Hatch Impressions And Two Highways Worth Traversing
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On our second road trip of recent weeks, the Rufus Retrieval, we found ourselves stranded for a couple days in the lovely little burg of Hatch, New Mexico. Now the stranding is a story in and unto itself, but today I don't really want to relive my fraught with mechanical difficulty past. Instead I shall regale you all with insights from my surprise stay in the chile capital of America.
To start with, Hatch is a pretty tiny town. Like around 1600 souls I think. And there is no false advertising regarding the chile claim. There are dried chiles, roasting tumblers, and ground chile powder EVERYWHERE! Our RV park was right on the east edge of town, a lovely little establishment, and rather straightforward in its name: Hatch RV park.
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As far as RV parks go, this one was beyond adequate with a fully graveled grounds, full hook up services, showers and laundry, excellent WIFI, and even an ice machine! The proprietor of the place worked at least five jobs, one of which was being a professional NFR qualified team roper. I asked him if he ever slept. He replied, "Sleep is for the weak."
Well. call me a weakling and get me a pillow!
Anyway, On our second day in Hatch, we wandered down the main drag and perused all the chile sights. We even bought a bunch of dried chile. This Kat is a little fond of hot and spicy cuisine!
After our truck was fixed. Again. We began our journey north with our truck and travel trailer. The quickest route home to North Idaho was to take highway 491 through the Navajo and Ute nations, and Highway 191 through a very desolate stretch of Utah. If you like desert scenery and a whole lot of magnificent American southwest vibe, then I recommend a cruise on both of those highways. You can see the big rock formations out in the middle of the flatlands near Shiprock, NM. And the red rocks near Moab, Utah are a treat for the eyeballs.
It takes seven hours to drive from Gallup to Spanish Fork, and there is not a lot of civilization in between those two locales. There are enough gas stations if you plan accordingly, and there are also a lot of sheep to look at. I also recommend staying at the Ute Mountain Casino RV park. It is quiet, smells like prairie sage, and the native taco that they serve in the casino restaurant is the size of standard car size hubcap! If anything your popping in awe eyeballs will make the server's day, I know that mine sure did!
And now I must go construct bacon cheeseburgers, for I have a 4H meeting to attend this evening. Peace out my fellow Steemians!
I have never driven out west there. I have to be honest and say I am not sure I want to. First I would worry about the cell coverage. Maybe I have seen to many movies where the car breaks down and folks are stranded in the middle of nowhere. I hear it is hot in the day and cold at night and scarcely any water anywhere...at least that is my impression.
I get not wanting to relive the whole mechanical fiasco. I just have to know if the first place to fix it did you wrong? Oh I have just been wondering about the whole thing, but I get it, some things are best left alone.
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You are so right to be concerned. One nice thing about having the travel trailer is I had a place to hang and water if things went awry, but at the same time that no cell coverage and harsh conditions can be a bit of a concern.
I spent most of my childhood rambling through harsh wilderness, so it just feels normal to be around the extreme, but at the same time we had been through so much that I just wanted to get home and not be inconvenienced any more.
And don't worry, I am going to write of the whole mechanical fiasco, I just wanted to make the tale entertaining and do it justice, and here lately I have been ran almost quite literally into the ground. I told my husband the other day that the first six months of this year have made me feel like I am being punished a bit, but I am trying to stay positive.
I know it's a few hours early, but I hope you have a most marvelous and drier weekend!
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Well, you know when you hit a town called hatch, New Mexico that you are in for a real treat! I actually lived in New Mexico for less than a year but it was up in Alamogordo and I can honestly say that when I rolled into town, I wept. This New England girl had not been West of the Mississippi in the month of Summer and it was quite the shock for me. It was just different and there was no cell service. And everything was so far away. And there were a lot of Native Americans and that was very foreign to me. I had more conversation with parisians then them, so I was out of my comfort zone. I will freely admit that I was such an ass I can't believe it. New Mexico happened to be one of the most fabulous States, as all of the West happens to be.
I know that for the most part they're pretty tiny little towns but they have dried Chiles everywhere. In my opinion, if you carry dried Chiles and you actually grow them there and dry them and sell them oh, there's got to be something redeeming about you.
I'm glad to see that you got the truck fixed and you Begin your journey yet again. You do lead a most adventurous life. I'm not sure whether I have taken 491 or not but I can tell you that I have been through Shiprock and the Red Rocks so perhaps I have. I actually like taking them Road Less Traveled under normal circumstances, even scraping by on gas will not deter. Of course I can say that as I have never ran out of gas, but the bragging stops here because that never works out when you try to show how good you are only to have the universe slap you down and show you who's boss.
If I do go that way again I will be sure to stop at the casino RV Park because this girl loves tacos and made that way so, I can assure you but I would want to take some home! Do you know when I have to go on to San Antonio for a day or two for work I have flown back with tacos from a place called Taco sensation because my children loved them and they would beg me to bring some home when I came. How pathetic are we? I will let you get to your cheeseburgers for that 4H meeting but I can tell you that I am so glad to hear from you and you know I have missed your stories and you need to be a little more consistent in your writing so I can keep up with you! I do need my Kat time
!tip
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I LOVE Alamogordo!! We stayed at the AFB just down the road from there, and I ate some of the best enchiladas I've ever had in my life in that town!
Oh DS, I totally have to laugh, I had a similarly odd experience when I went back East for the first time. After growing up in the west and Alaska, I was used to traveling huge distances to go places, so imagine my surprise when my dad and I once drove through 11 states in one day! It was bananas! And the people, there were so many people!!
You and I feel similarly about chiles it seems, I am constantly on a quest to add them to most of the food I eat, and here in the Pacific Northwest food tends to be a little on the mild side. I like the heat!
For some reason I think a Kat and Denise road trip would have us wandering into all sorts of places unseen and roads less traveled, lol! I love taking the back roads and just looking at things, and honestly, aside from the Rufus Debacle, our road trip was pretty magical.
There is nothing pathetic at all about travel tacos! I love it! My Alaskan fisherman uncle brought down seven pounds of fresh halibut he caught this past weekend for Father's Day, and we annihilated that fish like a bunch of feeding piranhas, ha ha.
I have missed you too and I am hoping to be back on a more normal and consistent basis.:)
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🎁 Hi @generikat! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @dswigle!
@dswigle wrote lately about: Growing Into Life Feel free to follow @dswigle if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide :)
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And get one for me, too!!
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Pillow Fight! Er, I meant Pillow Night, Night, lol!!!
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Haha. I don't know why but I totally feel an affinity those peppers today. Dried out, red face, and bad hair. And perhaps a little hard to handle for some folks. I just had a full night sleep and it ain't helping. Yep ... a weakling, here too. It is one of those days. I wish I had a teleporter because I would definately settled myself right smack in that land with litte civilization. I might get myself one of those tacos, though. Do they deliver to the middle of nowhere just down form the big rock?
A great and obvioulsy inspiring post, Kat. Now I am going to myself to a nunnery:):):)
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Ooh! Being cloistered for a spell sounds lovely, sign me up!
It sounds like you might be due a bit of a sabbatical my friend, I do hope that all is well? I totally get the burn out part!
Perhaps we just need a Native Taco Rehabilitation Fest. Nothing like a few days of lounging around and eating amazing cuisine. I'm in!!:)
Hope today is much better for ya.
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:) Feeling a little more social today:)
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Hello @generikat, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
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