The Seneca, NM post office with its only parking space -- one for disabled persons. This is the only commercial building in Seneca.

A feedlot just outside Clayton. All those small brown specks are cows -- thousands of them.

Clayton main street late on a Friday afternoon.

Started from: Clayton, NM
Ended at: Clayton, NM
Staying at: Best Western Kokopelli Lodge, Clayton, NM [tel. 505-374-2589]

Distance traveled so far: 0 km ( mi)

Last Modified on 9/15/2000 at 20:21:02

Day's Narrative: We drove into Clayton, NM about 2:30 p.m. today and got a room at the motel. I asked the clerk about the route I planned to take tomorrow which went through the small towns of Seneca, NM, Moses, NM and Wheeless, OK. She said she didn't think there were any stores there. As we were talking her husband, who was born and raised in Clayton, walked in. He said he was sure there was no store in Seneca or Moses but he wasn't sure about Wheeless.

Since Wheeless was about 30 miles from Clayton and almost exactly between Clayton and Boise City, our next stop, it was pretty important to find out if there was food and water there.

Connie and I went to the room and discussed the problem. We decided the thing to do was drive to Wheeless and see for ourselves. It was only 30 miles and it was 3:00 p.m.

The motel clerk was right about Seneca and Moses. The first photo shows the Seneca post office, the only commercial building, with its obligatory disabled parking place. Moses had only one ranch house.

In Wheeless there was the Wheeless volunteer fire department and the Wheeless Baptist Church. Nothing else. I am not going that way now. That would be 60 miles with no food. Although I did notice that the church had a water hose spigot on the outside wall which might be useful for refilling water bottles.

Instead I will take the normal US 56/64 road to Boise City. It has a wide shoulder -- at least here near Clayton it does. Sometimes roads change dramatically at state lines, and the Oklahoma state line is about 10 miles outside of Clayton.

According to the Weather Channel, I will have a slight headwind tomorrow from the Northeast.

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