The next couple nights, Saturday & Sunday, I stayed at the casino, to watch the NFL games and to hang out in the casino. After leaving the Dinosaur NP, and traveling most of the day, I’d arrived here around 4:30pm. I’d been here 4 years before so it wasn’t all that interesting and I used the spare time to do some minor repairs to the RV.
Parked at the Ute Indian reservation casino RV Park.
They have a discount for overnight parking if you have a casino cash card, I didn’t but an Indian guy walking by the check in counter offered his. Friendly.
Looking over at the casino.
The next morning, Nov. 2nd, I'm back on the road south. This interesting plateau was just a couple miles south of the casino.
Since my destination is due south, I don’t bother with freeways. I’d have to go out of my way to get on one anyway, so I stay on two lane roads the rest of the trip. Not seeing any traffic for 2 hours at a time is my kind of travel. A few miles before my destination – Magdalena, New Mexico, I’ll passed the VLA (Very Large Array) where they have been conducting deep space radio investigations for decades.
Here's what most of the trip looked like. No one in sight. Suits me fine.
Oooo, new blacktop. Quiets the trip, smooths it out. Loverly.
The VLA. This is as close as you can get from the highway. You can take a tour if you want, but I wasn't that interested. I've seen hundreds of pictures in articles about the VLA so feel I know most of what there is to know about the site.
This site is just about 30 miles from my destination, Magdalena, where I expected to find an interesting art community. Turned out that perception was wrong, but it had an interesting local history. There were and are some artists there now, but not like I expected. I didn’t find any original art I liked enough even to think about buying.
Downtown Magdalena. Most of the business, like this one, had closed years before. I could see some really old antiques through the windows. Those still in business, had reduced hours.
I did find a museum, art gallery, and thrift store all displaying artwork but nothing spectacular. Then I had trouble with the owner of the campground. I was trying to help him work out his problems with a weak WiFi signal in the campground area and told him I was a Computer Consultant. That upset him for some reason and rather then letting me help him, he soon started accusing me of somehow messing with the system from my RV. The signal was so weak in the first place because he didn’t have an outside antenna, just a standard two antenna AP inside his house. Which had a metal roof. Ass. So, I only stayed two nights.
Wholesalers of Everything, and a sign on the door, "If we don't have it, you don't need it".
And the little museum. Use to be the train station.
So, after almost two days here in this quiet and sleepy little town, I headed off to Socorro, NM. Hoping to find a better RV park with good WiFi. I did find a nice bar across the street from where I was staying and I had an afternoon beer there alone with the bar tender, but then the owner walked for the night shift and promptly turned up the jukebox way to loud for that time of day with only one customer. But it is his bar, so I just went home.