Last journal catch-up from Alamogordo, NM

It is still really cold out here in Benson, Arizona (30 degrees) so I’ll use this time to complete the Alamogordo blog.

On our last day we traveled north to the Three Rivers Petrogylphs and then further north to the Valley of Fires. We then circled around to Ruidoso driving through the Lincoln National Forest. This completed our trip through tall pine forests, miles of gypsum sand, desert rocks,and acres of lava fields all within 100 miles of each other! With major changes in elevation, temperature, and vegetation we felt like we had traveled thousands of miles!

The Three Rivers Petroglyphs (rock carvings) were drawn over 600 years ago by the Jornada Megollan (hor-NAH-da muggy-OWN) Indians. There are no known descendants of this prehistoric Indian culture. Over 21,000 petroglyphs have been found in the Three Rivers area with many visible on a short hike along a ridge over the original settlement.

Being an ex-teacher, I thought it looked like an art teacher had taken her class out with a big bucket of chalk and told them to decorate all the rocks!

After a packed lunch in the picnic area we continued north to the Valley of Fires. The lava fields (165 feet thick and with a surface area of 127 square miles) were not formed by volcanic action. Instead they were created 1500 to 5000 years ago by lava vents in the earth’s thin crust. You can walk on the lava fields but you should be very careful as the lava is like walking on broken glass and it can be very bad if you fall and slip. We tentatively and carefully took a few steps off the cement pathway.

After a short walk we headed home to Alamogordo. With a drive through the mountains, it was a beautiful ending to another glorious day! Hope yours was just as good!

Its snowing!!

We came south to escape the snow. Ha..some times there is just no escaping Mother Earth. Even though we are just a few miles north of the Mexico border in Benson, Arizona, she found us! With the wind blowing the snow and rain sideways its a pretty amazing sight!! But really, really cold out there.

So what do you do when you are stuck inside all day in 240 square feet? Eat too much, sleep too much, and watch too much TV. And maybe if you are feeling really industrious, you just might catch up on your blogs? We shall see!

Or maybe I'll try to make cookies. I used to make cookies every week during the winter when we lived in a house. It will be more of a challenge here, but hot chocolate and cookies sounds like just the thing for this snowy, rainy, windy day. Anyone want to come over for hot chocolate and cookies?

Journal continued with Solar Observatory

The National Solar Observatory is located in southern New Mexico at a height of 9200 feet. The site, chosen in 1947, overlooks the White Sands in the Tularosa Basin. Besides a beautiful drive up the mountain, there is a small museum and you can walk around the area and visit several of the telescope buildings. We enjoyed the walk and were lucky enough to spend time with one of the scientists working there.

In the picture above you can see the white sands off in the distance.

Below is the first telescope building – it was a grain elevator kit purchased from Sears!

More trip journal–Alamogordo and White Sands

 

I believe the White Sands National Monument should be a ‘must see’ for anyone living in the US. It is a very magical place. As you drive in it seems that the largest snowstorm EVER has struck here in the southwest. But then you get out of the car and find its warm outside. So you reach down and touch this magical ‘snow’ and find that it is cold and soft and very, very fine to touch.

The White Sands is 275 square miles of gypsum sand desert. It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes, brilliant and white, are constantly changing. Above you can see the waves created by the wind in the sand.

We did an evening walk with a ranger. She discussed the geology of the area as well as the plants and animals found in the area. Besides ranger walks, you can rent slides and slide down the dunes much as you would a snow hill. We didn’t get to this time, but next time we will for sure. The dunes are huge but easy to walk up and on.

The picture above shows one adaption by a plant. In this case the plant sends massive roots down into the ground and makes a dense network of the roots. When the wind blows the sand away, towers are left with plants sitting on top.

Of course the sunsets were unbelievable and I just couldn’t capture the magic with my camera. You will just need to go see for yourself!

Christmas Eve in the sunny west!

Happy Holidays to everyone where ever you are! I hope you are healthy, happy, and with people you love. This is the time of wonder and beauty and hope and I wish you plenty of all.

