Sizzlin' at the Cool Springs

Location: Balmorhea State Park, Texas

We were treated to an amazing lighting storm last night. We never did hear the thunder but fell asleep to bright flashes lighting up the interior of clouds and being flashed across the sky. Quite impressive over the vast desert landscape. This morning we drove throught the deserts of New Mexico into the vast arid Texas oil fields. The road we were traveling on was so remote it didn't even have one of those "Welcome to Texas" signs. I had a couple of little adventures planned, but we were so excited about getting to Balmorhea and playing in the cool springs that we decided to forge ahead.

This is our 3rd trip to Balmorhea and definitely one of our favorite places. Well to qualify that, one of our favorite places in west Texas. It never ceases to amaze us that this little oasis is situated in the middle of extremely dry country, in the middle of nowhere. Here's poor little Winnie baking in the sun while we go play in the water.

To give a little history, the Civilian Conservation Corps built Balmorhea State Park in the 1930's. They created a system of canals that feed the pool.

Balmorhea has the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool. More than 15 million gallons of water flow through the pool each day, gushing from the San Solomon Springs. The pool is up to 25 feet deep, covers 1.75 acres, and holds 3.5 million gallons of water. The temperature stays between 72 to 76 degrees. Several scuba divers were practicing in the natural area of the pool. One half of the pool has a conventional bottom and the other half is natural. There are tons of fish and turtles swimming around. It's so cool to swim between the fish and over the scuba divers.

Ned and I bought an underwater camera and some snorkeling gear for this trip. This was our first opportunity to test them out. Yes, we tested them by doing selfies in the water and goofing around taking pictures of each other rather than capturing too much of the wildlife.

 

 

 

 

I haven't quite figured out the underwater camera with my limited eyesight. But I'll keep working on it. Hopefully by the time we reach the Gulf we'll see Ned at his finest.

I loved that the fish were just swimming all around us, through our legs and under our arms. One of the fish was even nibbling on Ned. Who would have thought this little oasis existed in West Texas!

 

 

 

 

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Hanging with the Aliens

Location: Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM

What a difference a day makes! After an early morning run and breakfast in Winnie we headed for the spa area. We were the ONLY people there. Wowza. We had so much fun going from pool to pool sampling the different temperatures and water minerals (Soda, Lithium, Iron, Arsenic, etc.) and stretching our limbs. We even got in some laps in the Kiva pool. The shower and bathroom areas are equally luxurious. I had fun using ALL their products (locally crafted body washes, shampoo, conditioners, and desert rain & desert sage lotions). Yes, I am not taking any of this for granted since the rest of the trip we will most likely be showering in cinder block houses with navy nozzles that may or may not have hot water. Feast or famine...

We reluctantly pulled out of Ojo Caliente Spa mid-morning and headed for Santa Fe. Before we left Ned tried to make a phone call. Debi why isn't my call going through??? What can possibly be wrong?

After a drive through Santa Fe we headed for Southern New Mexico. Of course we had to stop at Cline's Corners. This wacky place is at the junction of Highways 40 and 285 and has been around since 1934. If you're passing through it's definitely worth a traveler's pit stop. It has a really expansive coffee shop, fudge counter (dad you know you want it!) and gift shop along with some of the best tchotches ever. Any cowboy or Southwestern themed item - they got it. Minerals and rocks - they got it. Shot glasses, snow globes, magnets from every state, MinneTonka shoes, boots, blankets and hats. Oh and did I mention toys of every kind, 50's memorabilia, Route 66 everything, and some things I didn't even understand - like the squeezable boob? Oh yeah, as we get closer to Roswell things just get weirder.

Once in Roswell what else is there to do but take in an alien exhibit? I had read about one of the weirder ones and figured we had to go. So, Spacewalk Exhibit here we come. The Spacewalk is wedged in the side of a funky little gift shop and and built by two comic book artists. It cost us $2 each, but we decided to pay the big bucks and take a walk through time. And so began our eerie spacewalk through the "machine" that shows Roswell's past and future. According to the creators, Roswell is the "epicenter of the future". "Moody, spacey music played as we groped our way past glowing dioramas of the first atomic explosion, the arrival of Roswell's aliens, and a September 1953 broadcast of I Love Lucy from Akron, Ohio. Of course we had a hoot snapping silly pictures of us pretending like we were being abducted or terrified from aliens.

