The Best of Eastern New Mexico

As we continue our eastern route across the state on Highway 60, we are making our last stop in New Mexico. It was an interesting search for the best campground among many found in the town of Clovis. Because the train tracks run straight through town, we found it's impossible to stay away from train noise. But unusual for us, we made our choice based on television hook-ups. Many times we have gone for weeks without television, but Mark really wanted it this weekend. So when Bolt Campground offered to change up their cable line-up to include Fox Sports 1 just for us, that determined where we would camp in Clovis. Mark was a happy camper because that meant he got to watch the very exciting Oklahoma Bedlam Game while we were staying in Clovis.

Denisa watched part of the game, but she decided to use the beautiful-weather day to explore a little part of our new town. She explored the Clovis Zoo, just two miles from our campground. It doesn't pretend to be a big-time zoo, but it was entertaining. Denisa's favorite zoo animal is the giraffe, and the two here were very friendly.

They leaned their long necks as far over the fence as possible for close-ups.

They are provided with as much food as they care to eat in their troughs inside the pen. It is interesting that they still get into the awkward lower position and use their very long tongues to do a little grazing on the grass just outside their pen. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Denisa also liked this camel, who seemed to give an over-the-shoulder smile for a picture.

During our travels this year we have photographed many of the animals she saw at the zoo today. But we have to say it is more fun to get a picture in the wild. It was sad to see these two black bears continually pacing the perimeter of their pen.

For many of the cages, the public is removed several feet by a secondary fence. So it is impossible to get pictures of the animals without the wire mesh.

The free-ranging peacocks weren't behind a fence, but they didn't like to stand still for the best photo opportunities. Denisa's favorite color is that royal peacock blue.

Most of the birds were in cages covered by narrow mesh. Impossible to get a picture of the entire bird, this owl had a worried look when Denisa tried.

We haven't visited a zoo in a long time, so this was a nice place to get a good afternoon walk.

Meanwhile, back at the motor home, Mark didn't miss a down of the entire bedlam game. He doesn't cheer for one team over the other, he just hopes for a close game. Our oldest son graduated from OU, while his wife graduated from OSU. Our youngest son is a loyal OSU grad, while his fiance is an OU alum. We are truly a family divided. The good news is we will always have someone happy with the outcome of every bedlam game.

We enjoy driving the back roads around a new town, and we saw a curious bright orange line on the horizon on this drive.

When we got closer, we found an entire irrigation circle of pumpkins left in the field. Thousands of pumpkins are obviously going to waste this fall. In fact, a small herd of cattle were strolling through the pumpkins, munching on the vines. We're not sure who put so much money into planting and watering this crop, but it was a sadly interesting site to see all those bright orange pumpkins still in the field this late.

On our back roads drive, we also discovered that peanut harvest is in full swing. The trailers full of raw peanuts are lined up at the peanut mill in the nearby town of Portales, New Mexico.

The Portales fairgrounds is also home to a large group of old windmills. A local family's collection is waiting to be displayed properly here in Portales, but they already look lovely against the blue New Mexico sky.

Our last stop in the area was at Eastern New Mexico State University in Portales. The Blackwater Draw Museum celebrates the artifacts found in the archaeological dig site in this area.

The museum is filled with dinosaur bones and fossils from Blackwater Draw, found between Clovis and Portales. But in another layer of soil they have found a myriad of Indian artifacts. Some times the two are together, as they found mastodon bones with flint spear heads to prove they were hunted here. It's hard to photograph through a glass case, but there were hundreds of flint arrowheads and points in this display. Named after the town where we are camped, the large white piece is called a Clovis point--fashioned by people living in this area thousands of years ago.

Even though we didn't have great expectations for this part of eastern New Mexico, we were pleased with our two days in the Clovis area. Special kudos to Bolt RV Campground for the cable connection for the great football game. The rest of the entertainment around town was just icing on the proverbial Clovis cake. It didn't hurt that the eastern New Mexico sky put on quite a show to finish up our stay. After spending much of 2017 in the mountains and among the tall trees, we are appreciating the sunsets on the plains of the midwest.