We are in an Escapee Park in southern Arizona and enjoying the beautiful weather and great new acquaintances. The park works hard to make sure everyone has plenty to do so that the absence of family isn’t so painful. So far we have been to a musical concert and a holiday sing-a-long. Tonight we are going to a brown bag gift exchange, tomorrow is the Christmas dinner, Sunday afternoon will be a left-over get together, next week there is a Polar Bear Party and then a New Year’s Eve dance. Whew..I’m tired just thinking about it all!  But it does help get through the missing of parents, kids, grandson, and family.

Today (Christmas Eve) Lee and I went for lunch to McDonalds – nothing like the dollar burgers and fries. And then to Walmart to pick up a few things. Back at home I visited some with the neighbors and Lee worked on the rig. Everything was calm until my daughter called. The family is all together at my uncles, all but us that is! When my daughter said that my brother had flown in as a surprise to my parents, I cried.  But its cold there, its warm here, I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow, and I’ll  be happy and healthy and full of the wonder of our great country once again.

Happy Holidays to you all!

Oh and yes we did stay up for the lunar eclipse and it was amazing!!!

More travel journal–Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Another day and we drove south again, this time to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. These caverns began 250 million years ago with the creation of a 400 mile long reef in an inland sea. Cracks developed in the reef as it rose and eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried under deposits of salts and gypsum. More recently, a few million years ago, lifts and erosion of the area began to uncover the rock reef. The uplift became the Guadalupe Mountains and rainwater began to seep downward through cracks and faults. At the same time, hydrogen sulfide-rich water migrated  upward from oil and gas fields to the south and east. As the waters mixed, they formed sulfuric acid which dissolved the limestone and opened up the fractures and faults into large chambers. The decorations (stalactites and stalagmites) in the chambers began about 500,000 years ago with dripping water. As each drop flee in absorbed carbon dioxide gas from the air and soil and a weak acid was formed. As the drop continued down it dissolved a little limestone and created the mineral calcite. Calcite would then become a crystal and adhere to previous drops to create amazing formations.

The caverns is also home to thousands of bats until November when they migrate south. While at home in the caverns they create an astounding sight as they fly out each evening to eat millions of insects in the Pecos River Valley.

In the 1800’s early settlers to the area were drawn to see the evening spectacle of the bats swarming out. Some people began to mine the bat guano for use as fertilizer and a cowboy (Jim White) became fascinated with the caverns and began to explore them. Eventually word of the caves spread to Washington, DC. In 1923 Robert Holley was sent to see if Carlsbad Caverns was truly the natural wonder that White and others proclaimed it to be. Holley was originally a skeptic, but in his final report wrote: “I am wholly conscious of the feebleness of my efforts to convey in words the deep conflicting emotions, the feeling of fear and awe, and the desire for an inspired understanding of the Divine Creator’s work which presents to the human eye such a complex aggregate of natural wonders.”

Holley’s description is so perfect for the wonders of our country.

A few pictures of the amazing Carlsbad Caverns:

Guadalupe National Park and Pratt Cabin

While in Lakewood, New Mexico we did a drive down to the Guadalupes (technically in Texas) and hiked McKittrick Canyon down to the Pratt Cabin. This would be an amazing hike in the fall as the canyon is home to a small stream (used to be much larger) and trees such as maple, walnut, oak, and madrone.  With high mountains all around, the peace and quiet was breathtaking. At the end of the canyon hike, about 2 miles in and tucked into a small valley is an old stone cabin.

In 1921 a young geologist (Wallace Pratt) visited the McKittrick Canyon (not a NP yet), fell in love with the area and by 1930 had built a beautiful lodge. The lodge was built with only stone and wood, both brought in from neighboring areas. The floor, walls, and roof were all made of limestone and heart-of-pine was used for the wood in rafters, doors, window frames. In 1945, when Pratt retired, he and his wife moved into the lodge for a brief time. Before that they were able to use the ‘the stone cabin’ for summer vacations. In 1960 the Pratts moved to Tucson and donated the cabin and 5,000 acres to the National Park Service. As we were leaving the cabin, another couple came by ready to walk out. Such a lovely couple and talking all the way made the 2 mile hike go by much faster.

