In the morning it was snowing, windy, and quite cold. Our Earthroamer was warm and comfortable inside, making it hard to get excited about a hike. But we had a long day of driving ahead of us and needed a little exercise. We did a short hike up the Jasper Ridge Trail and collected a few small pieces of jasper. This is one of 2 state parks in the US where you are actually allowed to collect rocks.
On the way back Ian fell on a yucca plant, spearing his hand with a 1/2 inch long spine, straight into his palm. it was cone shaped like the tip of a pencil. Ian stoically bore the pain while I dug around in his hand trying to get purchase on the end of the spine. I think it was the biggest thorn I have ever removed! Meanwhile, Cyrus had a scratch on his eye, left over from the blowing sand at the Hauser Geode Beds. We hoped both would heal with out further intervention.
Leaving the park, we stopped at a ancient looking brick building that advertised rocks for sale. A Gandalf-looking man with a felt gray hat greeted us pleasantly and then started to tell us his life story about his geodes, fast cars and curvaceous blonds. He was very interesting, but we needed to keep moving. We bought a bag of rocks, he tossed a few freebies for listening, and we hit the road.
We reached Alamagordo NM in time to select a campsite at Edgington RV park before dark. All the reviews on-line said it was run by a super nice family and they were right! It was owned and operated by a very nice man named John Davis. He helpfully gave us recommendations for dinner, and instructions for the game room. He loved the Earthroamer and took a few pictures of it. He said he’d been running his park 30 years and had never seen one before. We decided to treat ourselves and go out to dinner and a movie. Inspired by our chat with Gandalf earlier, we saw “The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies,” in 3D no less!
