From Texas, and LouisianaMississippiAlabamaTennesseeKentuckyWestVirginiaMaryland, to Virginia! - Pt 2 AlabamaTennesseeKentuckyWestVirginia

Last time we talked about the beginning of the trip - Louisiana and Mississippi, leaving off with Moss Point, MS on the Gulf Coast...

We crossed through Mobile (which has the COOLEST tunnel under their port.... or so I thought until I drove under Baltimore's bay in the COOLEST tunnel ever!) and headed up to Montgomery, or Birmingham (i don't remember) to crash for the night at a campground. This was back in the day when I needed showers and flush toilets and was willing to pay for them, like a CHUMP, at a private campground. Nowadays I am willing to forgo those niceties for a FREE campground :-).

The next day we headed up to Lynchburg, TN to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery. Neither R or myself is in to whiskey but why not visit anyway. The distillery is set in the hills and is a gorgeous ride... much like the Maker's Mark Distillery visit of my youth. It was a great way to be introduced to the Appalachians. After that stop, we continued north to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. On a previous road trip, R and I went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and we liked it so much, we decided to check out another one. This cave was very very different from Carlsbad. No huge rooms like "the Big Room", but with over 300 miles of underground riverway, there was plenty to explore.

We chose to hit a ranger-guided tour that involved a bus ride to a more remote part of the cave. There, in a wooded dirt parking lot, was a pad-locked metal doorway into the side of a small hill. Only slightly creepy. The guide warned us that there were over 100 metal steps to go down right at the beginning to get into the main chambers, and they were slippery. Slightly more creepy. He failed to mention the THOUSANDS of SPIDERS that were living at the entrance on the roof overhead, waiting for the door to open and admit the tiniest amount of light. Once they see the light, they begin to bounce. OMG way more creepy!
(If you need a refresher on my history with spiders.... here, and here.) And you can't run, NO, not with the slippery steps of death or the line of 30 people who all want to run with you. NO! I spent the whole walk down the steps alternatively pushing the old man in front of me and squealing "get them off of me!". In actuality, there were no spiders on me. It's a mind-fuck.

Once we got down to the bottom, everyone chilled out. The place was cool and damp, dark and long. Its not overly decorated like Carlsbad but it has some fantastic history. The locals used it as a tuberculosis ward back during the Civil War and up to the turn of the century. Awesome! Survive the spiders to die by TB...

We did survive, and drove on up to Louisville and headed west to West Virginia. In all honesty, I don't remember West Virginia on that trip.... sorry West Virginians. Here - interesting fact to make up for lack of being memorable - If you ironed West Virginia flat, it'd be larger than Texas.

Ok, moving on to Maryland and Baltimore next time!

*If you took nothing else away from this piece, remember to always ask if there will be spiders on your cave tours....

My Happy Place

Whenever I'm stressed, sad, bored, or lonely, I think of my happy place. We all have one. That special place in the world - real or imaginary - where everything is right.

My happy place is southeast Utah. I spent many months living in SE Utah, at both Capitol Reef & Canyonlands national parks. This isn't my happy place because I was happiest there. No, in fact sometimes I was downright miserable & making the best of a poor situation. However, SE Utah was always there to soothe me, refresh me, & rejuvenate my soul.

When I think of SE Utah, I remember the following:

- the redness of the Wingate sandstone against the white Navajo sandstone & impossibly blue skies
- breath-taking vistas as far as the eye can see of mostly unpopulated areas
- the smell of pinion pine ( my soul aches every time I smell a pinion tree)
- the sound wind makes as it soars across, through, beneath, & between the fantastic rock formations of the region
- the feel of the sun soaking into my sink, just as it soaks it the rocks I walk upon
- the indescribable feeling of being alone & completely at home in the Utah wilderness
- canyon wrens
- the ability to 4-wheel drive & camp across most of the area & rarely see another vehicle
- 8 national park areas within a days drive. Yes- EIGHT!
- The ever- constant feeling of walking in an ancient civilizations' footsteps
- the tingly spidey- sense I get when petroglyphs & pictographs are near

I cannot wait to share my happy place with M. I know he'll love it as much as I do.

