean style (similar to his main home in Tulsa). Phillips built his ranch to operate year round. Restless for a new challenge in life, he and his wife moved to California where he was an active commercial real estate developer. But the Boy Scouts kept the home and give tours as it is a living museum.
The Villa today (not my pic).
Here is the living room through the arches in the middle of the ground floor. Summer breezes instead of AC (not my pic).
Waite's Trophy Room (not my pic).
There's much more (not my pic).
The upstairs bedrooms were off limits because they were small and couldn't meet social distancing rules (New Mexico opened up more on July 1 but we were there in late June under the earlier rules).
By the end of the Villa tour, the rain had stopped so we ran down Hwy 21 a couple miles more to Philmont's Rayado camp which was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The adobe enclosure has been rebuilt and it staffed by Philmont summer workers. The camp has/had a blacksmith, store, and sold livestock and horses to people nearing the end of the Santa Fe Trail. Didn't get any pics down there sadly. But then driving back towards Base Camp, we got a great view of the Tooth of Time.
A nice wide view of the Tooth and the Ridge coming down into Base Camp.
Way down to the left of the Tooth is a another signature stone formation. A little hard to get close to for a photograph unless you are on the trail under it but Grizzly Tooth is out there too (not my pic).
For dinner we had a bite at the Cree Mee, a sort of local Dairy Queen style food and ice cream shop.
Bama Ed
Last edited:
Part-Time Paradise
Is it camping season yet?
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2019
I never made it to Philmont as a Scout. Always wanted to. I got to go to a National Jamboree and Northern Tier, but the timing for the Philmont trips always stunk.
DS is getting in to Scouts now. Hopefully my body hangs in there to make a trip out there with him someday soon.
Great pics, Ed.
DS is getting in to Scouts now. Hopefully my body hangs in there to make a trip out there with him someday soon.
Great pics, Ed.
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Monday June 28, 2021
It was our last full day of vacation. At least the rain had stopped this morning although it was still cloudy. On the agenda for today was two more Philmont museums and our last meal at the St James.
The first thing we did was take a 25-mile ride up through the middle of Philmont on Hwy 64 due west and back along the Cimarron River canyon to look at all the fire damage from the 2018 Ute Park fires (Ute Park is the little community at the top of the canyon). Lightning started a fire on May 31 and burned over 50 sq miles of Philmont land (small amount of state land). And it took 3 weeks to contain which prevented the Scouts from arriving that year. Philmont had to close because it could not accommodate all those campers with burned land right in the middle of it basically cutting it in two. Many, many treks begin in the south country and traverse the highway (under it) in a few places to the north country or visa versa. That was impossible. And coupled with closing for the pandemic last year (as did nearly everything), Philmont has had to adjust quite a bit lately.
Our first destination after the drive was the relatively new Boy Scout Museum at Philmont.
It replaced the BSA Museum that had been adjacent to BSA national headquarters in Dallas. It was moved to Philmont because Philmont gets 25,000 campers a year and some of those spend an hour or two at the Musuem. But when it was in Dallas, it didn't get many visitors (but I had been there). Sorta like the National College Football Hall of Fame was originally in South Bend, IN but nobody apparently went to it there so it moved to Atlanta where the Omni and Mercedes Dome area is and it gets quite the foot traffic now. <insert South Bend football jokes here>.
The Museum at Philmont is a little smaller than the one at Dallas was but it was good to see some young people soaking up their BSA heritage.
After the Museum we walked across the road back to the Tooth of Time Traders (TOTT) which is the formal name of the Philmont Trading Post in Base Camp for one last walk-through and impulse purchase.
They have expanded their branding station and I got the Philmont leather belt that I was wearing branded (it's the thing to do).
The "bar pee ess" brand is the Philmont cattle brand.
The "slash ess" brand (even tho the slash is backwards) is the Philmont horse brand.
Funny shirt inside the trading post.
"Hiking our <burro> off since 1938". Our crew in 2012 had a burro for a couple days (had to take him if your trek had one included) which teaches the boys some of the heritage of the past with miners and mountain men who used pack animals. They learned to pack him and he lightened their back packs for a few days. The boys named him Mr. Burrito. Here we are with him on the trail:
Let's keep rolling.