One diorama showed a flying saucer landing on July 5, 1947 which is EXACTLY 4 years to the date before Ned was born. My question is....how long exactly does it take an alien to hatch? Mmmm...ever notice that Ned has an awfully big head? And is it just me or do they really have the same mannerisms? (Just sayin').

 

 

The Spacewalk followed 1953 with a vast leap of time (necessitated by lack of space according to the creator) onto the deck of a galactic cruiser, thousands of years in the future. Two steps away is another vista of a city in the far distant future. It might be Roswell, but also could just be a piece of "art" that the artist didn't know what to do with. We finally exited the spacewalk at the back end of the gift shop and had just as much fun looking at all the weird plastic green glo alien heads, tshirts, antenna headbands and bumper stickers. I couldn't resist and did end up buying a certain son a can of Alien Pate, with the tagline, "It tastes like chicken!"

Tonight we're camped just outside of Roswell at a very bleak desert campground, called Bottomless Lakes. The last time we camped here we were just about the only people in this God forsaken place, except for all the convicts that were picking up the garbage and cleaning the restrooms. This time we are here on a Friday night and all 30 sites are occupied. We toyed with the idea of swimming in the Bottomless Lake, but a thunderstorm just opened up. We decided it was much too fun to just sit back and enjoy the people watching (one of the campsites has about 20 girls ranging in age from about 8 to 13 who are a constant source of amusement) and the magical rainbow that popped up - then disappeared within minutes. It's a warm 80 degrees and the showers actually helped cool things down a bit.

psst - I'm definitely keeping an eye on Ned to see if he starts acting like it's a homecoming or he's bonding with some of the other aliens er "campers".

Help, help, help!!!

 

 

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Submersion in the Land of Enchantment

Location: Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

Last night we read aloud to each other the Navajo Code Talker book that we had picked up at the Indian Museum. It was so incredibly fascinating. I'm definitely hooked and now have a new obsession. (To my brother-in-law Eric, I think you'd love this book! Ned says you probably already read it, but I'm saving my copy for you.) Unlike the other nights where we went to bed early, we stayed up late reading chapter after chapter. We went to bed under starry skies and woke up to rain. What a surprise! During our last visit here we spent some time exploring many of the Indian sites. I swear that was our plan this morning, but instead of exploring in the rain we opted for the "al fresco" pancake breakfast. (mmm - I'm beginning to see a pattern here. Outing vs. eating and the eating seems to be winning out). Seriously, if you are ever at Mesa Verde National Park do NOT pass up the pancake breakfast, served outside next to incredible murals. The women who were flipping jacks were hilarious and seemed to be really enjoying feeding everyone. We were surrounded by Germans who clearly were enjoying the all-you-can-eat pancakes with bacon. Oh...these Americans.

It's really fun to be camped at the top of the mesa and the view coming down never disappoints. Don't know if the picture really captures it, but there are snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Since our last visit here a new Visit and Research Center was built. This place is amazing! It houses the gift shop, library and a research institute. The architect did a great job lining up the interior view lines with the mesa. Quite stunning.

 

 

I loved looking at the ancient pottery and seeing the shelves of archived old baskets and pottery through the windows of the research institute. We spent some time browsing through the bookstore and I picked up another Navajo Code Talker book. The main character's name is Ned, a Navajo. How could I possibly pass up this book?

The trip from Mesa Verde to Ojo Caliente is one of our favorite drives. It takes you through Durango along the foothills and a meandering stream dropping into Pagosa Springs. From there you drop down into New Mexico driving through colored canyons, among hoodos and mesas. We've done this drive about 3 or 4 times and have always managed to hit it in inclement weather - snow or rain. Still it never disappoints.

