Something aint right

 Here we are in Chama, New Mexico. We just came over the mountains on a very wonderful scenic road. Chama is known for it's narrow gauge railroad. Indeed it is spectacular, but too pricey for this gang. We got to see the train at the top of the pass and then at the rail station. Would recommend it to anyone willing to pay $135 for a ticket. 

Now for the strange part. The Town of Chama is in a very nice location. It would seem the town would be full of very nice homes. Nope, in the whole town there was not one nice home. Block after block of run down dilapidated unkempt homes, trailers, and urban junk. 

The hotel manager just left our room. We had a long discussion about Chama. In front of most of the rat infested homes were fairly nice cars. Something strange is going on here. Why is a town that should be reasonably prosperous one of the most run down places Kadizzle ever visited. After being broken into three times and vandalized the Dollar Store just gave up and quit. The hotel manager had a strange explanation for the town condition. He said property owners do not live here, but are planning to retire here. The absent landlords keep the property looking as bad as possible to avoid taxes. 

Who is living in these slum shacks? Somehow it just feels like drugs are involved. It would all be understandable if the town were not in such a beautiful setting. Kadizzle struck up a conversation with two older women. We ended up having diner together. The two women must be wealthy when they described the circumstances of their lives and travels. The four of us ate together across from the train station in front to the restaurant hotel.  The food was terrible. The desert was terrible, the service was terrible, yet there were plenty of dissatisfied customers. Somehow mismanagement seemed to be the theme of the town. The town's famous train ride indeed is spectacular, but it sure seemed to have an enormous overhead. Sixty people work to run the train. What do they all do when the train is gone?

The hotel manager is new to his job and just moved here. Kadizzle told him to investigate and solve the mystery. Kadizzle will be back in a year or so to hear the answer.