Where is your happy place? If you don't have one, feel free to share mine.

From Texas, and LouisianaMississippiAlabamaTennesseeKentuckyWestVirginiaMaryland, to Virginia! - Pt 1 Louisiana & Mississippi

Disclaimer - This trip is fuzzy in my memory... R and I were both under some stress from moving so far away for the first time... and its the ONE trip I didn't journal.

R and I had almost 2 weeks to report for work in Virginia... and many states to get through before then. We loaded up both of our vehicles to the brim and headed east. I had bought little walkie talkies for us to use on the road. (before great cell reception and waaaaaay before texting...) We very quickly learned that our walkies would pick up every vile foul thing truckers were saying to each other, and to the 'ladies' who worked the truck stops. Ew....

Our first stop was in New Orleans. I'd been there several times before but never without family, making my own decisions on what to do and where to go. We stayed in a nice high rise hotel on Canal, at the intersection of the French Quarter and the medical district. Basically tourist central... I remember our hotel had no 13th floor.... if you didn't know, they're pretty superstitious down in the Big Easy.

After a good night's sleep, we set out to explore the town. We took the Saint Charles streetcar all the way to the levy where it turns around. Its open air and slow moving, so its a great way to get a look at the city. One of the most notable things about the streetcar system is that the drivers are extremely friendly with each other. Imagine taking a cab ride in NYC, only to have the cabbie stop the car everytime he passed a cabbie friend. This is what happens in New Orleans. Our operator woman stopped the streetcar at least twice when a passing streetcar was driven by a friend. Their conversation was what you might hear in a hair salon... A five minute discussion of who's doing what, with who, and when. Very much a laissez les bontemps roulez attitude. (translation: Let the Good Times Roll). I have a feeling that Mexican time can't compete with New Orleans time... R and I didn't mind the stopping. It was a great taste of the local culture, and gave us time to take a better look at the surroundings.

Tracks are spaced close enough for streetcar operators to
discuss their day as passengers wait, and wait, and overhear
intimate details of these strangers lives. Fun! - ummm not my image...

Inside of streetcar - again, not my image. I can only hope that
this is during Marde Gras and this person is heading for a truly good time!

At the end of the line, the streetcar literally turns around. Everyone on had to get off and stand to the side as the track spun in a circle, then they let us back on and off we went. R and I got off at the garden district and walked to Garden District Book Shop. I'd read online that there were free walking tours given by local old men most mornings. This was intriguing, and in hindsight I wish every city on the planet would do this! The book store was this cute little shop directly across from Lafayette Cemetery #1. Our guide was an old creole man that I can only describe as "jolly and also a bit curmudgeony". He took us and 5ish others out to walk the Garden District. We wandered through the cemetery and learned the history and culture of the Lafayette cemeteries.

none of these are my photos...

there are 5 or 6 Lafayette Cemeteries spread around New Orleans

Crypts are above ground due to the low lying land, beneath the water
table. Galveston Island does the same thing...

The idea behind the crypts is that each one is owned by a family. When someone dies, there body is placed in the crypt, either in the center slab or off to a side slab. Nowadays coffins are used but before the 1940s, the bodies were simply placed on the slabs. Its so very Buffy the Vampire Slayer in there. Once a family dies out, the crypt is put on the market and a new family will take over. I have no idea what the new family does with the old families remains....

cheaper crypts... not family owned

These 'condo-style' crypts are usually owned by the city or a mortuary. These are much more interesting. Our guide told us that they don't use coffins. The interred body is allowed to stay there for at least 366 days, or a year and a day, to rest. Then if the crypt needs to be used again, the body is pushed to the back where there is a large enclosed hole that goes down to the ground. There would be piles of bones 8 feet high as more and more people are 'buried' here. Super interesting!

