The Truth About Truth or Consequences

Thursday, November 23, 2006
10:20 PM
Thanksgiving in Truth or Consequences

So, now begins my mini-adventure. I’m in a motel called Charles Motel and Spa. It was probably built in the 30’s or 40’s. I got here a little after 6pm, having had my usual difficulty getting everything in the car and on the road. I’m not happy with this laptop computer. I thought that after I paid $50 to fix it, I’d keep it a while longer, but the keyboard is still hard to work, especially the space bar, so it really slows me down. Also,for some reason, the external mouse isn’t working. I’ll have to try reloading the driver, but I don’t understand why.

I’m also not happy with this motel room, and I may ask for a change tomorrow. The office was closed tonight. The bedside lamp didn’t work, so I unplugged it and plugged it in another outlet, and it works. But then, if I want to use it for reading, I have to sit in the recliner armchair, which had to be moved. It has a good TV, with cable, but the remote doesn’t work. Some of the rooms have kitchenettes, and I was expecting to have a refrigerator to put my food in, but no kitchenette in my room. I don’t know if that means that I have to pay more, but it doesn’t hurt ask. The multiple channels available on the cable might be my downfall, because it might help me avoid doing some of the reading that I’m planning. Right now I’m waiting until the Spanish language religious program goes off, so I can see what the Israel News program is about. Out of the corner of my ear, I heard him talking about Bar Mitzvas and Bat Mitzvas, in Spanish. Hmm! It’s on God’s Learning Channel. There’s a promo on About the Hebraic Christian Center, where one can study about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.

So, another thing I’m not happy about is that the indoor mineral baths are not entirely free, as I was told on the phone. The guy who signed me in tonight said that with the room, its only free for a half hour a day, then it’s $4/hr, although I don’t know I’d want to stay in that long at one time. The outdoor pools on the roof are$8/hr. the temperature is 112 degrees, which sounds plenty hot. Hard to stay in for a long time.

I talked to a couple of guys who were sitting outside another room (the weather being warm enough to sit outside in the evening). One of them is from Minnesota, and is here for a month. He was full of information about health food stores, yoga centers, and a coffee house where they serve lattes and espressos and other gourmet coffees, and have music, but they’re only open from7am to 1pm M-F! I guess my schedule tomorrow will be to sleep until I wake up, have free cup of coffee in the lobby while I read my email , maybe after I find out about changing my room, using the wireless connection there. Oh, I should have asked if there was a wireless connection in the coffee house. Then I can go to Broadway Barbecue for a good greasy spoon breakfast for $2.99, and maybe then to the coffee house. Lunch is a maybe, depending on what time I have breakfast. Perhaps a walk or a drive around town to see where everything is, including the 11 or 12 art galleries. By the way, the motel is right across the street from a supermarket, and there are some places in town that have organic fruits and veggies, so I could buy some bananas, and other fruit for snacks. Then a soaking in the afternoon, with a massage after that, and then maybe a nap. For dinner, I might go to Los Arcos, where they have steak and lobster. Hopefully, I can avoid the TV, although "Numbers" is on tomorrow night. Tonight I watched CSI and Shark. So I’ll have to be disciplined if I’m going to get some reading done.

Time out to watch Israel News.

Friday, November 24, 2006
6:21 PM
I just spent the last three hours in relaxation mode. Then I figured out that I should spend sometime writing, and go for dinner at 7pm, so I can be back at the motel by 9 pm in order to watch “Numbers”. Then I can write some more. Of course, by that time, the lobby will be closed, so I won’t be able to use the internet wifi connection. Meanwhile, Fresh Air is on; Terry Gross is interviewing Robin Williams, so I’m multitasking.

I went for my soak at 3pm for a half hour. I didn’t bring anything to read, because I thought that it would be hard if it was like a jacuzzi, but instead it was like a giant bathtub, with a slant for reclining at one end. So, when it’s filled up enough, I can lean my head back and the water comes up to my ears, and my neck and shoulders are in the hot water, which you can’t do in a regular hot tub, and I would have been able to hold up a book or magazine. Oh well, there’s still tomorrow. Then after the soak, I had an hour massage in a dark little room with an antique dresser with a candle burning. Art works on the wall as well as images of muscles and bones, like in an acupuncturist or chiropractor office.