 

We finally arrived at one of our favorite places on earth - Ojo Caliente Hot Springs. We drove through the little wacky town of El Rito, which we can't quite get our head around. Not sure if it's an artist colony or just a funky dilapadated little hamlet. Either way it's an amusing place to drive through. When we eventually pulled into Ojo Caliente we were shocked to see lots of cars. Dang! Every time we have visited here (this is our third) we almost had the place to ourselves. Today it was packed. I think the word is out how magical this place is.

We are camped in our favorite spot and a short walk to the main spa area. If you're ever in Northern New Mexico I definitely recommend spending a day or night here. There are 7 pools, all differing temperatures from 89 degrees to 104. It's beautifully landscaped with indigenous plants, fireplaces burning sage or mesquite wood, hammocks strung everywhere and woo-woo music playing softly in the background. Everyone is supposed to talk in a whisper, but with this many people here today that was not quite happening.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed going from pool to pool, soaking our cares away (cares...really?) and even getting in some laps in the bigger kiva pool. Pure nirvana. Tonight we made reservations at the swanky restaurant. Last time here we sat next to Sam Shepperd. Kinda funny that we started our day eating an outside pancake breakfast with grubby campers and ending the evening with fellow spa relaxed patrons. Yes, submerged in the Land of Enchantment indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Navajo Nation Nomads

Location: Mesa Verde National Park

The sun woke me up early this morning, about 6:30. The air was so crisp it was calling for me do get my arse up and out for a run. (Fritzi, my running buddy. I so wish you were with me today!) It was by far my favorite run ever! The sun was just hitting the peaks of the sandstone cliffs, the campground was still quiet, and the best part was everything was flat. It was fun to watch the world wake up with the bright red cardinals flitting from tree to tree and the jack rabbits and squirrels running across the road.

 

After breakfast Ned and I did a bike ride on the Pa'rus Trail. It's going to be hard to top this bike ride as we rode through the canyon and along the Virgin River. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves. It's so interesting to watch how the sun and clouds play with the canyon walls. The canyon reminds me of something out of Jurassic Park.

The drive going east out of Zion is jaw-dropping beautiful. The road twists and turns as you climb out of the valley guaranteeing great views of the canyon from every angle. The tunnel, built in 1930, includes huge windows to not only provide light in the pitch black tunnel, but to also give you a momentary flash of the view below. On the other side of the park is Checkboard Mesa. Loved how the topography changes from the iron colored sandstone to more of a white rock with really intricate rock lines.

 

We interrupt this blog with a "Where's Waldo Moment." Can you find Debi in the picture?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next destination was Page, Az. We had toyed with the idea of doing a photography tour through Antelope Valley. We arrived in Page at high noon and for whatever reason a Texas BBQ joint, "Big Johns" called out to us a bit more than the jeep ride into the canyon. We vowed next trip to do the tour. This Texas BBQ place was a hoot. There was a huge 30 ft. fifth wheel with a gigantic smoker on the back. The "restaurant" was actually more of a parking lot with picnic tables, smokers, flags, and a bucket of peanuts on every table. Who could resist? The waitress, from Texas of course, was a riot. She kept bringing us out samples (may I suggest the pulled pork?) and showed us pictures of her family back home. We told her we were headed to Texas next week and she gave us several tips on what we must see. The best part of traveling is the people you meet!

Knowing that we were going to drop down into Arizona and spend the majority of our drive today in the Navajo Nation I had done some research on things to see. Awhile ago, Ned and I had watched a PBS special on the Navajo Code Talkers. As luck would have it we were traveling through Kayenta, where some of the Code Talkers lived. The Burger King, yes THAT Burger King - home of the whopper - houses a really interesting Code Talkers Exhibit. It was kinda surreal to be in "museum viewing mode" with a tour bus of old people munching on burgers, shakes and fries. Across the parking lot was a small Navajo Museum which had some books on the Code Talkers. I picked one up and am really looking forward to reading it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued through the Navajo Nation, paralleling Monument Valley, finally reaching the "World Famous Four Corners." Unlike the last time we visited, there were very few people. Previously, we had to wait in line for quite awhile to take pictures. This time, we walked right up to the Four Corner Monument and had fun snapping silly pictures of us in different contortions. The picture that we opted to post is of both of us together, taken by a very friendly dad. Buy me a few drinks and I'll show you the other shots.

