Day 7
Saturday 1/12
Stockton TX
to
Lordsburg NM
Leaving Fort Stockton we waved good-bye to the silhouette Indians. They stand timelessly as the American Old West does in our minds. Not too far on our trip we headed for Balmorhea State Park. Some claim that it has the largest swimming pool in the world but we’ve seen online that there may be bigger ones. The pool in Zimbabwe comes to mind. Never-the-less, it’s the biggest one we’ve personally seen.
The Three Teepees Rest Stop is missing one important thing: Bathrooms! So, that makes it more like a picnic area. Yet, the view is nice. You can only get to it if you are traveling west on Interstate 10.
Ellen got her picture taken next to a large rooster. It’s what we call a drive-by photo opportunity and allows us to get off the road and rest a bit. And you never can tell what you’ll find. Check out that crayon building. Then there’s the fellow taking a siesta. How about the man sitting in front of his burned out house. Again, there’s the fellow riding his bike in the desert. You can’t make this up.
The one that got us was when all traffic came to a crawl…several times due to the transportation of very, very large shovels. They wound up in El Paso TX.
The statue of Don Juan Oñote is the largest bronze statue in the world (no kidding this time). John Sherrill Houser is the sculptor. Being that Oñote was a conquistador and therefore politically incorrect, some people considered the statue controversial. We actually think that the man on this bronze statue could pick up with one hand those giant shovels we saw on the road!
Today, the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum stole our hearts. It is a gem which should not be kept secret. We went expecting very little. After all, this is located in the little town of Deming NM. This is one of the best museums we’ve been to and need to come visit again since we only had an hour to race through before closing time. Our photos will only give you a tiny glimpse of all that in contains. Check out that doll names Suzy. We’re told that she glows in the dark. Can you guess why?
