New Mexico on to Arizona

We left off our last post after we traveled the Turquoise Trail near Santa Fe, New Mexico.  These next pictures in that area but the other side and north of Santa Fe.  We drove up the Jemez Mountain Trial, a national scenic byway.  The Valles Caldera is a part of the trail and it is a beauty.

Far reaching grassland surrounded by the volcano, amazing.  We went about two miles into the caldera to the ranger station and talked to the ranger about the area.  A forest fire had come through there two years ago and how it has helped revitalize the forest.  Cool!  

Moving on, we went to the town of Los Alamos and through security and were told NO PICTURES!

The government town is mostly made up of the National Research Laboratory.  The buildings were so big and really something to see!   You'll have to go on your own!

Next we continued on to Bandelier National Monument.  This was the main goal of this trip!  Here we were able to see ancient Pueblo dwellings in the cliffs.  Literally they lived in the holes in the cliff.  Protected by the weather in the south facing cliffs.  They were farmers and grew grains. 

These caves make our RV look even better to us!  How they did this and sustained themselves and grew their families, Wow!  

We really enjoyed hearing about these ancient ones and their way of life in this harsh land, thousands 

of years ago.  The average lifespan was 35 years.  Yet they ate healthy and certainly exercised.  Leads me to conclude I should eat, drink and be merry!  

On our way out of New Mexico, we stayed one night in a town called Gallup.  It is home to the Zuni Pueblo.  Also is famous for The El Rancho Hotel.  When Hollywood was at its height, many stars came and stayed here while making movies set in the desert.  Pictures of every actor of the thirties and forties we could think were on these walls.  

They also had many of their local artist paint the walls of buildings around the town.  We saw several of them and found them most interesting!

The next day we entered Arizona! 

We went to Winslow, AZ and couldn't resist "Standing on the corner" as the old song by the Eagles went.  So don't forget to "Take it Easy"!

That afternoon, we drove to the location where a meteor had hit the earth many centuries before.  Here among all this flat, flat land is this amazing sight.

A fitting end to such an interesting day!

Once again I am going to stop before fully catching up with where we are.  But time has flown, Alan wants his dinner, and the Arizona sun is setting....

Good by, Texas! Hello, New Mexico!

On the way out of Texas we spent a day in Amarillo.  Or really near it.  We traveled to see Palo Duro Canyon and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon which is on the west Texas campus of Texas A and M.  

Plus we found the farmers field that had sprouted cadillacs, and went to see Cadillac Ranch.

Entering New Mexico, we were able to get off the highway and travel a bit of the Mother Road...old Route 66.  

In Albuquerque, we even drove on a piece of Rt 66 that "sang" America the Beautiful!  Very Cool!

The next day we went to Santa Fe.  The old historic area is lovely, full of interesting old places to see and lots of shops.  We particularly enjoyed seeing one of the oldest churches in the USA

We spent one of our favorite days driving the Turquoise Trail up through the Sandia Mountains, between Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  We climbed to over two miles high and saw some fun and beautiful things along the way.  One place we stopped was a small town called Madrid, which is famous for the being where the movie "Wild Hogs", starring Tim Allen, William H Macy, and John Travolta, was filmed.  One of Alan's favorites!  So naturally we spent some time there and enjoyed seeing the cafe "Maggies" they used.  

As we continued up the to the peak we also saw this interesting spot called Tinkertown and had to stop.  It was filled with one mans lifetime of collecting the odd and unique.  Plus he loved to carve miniatures of many things.  The building/ cave wandered itself all around and we followed and enjoyed the wonderful things he had created.  Wish we could show you more.  Very special.

Finally we reach the peak!  Amazing to see how high we were.  A little more difficult to breath under exertion.  Glad we weren't trying to exercise, just walked to see the views.  

So that is what we saw so far in New Mexico.  We have more to show you, but the internet is slow and I am tired.  So another day will have to do to tell more of our adventures.  Thanks for reading along and if you have a comment, we'd love to hear from you!  Take care!....

Time in Texas

It has been almost three weeks since we drove into the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  We have spent much of our time with Alan's brother, Chuck, and his family having a great time together.  The rest of the time we have been seeing the sights, with Chuck as our guide, in Fort Worth and Dallas, plus a trip to Waco.  The other part of time has been the just living part.  Doing wash, buying groceries, cleaning, fixing stuff, paying bills, making meals, meeting neighbors, taking walks are all a piece of the routine of living in an RV Park.

This is Madeline!  She is the four year old daughter of our niece, Heather.   It has been our great pleasure to spend time with  her and her mother.  We went to a street fair in Roanoke, TX the first Saturday we were here.

The second Saturday we went to the FortWorth Zoo.  In between, we ate a lot of Chick - Filet!  Maddie's favorite.

Riding the merry go round!!

 

A lot of fun riding the horse! 

Visited  The George W. Bush Center and Library

The three Lincoln's 

Big cuddles for Uncle Alan!

Pizza at our "house on Wheels" with the 3 Bayers!

Two miles from our RV park is the Texas Motor Speedway.  Had to go for a visit!

Love paying these gas prices!  Really helping our budget!

A somber time spent visiting Dealey Plaza and the Texas Book Depository where John F Kennedy was shot that fateful day.  No pictures allowed inside.  We were moved by the memories and reality of what had taken place here.   

 We traveled to Waco to see Magnolia Market.  The store that belongs to Joanna and Chip Gaines, stars of the hit TV show "Fixer Upper".  It was awesome and we had a really nice time seeing what they had done at these old grain silos.  

Then we went to McGregor, TX to see the Bed and Breakfast they had remodeled.  Lovely!

 

Here is my haul from our shopping at Magnolia Market!  A Fun Day.  By the way we also took a look at Baylor University.  Heather is a graduate.  

We have also been to church and Bible study each week.  Saw two lovely lakes and parks.  Toured The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. They make paper money, but wouldn't let us have any!  Visited the Kimball Art Museum.  Made apple pie for the two brothers.  Took the train into Dallas.  Went to a wonderful concert by Christ Chapel full orchestra and eighty voice choir.  It has been a full, busy, happy three weeks. and we thank the Lincoln and Bayers Families for their BIG Texas sized hospitality.