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Published: January 9th 2011
Carlsbad Caverns
Great huge columns Well, really here I sit at our oldest daughter Amanda's kitchen in Spruce Grove Alberta, Canada finishing this blog. We are back home in Canada enjoying the company of family and friends for a 2 week Christmas break.
I have so much to write about in the last 14 days, but it's so hard to write when the grandbaby is wanting to snuggle and play.
Anyway here it is:
Sat-Dec 11, 2010
So we woke up in Carlsbad New Mexico. We heard that the Carlsbad Caverns were quite wonderful, so we decided to check them out. Got there at 9:30ish just in time to take one of the ranger guided tours. We were to meet the tour down in the "Big Room". To get there we took an elevator down 750 feet into middle earth. We walked out of the elevator in a huge underground cave room.
On the tour we got to hear some of the history of the caverns and go into some if the areas that are not accessible unless you are with a ranger. The rooms were called "The Kings Palace, The Queen's Room, and the Papoose Room. These were named by a young
Carlsbad Caverns
This formation in called the frustrated lovers. Looks like two formations kissing, but they are not quite touching so someone decided they must be frustrated?!?! cowboy who started the exploration of the caves in the 1930's. These rooms are really indescribable. There is so much beauty and wonder. Formations they call draparies. They look like drapes and some are 40 feet high. Other formations called soda straws. Thousands of straw shaped formations hanging from the ceiling. Other Columns that are 60-80 feet tall. Really words are sadly inadequate to describe this place. So what does one do when words are inadequate?? As the saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words", so I took lots of pictures and the pictures although better than words, also lack the absolute wonder of this place.
The caverns also have a natural entrance and that is the entrance from the desert surface. This entrance is where each evening in the summer, nearly 400,000 bats exit the caverns to find thier days' food. Unfortunately we were there in the winter, so no bats as they were gone for the winter back to Brazil. We were allowed to enter the Natural Entrance and follow a path that took us the 750 feet back into the "Big Room". We then toured the Big Room. This room is the size of
Carlsbad Caverns
The Natural Entrance from the desert surface 17 football fields. So impressive!!! So massive it truly is hard to really even visualize how big that is. This cavern is filled with all different shapes and sizes of columns and other stalagmites, stalagtites and other formations. I could have stayed all day. As it was, we stayed for almost 5 hours. So amazing. Not much to see in Southwest New Mexico, but these caverns are so worth any trip.
We left the caverns and headed to a town called Alamogordo. Here is where the world's biggest Pistashio is. To get to Alamogordo we had to take another mountain pass. This route took us along more of the Rio Grande River. We climbed higher and higher into the moutains and as we did it kinda got colder and colder. We came to a town called Cloudcroft and just before entering the town we saw a sign that said " watch for snowplows". WHAT!!!!! Aren't we in South New Mexico!!!! Snowplows!!!! As Rene was driving and I was looking around, I saw this white stuff on the ground. I smacked Rene on the head and screeched "look, what is that!". In disbelief we looked closer and sure enough it was
SNOW!!! Just a dusting in the trees but snow none the less. The next sign we saw was a sign that was warning us that in the next 16 miles we would go from Cloudcroft at an elevation of 8500 feet to Alamogordo, the valley town at an elevation of 3500. No wonder there was snow. So for the next 16 miles we desended into the valley and we could feel the temperture warming with each mile. (something you wouldn't notice as much in a car!). It was a crazy experience. Once we got into the valley the temperature was back to t-shirt and shorts weather. It was a very exciting 3.5 hour trip from Carlsbad to Alamogordo, New Mexico.
We found a motel in Alamogordo, went for dinner and then spent the rest of the night reading and watching TV.
Sun- Dec 12, 2010
Woke up to another sunny cloudless day. Still a chill in the air, so by the time we packed up and left Alamogordo it was just after 10:00 am. Just 6 miles down the road was the world's Largest Pistashio. We stopped there for a photo (yup, no doubt, it is the
Carlsbad Caverns
Stalagtites and Soda Straws world's largest) and to sample the pistashios that are grown there. There were all kinds of flavors LemonLime, Garlic, Hot Chilli, Habinaro, regular and others. We taste tested them all and then bought a bag of assorted ones to share later. We wanted to buy a bottle of pistashio wine, but state law is that no one can sell liquor until noon on Sundays. Bummer. We didn't want to hang around for 1.5 hours, so we passed on the pistachio wine. We jumped back on the bike and 20 miles later we came to the White Sands National Monument. This area is 275 square miles of huge glistening white sand dunes. The farther we went into the park the smaller the plant life became until at the end of the public use area, nothing grew and there are just these huge piles of sand that are dunes of gypsum. At the visitor centre people were renting small circular sleds and sledding down the dunes. Looked like fun, but I'm still a little gun shy with having sand in my pants, while sleeping on the beach in Corpus Christi. Passed on the sledding.
