Sights In The Southwest: Day 9

On our way back to Santa Fe, we visited El Santuario de Chimayo. The church is known for it's amazing healing powers and we saw several groups making pilgrimages to the church when we were on our way. Since services were in progress when we arrived we just took a quick look around before we continued on our way.

Once in Santa Fe, we dropped by the farmer's market to check out the offerings of the local farmers and community. The farmer's market was surprisingly small, but I suppose we are spoiled being from California.

After the farmer's market, we walked around historic downtown Santa Fe and found the oldest house, De Vargas Street House, and church, San Miguel Mission, in Santa Fe. Both structures are listed on the oldest building in the United States.

De Vargas Street House

Sights In The Southwest: Day 8

We spent the morning in Santa Fe and visited the Georgia O'Keefe Museum and the Santa Fe Museum of Art. It was a little disappointing to realize that all of O'Keefe's famous pieces are located at other museums around the world but it gave us the opportunity to see some of her earlier and less famous pieces.

Santa Fe Museum of Art

Since we would be back in Santa Fe the following day we headed off to Taos in hopes of visiting the Taos Pueblo. Unfortunately, when we arrived we realized the Pueblo was closed and wouldn't be open while we were there. Instead, we took advantage of our time in Taos and visited a couple of the other sights in/near town.

San Francisco de Asis Mission Church

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

We heard that Taos is a great winter town but in the spring it is almost a ghost town. With the great sunny weather, it was hard to not have a nice time while we were there though. 

Sights In The Southwest: Day 7

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a really neat place to go. Visitors can take an elevator down to the main cavern, located 754 feet below the visitors center. Once down in the cavern, you can walk on a paved trail to explore the different areas of the cavern.   

Most of my pictures turned out blurry since the only light in the cavern are the few lights that have been set up throughout the cavern by the National Park Service. I was able to get a reasonably good picture of this formation called the "Lions Tail" though.

Afterwards, we went to Roswell and visited the International U.F.O. Museum. After reading all of the articles, exhibits, and presentations in the museum, it really does make you wonder if a U.F.O. crashed in Roswell back in 1947. There is a lot of contradictory evidence that seems extraordinarily reasonable.
 

Before we left Roswell, MH treated me to a delicious frozen custard with berries snack. It was a great way to end our day and start our drive to our next destination. 

Sights In The Southwest: Day 6

When MH first told me about our Southwest adventure, I came across the travel section in the Los Angeles Times and some one suggested visiting Grand Falls. Since it seemed more or less on the way, I added it to our itinerary and it ended up being a really neat stop. 

Driving to the Grand Falls is literally like driving to the middle of no where. There are no signs for Grand Falls and these were the directions to get there: Turn right and drive 20.3 miles to unpaved and unsigned Indian Road 6910 (between mileposts 5 and 6). Turn left and drive along this rough road 9.4 miles to the turnoff on the left, which leads to the falls overlook.

Next on the itinerary was the Meteor Crater but once we found out that admission was $16 to look at the hole in the ground I opted to wait for MH in the car, relax, and do some reading. MH returned to the car much quicker than I anticipated, and admitted that the $16 admission fee was a total ripoff, but he can say he saw it in person and pointed out that I could not. I'm okay with that.

The last stop for the day was Petrified Forest National Park and MH and I were both underwhelmed. Most of the park was actually badlands and the trails to see the petrified wood weren't very exciting. I guess we had both hoped to see a better display and color variation in the petrified wood, and most of what we saw was pretty dull and boring.

This was one of the most colorful examples of petrified wood that I could find on the Giant Logs trail behind the Rainbow Forest Museum.

Sights In The Southwest: Day 5

We made it to the wave and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I don't think the pictures do it justice, it is an incredible sight. Here are a couple of my favorite shots that I took while we were there.

