Petrified Forest NP & Painted Desert

The Petrified Forest National Park was a surprise. The variety of things to see was terrific. We took a ranger tour of ancestral pueblan ruins and also one of the Painted Desert Inn. The tour of the Inn was our favorite. It was renovated by the CCC in the 30s and a famous Hopi artist painted several murals that are still lovely today.

The scenic drive had great vistas of the painted desert and then further south there were trails to colorful petried wood areas. Then we hiked the Blue Mesa which was a surprising mix of blue and lavendar layers in the Mesa.

Acoma Pueblo aka Sky City

Acoma Pueblo is built atop a sheer-walled, 367-foot sandstone bluff in a valley studded with sacred, towering monoliths. Since 1150 A.D., Acoma Pueblo has earned the reputation as the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America. The mesa-top settlement is known worldwide for its unique art and rich culture. (pictures from John, text from website)

Southwestern Colorado

We are in SW Colorado right now near Cortez. Staying in a pretty campground overlooking McPhee Reservoir. No internet for a week or so but when we get back to wifi, I'll post pictures. This is beautiful country. Yesterday we drove the San Juan Mountains Skyway scenic drive. Amazing. Multiple 14K foot mountains, 3 11K passes, the million dollar road from Ouray to Silverton was spectacular & spectacularly scary! Narrow, no guardrails, and thousands of feet down to the river canyon. The Anazazi Heritage Center and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument were well done and interesting. Mesa Verde National Park is next. Then no more ruins for a while. More Soon!

New Mexico fun

After we left Bill & Jean’s we went to Cochiti Lake which is just north of Albuquerque about 50 miles. From there we explored Tent Rocks and Bandolier National Monuments. Fantastic places that we liked a lot. Spent two days at each one. The first day we explored the sights and did some short walks. The second days we did some longer hikes. Beautiful sunny & warm weather but a bit windy. The locals say that it is windier this year than most and May is always windy in New Mexico. We also went to Los Alamos and the Bradbury Science museum. Fascinating, especially the history area that was all about WW2 and the Manhattan Project. Los Alamos is a neat town on a high plateau with tons of hiking and biking around it. We would go back and stay for a couple days on another trip. Cochiti Lake was a Corp of Eng campground that is beautiful and new and the best part was it was $10 per night for a view site with water electric and even a street lamp. We only planned to spend a couple days there but liked it so much we stayed a week. We took a day trip to Taos and a lovely old adobe church nearby.

Now we are in Grants, New Mexico on Route 66 about 100 miles from the Arizona border. We explored El Malpais & El Morro National Monuments. El Malpais means the badlands in Spanish and has gorgeous sandstone bluffs overlooking huge lava fields. We hiked the bluffs, to a huge arch, and also to lava tubes, caves, and lava trenches. El Morro means the headland in Spanish and is also called inscription rock. It was our favorite place that day. There are inscriptions from Spanish conquistadores, some of which date to 1605, years before Columbus! After the conquistadores came the railroad workers and the American settlers. Fascinating place to walk and explore and the surrounding mesas and bluffs are lovely. Today we head for Acoma Sky City. It is an ancient pueblo that has been continuously inhabited since the 1200s. We have heard great things about the guided tour by the pueblo people who live there and are looking forward to it. Tomorrow we leave for east central Arizona and Petrified Forest National Park and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The weather forecast is for sunny and mid 80s. Should be fun.

New Mexico, the land of National Monuments

New Mexico may be the Land of Enchantment but it is also the land of National Monuments. We have loved them all so far; Tent Rocks, Bandolier, El Malpais, and El Morro.

More fun with Bill & Jean in Santa Fe & Albuquerque

We took the train to Santa Fe and went sightseeing.

Went to a sweet little chapel with a "magic" staircase. The history goes that a stranger came and built it but after he left they couldn't find any means of support or nails. Who was the stranger?

Then on to Old Town Before driving up to the top of Sandia Mountain at 10,000 feet.

Pictures from Jean & Bills in Albuquerque

We took a picturesque drive into the Jemez Mountains with Jean & Bill. There is an interesting Soda Dam and hot springs with a pretty little campground. Cold day but stopped to look and take pictures.