Back on the bike and on our way
to a town called Truth or Consequences. We found out that part of this whole town is built around and on natural Hot Springs. We decided we wanted to stay there for a couple of days and soak our travelling bodies. We arrived at T or C at about 3:30pm. Checked into this great little motel with a kitchenette and settled in. We were greeted with white Terry robes and fluffy colorful towels to go to the Spa. The Spa rooms were in a different part of the motel about 50 feet from our room. We put our stuff away and found the baths. In we carefully slid into the 108 degree water. Oh Yes!!!!
After doing some serious soaking, we went to get some groceries and then just settled into making dinner, soaking in the spa and reading our books. Soaked a couple of times and fell into a deep sleep.
Mon- Dec 13, 2010
We spent the day exploring the uniquely named town. Originally named Hot Springs, the town changed it's name to Truth or Consequences, the title of a popular radio program. In 1950 the host of the radio quiz show announced that he would air
Carlsbad
The Big Room the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Hot Springs won the honor and has been Truth or Consequence ever since. Lovingly nicknamed just "T or C" by the locals. We enjoyed several soaks in the spa throughout the day. Just hanging out, walking, reading and soaking.
Tues- Dec 14, 2010
Another day of just hanging out, talking with friends on Skype, (luv ya Jenn) exploring T or C, reading in the sun, working on the blog, walking and soaking in the spa. It was a really wonderful and relaxing place to spend a few days.
Wed- Dec 15, 2010
Well we were on the move again. We woke up early had one last soak in the spa and packed up. We were on our way to Phoenix, but with no real destination in mind. We knew wanted to be in Phoenix by Thursday but if there was nothing to see along the way we were ok with going to the Phoenix hostel early. We left Truth or Consequnces about 10:00am. We rode into a beautiful valley. Surrounded by mountains this valley is obviously very fertile. We saw pecan orchards, tons of cotton, hay
Highway Sign
From Cloudcroft to Alamogordo- big drop and red chiili fields. The weather started out very windy and a couple of times Rene had to dodge tumbleweeds. He wasn't able to dodge them all though and one of them ran right into the bike. Twigs and weeds all over the bike. We stopped to clear the debris away and off we went again. After about 2 hours the wind died down and we had a wonderful day cruising through the New Mexico Mountains. At one point we saw a couple of wild horses grazing in the wild. We rode through a pass that was huge rugged red rock formations on each side of us. Another landscape we had not seen yet. We still pinch ourselves almost everyday to make sure that this journey is real and that we are in fact seeing all of these new and exiting views, experiencing all these new and exciting adventures and really meeting all these new and exciting people. Something new EVERYDAY!!!!
Anyway, there was really nowhere that we wanted to stay along the way and the weather was great so we kept cruising along until we hit Phoenix. We found the hostel and checked in about 5:00pm. As we were settling
in, the hostel operator invited us to go with her and the other hostel guests to see Flaminco dancers at a nearby hotel. We jumped into a couple of vehicles and off we went to see a group of very talented Flaminco dancers, singers and musicians. We were back at the hostel about 9:00 pm. sat and visited a while and turned in early for the night.
Thurs- Dec 16, 2010
So we are in the desert, right?? And it doesn't rain in the desert right?? Wrong!!!! We woke up to clouds and by noon it was sprinkling and it just stayed kind of rainy all day. We had really nothing planned for the day so we certainly were not bothered by the rain and had the pleasure of doing the rainy day thing and just read, played on the Internet and lazed around. One of the gals at the hostel checked out what was playing at the theater and found "The Tourist", the new film with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie playing at 4:30. So we all decided that was another good way to spend a rainy day. Rene and I had not been to a movie yet
on this journey so thought it was a great idea. Yeah.... So not the movie we thought it would be, but I'm sure others enjoyed it.
After the movie we stopped to get some groceries and spend the evening with the other hostel guests.
Fri- Dec 17,2010
While we were at the hostel we met Mike and his 2 friends that are moving to California. Mike is an artist and is doing a project on eyes. He is taking close up pictures of 150 sets of eyes and then he is going to analyse them. He asked Rene and I if he could use our eyes in his project, so he took his pictures, asked a few questions about age and health and we get to be part of his project. Very cool eh? (yes Steve Hays, I am still a real Canadian). We then left on our way to Sedona AZ about 3:00 pm. We rented a car for this week as we had been watching the weather and it looked like it was going to be kinda chilly and wet. We picked up the car at 3:00 and went to drop off the bike. Rene's cousin Monda
White Sands in New Mexico
Playing in the sand dunes and Hans own a home in Phoenix and graciously allowed us to park our bike in their garage for the next 3 weeks. One week while we have our rental in Sedona and then 2 weeks while we are home for Christmas. By the time we got to Hans and Monda's and unloaded the bike and transfered what we needed into the car it was 5:00 and getting dark. We drove the couple hours to Sedona in the dark. We knew we were in for a nice surprise in Sedona just by the outlines of the mountain shadows we could see in the dark. Went for a bite to eat and found our place. A room in a large house with the complete use of the kitchen and livingroom. Very nice!
