When the Embers Go Cold - Day 3
Out by 8, or was it 9AM, my first stop of the day was Wal Mart. I needed a case of water, and a fold-up canvas sitting chair. If things went right, I would be camping by nights end. And things went well.
The next stop was the White Sands National 
Monument, after a picturesque two hour drive. I had gone to the Sand Dunes NP in Colorado on the first trip, and this proved to be the junior version of that spectacle. There were no dunes that were too difficult for a fit person to ascend, but the beauty of the rippled sand and it’s uniqueness, made it no less worth a visit.
Monument, after a picturesque two hour drive. I had gone to the Sand Dunes NP in Colorado on the first trip, and this proved to be the junior version of that spectacle. There were no dunes that were too difficult for a fit person to ascend, but the beauty of the rippled sand and it’s uniqueness, made it no less worth a visit.It sits in the middle of a missile bombing range and sometimes they have to close it so the government can take some big gun practice shooting. It’s not far from alien sighting Roswell. An atom bomb had been tested near by. I’m all aglow.
From there, I decided I was too close not to go to Roswell, and hope to find a tourist trap with an extremely cheesy T-shirt with a green head and some pithy yet cryptic words. Alas, it was not to be. I was half way to Roswell when I saw a sign for Apache Frybread. That is a “must pull over” signal to my tastebuds. Before I could get off the road, I was caught up to and moved to the side of the road by a copper. He swerved to continue past me to whatever stupid emergency he was so pushy about.
So I continued on to the frybread. I’ve written about it before. It’s fantastic and like a flat bread version of funnel cake. This was the real deal stuff as I was on an Apache reservation. The dozen cars in the parking lot in such a desolate area was additional proof that it would be great, and it was.
I got mine to go, headed back on the road to Roswell, and a few miles later ran into a lane of 
parked cars. People were walking forward, figuring out what was going on and word was passed back that a bus had flipped over. Multiple ambulances had passed (while I was getting frybread). And there were bodies in the road. I believed them, so I made a U-turn and forged a new route through the Apache Reservation land that made me miss Roswell all together.
parked cars. People were walking forward, figuring out what was going on and word was passed back that a bus had flipped over. Multiple ambulances had passed (while I was getting frybread). And there were bodies in the road. I believed them, so I made a U-turn and forged a new route through the Apache Reservation land that made me miss Roswell all together.Because of the detour I ended up at Brantley Lake NM State Park where I selected the 
“Primitive” camping location meant for those without an RV. The site I ended up at didn’t provide a thing besides a flat like tent area and a bunch of rocks in a circle for a fire pit. They didn’t sell fire wood, so I had to gather what I could from the nearby trees.
“Primitive” camping location meant for those without an RV. The site I ended up at didn’t provide a thing besides a flat like tent area and a bunch of rocks in a circle for a fire pit. They didn’t sell fire wood, so I had to gather what I could from the nearby trees.I sat a couple of feet from the lake’s edge, ate my Subway hoagie, and watched a superb sunset 
over the lake and distant mountains. The streaky cloud cover greatly improved the susnset, but unfortunately covered up most of the starry night I had hoped to enjoy. It being a day shy of the harvest full moon, didn’t help either. I was exhausted and on my blowup bed by 9PM.
over the lake and distant mountains. The streaky cloud cover greatly improved the susnset, but unfortunately covered up most of the starry night I had hoped to enjoy. It being a day shy of the harvest full moon, didn’t help either. I was exhausted and on my blowup bed by 9PM.It’s time to go to bed when you’ve run out of firewood, and even the embers have gone cold.
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