http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , New Mexico en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:07:24 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:07:24 BST Piper and I have been hanging out at the hotel taking advantage of the indoor pool. Mark is with his buddies Gary Michael Jorma and Nick at the NRA Whittington Center taking a 3 day course in the Barrett 50 cal Rifle. Piper and I decide to venture into Raton for lunch and find the Sweet Shop. In business since 1923 it is currently owned by Mike J. Pappas. His father opened the Sweet Shop in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Raton/blog-303413.html The drive from Texas to Raton NM is incredible. Piper thinks that a mountain out the window looks like a volcano...turns out she's right. It's Mt. Capulin. There aren't a lot of places to stay in Raton we are at the Holiday Inn Express. When I check in they let me know there is a complimentary dinner for guests every night potato soup and chili dogs tonight and hot breakfast every morning. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Raton/blog-303408.html Ancestral PuebloansOr ldquoOh no not another Roman RuinrdquoWhy the subtitle for this piece Well when I was a child and my family lived in Turkey this was a refrain my brother and I would chant with a groan when we stopped on our tour through western Turkey at places like Didyma and Miletus. Well this was kind of what Max and Miles would say when they would ask ldquowhere are we goi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/blog-301663.html Oklahoma City to Raton NM. We are still on I40 West. Today is a great travel day Lots to see. Gigantic windmills courtesy of the Oklahoma Wind Energy Center dot the landscape. They look like something out of a scifi movie. We also see one of the real buildings that the animators creating the movie CARS used in the film. In CARS it was the custom paint shop of one of the characters. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Raton/blog-299667.html It was really dark outside when we woke up this morning in Holbrook and that could only mean one thing in Arizona RAIN RAIN and more RAIN We forced ourselves to get up even though we wanted to lay in bed all morning and listen to the rain beating down on the roof. By the time Tim finished unhooking everything on the RV the rain had slowed a little so we decided to stay at the KOA and enjoy http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Alamogordo/blog-298979.html Dear friends and familyToday I am packing for my caving expedition to Chile. The purpose of this trip is to map caves for a NASA project in the Atacama region of Chile. We are going to the Atacama because it is very similar to Mars. The Atacama is the driest place on earth and has little to no vegitation. The project goal is locate caves on Mars using thermal detection devices so we are usi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Albuquerque/blog-297573.html Colorado to New MexicoGreat Sand Dunes National ParkOur second day on the dunes we were lucky as locals said the wind had been unseasonably strong evidently it blows a lot in the spring but usually not so much in the summer it calmed down substantially and we had a pleasant stroll through the water of Mather creek over to the sand dunes put our shoes back on to protect against hot sand an http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Taos/blog-296912.html We arrived on July 28 bringing in rain with us. The area had been under a drought and had closed the Lincoln National Forest. We were relieved to hear it was opening on July2. Linda Paul Rocky and Tribble joined us on July 2 very early in the morning. Paul's parents Julie and Derek arrived on July 3. Maggie and Rosie are staying with Linda and Paul. It was a big decision for us but its hard to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Ruidoso/blog-295624.html Quick words on Santa Fe.Adobe. Dry heat. Railway Runaway Cowboys. Smoky. Dustbowl. Canyon Street. Fine Art. Pork Burritos. Lamb Tacos. Religion. Three Deer. Pitch Black. Public Bathrooms. Gravel Pit. Wrong turns.Santa Fe to Flagstaff 383 milesFlagstaff was a pleasant break. We stayed in a hotel called Little America and rubbed clean the stenches wersquod been collecting from the airs of differe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-294912.html Roswell.Managed not to be beamed anywhere and the only thing that got probed was my bank ballance for the hotel and gas....Wounder it there was ever a guy called Jim who got beamed up by aliens....JimBeam. hmmm must have a drink over that one.Had a quick look at Roswell fairly normal town the usual tourist shops of Alien stuff and alien museam most of the street lights in the centre of town a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/blog-294678.html Got underway a bit late today not on the road until 9am felt like half the day was gone.Had a quick look around Kerrville and got some nice pics down by the Guadalupe river which runs through the town.Not sure of the population but is a good sized town with everything you need and the usual stuff you don'tBut is still small enough to have that country feel.Fill up with gas topped up the oil yi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/blog-294248.html On our way home we took a short side trip tp Acoma Pueblo Sky City as it's also called or Ak'u in the Keresan Language of the people who have made their home there for over 1000 years. Acoma sits upon a 350 foot rock mesa with sheer sides. It is the oldest continually inhabited town in North America. It's people migrated from the north in the distant past and called it Haak'u or Ak'u the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Gallup/blog-294129.html John a local silversmith I met told me of an upcoming dance happening at the Zuni Pueblo town. I have been the region for a month and had