T or C, Riverbend Hot Springs and Time To Relax!

 After our brief stop in Roswell to hang with our alien friends, we continued on to Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. 

We headed north from Roswell to drive around the White Sands Missile Range to get to T or C. Highway 380 took us up and through the Capitan Mountains.

On our way through the mountains, we passed the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, located immediately adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States. You can see lava for miles as you pass through this area.

 Here I am standing in front of a wall of lava.
  

Truth or Consequences:  

You may be thinking, why the heck would we want to visit a little spec of a town like this?

Well, hot springs have everything to do with it. This funky little hippie enclave has a number of hot spring resorts. We are staying at one called Riverbend Hot Springs, where we will spend the night and soak our tired traveling bones.

A little history:

Originally named Hot Springs, the city changed its name to "Truth or Consequences", the title of a popular NBC Radio program. In March 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs won the honor, officially changing its name on March 31, 1950 (the program broadcast from there the following evening, April 1st). Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event was called "Fiesta" and included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May. We decided this unusual place is just the kind of place we would like to explore. With a population of about six thousand, it is just the right size too.

 Long considered sacred by the Apache and Mimbres tribes of southern New Mexico, the natural, mineral rich water of Riverbend Hot Springs has been relaxing and rejuvenating people for centuries. The spa sits literally on the bank of the Rio Grande River with spectacular views of Elephant Butte andTurtleback Mountain.

The therapeutic benefits of the geothermal water in the area have been known and used long before Geronimo and his Apache warriors left their weapons behind and spent the most peaceful time of their lives here as guests of Chief Victorio of the Warm Springs Apaches. The hot mineral water is free flowing from the springs into and out of the tubs.

Obviously I hadn't quite snapped out of my alien thing yet. I hope they didn't chip me! :o)

We were able to reserve a few sessions in private hot tubs during our 24 hour stay. Coming here in the off-season makes this easy. Extremely reasonable prices makes it even more inviting.

The view from our private tub.

 

 My alien eyes are starting to droop a little. I think I may be getting over my out of body experience!

You can see from this photo how empty the place is during the off season. We had a spectacular time at the spa.

Loading up the car is getting easier each time as we have been gone long enough to get the right system down. We decided as we left the spa that we will get Ripley washed before we leave town (that is what we call our car. We named her after Sigourney Weaver's character 'Ripley' in the original Alien movie). We need to get all of that road salt and dirt from our moment of horror around Dallas washed away. We are looking forward to lots of sunshine for the next 10 days or so.....we hope!

We stopped to have breakfast before we left town at the highly recommended Passion Pie Cafe. The Cafe is run by a couple of women who make everything 100% from scratch. This place and the whole town have a very laid back, relaxed and progressive feel. We decided we will definitely come back here for a longer stay in the future.

Rowan with her mini to-go pecan pie (in the bag) and my first REAL latte since we've been on the road. We ordered breakfast...................

.........my selection was bacon waffles (the bacon is crumbled up in the batter and then they bake the waffle. There is a piece of bacon in every bite! Inspired!). The soft fried eggs on the top and real maple syrup just iced the cake for me. Rowan chose Spanakopita and Greek salad. Delicious!

The theater across the street from the cafe shows the character of the whole town. A real old time western flair to the whole place.


  Onward.........
Santa Fe is next!

Close Encounters Of The Roswell Kind

OK, so I know many of you are thinking, Oh dear, they are not going to give us all that BS from the looney tunes down there in Roswell, New Mexico, are they?

I mean that flying saucer incident happened so long ago (1947 to be exact) and wasn't it proven to be a hoax? Hmmmmmmmm. A BIG HMMMMMMMMMMM!

If you have never been to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, we would highly recommend it. There is more to the story than most of us know from the press when we were young. I have always wanted to explore this place and this question since I was about 10 years old. I mean, are we that arrogant to think we are the only ones in this universe? Come to this museum and when you see the amount of research they have done on this subject, it will open your mind. I will say that some of the alien things on display are hilarious, but then we can all be funny, odd and a bit 'off' when we want to be :o)

When driving across this southern New Mexico landscape, you will experience that endless big sky in the high plains along the Sierra Blanca Mountain Range and you can just imagine how one could see a flying saucer hovering over that mystic expanse. Get ready.........here are the photos.

As you enter town from the south, you are greeted by this scene at the side of the road in a wheat field. Of course, I had to make a radical lane change to pull over to get these photos. The town folk have a good sense of humor about this whole alien thing. You can see the guy on the right is asking the alien next to him for a jump. The alien has a real set of jumper cables in his hands......

.....I had to take a close up of the woman offering the alien a pie. A PIE! It must be mince meat because that is how most people react to mince meat. Then, the alien on the left has an ET doll under his arm. Hilarious!

