Capulin Volcano

February 7, 2021

Hey guys,

Another interesting, eventful week just passed us by...capped by a trip to a volcano about 2 1/2 hours northeast of us that we've been wanting to check out for some time now. We finally made it into Santa Fe, too, and made a quick dash there on Tuesday morning. I needed to get some bird seed for the ranch and coupled that with Erin needing to grab some things that she's been having trouble finding in Las Vegas. I literally had to tie her down in her seat on the way back, though, as we were on a mission to get back so that she could clean and I could run the dogs and work on the tractor...literally every block that we went through elicited remarks such as, "Ooh, a natural grocer!" or "Oh, strands of red peppers...like 500 of them!" or "Look at that food truck. I'm so hungry!" I kept an even keel through the world's easiest city to get around in(all low buildings and really spaced out blocks) and got us out of there before we got sucked into spending the whole day there...another time. It is a really cool place to go to. Otherwise, we ran into Las Vegas on Friday night to get some groceries and supplies. This seems to be our new thing to do every week. Yesterday we ran up to the volcano and felt that we were transported to another planet, followed up by a very lazy day today.

As for the volcano, we went to Capulin Volcano National Monument(see link below) in Capulin, NM, about 30 miles east of I-25 at Raton. From the top of it you can see New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma & Texas. In a word, it was stunning! Apparently, this area started being active nine million years ago, peaked three million years ago, and this particular cone last blew up 60,000 years ago...sending lava bombs and flows all around it. Many of the surrounding, flat-top mesas are actually ancient, hardened lava flows. It rises about 1000' above the plain that it is on and is one of many extinct volcanoes here in New Mexico...there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of them! We checked in at the visitor's center, got tickets(best $20 we ever spent!), checked out the gift shop(always exquisite stuff at a National Park/Monument) and headed up. There's a mile-long loop that runs the rim of it and we made it to the top, half-way, and turned around and headed back down as it was close to closing time. If you are ever in this part of the world, this is a must-see!

Capulin Volcano National Monument - https://www.nps.gov/cavo/index.htm

Otherwise, Erin's been slowly but steadily getting us unpacked and a home set up for herself. She moved into my house 15 years ago and adapted to the way the house was already set up. Now, she gets to do everything exactly how she would like to have it! We ran out of steam with the daily trips to storage, but have processed a lot and will probably get back to it this week. As for me, I've been studying up on all the critters around here, the soil, plants, etc. Apparently, rattlesnakes don't hibernate here but rather bromate, which is a much milder form of the former. Long story short, a switch flips at 60F and, especially if they're close to the surface in a stump, log, rodent hole, etc., they may slither out any month of the year to catch some rays. Something to think about as I'm treading all four corners of the property with the dogs every day. I'd like to think that the wind will give us a few degrees, as it's always blowing here, but even on the windiest days, I can find nice, still spots in the hilly parts of the property, depending upon which direction the wind is coming from. Speaking of the wind, all week last week it was blowing at 25-35mph steadily, gusting up to the 40s and 50s. Last night it even reached gusts of 60mph! It simply never ceases here. Well, rather, it does, but only in small doses...and actually, that just means that the constant wind speed drops down to 10mph for a few hours.

I've been studying a lot about the soil, too, as I'm seeing Kim trying to protect the land from erosion. We have caliche underneath us, starting at only a few inches in some spots, and it's a hard, natural concrete that forms in arid parts of the world that don't get much rainfall. Rainfall leaches the calcium out of the soil and prevents this from happening elsewhere, but here there are literally reefs forming just underneath the thin layer of top soil that are really hard to break through. Because of this, rain doesn't get a chance to soak in and replenish the ground, it just runs off at breakneck speed through some of the arroyos that I've shared pictures of. This hard layer accounts for all the flint that we're finding(a type of quartz) and the durability of making adobe out of the earth out here. Just a little concrete added to this natural material makes a building material that will last and last. On the runoff front, Kim has been using a huge Case backhoe to make a series of ponds out in the horse pasture to catch the rain when it does come, and to catch any dams that burst by having another catch dam right below it. She really loves playing with the backhoe and is looking at getting one for the ranch, instead of just renting it. I told her that I'll download the service manual and start studying up. I already have worked on the smaller Kioti tractor and feel very comfortable both running it and working on it, so who knows what I'll be able to tear apart and work on out here in the future!

Now, the pictures! I'm having issues with my digital camera right now, so every shot this week is from Erin's phone. She used to do the digital camera thing, too, but upgraded to a smartphone and this is the first that we've downloaded them onto the computer. These are all shots that she's taken since we got here some seven weeks ago. The first five shots are from our trip to Capulin Volcano yesterday. Most are shots from the rim, looking out over the landscape. One is a shot back across the caldera, where you can see the little parking lot at the top of the road and the Rockies way in the distance. The next two shots Erin took of me while we were out running the dogs. The next three shots are of some of the flora out here: a Gambel's Oak...very few and far between(as are deciduous trees, in general, out here); a closeup of a pinyon; one of the kinds of yucca out here. Next, is a shot of me horsing around and having breakfast with my buds...Freedom and Negrita in this instance. Then, Erin's new favorite beer: Pepe Loco from Santa Fe Brewing Company, a Mexican lager. Out here, you squeeze lime right onto the top of the can and then give it a good coating with the beer salt seen in the picture...absolutely delicious and refreshing! The last four shots are different landscapes that Erin took, usually while we were out walking the dogs, especially at dusk! And, that's that.

Be good!