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While we were in Moab, planning where to go next, we discussed checking out the Durango and Silverton area of Colorado. For one reason or another we opted to go to Farmington, New Mexico instead. That turned out to be a great decision. While it rained heavily for three straight days in Farmington, the Durango area received heavy rain and snow which caused mudslides which closed some roads.

Farmington is a town of about 40,000 people that began in the mid-1870s as a small farming community. Hence the name, Farmington. Even though it is in the high desert and averages less precipitation than Tucson (under ten inches) it was a great place to farm because the valley has three rivers; the Animas, San Juan and La Plata. Appropriately, the Navajo call the area Totah, which means place of three waters.

The full name of the Animas is Rio de las Animas Perdidas, the River of Lost Souls. Wonder how it got that name! The San Juan River marks the western edge of town while the San Juan Mountains rise to the east.

It remained a small farm and orchard town until the 1950s when oil and natural gas were discovered in the San Juan Basin. The basin which runs from Durango, Colorado to Farmington, New Mexico to Cuba, New Mexico was once at the bottom of a shallow sea. The sediments that accumulated during the Cretaceous (roughly 100 million years ago) were compacted into rock, and the rock layers were slowly uplifted. Somehow, through heat and pressure, the organic matter in the sediment was converted into fossil fuels. Coal, oil and natural gas are found (and mined) throughout the basin.

There are over 20,000 oil and natural gas wells in the San Juan Basin. New Mexico is second in the nation in natural gas production, third in natural gas resources and fifth in oil production! The taxes on oil and gas production alone make up 20% of the entire state budget. There is some serious money to be made by tapping into the earth. Of course, it can take a toll on the people, plants and animals in the area.

I guess that’s why we were so pleasantly surprised to discover Farmington’s park system and River Corridor which has over five miles of interconnected paths along the Animas and San Juan Rivers. Included in the Corridor is the Riverside Nature Center, a fabulous place to experience nature, right in the heart of the city.

I rode over there in between rainstorms and met Donna who heads the Center. Donna and I hit it off right away, talking about environmental education. Turns out we know some of the same people and have taken some of the same courses! She even knows Janet Napolitano, Arizona’s governor. Donna helped run a Girl Scout Camp that Janet attended while she was in high school. What a neat lady!

Lance and I rode the paths almost every day, it was a great way to get some fresh air and we always saw something interesting: deer, a skunk, a kingfisher and in the middle of our stay, a cresting Animas River. The three solid days of rain had filled the river to capacity and it sloshed over its banks in low spots. Nothing that threatened to do any damage but it was sure neat to watch!

Later, I rode over to the Visitor Center which has a great museum. The museum is set up in two parts; the first part tells the geologic story of how the San Juan Basin’s rich resources formed and how they are harvested while the second part covers the story of the actual town.

It was here that I learned about Harriet Sammons, the first female president of the First National Bank in Farmington. She was quite influential in town and she was very concerned that the men making gobs of money in the oil and gas industry were wasting it. She encouraged (forced?) men to open savings accounts and her favorite saying was: “If you take care of your pennies, your dollars will take care of themselves.” Ain’t that the truth!

Pop, at Mom and Pop’s RV Park, where we were staying, recommended touring the Bolack Wildlife Museum. I was reluctant because I had read it was basically a trophy museum but when in Rome… so I scheduled a free tour.

The museum is privately owned and run by the Bolack family. The family owns over 12,000 acres of land on the west side of Farmington. The Square B is a cattle ranch and farm with oil and natural gas wells that began as 300 acres in 1957. Tom Bolack, Sr. started the enterprise to show by example, how land could be productive and protected at the same time. The Bolacks have purposely created wetlands and other habitat areas for the benefit of wildlife.

If I hadn’t gone I would have missed a rather informative tour and I wouldn’t have learned so much about the ranch. Besides, the majority of the 1,500 dead, stuffed animals were culls. Meaning, they were sick, elderly, injured or marked for death by their aggressive behavior.

And I learned three new, cool animal facts. One, giraffes and humans are the only animals to have seven neck vertebrae. Two, the jaw of a hyena exerts more pressure per square inch than any other animal. Three, hares are born with hair, rabbits are born naked. Things everybody needs to know, eh?

Sleepy Farmington doubles in size every weekend, not because of tourists (although they are here too) but because it is the closest place for people living on the nearby Navajo and Hopi reservations. The weekly influx of shoppers supports two Super-Walmarts!

Lance managed to take a couple afternoons off and we went out to the Lion’s Den Wilderness Park Disc Golf Course on the east side of town. Really neat course, up and down sandstone gullies. Every time his disc landed it was scratched by the rough rock. Lance made par and was very pleased with his score. I don’t play so I walked Rookie around in his super suit. He loved the sand: he dug, rolled and played in it.

On our way out of town we saw this sign: “Pessimism never works.” We had to agree!

Photos: View the photos from Farmington.

Dates: We stayed in Farmington, New Mexico from 10/04/06 to 10/13/06.