Wait a Minute, Winter's Over

Okay, I was telling you the day had been a little much. That is, the day we ate lunch at the Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair, New Mexico. That was yesterday.

So, it was windy, real windy, enough to jostle around even a 17,000 pound fifth wheel travel trailer. In New Mexico that also means it pushed around a lot of sand and dust. When we would get out of the truck, it felt like we were getting sand blasted. Add that there were also numerous wild fires burning in New Mexico and it seems they were all close to our route. At one point we were driving along US 60 in the northeastern quadrant of the state and the smoldering aftermath of one of the fires was right at the edge of the road. If I had gotten out of the truck and stepped off the berm, I would have stepped into hot ashes. There were still the occasional flames at the bases of the bushes (not much here qualified as big enough to be a tree).

So, I should quit wimping on about the day.......afterall we did find a great lunch stop. And you know, when we stopped for lunch it was about 80. When we stopped for the night in an RV park in Mountainair it was still in the 70's.

But, when I got up the next morning I had to deal with this.....


It was in the 90's when we left Mesa. We'd even already had one day at 100. This was a big adjustment!!!!!!!!!!!

Shaffer Hotel - Mountainair, New Mexico

In the middle of a travel day where the wind was gusting to close to 60 mph, grass fires were all around us, smoke and dust were in the air, and we were low on fuel, we found a gem. When we finally found a fuel stop we were in Mountainair, New Mexico. It was lunch time so I asked a man filling his car if the restaurant across the street was any good. His answer "yep, but the best food in town is at the Shaffer" and he proceeded to tell me how to find it. As it turns out it was easy to find and only one block off our route through town, but we would not have seen.

Here is the hotel from the front. Built in 1923 by a blacksmith named "Pop" Shaffer, apparently a real character for the times. The hotel is very art deco and mostly restored, not renovated. Pop said no wooden building for me and proceeded to use cast concrete. Very unusual for the time and place.


Pop was in to art deco, but with his own twist by adding Indian motifs. Much of the furniture and the ceilings are original, having only been carefully cleaned and touched up.


Above you can see the amazing combinations of colors and design of the ceilings, which is carried to much of the rest of the hotel dinning room. Like the lunch counter below.


Or the dining room fireplace.


Outside Pop built a fence, and signed it. It is hard to make out, but that is Pop's name on the third rail up from the ground in the first full span from the left side of the picture.


The current owner (effective 4/1/2011) found the place while out on his motorcycle. He now is not only the owner but the cook as well. His brother is a waiter and books tourists into the hotel. The owner's wife and daughter both work in the hotel as well. They were all very friendly and the food is really good.

Now, for the kicker. This hotel is not only on the National Historic Registry, it has been featured on the SciFi channels Ghost Hunters TV show. It is haunted (if you believe in ghosts) and there were plenty of people willing to tell us about their experiences.

Want to know more, try these links:

The Shaffer Hotel>>>>>>>>>> hotel's website

Haunted>>>>>>>>>> more about

By the way, we were not accosted by ghosts, the food was very reasonably priced, and our hour there was very enjoyable, mostly because of the owner and his family. I go there for a meal anytime (except after dark when the ghosts come out).