After talking a bit to the same neighbors I met last night, I came into my room for a nap. I had already plugged in the table lamp next to the bed, with the help of David from Minnesota, and my computer, so it could charge up the battery. While I was in the bathroom, I heard a buzzing, and sure enough, the outlet shorted out again. The handy man was away for a while, but while I was in the lobby, I talked to the owner on the phone, and she told me there was another outlet near the window, where the air conditioner is, hidden by the curtain. So, I came back, tried to take a nap while listening to ATC on my walkman. However, I was disturbed by someone yelling “NO!” outside my window. It was the maid, and someone else, yelling down the walk to the handyman who was flipping switches at the breaker box, trying to find the right one. Finally, at 6pm, I decided to get up and write.

This morning I went back to sleep and got up about 9:45, put on my clothes and went to the lobby to voice my complaints. Was told there were no other rooms available for tonight, but I could move into room #15 with a kitchenette after the occupants check out by 11am. (when I spoke to the owner, she agreed that it was fair to not pay the extra money, given the inconvenience I’ve had). Had a cup of coffee, the last one in the pot.

Then I went to Broadway Barbeque for breakfast.

It was pretty crowded when I sat down in a booth, and I noticed on the menu that breakfast was only served until 11am. By the time the waitress came to take my order, it was one minute to, so I had to make a quick decision and ordered huevos rancheros. While I was waiting the place emptied out and other people came in looking for lunch. It seemed that I waited a long time for my order, and when I noticed the waitress serving someone who was seated after me, she said my order would be up soon. When I finally got it, it wasn’t worth waiting for. The green chile was suspended in a white sauce, like a white gravy, with a orange/yellow cheese melted on top, and the waitress warned me not to touch the very hot plate. The green chile could hardly be detected, and the tortilla under it was a little like a cardboard flavor. The fried potatoes were passable.

Saturday, November 25, 2006
12:46 PM

Sitting in the Coffee, Tea or C coffee house, where I just got done reading my email. Since I’ve been sitting here today, Valentin came by on his way home from Las Cruces, planning to soak for an hours with his wife, and later Melanie Baise and Lia Rosen, who are here with Elizabeth and Amy and their families. Right now, Ed, the architect with whom I chatted yesterday, is sitting on the couch, and the PTSD guy with a cane that I met yesterday just left, after having bent Ed’s ear about how he got shot, etc. I only heard part of it. This does seem to be the happening place. People sit outside in the sun. Ed is here because he came to take care of his father. This is actually where he grew up. His father had moved away, then came back to retire here . Dave, the guy who owns the place, is a computer engineer who wanted to get away from the L.A. rat race and long drives to work. His girlfriend runs the thrift shop next door, where I bought 5 pieces yesterday, for a dollar each. Bret, who works here, is a recent arrival from Philadelphia, a skinny Jewish guy with a gaunt face. He says his being thin is genetic; his father is like that, too, and he eats a lot just to keep up his weight. When he gets off work, usually around 1pm, although I think later today, he draws cartoons or pen and ink art in general, and plays music. I heard him say something about trying to find a name for his band. His birthday is today, and there are a couple of balloons that say it.

I never got around to writing more last night after watching “Numbers” on TV. I was too tired, and thought I’d go to sleep early, but as it was , I flipped through the channels and found “StarTrek, New Generation,” again, and ended up watching the next episode, ending at midnight. Then I thought I’d get up early and write, but I forgot about it this morning when I woke up at 7:15 to go to the bathroom. I thought it was too early, and that I’d got back to sleep, but later turned on the radio to help lull me, and at 8pm Weekend Edition came on, so I listened and dozed until almost 9, forgetting about writing, etc.

So what did I do yesterday? After breakfast, I came here to read my email, but didn’t get very far, because Ed came over to chat, and then they closed. This building used to be the Hot Springs National Bank, and there’s still a vault, and photos of it from the 50’s on the wall. Then I went two doors down, to Dixie’s thrift shop, where everything was on sale for one dollar.