Walking through the cemetery was a bit unsettling. An underground burial is so easy to dismiss and these crypts are so visual, so many of them are beautiful, and you realize that you're looking at, what is essentially, a house of bodies. LC#1 is the most famous, being the oldest, and has been the setting for many books and movies. We were there in 2002, so a lot of talk revolved around Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire.

After leaving the cemetery, we walked into a neighborhood of Garden District homes. These gorgeous homes have survived centuries, first built as home, slave quarters, and stables on each block. As we evolved and no longer used slaves, those grounds were filled with more homes and stables, doubling the population density. Then as cars took over and the stables weren't needed anymore, these stables became smaller garage apartments, increasing the population density even more. An aerial view of the district now would show a haphazard, scrambled collection of properties. An urban planner's nightmare.

Every house that we walked by was gorgeous! Most were painted white, all were surrounded by picturesque Live Oaks, the air was humid and quiet, with birds chirping everywhere. Our guide took us by Trent Reznor's house (frontman for Nine Inch Nails) and the home that Anne Rice lived in while writing her Vampire books. We also learned that most Garden District homes have the ceilings of their porches (big glorious wrap-around porches!) painted a pale blue to keep bees and wasps away. An old antebellum trick that really works!

Before leaving our tour, we asked for a restaurant recommendation in the French Quarter. Our guide gave us a name of a restaurant and the owner's name, saying 'he'll hook you up'.

The next day R and I hit the French Quarter and Jackson Square. Now I remember Jackson Square from when I was a kid. There are face painters, sidewalk painters, buskers, etc. My parents had friends in New Orleans so we went there often. I even have vague memories of the 'family' Mardi Gras parade. I say 'family' because the French Quarter will forever smell of stale beer and pee, and the exotic bars all advertise with pictures of each of their dancers. I spent a lot of time asking my parents why the women had black bars of areas of their bodies... hmmmm.

Jackson Square was gorgeous the day R and I went there. The square was built in 1815 and named after future President Andrew Jackson for his heroism during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. We visited St. Louis Cathedral and Cafe du Monde. We walked down Bourbon Street and I was able to reminisce about my childhood thanks to the stale beer/pee smell. :-) The architecture of the buildings is pure French and gorgeous. We found the recommended restaurant and had a great meal - I don't remember the place or the dish, but I remember it was great!

not my image... but everyone who visits takes this same shot... 

After visiting the Garden District and the French Quarter, we'd seen what we wanted of the Big Easy and so we took off towards Mississippi for more adventures. But first we had to cross Lake Ponchartrain. I remember a huge traffic jam that caused us to sit on the bridge for an hour. Fine by us - great views and the feeling of the bridge swaying were enough to keep us occupied. (I remember later telling my parents about this and making my dad very uneasy... he hates big bridge, especially if they sway!) 

In Mississippi we stopped at Gulf Islands National Seashore for a quick visit... Its RIGHT off the highway. We didn't have time for a hike or beach visit. We simply stopped at the visitor center at the Davis Bayou section of the park. Gotta get that park stamp!

We also detoured down to Pascagoula and Moss Point. I'd spent a Thanksgiving holiday there one year and fell in love with the drapey Spanish Moss that is everywhere! One road in particular that we needed to go back and photograph. (and of course I don't have the photographs anymore. boo)

Onward to Alabama and Tennessee to the Jack Daniels Distillery!
To Be Continued....

The Messed Up Decision that Changed My Life Forever... In a Good Way

Ok - lets go back to the beginning. I've discussed my childhood spent driving the highways of the US, my parents instilling in me the deep desire for frequent road trips. I've also discussed many of my more recent adventures. But how did I get from there to here? Good question...

Like most messed up decisions, this one started the spring before I graduated college. I was graduating soon, didn't really know what career path I wanted, wasn't really getting anywhere with interviews, and didn't want to be one of those people who stayed around my college town long after graduation. So I did what any recent graduate would do - no, not move back home with mom and dad. I ran away to the east coast - to live and work at a resort in a national park. (Listen up, recent graduates! Super-cheap rent, interesting coworkers, good money.) This decision wouldn't have been possible without the support and accompaniment of my roommate and bestie, R. She was in the same predicament as me and therefore, ready to hit the road!