The museum has endless newspaper clippings from the 1947 incident in Roswell as well as others from all over the world. There are in-depth reports from the military, the pentagon, scientists, NASA, citizens.....it just goes on and on. There are also collections of artifacts from the Roswell UFO crash site.

 I loved this display of how they found the saucer in 1947. Reminds me of a few science project things I did back in jr. high school.

Here I am again, always trying to make peace with everyone :o)

Suddenly, with great surprise, the alien spaceship came to life and scared the
poop right out of me! Their voices sound like they have been sucking the helium out of balloons! I think they were trying to tell me that they are being held prisoner by earthlings. It was so silly and completely entertaining.

They also have a great collection of old alien movie posters

So, we finally got to the part of the exhibit where they go all X-Files with the dead alien in the air lock. Where are Scully and Mulder when we need them?

Ewe! Just Ewe!

The one profound thing he may have ever said. I think we need the aliens more than ever right now.

By the time we got to the end of the exhibit, I just wasn't feeling like myself.
I was starting to believe.........
Rowan took one look at me and said, "I think you are hungry. Let's go eat and maybe you will snap out of it".
We left the museum and noticed something strange had come over the neighborhood..........

.....There were aliens everywhere and they were directing us to Mexican food

 An alien matador? Are you kidding me?

  They led us right to the Pollo Bravo Mexican Grilled Chicken Cantina.

  .......where we proceeded to have the most delicious grilled chicken we have ever had in our lives. And we mean EVER! We split a half chicken with pinto beans (notice the red chili floating on the top), pickled red onion, hot tomato salsa, rice and corn tortilla. Everything house made and extremely alien fresh.
The best meal we have had so far on this trip. I think I can describe it as out of this world!

When we went out to get in the car, we noticed we were being watched by the light pole. They ARE out there!
 Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :o)

Stay tuned. It gets more fun.  
  

CARLSBAD and THE CAVERNS

Arriving in Carlsbad, New Mexico and going to The Carlsbad Caverns National Park, was very exciting for both of us. For me, the last time I was here I was about 10 years old. For Rowan, she has never seen this place. The Caverns are truly something to behold. I remember when I was little, it was all so enormous and beyond my comprehension. Now that I understand how this place was created and the time it took, Oh my goodness! I feel like such a spec in this huge universe we live in. Rowan, and the scientist in her, was just awe struck and wanted to find the answers to all of it. We walked the mile and a quarter down from the entrance to the cave instead of taking the elevator down. We just had to see ALL of it. Plus, we wanted to see where all of the bats live during the spring and summer months. They are currently not in residence (they winter in Mexico). We are very sorry we missed them. I mean, how exciting to be in the bat cave! :o) We highly recommend a stop to see this wonder if you are ever in southern New Mexico.

We took well over a hundred photos. I will only post a few of the best here, which of course don't even come close to how incredible this place is in person.

A very brief history of the cave: Over 250 Million years ago the area was a coastline for an inland sea. The area was basically a huge reef. Hence, the huge caverns were created. Go here for the full story:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlsbad_Caverns_National_Park 

Jim White was the crazy 16 year old who braved going into the cave for the first time with a homemade wire and wood ladder and a kerosene lamp in 1898. I would have been grounded for LIFE if my mom ever caught me doing something like that! And, he went by himself the first time! ACK!

The natural entrance to the cave. This is where, in the spring and summer, you can watch the hundreds of thousands of bats come out for their early evening feeding (they say that 300 of these bats can hang in 1 square foot of space!). Just imagine the shit (guano) that would cover you with that many bats flying overhead. Holy Crap is an understatement! We walked in this way.

The temperature in the cave is about 56 degrees year round with 90% humidity.

As we started to descend, it took about 15 minutes for our eyes to adjust to the darkness. This is the last photo I took with a flash. From here on out we used the very low lighting that is provided in the cave.

So can you find the image of the saint in this photo? This is a natural rock formation.

They have named these formations lions tails. Most of the rock formations you see in the cave are stalagmites and stalactites. If you go to the Wiki page, it will explain all of the minerals that make up these celestial formations and how they are created through time. It is fascinating information.

Mother Earth (for obvious reasons)

 To us, this looked like a grove of trees. It was about 30 feet tall.

 Wow! It is really hard to find words to describe what a wonder this place is. What a treat!

 Us just outside of The Caverns main entrance. It is amazing to think all of that crazy geology is going on just under our feet. This part of the country is truly amazing and so diverse.

We found a couple of our extra terrestrial friends standing guard in front of a little group of shops on our way out of the national park. We told them our next stop is in Roswell to see their friends, so they didn't beam us up to their mother ship...YET!

Thank goodness, because we were able to stop at a taco truck for dinner tonight.

We were in heaven, which is almost like outer space, right?

Maria made us chili rellenos, chicken tacos, pinto beans, rice and all the fixins. YUM!