Sights In The Southwest: Day 4

The highlight of our trip was meant to be The Wave. However, only 20 people are given permits each day, 10 of which are reserved in advance through an online lottery and the remaining 10 are given out through an in-person lottery at the Grand Escalante Visitor Center. On our first try, over ninety people showed up for the in-person lottery! Nevertheless, we didn't win.

After our loss, we headed over to Antelope Canyon to ease our disappointment and it turned out to be the perfect place to clear our minds.

Walking through the canyon was really cool and the sights along the way were amazing. As the sun moved across the sky, the light would change inside the canyon, and you would see spectacular views that would only last a minute.

Later in the afternoon, we visited Horseshoe Bend. At this vista you can see the Colorado river make a 180 degree turn.

Since the sky was a little hazy when we got there we weren't able to get a vibrant photo of it but you get the idea.

Sights In The Southwest: Day 3

Apparently MH feels that his vacation isn't complete unless he wakes up before the sun at least once, so I kindly let him get his fill while I enjoyed a few more hours of sleep. I guess the early bird catches the worm though, check out his absolutely gorgeous shot of at sunrise in Monument Valley.

East & West Buttes

Luckily, our room had a view of the valley so I didn't miss this beautiful sight entirely. Comfortably snuggled under the bed covers I was able to look out of our balcony window in between snoozes to catch glimpses of this too.

Artist Point

Later in the day, we took a Navajo guided tour to see the other beautiful sights in Monument Valley. Our guide, Tia, told us that old western films were shot in Monument Valley with Artist Point in the background. 

Sights In The Southwest:Day 2

Next on our itinerary was Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. The canyons here are so massive that it is hard to image that the space in between the canyon walls was once filled completely by water.

Spider Rock

In the smallest spaces, cracks, and slots in the canyon walls you can occasionally spot ancient Puebloan ruins. There is only one public access trail in the area. The three mile roundtrip trail takes you 600 feet down to the bottom of the canyon and gives you a distant look at the White House Ruins. The National Park service recommends that you allow two hours to complete the trail, but I think MH and I were able to do it in a little over a hour.

White House Ruins

I wish we could have gotten closer to the ruins to see them up close. It is hard to imagine how these tiny ruins were once bustling homes for the people living in the canyon.

Sights In The Southwest: Day 1

MH planned another action packed road trip for us to explore the Southwest this year. To cut down on the driving time, we decided to fly to Alburquerque, pick up our rental car, and head off from there. The first destination on our itinerary was Chaco Canyon National Monument.

Chacoan Ruins

Chaco Canyon was a central location for ceremonies, trade, and administration for the Four Corners area from AD 850 to 1250. Visitors can walkthrough the remaining ruins of the Chacoan people to admire their stunning architectural designs.

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together

It only took a little over two years for me to finish, but I'm done!!! With all of my geese cut and sewn, I assembled them with columns to accentuate their flight pattern. Here a picture of my finished project.

I folded over the quilt to show the front and back at the same time. I hand quilted around the brown airplanes on the back, but it is hard to tell in the picture.

Dainty Dumplings

I had a hankering for some dumplings, so the first step in the process was to make the dumpling wrappers.

Making them from scratch was more work than I anticipated but I'm glad I did it. The homemade dumpling wrappers have a stretchiness to them that allows you to make your dumplings in a closed satchel.

My closed satchel dumpling technique could definitely use some work, but I think they turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, most of them got stuck to the pan when I was cooking them and ended up tearing on the bottom. What a bust.

Mashed Cauliflower

I can't remember when I first heard about faux mashed potatoes aka mashed cauliflower but I decided to give it a try since sticking to a South Beach Diet can be a challenge.

To my surprise, they turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, they taste like cauliflower and not potatoes, but they have a pleasantly light and fluffy texture.

To try them for yourself, cut up one cauliflower head into small florets and boil them till tender. Puree all of the cooked florets with a tablespoon of butter, tablespoon of olive oil, until smooth, and then season to taste. I added some seasoning salt, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and topped it with some green onions and black pepper.