Sunset Crater National Monument

After we left the Walnut Creek Canyon cliff dwellings, we drove to Sunset Crater National Monument, a volcanic site from a thousand years ago. In 1928, a Hollywood movie company almost dynamited the site for a movie set. Over and over, we see that many of these beautiful national parks and monuments were almost destroyed by misguided citizens or companies. Imagine what Florida land developers could have done to these thousands of acres. Luckily, these sites are now protected. Tomorrow we take the train to the Grand Canyon! I can't wait!

Walnut Creek Canyon National Monument

Meteor Crater RV Park's brochure listed a half a dozen day trips from their park and two of them appealed to us. One was Walnut Creek Canyon and the hundreds of cliff dwellings. It was on our route from the park to Williams, AZ, our next stop. We were there an hour early because Arizona seems to observe two Mountain Time Zones--the Navajos use Daylight Savings Time and the rest of Arizona follows standard time. Plus the parks and monuments don't begin their earlier opening until May 1st. When we got into the park, we descended step by step into the canyon (hundreds of them) and traveled the path along the edge of the canyon to see the remnants of the cliff dwellings. The canyon is quite beautiful but I cannot imagine fetching water in pottery vessels from the bottom of the canyon. Hard work for the ladies!

Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park

We left Gallup and headed west on I-40 to the Petrified Forest National Park. We were thinking-- Yawn, how neat could this be? Well, pretty darn incredible. We were enthralled and awed with the subtle changes in desert landscape. We were not prepared to be impressed, but we were. And with Don's senior pass, it was free! How cool is that? Then we decided to come to the Meteor Crater National Monument area. Don't think we will take the time drive to see the big hole (again the brochure authors have ruined the surprise), but we just experienced a breathtaking sunset. Somebody told me that Winslow, AZ has these incredible wind and sand storms. Was it Kris ? Well, the lady in the office said that they've closed I-40 four times so far this spring due to the winds. I believe it. Tomorrow our plan is to see Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon National Monument, and then on to Williams, AZ, our gateway to the Grand Canyon.

Gallup Side Trip 2

We also drove to Canyon de Chelley--pronounced Canyon de "Shay". Beautiful overlooks of this amazing canyon. It was absolutely the worst time of day to take photos. The pictures don't do the canyon justice. Red rocks, trees just leafing out in apple green, deep blue sky....We enjoyed it!

Gallup, NM Side Trip

Our day started with 35 degree temperatures, but it was sunny so we stayed with the side trip plan. We headed out to find the Hubbell Trading Post. We enjoyed our tour and then Don was able to purchase his America the Beautiful pass--the National Park Service's fabulour half price pass. The landscape here changes with every 20-30 miles you travel. It's always different and always interesting. We saw it all--hilly, flat, sage brush, mountains, buttes, mesas, red rocks. Quite fascinating.

Taos, NM

Leaving Santa Fe

We will be sorry to leave the Santa Fe area tomorrow. Taos and Santa Fe fed my soul. The bold artworks, beautiful woven fiber pieces, earthy pottery,inlaid stones and beaded jewelry, dramatic sculptures, and the adobe architecture have been so unique and memorable. We have loved the open spaces, rolling landscapes, snow-capped mountains, Rio Grande gulleys, and the buttes and mesas. And the sky and clouds and the earthy colors! This will definitely be on my list of places to re-visit.

Santa Fe, NM

We are now in Santa Fe, NM about 7 miles outside the city. We went to the Plaza yesterday afternoon but didn't see it all. Today we will drive by car up to Taos to see what it is like. We may stay an extra day here, because there are more day trips to take and more to see. The weather is cool in the mornings and in the high 70's mid-day and then cool again at night(44ish). But because it is a dry heat and windy, it feels cooler. There is a mile hike near our campsite through the woods of junipers and pinons. I love the adobe architecture and the colors here. When I get the photos uploaded, I will add a link for viewing.

Tucumcari, NM

Today we drove from Elk City, OK all the way across the top portion of Texas with only Amarillo--home of the free 72 ounce steak-- as a major city. While Oklahoma was rolling and green (we may have seen the best of it in springtime), Texas was brown with those wide open spaces that they always talk about. Windmill "farms" here and there because it is so windy here. Tucumcari has so many old Route 66 buildings and signs that it reminds you of a movie set or the old Route 66 television show. We're on Mountain Standard Time and having some difficulty knowing when to eat and sleep. Five days and three time zones! Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe for a few days.

Elk City, OK

And you might ask, where is Elk City, OK? If you follow I-40 from AR to Oklahoma City, OK and keep going until you are getting closer to the NM line, that's where it is. Good thing we pulled in early because this park has filled up fast. Evidentally, there was a Good Sam rally in Albuquerque and 3800 campers are heading in all directions. Don didn't enjoy one close turn he had to make in this park without all the spaces being filled. It would be much more difficult right now. Tomorrow we head for Tucumcari, NM and hope all the rally attendees have scattered to the four corners.

Days 2 and 3 of the Western Adventure

Day 2, Sunday, we made it to Tupelo, MS and stayed at a lovely campground at Barnes Crossing. The brochure authors made a mistake--if you put a photo of Elvis's 2 room birthplace in the brochure, why will people drive over and pay $12 each to see it. Or his elementary school. I mean, really! We had some heavy rain on the way to Tupelo, but the leaves were such a lovely spring green, I didn't mind at all. We had cooler temperatures and grilled our dinner. Plus the park was just lovely and had so many things in bloom. We enjoyed our stay there. Day 3, Monday, we headed through Memphis, TN and into Arkansas. We ended up west of Little Rock in Russellville. Not a scenic campground, but our best wifi connection yet and restaurants and a Wal-Mart nearby, so who could ask for anything more?

Retirement also means you can travel. For weeks we've been making lists of what to put into the motor home, what to see, and how to get there. Today is Day 1. We made it to Troy, AL today--about an hour north of Dothan where we had planned to stay. We were making such good time that we kept checking on the next few campgrounds. Good thing we did because when we passed the Dothan rv park it looked very full. There's a National Peanut Festival in Dothan this weekend. Who knew! We're at a park that gives you a free USA Today, free bags of popcorn, and a discount for cash. Way to go, Deer Run!

So tomorrow we are off to Elvis's birthplace, Tupelo, MS. Will have to get some Tupelo honey, for sure. Or maybe we'll skip it and go farther down the road. We'll see.

Filling up the calendar

When you hear the word "retirement", you most often think of long, lazy days without much to do except relax. Well, there are no recent posts because I have been too busy! I've been to club meetings for a newcomers club I joined, lunches with friends, dental and routine doctor's appointments, and even an event revolving around my passion-- rubber stamping and card making. We've also had out-of-towners from our old neighborhood and colleagues. So now you know what my blog will be about--all those things that fill up the calendar during my fourth life--retirement. Next time you see a group of ladies out for lunch, watch them plunge into those purses for their calendars so they can schedule the next date for fun. Retirement is NOT for the lazy!