Taos Ski Trip

We left Mission on January 16, to slowly move west, planning to end up in Sacramento for a couple of months beginning mid-February. Since we aren’t on a strict schedule, we decided to make a couple of side trips along the way. Our first stop was back to Bernalillo, New Mexico (right next to Albuquerque) to position ourselves for a trip to Taos Ski Valley for a two day ski trip. Taos Ski Valley is about 125 miles from Albuquerque, but at 10,000 plus elevation, nowhere we wanted to take our 5th wheel. Bernalillo sits at about 5000 feet, and was cold enough! We had a couple of mornings down into the mid teens, and the highs no more than the mid 40’s. This was quite shocking, after spending six weeks in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with highs mostly in the 70’s and 80’s! So, we left the 5th wheel in Bernalillo, and drove to Taos Ski Valley for a mini ski vacation. The place we stayed was a Bed & Breakfast of sorts called Austing Haus, a charming chalet-like lodge located just about a mile from the ski resort. (I’ve included a picture of Austin Haus with this post.) We arrived on a Tuesday night following a few days of fresh snowfall. Wednesday was bright and sunny, very cold (low at zero, high only 24), and a perfect day for skiing. We hit the slopes at 9:30 and skied until 3:00 with only a couple of breaks for coffee and lunch. We had tentatively planned to ski Thursday as well, but it started snowing overnight, and Dan twisted his knee skiing some bumps, so we decided to call it done after the one day. We did a little shopping in the ski village, and headed back to Bernalillo. Dan had been to Taos Ski Valley several years ago, but this was my first trip. This was somewhere he really wanted to return to and was excited about sharing the experience with me. Although the trip was brief, it was fun and well worth the effort.

Next stop: Mesa, Arizona!

South Padre Island

Dan and I didn’t really know what to expect when we got here – having never been to this part of the country, and coming here only on the recommendation of other travelers who find the winter weather here very pleasant. And, the weather has been wonderful, as promised. Warm for the most part, a couple of cool days every once in a while, but usually warms right back up. No rain since we’ve been here, and most days are shorts and T-shirt weather. What we have discovered is the “Winter Texan” community. Most of the people at this and other RV parks in the area (and there are a LOT of RV parks around here) come for the winter, usually arriving in December or January and staying through March or April. Many folks are here from the mid-west and Canada. Once here, they form their own temporary community, and some people meet up here every year. Most people have a fixed residence they go back to, unlike Dan and me. There are some full-timers, though.

On December 28th, we took a drive to South Padre Island, the true southern-most tip of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico, to celebrate our “real” retirement date. South Padres is a very small beach community, mostly geared towards the tourist. The day we went happened to be cool and breezy (wouldn’t you know), but it felt like a real ocean climate. We walked on the beach, did a little window shopping, looked at the boats, had a nice dinner out, then came home. I attached some pictures from that visit.

There are lots of activities sponsored by our RV park; we get a monthly activity calendar with many different things to choose from, including outings (movies, lunch, trips to Mexico, shopping), crafts, game nights (Pokeno, Poker, Bingo), line dance lessons, potlucks. You could be busy every single day if you wanted to. Dan and I have participated in a few things – I made cookies for the Christmas cookie exchange; we came to the Christmas dinner potluck; and we attended the New Year’s Eve party. And, as shocking as it was to me, Dan and I sang a karaoke tune together at the New Year’s Eve party!! And, it was my idea!! And, even more unbelievable, this morning Dan and I came up to the club house for line dance lessons. We learned a few basic steps and danced to “Electric Glide” and “Achy Breaky” heart. Six months ago, you could not have told me I would be doing this, I would never have believed you! But it was fun, and great exercise!! Well, like they say, “When in Rome…”. We will be leaving this area in a couple of weeks. Who knows what we will find ourselves doing at our next stop!

Next Stop: Back to Albuquerque, NM, for a brief ski trip in Taos.