The plan was to go as far north along the east coast as possible - to Acadia National Park!

Gorgeous, right? Yes it is. I STILL haven't been there.

Acadia was quickly pulled as a possibility due to the lack of housing in the park for workers at the concessions. (Quick note - most national park sites have different kinds of workers - National Park Rangers mostly wear badges, get paid by your tax dollars, and must be US citizens - Concession workers are the people who work at the resorts, the campgrounds, the camp stores, the restaurants, etc, - no badges, get paid by a private company, and are mostly NOT US citizens.) So R and I quickly pulled out the US map and searched for the next northernmost national park that may have housing... This is how we ended up with Shenandoah National Park.

Just as gorgeous as Acadia, but in a very different way.

No R and I were not hikers or outdoorsy. That bears repeating. R AND I WERE NOT OUTDOORSY! Ok, keep that in mind over the next few posts as I describe our new-found lifestyle.

But first, we had to road trip our way up to Virginia.

to be continued.....

Best Travel Movies to Inspire Wanderlust

No travel blog is complete without a travel movie list!

A good travel movie is hard to find, but when you find one, it inspires the traveler's soul deep inside of you. This list is compiled from my hundreds of travel movie experiences to bring you the very best. These are in no distinct order, simply the randomness that is my mind....

1. The Way
   
   Filmed entirely in Spain and France along the Camino de Santiago, this amazing quiet jewel of a film makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to fly off to Europe and start walking the Camino immediately.
   
   
   
   
   http://www.theway-themovie.com/film.php
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Into the Wild
   Say what you want to about a spoiled city kid who recklessly travels into the wild only to (spoiler alert; but who hasn't heard this story!?) die in the wild; this movie speaks to the very soul of wanderlust. Just try not to eat the wrong shit and die alone. 
   
   
   Oh! And the soundtrack heavily features Eddie Vedder and his hauntingly poignant call-of-the-wild vocals. If you don't have it, go get it now!
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. The Art of Travel
   Finally a travel movie that my brother and I can agree on. Seduced by the title, this movie was a lucky find on Netflix one night. This movie is set in the Darien Gap (a place I'd never heard of), an undeveloped swamp and forest region of Panama and Colombia. The story is wild and adventurous; the landscape is harsh and beautiful. Plus, the last scene of this movie is the best thing ever!
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448993/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
   
   Proving that adventures don't have to stop once you hit your senior years, this movie is set in the most photogenic place of all, India. I had to watch this one - it had all the elements of a good movie - India, Dame Judy Dench, romance, India...
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1412386/ 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. The Long Way Round
   
   Two famous actors take their love of motorcycles and traveling on the road as they attempt to drive from London, heading east to New York city. Impossible you say? Watch the movie; learn of new cultures; see beautiful sights.
   
   http://www.longwayround.com/
   
   
   
   
6. The Long Way Down
   
   They loved it so much, they did it again! Ewan and Charley head from the northern tip of Ireland down to Capetown, South Africa. Never has Ethiopia looked so incredibly beautiful!
   http://www.longwayround.com/journeys_long-way-down.htm 
   
   
   
7. 180 Degrees South
   
   I first ignored this one thinking it was a surf movie. Then at the suggestion of a coworker, I looked again. This movie is so visually appealing, it brought me to tears. Watch it and learn some fascinating facts about the men who pioneered the art of rock climbing (I bet you own their gear....), and then sold it all to help a nation and the whole planet. Easily one of the most underrated travel movies, watch this one ASAP.
   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Before SunriseThis is easily one of my all-time favorite movies, and its set in the oh-so-photogenic town of Vienna, Austria. (Completely random sidenote.... My mother claims that if you want to see European castles, you MUST hit Austria and Germany.) This movie was literally filmed while walking the city streets at night. It has taught me many things, but the most important one is that sometimes you need to simply walk around and soak in a city when traveling. Its not all about tourist traps. Pick up a camera, grab your favorite person, and start walking around your town. See what you see.
   
