by Phyllis McCrossin
It’s late Sunday evening and I’m sitting in our trailer at Santa Rosa Lake State Park in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. King went to bed hours ago.
We are hunkering down here, as there are wind advisories out for New Mexico, the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma from now through Tuesday. King is convinced he can drive through anything, but I pointed out to him that it was a northeasterly wind, so we could plan on going through a lot of gas. That little tidbit made him rethink his resolve to keep pushing on.
I’ve also had a few warnings from friends of mine who drive trucks, suggesting it would be prudent to stay off the roads. I suspect they prefer to have one less questionable driver with a swaying trailer on the road.
The weather has been hot — as in 90 degrees hot. I don’t care what people say about dry heat versus humidity. Hot is hot. Petra does not do well in heat, and the rest areas where we stop are all dry, rocky desert. She misses grass. I miss trees.
Santa Rosa is one of the small towns that Route 66 ran through when it was designated a U.S. Route in 1927. The increase in traffic made the community a popular rest stop with many motels and cafes. Today, Route 66 still runs through the town. Interstate 40 runs next to the town and it remains a convenient stop over for travelers.
That’s not to say the town is thriving. There is one family-owned grocery store in town, a plethora of gas stations, a smattering of restaurants, and, like most of rural America, the town boasts a Family Dollar and a Dollar General. There is also a handful of abandoned small-town, graffiti covered gas stations serving as a reminder of the once thriving legacy of Route 66.
When John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was made into a movie in 1939, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the train scene where Tom Joad (played by Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge.
Santa Rosa is also home to The Big Blue Hole, a clear blue body of water with a constant 62-degree temperature. It has a constant inflow of 3,000 gallons per minute. The surface is only 80 feet in diameter but expands to 130 feet in diameter at the bottom. The depth is more than 80 feet. It is a popular diving spot. The water originates from underground springs.
At the bottom is an entrance to cave passages, beneath this may be more passages. In 1976, following two deaths of student divers from Oklahoma, the cave passages were sealed off to the public by a metal grate installed by the city to prevent inexperienced divers from exploring. It was allowed to be unsealed for mapping between 2013 and 2016.
The Blue Hole was used by nomadic tribes as a reliable water source. Cowboys on cattle drives would also stop by the pool. When Route 66 came through the city the original alignment brought in right past the property of the Blue Hole and it became a popular tourist attraction.
Santa Rosa also boasts a small, privately owned classic car museum. Route 66 Auto Museum has more than 30 privately owned cars on display, including classics, vintage, chrome, street rods and more.
Update: It is now Monday afternoon. One of the benefits of remote camping is there is limited WIFI availability. And I do mean it is a benefit. I’ve grown weary of reading conspiracy theories and media bashing. The downside is I can’t get my column uploaded. If you are reading this, I got it to work.
Play nice, don’t kick sand in the sandbox, and take the opinions of others with a grain of salt.