Sat - Dec 18,2010
Well we were right about the expected scenery. We woke up to gaze at the most incredible red rock formations. They were amazingly beautiful. Sedona, the town, tucked in the valley surrounded by huge red rocks. The proprietor of the Inn, Athena, came to our room welcoming us with muffins from Starbucks and ready to share all of her knowledge of the town and
White Sands
Going sledding on the sand just like we do in the snow surrounding area. The weather was indeed kinda chilly and we had noticed some outlet stores on our way in, so decided we should get some Christmas shopping in. We spent most of the day shopping and exploring Sedona and Oak Creek. Both quaint little resort towns. Got all the shopping done in one day and feel a little more like it might be Christmas. Hard to get into the Christmas spirit with no snow, no decorating, no baking and no Christmas celebrations. I really missed all those things that make the season festive. I always thought Christmas was much to commericalized at home, and I believe it still is, but I missed all that "stuff". Anyway, felt good to have the shopping finished. The rest of the day was filled with exploring the town.
Sun- Dec 19, 2010
We had explored churches last night and decided it had been several weeks since we had gone to church. Since this was the last Sunday before Christmas we wanted to attend a service. We found a Christian Reformed Church ( the denomination that both Rene and I grew up in) in Flagstaff AZ. Flagstaff was about 40 minutes away from Sedona
White Sands
Driving on the sand can be tricky and one of the ways of getting there is over this amazing mountain road. Off we went at 10:00 and up and up we went through the pass. At about 6000 feet we saw a sprinkling of snow.
We had a wonderful Sunday monrning with the Flagstaff church members. After church we celebrated with Sally, her 100 birthday. She still lives alone and drives!!!! WOW!!!!
After cake, coffee and meatballs??? we drove back to Sedona and had a chill day as the weather was cold and rainy.
Mon- Dec 20, 2010
Woke up to kinda cloudy but not raining weather. We went on a loop tour of the countryside. On this tour we stopped at the Tuizigoot Ruins, a hillside town called Jerome, a visionary community called Acrosanti, Montezuma's castle and Montezuma's well.
The Tuizigoot Ruins are these ancient dwellings that archeologists have uncovered. The ruins were suspected to be built thousands of years ago by the Sanagua Indians. These Indians left the Arizona valley in about 1900 and no one is really sure why they left but there are no descendants still living.
Our next stop was Jerome. This was a small mining town built on a
Truth or Consequences
Our Hot Springs hotel steep hill. There is no more mining, so the town is now more touristy than anything. Neat little town though.
The next stop was a community called Acrosanti. Now this was a really different place. It is a community concept designed by an Italian architect and is supposed to be an alternative to urban sprawl. The community started in the 70's and is kinda like a hippy commune. Not my kind of living and obviously not for many others as it is not progressing very quickly and is fairly run down. 30 years after the first concept and vision of housing 5000 people, only 65 reside there presently.
The next 2 stops were Monteuma's Castle and Well. The Castle is this really cool. It was a housing complex built again by the Sanauga Indians. One part of the Castle is built way high on the cliffs. The well is a large hole and water dyke built along a river. The water comes out of the earth at about 75 degrees and the Indians built this dyke. Interesting.
We got back to Sedona and it was dark, so we went home, watched some TV and off to bed.
Tues- Dec 21, 2010
We woke up to
some sun, but mostly cloudy skies. The forcast was for rain in the afternoon, so we decided to go on a hike into the red rocks. Off we went about 10:00 am and hiked up a trail called Wilson's Mountain trail. We hiked for about 2.5 hours and saw some pretty amazing sights. The red rocks look fake. It really is quite surreal to be in the midst of all this red rock, clay and sand. I'm not sure how many types of cacti there are in the desert, but there certainly were lots in this area. So incredibly different from at home.
Just a we were ending our hike it began to rain, so we finished the hike in the sprinkling rain and back to the house we went to read and chill out in the house.
Athena gave us a couple free gym passes, so we went to work off some more of the calories we had ingested in the last couple of months.
After our workout we just chilled, watched some TV and made some travel plans for the second half of our journey into Mexico and Central America.
Wed - Dec 22, 2010.