   

   

   Ugh, who doesn't love this?!

   
   
   
   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/
   
   PS - open 2 bottles of wine with your best girlfriend, and watch Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and soon Before Midnight (coming any day now to DVD!)
   
   
9. Out of the Wild: Venezuela
   
   Ok, so not a movie.... this one is a reality show. But it seriously rocks! Watch it and be amazed! Because of this show I now want to trek across this region of Venezuela.
   The first 2 seasons of Out of the Wild are in Alaska, and they are just awful. Don't waste your time...
   
   This is a Discovery Channel show and for some reason it has no website. Whatever... Here's a kick ass photo that offers the feel of the show.  
   
   

   

   and I don't know who took this pic... I got it here - http://imgur.com/gallery/z2wcy

   
   
   
10. Out of Africa
    
    
    
    A classic, this movie very slowly builds Africa as a character to fall in love with. For a film starring Robert Redford (love), to fall in love with the continent before the leading man is almost unimaginable.
    
    Now if only I could visit colonial Kenya in the mid-1900s with a guy who flies his own plane, I'd be set for an adventure!
    
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089755/
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. Away We Go
    
    Guaranteed to make you cry, want to marry Jim from The Office, and go in search of your soul's home. OH! and it has a fantastic soundtrack. Buy it now, thank me later.
    
    
    
    
    http://www.focusfeatures.com/away_we_go
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. One Week
    
    In all honesty I don't remember this film, BUT I gave it 4 stars on Netflix so it's gotta be good. Check it out and get back to me.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104806/?ref_=sr_1
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. Kon Tiki

          M and I stumbled upon this on Netflix one evening. We had no idea what we were in for, having       never heard of either the explorer, the book, or the original movie that won an Academy Award 50+ years ago. It was amazing! Basically a story about an explorer who floats a raft from Peru to Polynesia to challenge conventional 1940s wisdom that Polynesia was discovered by Asians. I haven't seen the original movie, but this 2012 remake is great. Its full of gorgeous ocean scenery, very tanned blond Nordic men with increasingly bushy beards, and great animal encounters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1613750/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm

I'm sure I'll think of more later, and I can't wait to add new movies to the list as they're released. Come on, Focus Features! Get creative!

Anyway, when wanderlust strikes but your budget is small.... stay home and watch a good travel movie. :-)

Labor Day Weekend - Fort Davis, Davis Mountains, Alpine, and live music!

M and I headed down to Fort Davis and Alpine for a quick overnighter on our 3-day weekend. We had planned to camp out in the aspens near Ruidoso but then we found out that Labor Day weekend was a favorite of the 3-wheeling ATV crowd. yuck! Soooo we headed south instead.

We drove through some fantastic mountains (yes, Texas has multiple mountains....).

highway running through Davis Mountains State Park

Looking down onto Fort Davis National Historic Site

First we hit Fort Davis National Historic Site, which was crowded and boiling hot. I was hoping it'd be a bit cooler but what can you expect in west Texas in August!

M and I poured over all of Fort Davis's newly upgraded exhibits. You can take the park ranger out of the park, but you can't take the park out of the ranger! My favorite part of the visit was the porch swing. Its been a very long time since I've relaxed on a porch swing. I spent my childhood on the porch swing of our beach house. The sound of the chains creaking, along with the seagulls and the drone of I-10, always lulled me into bliss. M could make me ultimately blissful if he could manage a porch swing at the house.

Fort Davis's most awesome porch swing

blissfully enjoying the swing

weird repetitive view of the officers quarters

My OTHER favorite part of Fort Davis was the hospital. Getting to view all the horrid torturous medical equipment that was "state of the art" in the mid-1800s is fascinating to me, and nauseating to most other people.