10:44 and counting

Lee and I are not late night folks. In fact we are usually sound asleep long before 10 (not that we get up too early either – we just like our sleep). So here it is going on 11 and we are working hard to stay awake. I’m on the computer reading blogs, forums, checking out things I might want to buy, checking email and facebook. Working hard to pass the time. Lee was playing click/click with the remote but has finally settled on Ocean’s Eleven. And of course we are snacking our way through the evening. Hot tea and popcorn for me, but Lee has had crackers and peanut butter, bread and cheese, fruitcake (well I had a little of that too), and hot chocolate.

Why all this work? Waiting for the lunar eclipse! We’ll go outside about 11:30 as the show is supposed to start then. Some people were going to hike up the hill to the water tower, but I think I can see the moon from here just as well. We’ll sit outside, drink hot chocolate, and visit with the neighbors. Should be really fun! And tomorrow we can sleep in as the only thing on the agenda is to wash the rig.

Sure glad we are out here and not on the east coast…much too cold and 2 hours later…ugh.

10:53 and counting……..

Alpine, Texas to Lakewood, New Mexico

While we enjoyed our time in Alpine, Texas, I think we were ready to move on after a few days. We had washed the rig when we arrived, we saw all the sights of major interest, we ate in a couple of restaurants (all ok, but none great), and we bought pecans to eat! So everything important was done and it was time to move on…

The drive to Lakewood, New Mexico was really smooth going with the exception of missing the truck route around Carlsbad and therefore having to drive right through the middle of downtown with all of its road construction. But we made it to the Escapee Park “The Ranch” in very good time. We left Alpine about 9:30 (really early for us) so that we could arrive early as we knew we would be backing into a site. Backing is getting better, but still takes extra time and patience. As the office is closed for lunch from 12 – 1, I worked the schedule so we arrived at 1:00 ready to go. Excellent planning on my part…..except I forgot the hour time change! So we got there just as they left for the lunch break. But the people walking around were so incredibly friendly that the hour went flying by and then we were parked. A beautiful park with an incredible group of people. While there we did several sight seeing excursions (Guadalupe National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell Alien museum), learned a new card game (Hand and Foot), enjoyed the nightly Happy Hours (they sure know some corny jokes), and joined the Peppers Chapter for a great pizza lunch. We really enjoyed our week there and would love to go back sometime.

McDonald Observatory–Fort Davis, Tx

One last thing we saw while in Alpine, Tx was the McDonald Observatory. The McDonald Observatory is considered one of the major astronomical research facilities in the world. I sure was impressed!

If you are into stars and space, I think you should try to get to this observatory. It is really great. There were two events we planned on participating in, but we coped out of the second one due to the cold temperatures expected that night. However, during the day we went on an excellent tour which lasted almost three hours and our guide was by far the best guide I’ve ever encountered (and as an old teacher, I’ve seen a lot of tour guides!). Besides giving us way more information than I could remember, he had us laughing the whole time!

It was a beautiful drive up the mountain and then when we left we stopped at Fort Davis State Park for an excellent dinner in their restaurant.

Museum of the Big Bend, Alpine, Tx

Our last day in Alpine we visited the Museum of the Big Bend located on the campus of Sul Ros State University.

The museum was originally constructed in 1937 and renovated in 2006. It was a lovely museum depicting both the geology and the anthropology of the area. I especially liked the Indian legend as shown in the last picture. (Double click to enlarge and read)

Fort Davis, Texas (Nov 27)

I am so far behind in blogging that I am tempted to just skip forward to today’s date (Dec 18th). However, Lee and I use the blog as a sort of diary of our journey and so I guess I will just do some blogging out of order.

This entry is from Fort Davis, Texas located north of Alpine and in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. This military post was first established in 1854 and today is one of the best examples of a restored fort.

The above picture is from the hospital at the fort. It is a listing of the causes of death for the soldiers. Very few soldiers actually died in battle. Illness was the primary cause out in the far west. Can you see John Mason? He had "softening of the brain"...????

As we entered the fort, we saw these signs all along the road. We were puzzled as to the danger…underground mines maybe? But no, it turns out the pecan trees were very old and the administration was worried about falling limbs!

And bet you can’t guess what this is….

a clue…it was HUGE, there were three of them in neighboring towns, they were out in the middle of waste land and there was no admittance. Could be exciting, huh? Nope, they were Hydroponic Tomato Farms!!!