Rafting the Colorado in Moab

Two thoughts screamed through our minds, "Paddle, paddle, paddle," and

Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef & Escalante

If it is possible to gorge on National Parks,

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is named for Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon pioneer who came from Scotland at the sweet age of 17.  Ebenezer and Mary Bryce had a homestead just south of Bryce Canyon, and the area came to be known as Bryce's Canyon.  

It was, Ebenezer said, a

Thanksgiving in Nevada City, CA

Thanksgiving was a doozy this year!  We three adventurers, emboldened by hikes through National Parks, plunged into a small family of 70 to celebrate the holiday this year.  We knew

Manuel's Farewell to a Nutcracker Family

The hardest thing about having au pairs is ...

Rock N' Roll Mud Run - St. George

Running a mud run was a

Grand Canyon - North Rim: The Rest of the Story

We didn't actually see the

The Grand Canyon - North Rim: Hiking the North Kaibab Trail

If it looks like we are leaning toward

The Grand Canyon - North Rim: Setting up Camp

The Visitor Center at the North Rim sells a lot of

The Grand Canyon - North Rim: via Pipe Spring National Monument

The best part of the Grand Canyon was

Hanging in St. George, Utah

The single most amazing thing about Utah is

Meteor Crater

When it comes to football stadiums, the Meteor Crater is large enough to

The Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park

Plenty of iron and manganese compounds account

 for the colors you'll find of the Painted Desert.

The Painted Desert, like so much out west, reminds me of 

Saguara National Park

We spent a lot of time trying to get smart about

Kartchner Caverns

Kartchner Caverns State Park

The first clue that Kartchner Caverns State Park was going to be a stand alone experience was

Wildlife World Zoo in Phoenix, AZ

This guy took a momentary break from guard duty to

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

garden eels

We weren't expecting to find an aquarium at the

The O.K. Corral in Tombstone, AZ

Our time in Tombstone was not long, but it

The Queen Mine in Bisbee, AZ

Bennie suiting us for the Queen Mine Tour.

This is Bennie.  He is the

Cattle Auction

You need only hear 

Bandelier National Monument, NM

Frijoles Canyon

"You're going to Bandelier? Is it open again?  After the

Hot Springs in Valles Caldera, Jemez, NM

Visiting hot springs in the middle of a forest on a cool sunny day is like

Busy at Home

First dip in their home-made pool.

The boys didn't want to wear their

Puye Cliffs

There is no trip quite like the one you'll take to Puye Cliffs.  These cliff dwellings are the ancient dwellings of the ancestral Pueblo and currently

Los Alamos, NM

With memories of Roswell still fresh,

we wondered if this portended a UFO invasion.

Los Alamos is densely packed with some of the most ingenious heads on the planet, but the one that stood out the most to us on our recent trip there was

The Extra in Ordinary

Over the course of time, we've found ways to entertain ourselves and mark progress on the long drive into Albuquerqe.  For most people, for instance, this is just a stop sign.  Around here, a stop sign serves

The Green's Ranch

Chief

Between you and me, we take some pride in saying we live smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, and we are close.  But the Green's Ranch?  They're

White Sands National Monument

We woke up early one morning, loaded the car, and took off across the snowy desert toward White Sands National Monument.  There is one cardinal rule for driving across a desert, even a snowy one, and we

A Train Trip to Santa Fe

The sign inside the car encouraging us to reflect on where we belong.

In New Mexico, the rail cars are divided between those that are quiet, calm, and courteous, and the rest of us.  I suppose it should come as no surprise that we were

Hanging Around Albuquerque

Keeping an eye on things.

Not every outing is a trip to a National Park.  Lately, we've been spending a lot of time finding the shortest way into Albuquerque.

I'll admit this is an interesting process.  Traveling without a home makes

Bosque del Apache, NM

Hundreds of snow geese flying in for the evening.

Bosque del Apache is one of those places you see photographed in National Geographic.  The spectacle of cascades of  birds flying in to one spot to roost for the evening is beyond compare.  Now, I confess to

Around Town

We knew we were at the right place,\when we saw the U.
It could only mean, "You belong here."

There has been some conjecture about where we landed.  We are in the geographically central part of New Mexico, formerly known as the Pinto Bean Capital of the World.  We're using this as a base for adventures for a few months.  It is our alternative to

Petroglyph National Monument

In our family, an adventure hardly qualifies if we don't get lost at least once.  Really, no one can get lost like we get lost.  We got lost on our way to the Monument.  And once we were there, we got lost again. 