 

Last stop of the day was home for the night, Mesa Verde National Park. We pulled in around 5:30 and were excited to learn that they not only had showers, but they were free! Let's just say two days of running, hiking and biking without showers was a little too au naturale for me. Another added bonus, the park put in wifi accessible from our campsite. The weather continues to hold and it's a balmy 70 degrees this evening. Rather than doing any exploring of the park tonight we decided to hunker down, grill up some turkey breast, pour a glass of wine and chill out. Until tomorrow mon amis, cheers!

 

 

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The National Park Tour Continues

Location: Zion National Park

Waking up to the sound of the creek at Great Basin was heaven. I can't remember the last time I slept for 10 straight hours. I think traveling in Winnie agrees with me. It was a cool morning, but not freezing like last year when we camped here. Last year's Lehman Cave tour was enough and we didn't feel like spending the time doing it again. We thought about driving to the top of Wheeler Point, but the visibility wasn't that terrific so option 3 won out. Keep on trucking to Zion.

I expected the drive from Great Basin to Zion to be incredibly bleak. On the map all you see is one great big blank white spot. We were delightfully surprised with the gorgeous scenery. Even though it was incredibly remote, as evidenced by the half-eaten cow on the side of the road, it wasn't arid. We drove through marshland with lots of fowl, and driving over the pass between the Wah-Wah Mountains and the San Francisco Mountain range was really beautiful.

 

It had been many years since our last visit to Zion. It's one of our favorite National Parks and even though this was our 4th trip here, it never ceases to take our breath away. Ned made a great observation. He said that visiting the Grand Canyon was looking down over the rim while at Zion you are at the bottom of the canyon looking up. Exactly. As the light changes through-out the day the same spectacular views continue to change as well.

After a quick lunch at the campsite, (for the record those were Virgin Bloody Mary's we were drinking...which seemed appropriate as we are camped on the banks of the Virgin River), we rode our bikes to the inter-park shuttle and headed for the Emerald Pool Trailhead.

 

 

 

 

In this case, the hike was all about the journey and not the destination. It was challenging to navigate the many sandy steps and boulders, especially with the amount of people on the trail. On the way from the Emerald Pools we decided to veer off from the crowd and take the lesser used Kayenta Trail. The rock formations and views of the valley were amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lower, middle and upper pools were understated. First, they were barely pools, more like stagnant water, and not sure where the "Emerald" factored in. However, the hike itself was spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The breathtaking scenery, the flowering cactus, the myriad of multi-colored wildflowers and the interesting rock formations made the hike worthwhile. We felt like we were at the United Nations while hiking. The languages we heard were German, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and a few others I couldn't identify. This National Park is definitely on the world tour.

 

 

 

We're loving our campsite. Yes, six months ago to the day I stayed up all night waiting to hit the button to reserve a site. By the time I completed the transaction there were no campsites left. Crazy, but oh so worth it!

 

 

 

 

Some of our favorite pics of the day...

 

 

 

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The Greatest Hits Tour begins!

Location: Great Basin National Park

And we're off! We officially hit the road at 7:15. This is our 7th year of traveling with Winnie and we decided that for the first half of the trip we would revisit some of our favorite places, thus naming our trip this year "The Greatest Hits Tour." The second half of the trip is going to be recreating the Russell Family 1929 Trek on the Lincoln Highway. On this first leg of the journey it will be interesting to see if each place is as great as we remember or will be a "Billy Jack Moment." Let me explain. When I was in 8th Grade I saw Billy Jack. I thought it was the coolest, badass movie ever made. I only saw it that one time, but I could sing the entire theme song (seriously Megan & Josh - not just a one-liner) and would always list it as one of my top 10 favorite movies. Ned had never seen it and after some time (40+ years?!) we watched it on Netflix. Sigh - let's just say it wasn't the masterpiece I remember. (Billy wasn't THAT cute or THAT clever or THAT noble). Now anything that disappoints after high expectations we call it the "Billy Jack Moment." So, this trip is either the Greatest Hits ala The Eagles Reuniting or Billy Jack. Here's to "it's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me..."

