12 June 2019
“Meet Asa from Black Mesa.”
Woodward, OK to Clayton NM (493 km)
I was up at 6:30 and took a look at the photos, hoping I could adjust the ones with the scratched lens. It was doable but a lot of work, so I switched out the 7mm pro for my 9mm kit lens.
We met at ten for our briefing and Bill didn’t expect much for the day. He figured if anything came up, it would be on the Raton Mesa, so we headed west.
We stopped in Guymon for lunch at a Mexican restaurant with the most interesting chairs.
At two, Bill herded us out, saying the storm on the Mesa was looking better than it was before. He already had rooms in Clayton, NM and expected we could chase in the area. So we continued west, taking the scenic route to Clayton.
We pulled into Black Mesa State Park and wanted to explore an old farm.
But the fence was closed with no trespassing signs. So, we took pics of cacti flowers.
Horned lizard toads.
And people taking pictures of horned lizard toads.
We drove up to a scenic outlook and got our group photo taken.
Our next stop was Kenton, Oklahoma, where there was a small museum. There was a number on the door to call to get it opened.
A few minutes later, an elderly couple showed up and welcomed us in. The husband’s name was Asa.
Asa from Black Mesa.
The couple were adorable. The man told us about the fossils, most of which were footprints.
And a shark’s tooth.
Then he showed us some tools that used to be used on the farm like this weener.
Yeah, I thought he meant wiener, but it’s attached to the cows utter and when the calf tries to feed, it pushes the plate and the sharp edges against the utter.
I imagine many a calf has gotten a good kick in the chest from this.
He also had an old fashioned coke bottler.
We all signed the book and made a donation before moving on towards Clayton on the back roads.
We came across an old school house.
And a farm house.
With a bathroom right out of the seventies.
For the rest of the way to Clayton, we were avoiding pronghorn antelope on the road.
They don’t jump over the fences but go under them, sometimes at a full gallop. Apparently, the farmers keep the bottom line high enough for them but I imagine there are barbs with fur on them all along the roads.
The storm we were expecting was on the horizon but never amounted to anything.
We watched it for a while, but never saw a flash of lightning, so we carried on to Clayton to the Best Western Lodge.
It was a motel style but had some very nice rooms.
Go to Day Four
Go to Table of Contents