Bama Ed
It was our last full day of vacation. At least the rain had stopped this morning although it was still cloudy. On the agenda for today was two more Philmont museums and our last meal at the St James.
The first thing we did was take a 25-mile ride up through the middle of Philmont on Hwy 64 due west and back along the Cimarron River canyon to look at all the fire damage from the 2018 Ute Park fires (Ute Park is the little community at the top of the canyon). Lightning started a fire on May 31 and burned over 50 sq miles of Philmont land (small amount of state land). And it took 3 weeks to contain which prevented the Scouts from arriving that year. Philmont had to close because it could not accommodate all those campers with burned land right in the middle of it basically cutting it in two. Many, many treks begin in the south country and traverse the highway (under it) in a few places to the north country or visa versa. That was impossible. And coupled with closing for the pandemic last year (as did nearly everything), Philmont has had to adjust quite a bit lately.
Our first destination after the drive was the relatively new Boy Scout Museum at Philmont.
It replaced the BSA Museum that had been adjacent to BSA national headquarters in Dallas. It was moved to Philmont because Philmont gets 25,000 campers a year and some of those spend an hour or two at the Musuem. But when it was in Dallas, it didn't get many visitors (but I had been there). Sorta like the National College Football Hall of Fame was originally in South Bend, IN but nobody apparently went to it there so it moved to Atlanta where the Omni and Mercedes Dome area is and it gets quite the foot traffic now. <insert South Bend football jokes here>.
The Museum at Philmont is a little smaller than the one at Dallas was but it was good to see some young people soaking up their BSA heritage.
After the Museum we walked across the road back to the Tooth of Time Traders (TOTT) which is the formal name of the Philmont Trading Post in Base Camp for one last walk-through and impulse purchase.
They have expanded their branding station and I got the Philmont leather belt that I was wearing branded (it's the thing to do).
The "bar pee ess" brand is the Philmont cattle brand.
The "slash ess" brand (even tho the slash is backwards) is the Philmont horse brand.
Funny shirt inside the trading post.
"Hiking our <burro> off since 1938". Our crew in 2012 had a burro for a couple days (had to take him if your trek had one included) which teaches the boys some of the heritage of the past with miners and mountain men who used pack animals. They learned to pack him and he lightened their back packs for a few days. The boys named him Mr. Burrito. Here we are with him on the trail:
Let's keep rolling.
Bama Ed
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Monday June 28, 2021 continued
On the way back to the trailer for lunch we stopped at the St James and made a reservation for a table that night.
The second museum is the Chase Ranch House which has Philmont summer staff giving tours of the house. The Chase family ranch is one of the oldest in the area and when the last family member died (who wanted to ranch) about a decade ago, the ranch continued operating under a family foundation but asked Philmont to pass on the legacy of ranching in Cimarron (not my pic).
One interesting thing riding out there on the old dirt rutted road was the cactus growing in the pastures on the side of the road.
At the St James that evening, I was in a good mood because the food service truck had made its delivery that morning.
However, in a fit of healthy eating (?), I chose the Santa Fe chicken instead of the bison burger.
DW went rogue as she does sometimes and got an appetizer as her main course: beef nachos.
And yes, we got the ice cream sundae again for dessert.
Sad night. In the morning we would point our car east and start heading home. But stay tuned because I'm not out of stories to tell. Yet.
Bama Ed
On the way back to the trailer for lunch we stopped at the St James and made a reservation for a table that night.
The second museum is the Chase Ranch House which has Philmont summer staff giving tours of the house. The Chase family ranch is one of the oldest in the area and when the last family member died (who wanted to ranch) about a decade ago, the ranch continued operating under a family foundation but asked Philmont to pass on the legacy of ranching in Cimarron (not my pic).
One interesting thing riding out there on the old dirt rutted road was the cactus growing in the pastures on the side of the road.
At the St James that evening, I was in a good mood because the food service truck had made its delivery that morning.
However, in a fit of healthy eating (?), I chose the Santa Fe chicken instead of the bison burger.
DW went rogue as she does sometimes and got an appetizer as her main course: beef nachos.
