Hey everyone!
It has occurred to me that my recent lack of posting might cause some of you concern. So sorry! We camped Saturday night, arrived in Santa Barbara on Sunday, but without internet access, and I now have a bad cough that has somewhat sidelined me. However, I'm settling in and Amy has had fun horseback riding, kayaking, and exploring Santa Barbara the past two days. She left for LA Airport a few hours ago, and I miss her dreadfully!
I promise to post pictures from our camping excursion at the Joshua Tree National Park soon, and after that, I will continue to update occasionally with pictures from my new home in Santa Barbara. Thanks for reading, and if you've enjoyed my prose and pics so far, stay tuned for more in the future!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Hot Kachina: The Long Hike
This will be a short post for a change, as Amy and I are both exhausted from our day's activity. We had a rough night last night at our international youth hostel, not because of the hostel itself, which was international, clean and well-kept, but due to the vocal drunkards threatening each other outside our window. Accordingly, we tried to sleep in a bit before having breakfast and deciding our plans for the day. We agreed on chill day hike, and Amy inquired at the Flagstaff Visitor Center and was told about a beautiful hike at Snow Bowl just 14 miles to the north with lovely views. It was supposed to be a 5 mile loop.
Well, 12 miles later...it turns out that the Kachina Trail is about 5 miles long one way, and that doesn't count the half mile spent getting to the trailhead. However, the views were fantastic, weaving through wooded areas and grass fields, and we saw some wildlife along the way. Plus we have a great story to tell down the road! So it was worth the battering to our feet, knees and legs, especially after getting out of the hotel hot tub a few minutes ago. Here a few pictures to document the event!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
It's Grand: Backroads, Arizona and the Canyon
Today we veered away from highway 40 yet again this morning by taking route 53, a country road cutting through ancient lava fields now covered in beige and green, awesome rock formations, and the Zuni Native American reservation. Along the way we saw a lava cave at El Calderon, the massive El Morro rock formation, and countless gorgeous vistas. The interstate highways are undoubtedly faster ways to travel, but the scenic byways are decidedly more fun. Not only is the scenery marvelous, but the driving is amazing (especially with Kuro!) and you get to see much more of the local communities. Many of the towns in backwoods New Mexico are depressed indeed, but it's important to see the reality of living in even the most beautiful of places, and there are signs of revitalization as well.
Route 53 nonchalantly crosses into Arizona and dead-ends in another backwoods highway (191, I believe) that leads to I-40, so we took that up and greeted some cattle on the way. Arizona's landscape was at first a bit drab compared with New Mexico; the highway showed off a lot of plain desert, so we contented ourselves with the clouds until we reached the Petrified Forest, where petrified wood can be found in abundance. The presence of trees was welcome, but not so much as the visitor center's hot dogs, which we gleefully consumed for lunch!
We then headed up to Flagstaff, the gateway to Grand Canyon National Park, and stopped at the visitor center there for help planning out our brief visit. Amy and I have found almost everyone in the customer service sector to be extremely friendly, and none are more so than park rangers and visitor guides. We received a wealth of information and decided to do the Flagstaff loop, which takes you east of Flagstaff and past the Sunset Lake Crater before heading west along the southern rim of the park and finally back south. I will try to post only the best of my pictures, but as the canyon is called grand for a good reason and we were there for a rainbow and for the sunset, I took almost 300 pictures today. There's no denying that the GC is an amazing place.
Another early night for us tonight! Exploring and being adventurous, even if mostly in the car, is tiring work :-)
Route 53 nonchalantly crosses into Arizona and dead-ends in another backwoods highway (191, I believe) that leads to I-40, so we took that up and greeted some cattle on the way. Arizona's landscape was at first a bit drab compared with New Mexico; the highway showed off a lot of plain desert, so we contented ourselves with the clouds until we reached the Petrified Forest, where petrified wood can be found in abundance. The presence of trees was welcome, but not so much as the visitor center's hot dogs, which we gleefully consumed for lunch!
We then headed up to Flagstaff, the gateway to Grand Canyon National Park, and stopped at the visitor center there for help planning out our brief visit. Amy and I have found almost everyone in the customer service sector to be extremely friendly, and none are more so than park rangers and visitor guides. We received a wealth of information and decided to do the Flagstaff loop, which takes you east of Flagstaff and past the Sunset Lake Crater before heading west along the southern rim of the park and finally back south. I will try to post only the best of my pictures, but as the canyon is called grand for a good reason and we were there for a rainbow and for the sunset, I took almost 300 pictures today. There's no denying that the GC is an amazing place.
Another early night for us tonight! Exploring and being adventurous, even if mostly in the car, is tiring work :-)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Exploring New Mexico
We slept in just a touch this morning and awoke to enjoy a fantastic breakfast at our B&B (breakfast quesadilla with salsa and fruit). It turns out that there was a couple from Chester, NJ and another from eastern Pennsylvania. Small world!
