Saturday, January 26, 2008 - Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Alamogordo NM
< previous day | archives | next day >
It's close to 40 miles to Alamogordo and back; nearly a whole days trip mileage allotment. I carefully bought enough groceries and other supplies to last easily a week so I wouldn't need to break camp for a while. Or so I thought. This morning I used the last sheet off the toilet paper roll and reached for a new roll.... Right, not a roll to be found anywhere. Ah well, I've wanted to poke around Alamogordo a bit and here's my chance. Maybe have lunch again at Nature's Pantry, check out the thrift shops I passed by last week, Check out the historic downtown section.
Downtown was a bust but the thrift stores came through for me
It looks like there was an attempt at a downtown revival, complete with signage, but that it didn't take so after a quick walk around I headed for the thrift stores and came away with three good shirts and a 50 cent hardcover copy of Arthur C Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth.
Gotcha, take two
Heading back to camp on Dog Canyon Road I stopped at the Oliver Lee General Store & Cafe to grab a cup of coffee and have the look around I've been meaning to have ever since I arrived here. There is something very appealing in it's low end version of the shabby chic tourist trap. The problem, and in a way one of its charms, is that the store is not visible far down the road and sneaks up on you, leaving precious little time to brake and turn in the narrow driveway. Until now I've passed it by but this time I was ready and caught the driveway in good time. What a gem. The coffee is good at the cafe (under separate management), the store is interesting and I plan to drop in again tomorrow to explore and maybe get some pictures for a report. Amongst the jewelry and art and general touristy stuff they stock a few grocery and sundry items for the folks staying up at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, things like eggs and cold cuts and canned goods and toilet paper.
Night camp
Site 8 - Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Alamogordo NM
- Verizon cell phone service - good signal
- Verizon EVDO service - very good signal and access speed ( I have to qualify this - during my January 2008 visit the signal and access speed was excellent - in January 2009 it was practically non-existent during the day and slow at night with unpredictable short periods of excellent access)
- Go to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park website
- Go to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park on my Nightcamps map
- Check the weather here
We Are Clearly a Species Worth Saving
Our world is entering a time of profound and perhaps catastrophic change. My hope is that by getting people to care about and learn about what is in their backyard, they can be made to realize that while it seems like we are destroying the planet in out greed and excess, what we are really destroying is ourselves. The planet and life in general has dealt with catastrophe many times before. Cataclysm on Earth is a creative time and evolution can handle it. Culture is much more fragile and we as individuals are more fragile still. I think that it is time for people to come to terms with the fact that our own behaviors put humanity at risk. While people have always done atrocious things, I believe that we are a species capable of beautiful, amazing and important things as well and we are clearly a species worth saving.
Jon Piasecki