This made Jenni VERY HAPPY! 

 Get Ready. Roswell is next. Beam me up, Scotty! :o)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

 More Miles In Our New Shoes

Call us CRAZY! It would not be the first time in our lives that this word would be used to describe either one of us and we look at this as a good thing :o) Shows we still have a sense of adventure….we hope! Taking off  in our car to drive west across the US in the middle of a winter that promises to be a doozy, some would call insane. Well, it is time for another sabbatical, so we are diving into it……………….

We are headed to the west coast of the US via the Southwest, into Los Angeles and then up the coast to San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Since it is winter we decided to head immediately south from Indiana to Little Rock, AK to try to avoid the snow that greeted us the morning we left town. What we encountered in Little Rock was snow and then all the way to Dallas/Fort Worth was snow, ice and cascading jack-knifed big rigs and pick-up truck accidents. Some of these immediately in front of us and others just 5 minutes ahead of us. This storm was not supposed to be here. That is why we dropped down to Dallas and Hwy. 20 instead of taking Hwy 40 through Oklahoma City, where there were blizzard conditions. Our 1 hour drive around Dallas turned into over 4 hours since we were going between 5-15 MPH the whole way watching in horror as cars were sliding all over the place like hockey pucks. We finally gave up and got a hotel room in West Fort Worth to try again the next morning.

Here are some photos of our first two days of snow and ice travel:

 Day 1: The snow as we left Indiana

Food Alert!!! Already?

We spent our first night in Little Rock mainly because we just had to eat at Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken (we have been here before when we came to see the Clinton Presidential Library, which is just down the street). If you like fried chicken, the really deep fried crispy, crispy and spicy kind. The kind that is so moist on the inside you barely have to chew it, the kind that just wants to make you have more.......this is it! You must have the fried pickles with it. The coleslaw and of course the beans and that slice of white bread. This IS the South, for cryin' out loud!

Happy me :o)

Fried dill pickles with ranch dressing. The extra crispy corn meal crust is the real kicker.

Mmmmm.......dark meat!

Day 2: Snow in Little Rock? Yep. 

The whole town shut down for 1 inch of white stuff. The bonus? It only took us about 10 minutes to drive right through the downtown freeways during morning rush hour.

We had a break in the weather as we approached Texarkana. The weather report last night said it was supposed to be overcast around Dallas.

 

 Here is how it looked as we approached Dallas. We should have been able to see the city ahead of us in the distance.  Instead we saw the first snow-fall there in 2 years.

The situation started to get more intense as the traffic got thicker, the roads became more icy and the semi's increased in number. Every bridge we started to cross around the city was just covered in ice.

Bumper cars anyone? These are the last photos we took as things got so dangerous it took both of us to keep our eyes and full attention on the road. We are so thankful that we didn't have an accident and end our trip before it even began. Our advice to you if you ever get stuck in icy conditions is get off the road into a warm hotel and wait it out. The stress and danger of being out in it, isn't worth it.

Day 3: Fort Worth, TX to Carlsbad, NM

We woke to 18 degrees and sunny skies. Luckily, we had stopped our driving last night just to the west of where the worst of the weather system was. We hit the road and headed for Abilene, where we should have spent the night last night. We decided to stop there anyway because Rowan had found an interesting sculpture for us to have a look at. The piece is called 'Jacobs Dream' and is located on the campus of

--> Abilene Christian University. The sculpture is a huge bronze piece describing Genesis 28 and --> of angels ascending a ladder to the gates of heaven. 

 

 Looking at all this art made us hungry, so here is food alert #2 :o)

I could not leave Texas without having some Texas BBQ so we asked the googleGod where the best BBQ was in Abilene. 

This is it!

Not fancy, but we didn't want fancy, we wanted delicious.

 Start with a slab-O-fries.........

add KILLER beef ribs, slaw, house made pickles, sauce and house made banana pudding (not pictured.....). Super delicious. All of it!

We headed west from Abilene through basically nowhere for miles and miles on country 2 lane roads to get to Carlsbad, New Mexico. The only thing to look at were tumble weeds, oil & gas wells, cotton fields, cotton, fields, wind farms, cotton fields, oil wells........you get it.

The wind farms went on for miles and miles. Good to see the folks in Texas are finally getting  a conscience about renewable energy.

Nowhere with a view of nothing. For miles. Thank God for our Sirius XM Radio and that 80's music set!

Huge cubes of harvested cotton. For miles. Most likely on its way to China to be made into clothing to be shipped back to America.

End of the road reward, a cool salmon colored sunset cloud over our hotel when we arrived in Carlsbad. Even though today's drive was pretty bleak, there is a strange beauty to the back and beyond. One thing for sure, you have to be a special kind of person to live in these parts, where there is nothing out here but basically you.

Stay tuned for more adventure coming from the road. Carlsbad Caverns is next.