Still In Vegas

What started out as a one night stopover has now stretched to three nights. It was cold and ugly all yesterday and I knew I'd have a problem today. I could see a lot of ice on top of both slides and without some way to get that off I couldn't close the slides. No slide close...no go south! My hope was that it would warm up today or at least the sun would shine and maybe melt the ice. No such luck. First thing this morning the sun came out and I got my hopes up for about a half hour. That lasted about 45 minutes and it clouded up again and got colder. The top of the slides have a rubber roof so anything I do had better be gentle or I would have another...and much more expensive problem.

The slides are about ten feet off the ground so it's not an easy thing to clean them off. I borrowed a step ladder from the Elks Lodge and put it in the bed of my pick up truck and then backed the truck up to the slides. I was able to get off the loose snow with the help of a broom but there was a lot of ice under the snow. I didn't dare try to scrape it off.

While unpleasant the decision was pretty easy. I'll just wait another day. So I busied myself with some reading and a trip to the local Wally World. Around noon it had warmed just a little and I went through the ladder-pick up routine again. I was able to get most of the ice off one slide and about 2/3 of the ice off the other slide. If it doesn't snow tonight and it gets a little warmer tomorrow morning I'll be able to head south.

I only need to get about 100 miles south of here to get out of the freeze zone so if I'm able to leave tomorrow my goal is Alamogordo, NM. I was planning to go through Ft. Sumner, Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns, but I also want to be in Sierra Vista by Friday. To do that I'll have to skip some of my planned destinations. It's about 225 miles through a lot of back country so I'll need to be out of here by late morning if this is to work.

This afternoon I went to the local museum which has the distinction of having a Rough Rider Memorial Collection. What's with that you say? Well, it seems as if most of the Rough Riders were recruited in the Southwest and men from New Mexico provided all the volunteers for one full Troop of Rough Riders. In 1899 the Rough Riders had their first reunion in Las Vegas and the reunions continued until 1962....ergo the Memorial Collection.

I followed that up with a meander through the old plaza section of town which dates to the first Hispanic settlers in 1821. I have been to Las Vegas several times now and I'm impressed with the amount historical buildings that survive. Next time I come however, I'll hope for better weather.

Thanks for visiting.