I rode around for a while, including over to the State Veteran’s Hospital, which is the old Carrie Tingley Hospital that Rudolfo Anaya wrote about in Tortuga. Next to it is Veterans’ Memorial Park, where now resides the replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. I’ll have to go back there later to take a look at the view around it, which I didn’t think of when I was there. This town reminds me of St. Remy in that everything is in a circle. As you come into town, the main street splits into two, with each part going one way, through the main part of downtown, with streets cutting across between the two.

In the afternoon it was pretty warm, so I stopped back at the motel and changed into my shorts. Today isn’t as warm—67degrees according to the sign I saw—and it’s breezy, which makes it seem cool. I went back into town to the old 1939 post office to see the
WPA mural there, and photograph it. Turns out, there’s a newer, bigger post office at the North End of town, and this one is mainly for people who have their boxes there. I didn’t think to ask if there was house-to-house delivery as well. Afterward, I walked across the street to the visitor information office, which is in the Geronimo Springs Museum (cost $3, maybe I’ll stop by on Sunday), to pick up some literature on the local sites. Next to the museum is the Las Palomas Plaza, with mosaic structures over and through which there is water from the springs running.

By then it was time to return to the Charles for my soak and massage, after which I laid down for a nap.

In the evening, I went to Los Arcos for dinner. The parking lot was full, and when I entered, I found out that it would be an hour wait for dinner. The Maitre d’ recommended La Cocina as my next choice. It was crowded in there, too, but the rush was over, and I was able to get a small table, although there was a family that was waiting for a table. In spite of the name of the place, the hostess confided in me that she wouldn’t order the New Mexican food there, and would stick with the steaks. There were a few seafood items on the menu, including mahi mahi. I ordered prime rib, with a salad and baked potato, and beans with green chile, and a glass of the house merlot. The salad came soon, with a large slice of red tomato and three slices of avocado on top of shredded lettuce. When the prime rib came, I thought she had made a mistake and given me the larger size, but was told that the larger size was thicker. I wasn’t as hungry as I thought I’d be, in spite of the fact that I hadn’t had lunch after my late breakfast, and ended up taking home about half of the meat, some of the potato, and the roll, which she had forgotten to bring earlier. I hadn’t seen the beans on the table, since they were on the far end of lot of stuff. I took one taste and decided to not take them with me as the chile was too hot. It looked like the same white sauce as I had at breakfast, but more piquant.

This morning I went for breakfast at the Sunset Grill, which was another one recommended by neighbor for breakfast, and didn’t remember to stop for a free cup of coffee in the motel lobby. Before going for breakfast, I moved into room #15 after the others checked out. The kitchen is actually a second room, with a table, etc. Minimum plates and utensils, but I put my food in the frig and left. The maid put a clean bedspread on the bed, with a nicer design on the bed, which looks like a queen-size.

The Sunset Grill had a quieter, nicer ambience, with the usual breakfast fare, although I don’t remember seeing huevos rancheros on the menu. None of the breakfast combinations were exactly what I wanted, so I ordered separate items, 2 eggs over easy, 2 sausages, and 2 pancakes, eliminating the toast and the hashbrowns, and the bacon, although I could have eaten that. Not quite as filling as what I had the day before, when a large flour tortilla had rested, folded, on top of the huevos and chile. I don’t think there were even any tortillas on the menu at this place, although the waiter, a tall guy with straight blond hair, new to the area, offered a side order of chile, which I declined.

Later…
I rode around town a bit, taking some photos. I found murals on the Sierra County Administration Building, so I photographed those.
Also drove around the back part of town, near the river, past the Ralph Edwards Park, and looking at other spa motels. According to the tourist brochure, there are nine public bathhouses in the town. Most of those in the historic district were built in the 1920's. Most of them look rather funky. The luxury version is the Sierra Grande Lodge, which was one of those featured in an article in the Crosswinds Weekly (now defunct). It has an adobe wall around it, so I couldn't see the actual building, but it has been recently renovated and upgraded. I thought that it would be best to stay there when I had a companion to share the cost. I think it was the Fire Water Lodge Bed & Breakfast that was recommended by Dave at the cofee house. I'll have to check. The rest of the town is rather unassuming, small houses and mobile homes, although I didn't drive through the part of town closer to the Interstate and the new post office.