Carlsbad Caverns

We left Albuquerque on October 14 headed towards Roswell, New Mexico for a layover on our way to Carlsbad Caverns. Our intention was to stay over one night in Roswell, tour the UFO museum, and arrive in Carlsbad the following day. As it turned out, we had an issue with our truck and had to stay two nights in Roswell. That was okay; the RV Park we stayed in was very nice and we took the extra day to tour Roswell on our bicycles. We actually didn’t visit the UFO museum in the end, as it just didn’t seem that intriguing to either one of us. Although all the shops in downtown Roswell took advantage of their UFO heritage to try to lure people in, we didn’t have any close encounters. At least, we don’t think we did, but there are a few hours missing from our memories that neither one of us can account for. Hmmmm… ;-)

We arrived in Carlsbad on Tuesday, October 16th. We stayed in White’s City RV Park just yards outside of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park entrance. The RV Park has definitely seen better days, but it had what we needed for a couple of nights, and it put us in close proximity to the Caverns. The first afternoon we drove to the Visitor’s Center and got the information we needed to decide what tours we would be taking the next couple of days. The tours ranged from very, very easy paved road tours with (minimal) lighting to the adventure tours that required negotiating slippery slopes with knotted ropes and ladders and squeezing through tight spaces with the only light provided by your helmets. We decided we would take both of the easy self-guided tours and three progressively difficult guided tours over the next two days. We also stayed long enough one evening to watch the flight of over 1 million Mexican Free-tailed bats as they exited the cave for their nightly foraging. That was spectacular! The bats flew out of the cave shown in the attached picture with the long winding path. We were not allowed to take photographs of their flight, so this picture was taken early in the day. This is called the Natural Entrance and is the point of the very first exploration into the caverns by Jim White in 1898.

The self-guided tours are intended to be handled on your own, and as expected, they were like a walk in the park, albeit an underground park! The sights were spectacular! The lighting is very, very low, I presume to preserve the formations as much as possible in their original states, and to give one as close an idea as possible of how the caves appear in their natural setting. Following these two tours came the first guided tour which took us off the beaten path, but still on paved trails, still minimally lit, and led by a Ranger who gave us a lot of history of the caves and early exploration. The second guided tour was a little more adventurous – off the paved paths, illuminated only by candle lanterns that each of us carried, and every once in a while, some uneven or wet and slippery spots. Now, the third guided tour was the most adventurous, and it’s a good thing we worked up to this one. As it was, I almost didn’t go down, but at the last minute I just threw caution to the wind and took the plunge. Dan had no fear. Funny, there were 6 men and 3 women on this tour, and none of the men had any concerns, and all of the women were nervous. Especially me, I was the most nervous! The hike started out with a 10 foot descent down a wet and slippery slope using a knotted rope to guide yourself down. Following the rope descent, there were three stainless steel ladders taking you down another 50 feet to complete darkness. Our only means of illumination were the helmets we were wearing. But when we finally got to the bottom of the cave and began our hike, it was well worth it! Such beautiful formations, very hard to describe, and even the pictures can’t do it justice. I have never explored caves before, and am not sure I will do so to any extent in the future, but I am extremely happy I had this opportunity, and that I was able to overcome my fear and take the final tour – not even the most adventurous of what is offered.

In each of our guided tours we were able to experience what it was like to be in the total darkness of a cave over 800 feet below ground by having everyone extinguish their lights and sit in the complete blackness of an underground cave. Now that is dark!! You literally cannot even see your hand in front of your face. It’s amazing how much a small butane lighter will illuminate these places, as our guides demonstrated. Each time we returned to the surface, I was relieved!

Next Stop: Austin, Texas!

Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Balloon Fiesta runs for nine days, and we knew we wanted to attend at least one or two days there, as well as visit Santa Fe (the capital), and make a trip to Taos. Our first visit to the Fiesta was on Saturday, October 6. On Monday, October 8, we drove to Santa Fe, checked in to a Super 8, and spent a couple of days touring Taos and Santa Fe. Taos is a fun and artsy tourist town, and in the winter (so I’ve heard), a great place to ski. We spent Tuesday in Taos, and Wednesday touring Santa Fe, including a visit to the Capital building and trying to see as many of the highlights as we could manage in one day. We really enjoyed our visit to Santa Fe. The capital building is round, built to replicate the Zia sun symbol, which is the symbol on the New Mexico state flag.

