After
Roswell I came here to the Oscuro Hostel. Nice &
quiet. I'm sitting here under a tree in the back
yard. The sun has gone down and there's a cool
breeze. Right now I am the only hosteller here.
The
man who manages this hostel is Dirk Norris. He has 2 dogs, a
bunch of chickens (I know, "flock"), and a steer. My chore
tomorrow is to collect chicken eggs.
Above:
Dirk. I snapped his photo as soon as I arrived at the
hostel. He's doing laundry.
One of
these days I'll learn how to lighten up these pictures.
Above:
The hostel is located 15 miles from the nearest town. No
neighbors in sight. Not a car to be heard. Silence!
Above:
Teager bringing me a stick to wrestle away from him.
I
collected 82 eggs that morning.
Dirk
made bacon & eggs for breakfast. We ate at the little
round table outside. After breakfast, one of the hens walked
over to me. I picked her up and held her on my lap. She
didn't struggle to get down. So I asked Dirk, "Is that a sign
that she likes me?" He responded, "I think it's a sign that
you've got a pretty good grip on her."
Above:
My bed right next to the big, open windows. Pitch black
nights. Fantastic sunrises!
Sign
says, "Town Pool".
Left:
During my stay at the hostel, I took a day trip to the Three Rivers
Petroglyph site. There are over 21,000 prehistoric rock
drawing there.
This is
not a good place to wear sandals and shorts (like I did).
There are signs along the path warning of rattlesnakes.
Above:
Later I drove to Carrizozo, NM to see the Valley of Fires.
That black stuff in the photo is lava that flowed 1500-2000 yrs.
ago. It covers 125 square miles.
In the
evening, after my day trip, I bought a bag of carrots to feed the
old white horse standing at the end of the road.
The dirt
road was longer than I thought. The sun seems to set faster in
the desert. Well, you get the picture...
Luckily,
the road was straight and I could see the light from the hostel in
the distance. When I got there, Dirk had cooked some stir
fried vegetable for supper.