Getting lost is usually immediately preceded by someone telling us how

Sandia Peak

Sandia means watermelon in Spanish.  The peak was named by the Spanish for the sunsets that colored it pink each evening. 

We went up to the Peak in the Sandia Tram at 11am and traveled through

The Road to Walmart

I'm sorry, but it is so.  When we first moved here, in the first week of acclimating, I heard about a Walmart and sought it out.  It is the one place that sounded familiar.  My kids were sick, my phone wouldn't work, and I couldn't even go homeopathic and find the food to make a healing tea (that my kids wouldn't drink) at the local grocer.  And so I went to Walmart.

Going to Walmart around here is a commitment; a half-day minimum.  And returning something if you didn't get it right the first time is a painful

Salinas Pueblo Mission - Abo'

This is the kind of signage that I can appreciate.  Very persuasive, too!

Our crew had been laid low with some mysterious flu for a week after New Year's.  We'd spent our time inside sleeping and being sick and sleeping.  Restless to get the gang moving, I made our first foray out to the

Leroy at Dragon Ash Forge

We met Leroy at the local cafe this morning.  The kids and I were looking for things to do and with winds too high for the Sandia Tram, too late  to be on time for the Old Town ABQ tour, we opted for another day closer to home.

We weren't disappointed.

First stop: Alpine Alley Coffee Shop.  There was some rumor going around that I

Hiking the Bend

Our first morning at Big Bend showed a lot of promise.  The trail head for the Window Trail began right just to the side of our campsite.  Front row seats.  Didn't even have to get in the car.

Nothing goes quickly camping, though, at least not for me, and it was 10am before we hit the trail.

We'd done our research on the native wild animals.  Not that I had much too worry about from the furry set.  Our trio reverberated warnings for a traveling mile's radius.  The bears and cats probably

Big Bend National Park

It is impossible to take a bad picture at Big Bend National Park.

Every direction is simply more breathtaking and more awe-inspiring than the last.

We arrived at dusk on a drizzly afternoon in late December.  It was the first rain they'd seen in a long time.  And it was going to be our first time camping in what was to have been nearly two weeks of camping.

Big Bend is huge.  1,252 square miles of huge.  Beyond comprehension.  And what we'd come to know, as we went further and further west, is that nothing is close.  We were getting used to driving across a long ribbon of road with vast expanses of land on either side of the car for sometimes hundreds of miles.  We'd been to gas stations in no-man's land.  Competing gas stations.  No people.  Just a pump, a sign, and a family of cats.  Orange cats at one place, grays at the other.

We stopped in at the visitor center, Panther Junction, when we arrived.  An apt name, kind of cute and definitely a reminder:  We were in big cat country.  After years of having small cats and watching them chase mice, birds, and pom-poms, we learned it all again.  Only this time from the perspective of the mouse.  If only those little guys knew they'd be safer if they didn't run!  The other tips like looking big, making scary noises, throwing rocks; still a bit beyond their reach, I'm afraid.

By the time we got to Chisos Basin, it was closing in on 4pm.  And drizzling.  We found a campsite and pitched our tent.

Then a very nice Ranger who looked strikingly similar to Michael Caine came over.  He welcomed us and asked us if we knew how things worked.  Well, yes, you find a campsite and pitch a tent.  Well, no.

Right, the little pieces of paper in front of the campsites meant something.  Like somebody had it reserved.  In my haste to set up, I'd forgotten.  I couldn't help but think with some weariness that I'd just been on the verge of relief having set up the tent before dark and real rain, was comforting one tearful child who'd stepped up to help and hammered his own finger instead of the stake -- and now we'd have to strike the tent, move, and pitch again with it getting darker and drizzlier and bellies still empty.

Fortunately, our friendly Mr. Caine suggested we just carry the tent.  A solution that was eminently practical and agreeable to my pride since it came from him and not me.

Getting some attention as we relocated to a new campsite.

All is well that ends well.  Before long we'd gotten ourselves situated and made friends with the nice guy next 'door' who let us use his shelter to cook in the spitting rain.

And it wasn't too long after that that we got cozy in our little tent, played a round of Uno, and turned out the light.  I won't say we slept much, but we were happy to be inside with the wind blowing around us outside.  And just happy to be there at all.