While in Santa Fe, we also visited the St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral / Basilica. That has to be one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in. The woodwork, art work, stained glass, and statues were gorgeous! We also visited the Loretto Chapel, which is no longer a part of the Catholic Church, but now a private museum. This is the chapel that has the mysterious stair case; you might have seen this on television. Here is the link: http://www.lorettochapel.com/ We also toured the Georgia O’Keefe museum, an artist typically associated with the American Southwest. After returning to Albuquerque, we spent one more day at the Balloon Fiesta. The last two days we were in Albuquerque, the hot air balloons from the Fiesta were actually floating directly over our 5th wheel and landing in our RV park! It was awesome, to say the least!!

Next stop: Roswell, New Mexico on our way to Carlsbad Caverns.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Several weeks ago we reserved an RV site in Bernalillo, New Mexico, which is right next to Albuquerque, in order to attend the annual Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. So, after leaving Okalahoma City, we made our way to Albuquerque, arriving on October 4th. On Friday, the 5th we just explored Albuquerque, finding the Trader Jo’s and the Whole Foods, which made us very happy! On Saturday, October 6, we attended the opening day of the Balloon Fiesta. All I can say is “WOW”!!!! I don’t know what I really expected. I knew there would be lots of hot air balloons, but beyond that, I really didn’t know! We arrived on the grounds at 5:30 a.m. so we would be sure to find a parking spot and to witness the Mass Ascension. The Mass Ascensions is a launch of all the participating balloons just as the sun begins to rise, and is the most spectacular display of sound and color in all of aviation. During mass ascensions, balloons launch in two waves. Launch directors, also known as “zebras” because of their black-and-white-striped outfits, serve as “traffic cops,” coordinating the launch so balloons leave the field in a safe and coordinated manner. Weather permitting, balloons begin to launch at about 7:15 AM on mass ascension days, and for about two hours balloon after balloon is launched. Everywhere you look, a new balloon is going up, in every direction. It’s hard to describe the scene on the launch field. Literally hundreds of balloons are packed into the field, and you are able to wander among them as they are filling up with air and propane, then up-righting themselves, then launching. You can actually walk right up to the balloons and talk to the pilots, touch the balloons, feel the heat of the propane flame, and hear the awesome roaring sound as the balloon inflates. We took over 200 pictures because we could never decide which balloon was the most spectacular, which colors were the best, which angle was most impressive! We ended up hanging out all day at the grounds, waiting for the twilight glow – when the balloons launch again after the sun starts to set, and you can see the glow of the torch light within the balloons. However, that afternoon the wind kicked up pretty good, so the evening events were cancelled. However, we were able to enjoy a pleasant day walking around, eating, visiting the vendor booths, and lounging on the greens. The evening festivities wrapped up with a fireworks show around 8:00 p.m. We plan to go back one more day before the Fiesta concludes; hopefully we’ll catch a twilight glow then.

Arkansas Bound

The next week found us on the road to Fort Smith, Arkansas where Dan and his two brothers were hooking up to build a garage. The three of them made this commitment a year ago, which is why we will be here for the month of September. While we are here, we will go to Little Rock (of course, the state Capitol!), do some hiking in the Ozarks, visit with other relatives, and whatever else occurs to us. In our journey from San Diego to Fort Smith, we stayed in Phoenix, Arizona (110 degrees at least, and our air conditioner was malfunctioning!), Grants, New Mexico (where we were treated to a beautiful sunset (see picture) followed by thunder, lightening, and rain, quite a show!), Amarillo Texas, Seminole Oklahoma, and finally, Fort Smith Arkansas. The RV park we are staying in is actually in Van Buren, right outside Fort Smith. It is set on Lee Creek which feeds into the Arkansas River, and is filled with many trees which keeps things relatively cool in this rather humid environment. Everything here is so green and pretty, and the insect population probably outnumbers the human population, based on the sounds I hear at night. Haven’t really “seen” them yet, but the cicadas are truly deafening when they all start up as the sun starts to set. I was hoping to see fireflies, but might be a little late in the year for that. I’ve never seen a firefly, and may have to wait until next year, but one day I will see one!