In the evening, I went to Los Arcos for dinner. This time I called ahead, and had the maitre d' put my name down on the waiting list, to give me a twenty minute head start. He had suggested that yesterday. I got a small table back in a corner next to one of the arcos (arches), but with a light fixture above it, so I could read the menu. They were saving the larger tables in the center for larger parties, and in fact, most of them were filled when I came in. The service was excellent and friendly. I ordered the minestrone to start, since I thought I could get the green chile corn soup other times and places in New Mexico. The gracious waiter offered a small taste of the latter as well, and I agreed. Instead he brought half a bowl out, and it was very good, but I refrained from finishing it so I would have enough appetite for my steak and baked potato. I had flirted with the idea of ordering lobster, but then decided that it's best not to order seafood in the middle of the desert, although I have done so in Albuquerque. The waiter contended that there have been well-traveled guests who proclaim their seafood the best they've had, but I didn't want to take the chance, at the price on the menu. Warm bread was served with the salad, as it should be. Too often lately, I've been in restaurants which don't bring out the bread basket until the main course is served. The meat was a thickly cut piece and done medium rare as I had ordered it. The vegetables on the side were an interesting medley and cooked al dente. Everything was excellent, including the glass of pinot grigio, and there was no room left for dessert. By the time I returned to the motel, I was tired, but unable to resist the lure of cable TV and stayed up to watch another episode of "Star Wars: The Next Generation" on the sci-fi channel.


Sunday, November 26, 2006

White Coyote Café


The White Coyote Café was another place recommended for breakfast. I had stopped by there yesterday, to see what it was like, and was told there would be pecan pancakes for breakfast on Sunday, so I was looking forward to that. However, by the time I arrived for brunch, after having my last soak and checking out of the motel, there were no more pecan pancakes. I was able to order lemon French toast, and that was tasty, although I was disappointed to have missed the pancakes. It took longer than I thought to place my order and get the plate on the table, because in this small restaurant, there's only the owner/cook and one waitress. The waitress was out when I arrived because she was driving an elderly customer home. That's service you don't see in Albuquerque! I bought a cranberry and pecan scone to take with me for a snack on the way back to Albuquerque. After I finished my meal, I went across the street to visit the resale shop that I could see from the window, which had paintings of a tree and other things on the metal roof of the building. There was a large collection of vintage clothing, but I wasn't in the mood for shopping. I made one last stop at Coffee, Tea or C to get one for the road, and headed out of town.

I decided to take a side trip before leaving the area and turned down the road to the Elephant Butte Dam.
I had never seen it before, only the lake that it forms. It was built on the Rio Grande River as a WPA project. There were photos of the lake at Los Arcos which showed how the level of the lake had receded as a result of our long-enduring drought. I continued to follow the road to Engle, a ghost town which was once the population center of the area, having been established in 1879 as a railroad station. Miners and others arriving in the area would then go to Hot Springs (former name of Truth or Consequentces) to relax in the hot mineral waters. Supposedly there are two wineries there and its Old Schoolhouse, but I was disappointed when I got there. I didn't see any signs indicating where the wineries were. At the end of the road there were a few buildings, but now sign of life, and a sign saying it was private property, no trespassing. There was another road that was perpendicular to the highway I was on, but I didn't see much as I drove down it a little in one direction, and it turned to gravel not far down in the other direction. According to my map, it wasn't going to help me return to I-25 for the rest of the way home, so I backtracked to the turnoff for the town of Elephant Butte. The road to Engle is also known for the best view of the Jornada del Muerto, known as a dangerous segment of the migration route that Mexican settlers used to travel northwest. (I think I also saw a reference to the route of the Spanish conquistadores.)

I don't remember that there was a town of Elephant Butte when I drove to see the lake before. I'll have to check on Google to see when it was established. It obviously is there to serve the tourist boating and fishing population that fills the area in the summer. On Fourth of July weekend it becomes one of the biggest towns in New Mexico, with campers and tents and boats. There are a number of gas stations and shops selling boating equipment, etc. After stopping to fill my tires with air, I headed towards I-25 and back to Albuquerque.