And yes, we got the ice cream sundae again for dessert.
Sad night. In the morning we would point our car east and start heading home. But stay tuned because I'm not out of stories to tell. Yet.
Bama Ed
Last edited:
bama_ed
It's kind of fun to do the impossible-Walt Disney
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2004
Tuesday June 29, 2021
Rolled out of Cimarron just before 7am headed east cross-country. It rained off-and-on parts of the way but the roads were mostly empty. Pretty easy to pack and go in the mornings now. Not many groceries left. We had about a 4 hr drive through prairie towns and whole-lot-of-nuthin towards Amarillo and the regular life we'd left behind. Crossing into Texas also meant gaining that hour back in the Central Time Zone.
I am a creature of habit so you won't be surprised to learn that I had booked us in Amarillo at the Big Texan RV Ranch again (and they even gave us the same campsite by chance) so that part was all familiar. However, no Big Texan Steak for dinner tonight - nope - we would go instead for a late lunch to the Big Texan for our steak fix (mine anyway) and I had other plans for dinner.
Given that I had gotten the 24oz ribeye at the Big Texan on the drive out, it seemed a fitting end that I would get the 36oz ribeye on the drive back. And I ate the whole thing.
The steak is not thick but it is wide.
DW wisely chose to do a simple salad and baked potato (not loaded).
After we had placed our order at our table (balcony upstairs), the bell was rung because we had a challenger for the 72oz steak meal. The man took his seat, the countdown clock started, and then folks came up to take pictures. Like me.
I walked down to offer him good luck. He muffled, "thanks buddy" without looking up and kept chewing.
As we were leaving I checked on our man. He had 15 minutes left and about half the food on the table still. But I hope he made it.
If he made it, he joins the list of past champions that's out in the lobby/check-in area.
After a nap and some down time back at the camper (still rainy btw) and still full from our late lunch (at least I was), we headed down I25 a ways to Palo Duro State Park to attend an outdoor musical called TEXAS for the 8pm show. A couple notes at this point:
- our 1980 Boy Scout group had camped at PDSP on the way to Philmont and I/we attended the TEXAS musical that night. So there was a nostalgia angle
- the campground at PDSP was full so no reservation made when I checked which was okay with me because of the 10% grade on the 2 mile road down to the bottom of the canyon where the campground was from the plateau above where the highway was.
- the show is in its 55th season this summer and is performed outdoors in an amphitheater with the canyon walls lit as a backdrop. Many of the actors are from the local college's theater program.
- tickets said the show went on "rain or shine" and there was some drizzle in the forecast but we drove the half hour out there anyway
The show has a storyline and several song/dance numbers of course. Here is its description from the website:
A FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOW set against an authentic tapestry of history, the show’s fictional characters bring to life the stories, struggles and triumphs of the settlers of the Texas Panhandle in the 1800's. Song and dance abound – and a generous helping of good ol’ Texas humor too – with spellbinding lighting, special effects and fireworks.
https://www.texas-show.com/
At first the weather was okay when we arrived.
But then the rain started. Gently at first - not hard enough to pull out the rain gear .....
The early crowd had come prepared and that night's show was nowhere near a sell-out. The rain came down a little harder.
Maybe I shouldn't have bought those tickets in advance.
I pulled out our rain gear that I had brought from the camper and we put them on.
I remember paying $10 each at the little Splash Mountain gift shop for these on a trip and kept them in the camper for an occasion such as this.
The show did go on with all the energy you see in Hoop Dee Doo Review. And the rain was coming down steadily at this point. At the intermission, DW and I both decided it was okay to leave and head out. I'm sure the show had a happy ending but my feet were wet despite my best efforts to keep them tucked under my seat.
HEAVY, heavy rain on the interstate headed back to the Big Texan RV Ranch. And a fast dash from the car to the trailer. Sleeping in the Aliner when it's raining is like sleeping in a popcorn popper but we were soon out anyway.
Bama Ed
Rolled out of Cimarron just before 7am headed east cross-country. It rained off-and-on parts of the way but the roads were mostly empty. Pretty easy to pack and go in the mornings now. Not many groceries left. We had about a 4 hr drive through prairie towns and whole-lot-of-nuthin towards Amarillo and the regular life we'd left behind. Crossing into Texas also meant gaining that hour back in the Central Time Zone.