After Fort Davis and a quick scenic drive up to Davis Mountains State Park, we drove down to Alpine to check into the cheapest motel Alpine has to offer. I've stayed in some amazingly cheap places, so my standards are pretty low. (There was the place that advertised "Meat Burgers", with "meat" meaning whatever they found along the road; the place where we barricaded the door at night to sleep because the locks didn't work well; and then there was the I-10 truck stop that dad insisted we could get a good nights' sleep in the van) This motel wasn't too bad. It had the basics... the 'ice machine' was an igloo in the check in area that the owner filled each morning with ice from the gas station across the street, the pool had been filled in with concrete and fenced off years before, etc...

M and I went looking for a place to have dinner before hitting the bar for some live music. We tried 3 places that said they were open only to find them closed... I Yelped them properly. The 4th place didn't have any vegan options and was too expensive to have a sub-par meal. We even tried a diner that Yelp warned was constantly out of regular menu items. And yes, they were out of the only thing I could eat... salad. So we finally found ourselves, hungry and grumpy, at McDonald's ordering salads behind some fairly vicious people who were lamenting the broken soda machine.

After a fantastic dinner of McD's salad, we headed to the Railroad Blues for some live music. Talk about a small town - the first person we saw when we walked in recognized M as "Copperhead Guy". M studied snakes in grad school, and worked closely with locals. The band, the Lonesome Heros, was fantastic and very friendly. We're now Facebook friends. :-)
We had a great time and I had too many apricot beers (Shout-out to Corree!).

The next morning we tried our hand with eating in Alpine one last time and hit the no-salad diner. Their waffles completely make up for the lack of any type of vegetable.

We took a different scenic route back up to Carlsbad....

Border Patrol Blimp... who knew?! M says they keep it tethered to the ground. It floats a few hundred feet up in the
air, light up at night for all the illegals and smugs to see.... yay for tax dollars!

Of course we had to hit the Marfa Prada! It was actually crowded with
motorcyclists and other on-lookers

All in all, it was a fun quick getaway.... we'll hit the aspen slopes of Ruidoso next time.



ps - Fort Davis's gardener must be amazing...

I have Rosemary envy... look at the size of this monster!!!

Vacationing in Northern New Mexico... part 3 - Campfires and Pecos history

ok... so we left off with camping and freezing, right?

We drove up into the mountains just outside million dollar homes overlooking Santa Fe, arriving at a gorgeous pine-scented forest service campground with the BEST campsites I've ever seen on public land. At 9,000 feet and with an afternoon storm blowing in (I'm completely convinced that it dumped snow somewhere nearby), it got cold pretty quickly. M went off in search of water (all the spigots were still shut off due to impending May snow), and I quickly put on layers... a long underwear layer, followed by a thermal layer, followed by a fleece skintight layer, followed by a fleece vest layer. To top off my ensemble, I pulled Lennox's Mexican blanket out of the car and wrapped it around me baby-burrito style.

I'm clearly more of a 'sun' person.

When M came back and saw me, he simply laughed and announced that he was heading out into the woods for firewood.... To keep moving, and keep warm, I worked on putting up the tent.

My man and his fire, keeping my feet warm

Reheating his BBQ sandwich from earlier in the day

We spent several hours warming by the fire, reading and talking, while unknown birds made foreign noises above us. M was in charge of keeping the home fires burning while I was in charge of discovering how awesome burning pine cones look. :-) I had leftover cake for dinner - using the theory that Eskimos eat whale blubber and Iditarod dudes eat sticks of butter to keep warm. Denial.... or Genius.....?

Finally the sun went down and I had to add a final layer to my very bulky frame.

Once the fire was out and it was officially too cold, I headed to the bathroom one final time. In this super-awesome campground there was only one issue... the bathroom. Bathroom isn't the term to be used. Latrine is more accurate. A pit-toilet in the freezing cold with spiders and beetles watching can only be described as a latrine. I had girl scout camp flashbacks.... (I should totally tell you guys about my experiences at camp. Another time.) I had taken the flashlight and the lantern with me into the outhouse, but was surprised when I opened the door and a motion-detected light came on. I was more surprised when the fucking light went out 70 seconds later, just as I had pulled my pants (all of my pants) down around my ankles and was hovering (NEVER sit...) over the hole! Before the spiders and beetles could attack, I calmly (re. totally freaked out) ran around, still pants around ankles, trying to find my lantern or flashlight that I had turned off in total confidence of the damn light. I kicked the flashlight into beetle territory and was not going to go fishing for it in the dark. I managed to get the lantern on after what felt like 5 hours. As I stood up, I triggered the motion-light and the room was bright once again.