hardly glimpsed the native cultures that abound here and my curiosity was sparked partly by ignorance and partly by John who has an intimate connection with the Zunis as he has lived there years ago. I arrived on a pretty nice day considering my climate http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/blog-293222.html And so the journey begins as we drive off into the sunset yes I know that scene generally ends Westerns but it was kind of necessary as we are starting off going west. The first stop on our trip is Albuquerque where I had spent a month in the summer of 1999 working at UNM for my Aunt and Uncle helping out with their vegetation and biomass mapping of the area. Bethany and I are both glad to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Albuquerque/blog-291080.html I have successfully made it through my first eastward non family couch surfing experience. I stayed with a woman named Adele and her cat in Albuquerque NM. She lives up on a hill and has a ldquofront porchrdquo on the second story I would call it a balcony but tomatotomahto. She is high enough on the hill that sitting on the porch provided us with a beautiful southwestern sunset as we http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Albuquerque/blog-291073.html One of our favorite destinations is Santa Fe New Mexico. Our original plan was to drive from Napa California east through Nevada and Utah to Creede Colorado. However we really wanted to spend a few days in Santa Fe before hitting Colorado. Our new route took us south from Napa back through the San Joaquin Valley then east to Barstow where we picked up I40 and headed to northern Arizona http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-289324.html Toas New Mexico is beautiful arrived a little late so motels were scarce what was available were way to costly. When you arrive in Taos from the West the first thing you see is these funny little things sticking out of the little dirt humps in the ground. There are numerous homes buried under the humps. Beautiful when you look at them from the front side all windows sticking out of the groung.No http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Tularosa/blog-288680.html Oy what a day We started out pretty early leaving the hotel around 730 to get to the Santa Fe plaza pretty eartly. The Santa Fe Plaza is a historical district with one of the oldest continuously occupied buildings in the U.S. a grand basilica dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi the area of which is basically a big shopping mall. It's a little disheartening that such a grand building ded http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-287805.html Today we drive from Amarillo to Santa FeGoogle Earth taking a few intended detours. One thing that struck me was how perspective dramatically impacts your view on something. I often fly over the mountains and also Google Earth them and they almost seem insignificant. However driving through them is a huge difference from flying. They are far more grand than when they are viewed from th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-287338.html Santa Fe wasn't on our original itinerary but Sophie who we'd met in Fiji said they were going and it sounded like a really nice place so we decided to go on a slight detour before heading up north. The journey was again long and very hot in the 90s but we were starting to get used to it and we'd been able to download some new podcasts by Chris Moyles and Scott Mills good old Radio 1 so that http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-287066.html Fecal Engineer. That's my new job title. I say it without resentment more with a laugh as I plan in the next week to begin entering some of the wolves' enclosures to collect their excretions and furthermore be able to analyze how their diet is treating them. Other chores including wolves will be morning rounds fecal finds water hauling health check and to even socialize with the wolves. To http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Gallup/blog-281423.html That night we stayed in our ohhh so charming motel in Santa Fe. Yes the Silver Saddle Motel is accross the street from the one strip club in Santa Fe 'Cheeks'. Leave it to us to find the one seedy area of an otherwise really hippieartsy city. Honestly though the people at the motel were extremely nice and helpful to the point that they agreed to leave our door open with the key inside so w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-280242.html On the final night of the trip the achievers had a very special evening at the Old House Tavern. It was an amazing meal paired with great wines. The music was an acoustic guitar joined by a a vocalist and a flamenco dancer. It was a fun dinner celebrating everyone's successAfter dinner they danced the night away in the lobby bar and then on to another bar in the Santa Fe Plaza.Congratulation http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-279500.html After a long day of llama trekking the Touchstone Crystal achievers had the fun experience of visiting the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Led by Chef Rocky we all tried our hands at some new techniques. A couple of our group members were not selfproclaimed chefs but they were good sports and got involved in the activities. Our menu was pork carne adovada enchiladas homemade tortillas green http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-279494.html It is an exciting day The achievers of the Touchstone Crystal Enchanted Escape are on their way to Santa Fe for some relaxation and funBrenda Patti and Lisa have worked very hard to earn this trip and bring their spouses on a special trip. Congratulations LadiesThe trip began with a wonderful opening reception by a cozy fireplace. The achievers enjoyed music by a Native American flautist a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-279430.html