I am a creature of habit so you won't be surprised to learn that I had booked us in Amarillo at the Big Texan RV Ranch again (and they even gave us the same campsite by chance) so that part was all familiar. However, no Big Texan Steak for dinner tonight - nope - we would go instead for a late lunch to the Big Texan for our steak fix (mine anyway) and I had other plans for dinner.
Given that I had gotten the 24oz ribeye at the Big Texan on the drive out, it seemed a fitting end that I would get the 36oz ribeye on the drive back. And I ate the whole thing.
The steak is not thick but it is wide.
DW wisely chose to do a simple salad and baked potato (not loaded).
After we had placed our order at our table (balcony upstairs), the bell was rung because we had a challenger for the 72oz steak meal. The man took his seat, the countdown clock started, and then folks came up to take pictures. Like me.
I walked down to offer him good luck. He muffled, "thanks buddy" without looking up and kept chewing.
As we were leaving I checked on our man. He had 15 minutes left and about half the food on the table still. But I hope he made it.
If he made it, he joins the list of past champions that's out in the lobby/check-in area.
After a nap and some down time back at the camper (still rainy btw) and still full from our late lunch (at least I was), we headed down I25 a ways to Palo Duro State Park to attend an outdoor musical called TEXAS for the 8pm show. A couple notes at this point:
- our 1980 Boy Scout group had camped at PDSP on the way to Philmont and I/we attended the TEXAS musical that night. So there was a nostalgia angle
- the campground at PDSP was full so no reservation made when I checked which was okay with me because of the 10% grade on the 2 mile road down to the bottom of the canyon where the campground was from the plateau above where the highway was.
- the show is in its 55th season this summer and is performed outdoors in an amphitheater with the canyon walls lit as a backdrop. Many of the actors are from the local college's theater program.
- tickets said the show went on "rain or shine" and there was some drizzle in the forecast but we drove the half hour out there anyway
The show has a storyline and several song/dance numbers of course. Here is its description from the website:
A FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOW set against an authentic tapestry of history, the show’s fictional characters bring to life the stories, struggles and triumphs of the settlers of the Texas Panhandle in the 1800's. Song and dance abound – and a generous helping of good ol’ Texas humor too – with spellbinding lighting, special effects and fireworks.
https://www.texas-show.com/
At first the weather was okay when we arrived.
But then the rain started. Gently at first - not hard enough to pull out the rain gear .....
The early crowd had come prepared and that night's show was nowhere near a sell-out. The rain came down a little harder.
Maybe I shouldn't have bought those tickets in advance.
I pulled out our rain gear that I had brought from the camper and we put them on.
I remember paying $10 each at the little Splash Mountain gift shop for these on a trip and kept them in the camper for an occasion such as this.
The show did go on with all the energy you see in Hoop Dee Doo Review. And the rain was coming down steadily at this point. At the intermission, DW and I both decided it was okay to leave and head out. I'm sure the show had a happy ending but my feet were wet despite my best efforts to keep them tucked under my seat.
HEAVY, heavy rain on the interstate headed back to the Big Texan RV Ranch. And a fast dash from the car to the trailer. Sleeping in the Aliner when it's raining is like sleeping in a popcorn popper but we were soon out anyway.
Bama Ed
Last edited:
Teamubr
From somewhere outside StL
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2010
Ed,
Loving the TR and the Philmont pics. It has been a LONG time since I was there. I turned 16 at Philmont. Still remember the trek number that we screamed at every chance. 717a-77. Started south, Uracca Mesa, and finished coming over the tooth into base camp. We topped Phillips, but didn't make it as far up as Baldy. Still amazing views at almost 12,000 ft.
j
Loving the TR and the Philmont pics. It has been a LONG time since I was there. I turned 16 at Philmont. Still remember the trek number that we screamed at every chance. 717a-77. Started south, Uracca Mesa, and finished coming over the tooth into base camp. We topped Phillips, but didn't make it as far up as Baldy. Still amazing views at almost 12,000 ft.
j
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