We woke
Truth or Consequences
Inside the hot pool room up today and decided that it was another day for doing separate activities. Rene wanted to go hiking again, and I wanted to explore the quaint town of Sedona. Off went Rene to do his hiking and I cherished some quiet time by myself and then about noon, went and spent the next 4 hours just wandering around, window shopping, having coffee and gazing at the rocks from my coffee shop seat. It was a great day for both of us and we were then excited to share our day with each other. Went for dinner instead of cooking and had an early evening.
Thurs - Dec 23, 2010.
We woke up early as we were on our way to explore the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was about 2 hours from Sedona and we wanted to spend the whole day there so we left Sedona about 7:30am. We heard on the news that it was going to be snowing in the higher passes and sure enough, as we climbed into the higher passes athe world became a winter wonderland. There was at least a foot of bright white, heavy snow on the roads and trees. Oh how thankful
Truth or Consequences
Hanging out in the sun we were we had rented a car. The drive was really beautiful. reminded me of a quote I read just recently that goes like this:
What is it about snow? Is it the silence, the perfect whiteness, the lovely paradox of icy and soft all at once? If the sight of falling snow doesn't give you the itch to run out and play, there just might be a void where your soul ought to be'.
Being Alberta born and raised, snow is really a fundamental part of who I am and where my heart is, so this quote feels like home to me and I really did want to stop and throw a snow ball or two and have some snow fun.
Sp we arrived at the Grand Canyon about 12:00 and it was cloudy and foggy. We drove up to the park gate and the gal there thought the weather would probably stay the exact same all day. We were kinda bummed out about this statement, but this was our only chance to see the Canyon, so we paid the fee and went in. We parked the car and went to the first look-out feeling a little bit dejected.
BUT..... our first look was WOW!!!! The clouds and the fog were really high in the sky and the sun was shining brightly on the Canyon. Again another sight that defies words. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide and about 1 mile deep. It's landscape is powerful and inspiring and quickly overwhelms your senses just looking at it. Way on the bottom of the Canyon runs the Colorado River. Looks like just a tiny stream from the lookout points. One of the things that amazed us was that there is often NO fence or guard rails around it. The signs tell you to be extremely careful and to watch your step. Yea..... no kidding watch your step. One of the signs says that about 250 people annually fall off the ledges. I guess hardly anyone dies though. Interesting. Also down below are several trails you can hike. We didn't have the time to really do any hiking, so that is yet another thing that will go on our to do list if ever we make it back to the amazing Grand Canyon. After spending about 5 hours walking some of the paths, gazing into and at
the Canyon and taking 100's of pictures (every time you turn a corner there is another different beautiful sight) we left to go back to Sedona.
Got back to our place and had an early night. We were excited as we were starting our journey towards home the following morning.
Fri - Dec 24, 2010.
We were up early to commence our LONG trip to Alberta Canada. We had to make a couple of stops before we were to the airport, so we headed out of Sedona about 8:30 am. Off we went to where we had the bike parked in Phoenix. We dropped a bunch of stuff that we didn't want to take home with us and needed for our next leg of the trip. After cleaning out the car and checking to make sure we left what we wanted to leave and packed with us what we wanted to take home, we left the bike and headed to the hostel in Phoenix. We left our BIG bag of assorted pishtashios there and wanted them back. we got to the hostel, looked in our cubby and...... our pishtashios were GONE!!!! Oh the disappointment!!! Oh well, that's what happens
when you leave stuff where you shouldn't. After hanging around the hostel for a little while, we left for the airport to return the rental car. Got to the airport about 3:00, returned the car and attempted to settle in for the next 12 hours or so. Mary, from the hostel said we could come back to the hostel for the evening and hang out with the other guests, but we had our books, our musicand each other. AND I was at the airporrt on my way to see my kids and grandbaby. There was no way I was leaving!!! 12 hours of hanging around.... oh well...I was not moving.
OK after about 4 hours I was bored stiff and couldn't seem to sit still. Of course everything in the airport closed early because it was Christmas Eve. So..... we read, dozed off and on and finally got to go through the security gates. I knew I was getting closer with each move and step north.
After a quick stop and plane change in San Fransisco. We arrived in Edmonton at 12:00 pm.
The best sight in the world after a long time is .......Hmmmmm FAMILY!!!!!
So long Arizona....
"take
Jerome, Arizona
Old mining town off your rainbow shades
Arizona, hey.... won't you go my way"
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our Family and Friends.
So comforting and exciting to have you all along on this journey.
We hope you all have a great 2011 and that health and happiness is what is in store for all of you.
We also wish for you that you receive all that you dream of.
And so we remain......
In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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Joy Christopher
non-member comment
Blowing & Drifting
It behaves just like snow on the road, too, it looks like. That part is no fun.