Blogs from New Mexico, United States, North America - page 13

When we got married, my husband and I received a book titled "101 Places to See in the United States" as a wedding gift. We had no idea how exciting that little book would be to us! As newlyweds, we had more free time on our hands than ever before and we were eager to explore the world! As children, we'd both only gone to the beach once a year with our families, and we'd never really explored the rest of the United States. So, even though we definitely want to go overseas and see foreign lands at some point, we were both super excited to see what the rest of the country had to offer! One of the first spots that caught our eye was the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. It was part of ... read more

As we sit here, in our old house with the chaos of packing all around us, we are also setting up our itinerary. Herb is always organized and he likes to know where we are going and when and he carefully builds a binder with all the various reservation confirmations and addresses to enter into the GPS. It's also a good way to keep our eye on the prize. So far, we are leaving here May 4, stopping in Amarillo overnight then spending a week in Oklahoma City.. Then we will head on to Branson, MO for a few days. We haven't yet looked at the shows that are available, but we do know we are going to go to Carbondale, IL, so Herb can look at the college campus, Southern Illinois University, Extension Program that ... read more

COOKE’S SPRING Southwestern Indians passing through the area have been using the water at Cooke’s Spring for thousands of years. It was then, and still is a reliable source of water year around. The spring was not on the El Camino Real when the Spanish came to New Mexico, but Governor de Anza knew of it in 1780 and his soldiers used it to chase around after Indians who had been marauding Spanish settlements. Finally in 1846 Colonel Phillip St George Cooke, in command of the Mormon Battalion, came upon the spring by accident and the Mormons planted their flag on it. It has been known to White America as Cooke’s Spring ever since. The Mormon Battalion was tasked with building a road between Santa Fe and California that did not follow the difficult Gila River ... read more

Yesterday, we entered a contract to sell our house, and when a collection of T's get crossed and I's get dotted we are going to set out in our RV to see this great gorgeous country of ours, which will very likely take up to 2 months. So I have set up this TravelBlog to document our journey. Stay tuned!... read more

White Sands is truly one of the worlds greatest and rarest of natural wonders. The park's 275 square miles of dazzling white gypsum dunes can be seen from miles up into the Sacramento Mountains and the Jefferson National Forest. As we drove down the valley leaving the snow-covered town of Cloudcroft at 6200 feet, in the distance it looked as if another great snow had fallen on the Chihuahuan Desert some 20+ miles away. Unlike many of the parks we've visited, White Sands is dog friendly and the dunes are open for exploration and fun. There are very few restrictions on where you can wander and if you do get disoriented, you can always follow your foot prints back. It was a warm and sunny (78 degree) day when Mi Hyon, Maggie and I wandered into ... read more