Note To the Dumb-ass Latrine Designer Guys: Point the fucking motion detector at the toilet, not the corner by the door! OR change the timer for 5 minutes! Who pees, or worse, in 70 seconds from pants down to pants up?!

Anyway, after escaping death in the latrine I headed back to camp to tell M all about my experience. Humility is healthy....


M went right to sleep. I did not. I read until my fingers were frozen then burrowed deep into my 20 degree bag, still in all the layers and the coat, under the Mexican blanket. Throughout the night, as i got warmer and more claustrophobic, I pulled off the layers until I was down to just the one super-sexy electric purple long underwear.

The next morning - I really don't remember the next morning. There was no coffee. I remember that. The plan was to drive back down to spring temperatures and find a breakfast spot with cheap food and tons of coffee.

Once appropriately fueled, we headed to Pecos National Historic Site. M had a friend to see there and I had a passport stamp to acquire.

Ever wonder the difference in quality between a really nice digital camera and an iPhone?  Here....

Top: M's camera with a large battery... mine died. Bottom: my iPhone


Pecos was cool - and by that I mean cold, windy, and truly interesting.

An homage to geology?

I'm totally sure that goofing off for cameras is what the scary evil Conquistadors
had in mind when they built this chapel and killed any natives who wouldn't
submit to the lord.... yep, totally accurate.

heathen!

not to be outdone by the Conquistadors, the natives had their own
ceremonial chambers

heathen squirrel....

totally M's camera, my iPhone wouldn't get this awesome

After hanging with M's friend and touring the grounds, we headed back onto the highway and crossed the most boring section of New Mexico ever created. They really should have tested bombs here, and not in the mountains near the Trinity Site. 5 hours and tons of Todd Snider later, we were back home.

The unpacking took days, but the showering off 5 days of grime took minutes. Nothing feels as good as a shower after a long camping trip!

Vacationing in Northern New Mexico... part 2 - Mountains and Deserts

One of the best parts of Bandelier is it's location to the Jemez Mountains. One afternoon, M and I took a drive up into the aspens to check out a place called Valle Caldera. http://www.vallescaldera.gov/ This national preserve is an experiment in nature preservation. A Board of Trustees manages the land - allowing for recreation, ranching, and natural processes to occur in unison on the land.

The day we visited, it was windy and chilly, so we stayed on the highway instead of hiking down into the 12-mile wide natural caldera. I was hoping for elk but we'd have to get up at 4 am to see them... That's too early for me, vacation or not. So we headed on up the highway and stumbled upon a great little hike by a high mountain stream.

Las Conchas trail runs along the east fork of the Jemez River

The geology was amazing

Michael really wanted to get his feet wet....

It was a bit chilly - he's standing on a thin sheet of ice

yuck....

Someones artwork on a tree - I love random acts of art!

Once we left Bandelier and the mountains, we headed down to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. KKTRNM was the catalyst to going on this trip. M and I saw some pictures of this place and knew we had to go there.

I felt like I was back in the canyons of Utah

Once through the canyon, we climbed to the top of the mesa for some fantastic views!

I think they're a bit phallic.... :-)

Looking down into the canyon and narrows

Ginormous Ponderosa

After the very hot morning hike we headed into Santa Fe for lunch. Found a great local spot, the Blue Corn Brewery, who had excellent food. I highly recommend you check them out if you find yourself up there.

We had planed to camp at a recreation area by a reservoir. We both had reservations about that. Rec areas are notoriously crappy places for tent camping.So we scrapped that idea and headed into the woods once more. We camped our last night at a campground outside Santa Fe at 9,000 ft.... it was more than chilly. More on that next time...