Lunch in Hatch

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blog 03-27-19 Lunch in Hatch

So yesterday I traveled from Demming to Caballo Lake State Park, a distance of about 80. This lake was made by building a dam on the Rio Grande to use as flood control and water retention for later irrigation. It became a state park and opened the lake up to recreation, boating, fishing, swimming and camping.

My campsite overlooks the lake but the water level is so low that it is hard to see the water. It has a milky blue color that I will photograph tomorrow when the sun comes out. It has been cloudy for 2 days with a 30% chance of rain but the air is so dry that the water in the clouds evaporates before it can reach the ground.

As I was coming north the valleys started to show green fields because they are getting water from the lakes. There are 3 lakes in this valley and I will be camping at Elephant Butte on Saturday which is the first lake of the 3.

My campsite is really nice with a picnic table with a roof on it and a half stone wall on 2 sides to block the wind. There is lots of room and privacy and I have included a picture of my view. It's very quiet and dark so when the sky clears I'm hoping for brilliant stars.

Lynne is here, a woman I met 2 weeks ago in Alamagordo and she and I went to Hatch, the chili capital of the world. Most of the fields will be growing chili peppers and they have a chili festival every Labor Day. The stores in town have lots of Mexican merchandise for sale and of course peppers. Some dried, some smoked, some roasted etc. There are red and green peppers hanging from everywhere trying to entice a buyer. Lynne and I stopped at a little road side stand that also sold honey, pecans and mangos coated in chili peppers. The sweet and spice was really good so we both bought a bag and delicious pecans.

OH, I forgot lunch. We stopped at a restaurant named, wait for it, Peppers. It is the local's place not the tourist lunch spot and the food was delicious. I don't think I will ever get enough of Mexican food and I'm even liking more spice. Maybe my taste buds are dying.

After we returned I read my book for a while than took Watson for another walk and headed in for the night.

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