Our New Mexico Blog

Grand Canyon Trip

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 15:12:00 -0600

What a long strange day today was. We hit the road mid day for a side trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings Nat’l Monument. These dwellings aren’t really close to anything so we decided since we were closer to them then we are at home we should check them out. The sky looked intimidating when we left with snow clouds hovering over the mountains toward the dwellings. We drove through these pretty mountains where it did in fact snow and then we were out of it. By the time we got to the cliff dwellings the sky was blue and the weather was perfect. The main road to the cliff dwellings had a bridge fail so we had to walk a mile to get to the trail head and therefor the fee for entry was waived which was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting these dwellings to be like all the other dwellings we’ve visited (Mesa Verda, Bandalier, Abo Ruins) but I was very wrong! These dwellings are HUGE! They are actually like caves nestled in a beautiful canyon and you can walk around in them. We had the place to ourselves almost and receive a great ‘private’ tour from the national parks volunteer stationed up in the dwellings. It’s really amazing that the dwellings have survived this long and they even had corn cobs from the time people were living there. After stopping at the visitors center and museum we headed back but this time went through Silver City, NM to check it out. We again hit tons of snow. The drive was actually really nice because the snow just covered the trees but there wasn’t too much on the road. And we saw a bunch of cow elk. I don’t know that we’ll go back to Silver City - it was a much bigger city then I was expecting and it’s a mining town. The outer hills have been mined and it made for an eerie visit. But the cliff dwellings were neat and I’m glad we went to see them!

Gila Cliff Dwellings

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:18:09 -0600

Hot Springs

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:01:00 -0600

A woman that I work with, Connie, and her husband, Dean, recently went to the hot springs in Truth or Consequences, NM (T or C) and came back raving about them. Lewie and I decided to take some R&R and head down South and check out the hot springs. T or C used to be called Hot Springs, NM until it changed it’s name to Truth or Consequences after a NBC radio show. Now there is a historic Hot Springs district with a few bath houses and spas. We decided to stay at the Blackstone Hotsprings. We rented a room and stayed there and each room has their own hot springs tub. Without trying to sound like an advertisement for Blackstone, the hot springs there were amazing! The first night we stayed in the Twilight Zone room which has its own hot springs waterfall! The water is pumped from only 6 feet underground and comes out incredible hot. The second night we stayed in the Babaloo Suite which had a large hot springs tub in the room. The springs were really cleansing and relaxing and I would recommend it to anyone. It was fun to walk around the historic hot springs district were there are fountains with hot springs, neat little shops and good food (The Happy Belly Deli). T or C is actually a neat little town. Thanks Connie for the recommendation - she already has her second trip booked!

Bandelier National Monument

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 19:27:44 -0700

After spending a few days trying to get our camper fixed to go to hike Texas’s highest point and not being able to fix it before the weekend, we decided to take a day trip up to Bandelier National Monument which is located just West of Santa Fe. I was really looking forward to visiting these cliff dwellings because they have ladders were you can climb in and out of the back caves. These homes were built around 1150 by pueblo people which are the ancestors of many of the pueblos still around New Mexico like San Felipe, Santa Clara and Santo Domingo. When we got up around Santa Fe it started misting and we noticed snow on the ground. This was something we didn’t consider when we were at our house as it’s a 2.5 hour drive away from us. It turned out that the one place in the park I wanted to see was closed: The Alcove House! This was due to ice. The whole canyon Bandelier is located in was covered in ice and snow. This turned out to be really neat because most people go see national parks and monuments in the summer and we ended up having the place to ourselves. I was bummed about the Alcove being closed, but we were still able to walk along the ‘long house’ - a long stretch of the cliff covered in old viga holes that joined many houses together. After going in and out of the little room caves along the main loop trail and heading back we discovered that the path to the Alcove House was open and at least we could go look at it from the ground. It was pretty neat and a lot larger then the rest of them. We were able to see some petroglyphs as well including a turkey and one that Lewie and I think looks like an alien! After leaving we stopped in Santa Fe for lunch and window shopping. A great day trip! Be sure to click on the picture above for a slideshow.

Little lambs!

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:19:31 -0700

The family we buy our eggs from down the road also raises sheep and this week they started having lambs! I was so excited to go over and see them. They raise them mostly for the Alamo Navajo reservation down the road because they eat a lot of mutton. This year the majority of his ewes are having twins and it was so neat to see them all running around - some of them only a few hours old. Besides the lambs they have chickens, turkeys, guinea hens, cats, dogs, and a llama named Floyd. It’s quite a busy farm. The property they bought has an old kiln that is at least a story tall that I find so interesting. Their theory is that it is from when the railroad was in town as the Chinese rail workers built structures that look very similar to this. They keep a small wood burner in it now and that’s were the ewes go to give birth. It’s a sign that spring is coming soon!