We traveled highway 50, which is known as the "Loneliest Road in America". Some interesting background on how this road was named. Around 1986 Life Magazine ran a very negative article about Nevada State Highway 50 and titled it "The Loneliest Road." They described this route as "totally empty. There are no points of interest. We don't recommend it. We warn all motorists not to drive there unless they're confident of their survival skills." Oy vey...gauntlet thrown. The Nevada tourism officials were quick to capitalize on this and to combat the negativity they developed a "Loneliest Road in America Official Highway 50 Survival Guide." Brilliant. We bit.

Travelers can pick up a free Loneliest Road Passport at various places along the road. The kit contains a state road map, the Loneliest Road Survival Guidebook showing some things to see and a line map of the road. Travelers stop in the towns of Fernley, Fallon, Austin, Eureka and Ely to get the Loneliest Road Passport stamped. When all the towns are stamped a completed form is mailed (postage free!) to the Nevada Commission on Tourism. You then receive a Loneliest Road survival certificate signed by the Governor (be still my heart), a Loneliest Road lapel pin (oh goody we each get our own - now all we need is a lapel) and a Loneliest Road bumper sticker announcing that you survied this "uninteresting and empty" road. Ha! So, here's some pics of our official 5 stops in these exciting towns!

Our first stop was Fernley. We pulled up to a rather sad looking building that housed the Chamber of Commerce. Our spirits were dashed when we saw that it didn't open til 10 am. Fortunately, the WigWam Casino was across the street and they were also distributing the Passport Guides. We found it rather amusing that the woman who issued us our passport had never looked inside the book. The Loneliest Road indeed!

 

The next town up was Fallon. We braved the big box stores, fast food restaurants, casinos and dollar stores between the two cities. Yes, dangerous road without a doubt. The Chamber of Commerce was opened in this town and we were greeted by a very friendly young woman. The distillery she was telling us about sounded tasty and almost made me want to veer off course and head down 95. Alas, we continued to venture on down the Loneliest Road.

The stretch of road between Fallon and Austin is remote, but not really too bleak. We traveled up and down mountain passes, following along the Pony Express Trail. The snowcapped mountains were a nice surprise. What we really appreciated was the 72 deg temperature and not summer 120 deg. "egg frying" heat.

 

 

 

 

Austin was a hard scrapple mining town clinging to the side of the hill and definitely the oldest looking town on Highway 50.

The area between Austin and Eureka reminded us of parts of Northern New Mexico, with lots of mountains and pinion (I think) trees. Eureka is a mid-century town that has seen better days with lots of boarded up or burnt out buildings. We got our books stamped and kept on truckin'.

 

 

We continued over several more passes before rolling into Ely where we stopped by the famous Economy Drug Store. Yes, it's a pharmacy, but also known for it's old-fashioned soda fountain specializing in Lime Rickys. Ned ordered a chocolate malt, and as luck would have it, the shake was so big that a second glass was poured. Yum!

 

 

 

Ely has lots of motels, circa 1950, and interesting murals on many of the buildings. It seemed to be the biggest and most touristy of the towns.

 

We finally arrived at Great Basin National Park and headed for the Visitor Center. As we pulled into the parking lot, Ned says, "Hey, there's that guy from Germany that we were camped next to last year on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia!" We remembered him so well because he had a very unique rig. His plan was to store his camper in the U.S. and every year for the next five years fly to North America and tour. What a coincidence! We ended up camping at the same campground too. (You can see the nose of his rig in the side of this pic).

 

We're camped at Upper Lehman Campground and were able to procure one of our favorite sites right next to the creek. I got in a quick 30 minute run (which was quite a challenge at 7500 ft and hilly) and am now happy as can be with my glass of wine sitting next to our roasted veggies on the grill. Day one and life is very good!

 

Okay...I just had to throw in one more pic. This one is for my big bro, Mr. G! Spotted this little gem in Ely. Love ya.

Disclaimer - I'm using a new blogging app this year so bear with me as I work out the kinks.

 

 

 

 

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