After breakfast, Amy and I headed back into Santa Fe to do a little shopping. Most stores weren't open last night, which is probably a good thing! Also, there's a Native American trading market in the mornings that we wanted to visit. Native American artists sell jewelry, dolls, artwork, blankets, and other odds and ends right next to the city's plaza. It was great to walk around Santa Fe during the daylight, too. It definitely feels more like a town than a city, but a fun and funky town, for sure!
Next, we drove up to Taos, a beautiful and even more eclectic town a little over an hour north of Santa Fe. The drive itself was awesome!!! We both loved it on sight; well, once we had sped off to the public restroom! It's full of pueblo architecture, art galleries, and unique boutiques. Everything was cute!
One of the things I'm loving about this trip is the sharing of it with others. You see that in the blog posts, of course, but when I'm asked where I'm from or where I'm going, I do give a brief explanation of what Amy and I are doing and how we met. Today I talked to Jody, an artist originally from Santa Monica; Tony, our encouraging and informative waiter at lunch; Estavan, proprietor of a native arts store and musician who has played in Santa Barbara and New Jersey. Everyone has been really excited about our road trip and very envious of our final destination! As we left, Tony said, "You girls have a great story. Keep telling it." That's the plan.
Before leaving Taos, we went to the Taos Pueblo, which has the distinction of being the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the US; it's been around for over a thousand years. Seeing the collection of pueblos and the adobe church was cool, but both Amy and I got the distinct feeling that we weren't really wanted except for our wallets. I didn't feel invited to appreciate their culture, which I was hoping to do. However, there were a lot of cute dogs around, one of whom was an adorable, huge golden retriever who made the rounds of all the people, as goldens so often do!
We started back toward Santa Fe and the Turquoise Trail much later than we had originally planned, but there wasn't as much to the trail as we had thought, so we have no regrets. The trail is so named because of it was once dotted with coal and turquoise mining towns (and Turquoise Trail sounds better than Coal Trail or Mining Trail). There are therefore quite a few ghost towns along the route, Madrid and Golden being the two most notable. Madrid has made a bit of a comeback with some artists moving in there, and Golden has a beautiful church. Otherwise, the best part of the trail was using the facilities al fresco (hey, you gotta do it sometime on a roadtrip, right) and the scenery.
We then drove on past Albuquerque and are now at a hotel in the town of Grants. It's been nice to be in the same state for a whole day, but we're off to Arizona tomorrow. We may be camping, so I'm not sure about posting, but I'll try to keep telling my story.
After breakfast, Amy and I headed back into Santa Fe to do a little shopping. Most stores weren't open last night, which is probably a good thing! Also, there's a Native American trading market in the mornings that we wanted to visit. Native American artists sell jewelry, dolls, artwork, blankets, and other odds and ends right next to the city's plaza. It was great to walk around Santa Fe during the daylight, too. It definitely feels more like a town than a city, but a fun and funky town, for sure!
Next, we drove up to Taos, a beautiful and even more eclectic town a little over an hour north of Santa Fe. The drive itself was awesome!!! We both loved it on sight; well, once we had sped off to the public restroom! It's full of pueblo architecture, art galleries, and unique boutiques. Everything was cute!
One of the things I'm loving about this trip is the sharing of it with others. You see that in the blog posts, of course, but when I'm asked where I'm from or where I'm going, I do give a brief explanation of what Amy and I are doing and how we met. Today I talked to Jody, an artist originally from Santa Monica; Tony, our encouraging and informative waiter at lunch; Estavan, proprietor of a native arts store and musician who has played in Santa Barbara and New Jersey. Everyone has been really excited about our road trip and very envious of our final destination! As we left, Tony said, "You girls have a great story. Keep telling it." That's the plan.
Before leaving Taos, we went to the Taos Pueblo, which has the distinction of being the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the US; it's been around for over a thousand years. Seeing the collection of pueblos and the adobe church was cool, but both Amy and I got the distinct feeling that we weren't really wanted except for our wallets. I didn't feel invited to appreciate their culture, which I was hoping to do. However, there were a lot of cute dogs around, one of whom was an adorable, huge golden retriever who made the rounds of all the people, as goldens so often do!
We started back toward Santa Fe and the Turquoise Trail much later than we had originally planned, but there wasn't as much to the trail as we had thought, so we have no regrets. The trail is so named because of it was once dotted with coal and turquoise mining towns (and Turquoise Trail sounds better than Coal Trail or Mining Trail). There are therefore quite a few ghost towns along the route, Madrid and Golden being the two most notable. Madrid has made a bit of a comeback with some artists moving in there, and Golden has a beautiful church. Otherwise, the best part of the trail was using the facilities al fresco (hey, you gotta do it sometime on a roadtrip, right) and the scenery.
We then drove on past Albuquerque and are now at a hotel in the town of Grants. It's been nice to be in the same state for a whole day, but we're off to Arizona tomorrow. We may be camping, so I'm not sure about posting, but I'll try to keep telling my story.
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