Zion National Park

View from the top of Watchman Trail

Virgin River Bend

Navajo Sandstone Sculpted by Water

An overlook worth hiking to

Gila Cliff Dwellings

Spectacular Cliffs of Gila Canyon

For the first time since we left home, we made a couple of commitments, first to meet up with friends in Flagstaff AZ and second, a reservation to camp in Zion National Park for three nights.  We needed to be in Flagstaff by Friday which left us two days to squeeze in a couple more National Parks and drive all the way from Alamogordo to Flagstaff – a long drive through mountains.  We headed out from Alamogordo on Thursday morning.  On our way out of town we saw our first rattle snake – a huge dead one stretched out across the highway.   Wish I could have gotten a closer look at that big boy!  Younger daughter was happily snapping photos out the window with her “new” camera, a birthday gift she had been wanting for several years.  The scenery was worth a few photos on that day.   Our camping destination was the KOA in Silver City which took us through the city of Las Cruces, the site of my M.S. thesis field research.  Just past Las Cruces we were stopped at a border patrol check point.   We pulled up and rolled down the window of the Leviathan (our Great White Whale with the Department of Defense sticker prominently pasted on the windshield).  The agent asked “Is everyone in the vehicle an American Citizen?”  ”Yes” we answered so he waved us on through.  Never looked in the back of the car, never looked inside Aquarius.  Wow, our tax dollars at work.  The border patrol was flying their flag at half mast.  We hadn’t heard any news in several days so I was a bit worried seeing that and asked the agent why.  One of their agents had died recently he informed us.  We told him we were sorry to hear it but as we drove away my husband was muttering that federal agencies are not supposed to fly their flags at half staff except by the order of the President.

Our destination this day was the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  Continuing our theme of learning about how Native People lived in different regions of the country, we were excited to explore this national monument.  The only way to the Gila Cliffs is up a long steep winding mountain road so we drove first to Silver City KOA and parked the trailer at the campground.  Thank heaven we did as the drive was every bit as exciting as advertised but the scenery was spectacular.  By the time we reached the visitor center it was late afternoon.  We had a quick look around the visitor center (which had a nice collection of artifacts) and picked up the junior ranger materials for the kids and then headed up to the “dwellings”.  To reach the caves, you drive up to a parking area and then proceed to hike up through a small canyon.  It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and the place was practically deserted.  The only folks we saw were the small cadre of volunteer rangers.  Every chance we had, we talked to the rangers, especially the volunteers.  They are an interesting bunch, primarily retirees who work seasonally in the parks in exchange for room and board. Often they would share their stories with us and were invariably interested in ours.   I asked how many paid rangers the park had and was told 1.5 and a staff of 20 volunteers.  I have mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, it is pretty pathetic that the park service is so chronically underfunded.  On the other hand, it is kind of neat to think that just about any American who is sound in mind and limb could have the opportunity to be a volunteer to live and work in one of our glorious National Parks.  My husband and I would could certainly see doing this some day when he retires (for the second time).

As we hiked up we saw a beautiful large spiny lizard but he scuttled into a crack in a rock before I could snap his picture.  When we rounded the last switchback in the trail, the view opened up and we could see ahead of us the towering cliffs with the row of caves along the base and could just make out the rock walls at the front of the caves.  To think these walls were built 1000 years ago by the Mogollon People!   Two rangers were near the first cave and we spent quite a while chatting with them.  It was time for them to close up shop for the day so one ranger accompanied us through the caves and gave us a personal tour.  The other hiked down the way we had come to look for any stragglers.  It turns out that Gila is one of very few Native cliff dwellings that are accessible to the public these days.  The series of caves were mostly stripped of artifacts long ago by so called “pot hunters” who carried off any pots or other artifacts they could find to sell.  The early anthropologists were not much better than the pot hunters.  Still we have some clues as to how the People lived.  The cave roofs have thick layers of built up soot from centuries of fires, there are impressions worn in the rock where corn was ground into cornmeal.  Some ancient pictographs remain at the site, ancient paintings on cave walls which leave us to guess at their intended meaning.

Our Personal Ranger Tour Guide

According to our guide, the “dwellings” may not have been family dwellings at all but rather built spiritual retreat, food storage, and or fortification during enemy attack.  This makes sense to me.  Think of hauling water up to the caves or raising young children up there, it is hard to imagine.  The caves were inhabited a number of different times as long as 1000 years ago and as recently as 700 years ago.  Imaging technology shows that there is a large pueblo buried underground nearby.  Perhaps some day an archeological dig will uncover the clues buried there.  For now, we can only guess.

After we finished the cave tour we chatted for a while with one of  our new ranger pals.  He drove a groovy baby blue vintage VW van and had been coming down from Alaska for several summers to work at the park.  He said the van had outlasted two wives.  We were up for exploring some more so he directed us down to another area where there was a short hike to a small cave dwelling with a wall of pictographs.

Life is Good as a Volunteer Ranger

We made our way to the parking area he mentioned and looked for the path to the pictographs.  As we started down the path we met up with a dear old couple going the same way.  She was using a walker.  He had strapped his belt to the walker and was attempting to pull her up the path.  They had wanted to go to the cliff dwellings but had been stymied by the steep rocky path so the rangers had suggested they try this path.  But this path, although short, was uneven and rocky and they were not making much progress.  We fell to chatting with them only to learn that he was a Navy veteran who had served on the Midway.  They had been big r.v.ers when their children were at home and were now full-timers.  We met a lot of full time r.v.ers on our travels but most of them had huge class A motor homes, really a condo on wheels.  These two were living full time in a conversion van.  Talk about downsizing!  After a short time, we scrambled with some difficulty up a steep slope covered with loose rock and sand.  At this point, we realized we must be on the wrong path and we urged our new friends to not attempt the slope.  We went on a bit and when we turned around, darned if our intrepid Navy vet hadn’t left the wife at the bottom of the hill and scrambled up after us.  We were quite worried about getting down safely ourselves and even more worried about him so despite his urging us to go on ahead of him, we sent the kids down one at a time (little mountain goats that they are) and sort of escorted him down the slope.

Once back at the parking area, we located the correct path and we did find the dwelling and wall of pictographs.  A family dwelling consisted of just a tiny cave, maybe 8′ by 10′ with a low wall built in front of it.

11/7/2010  Note:  I see I wrote this draft ages ago but never finished or posted it.  Here it is in draft form.

 

Happily Ever After . . .

Here we are, 18 months later.  I dropped the blog when “real life” interfered.  We are now living in the Southern Tier of New York State.  Husband has a great job, we own a beautiful home, kids are variously enrolled in school and home-schooled.  We’ve added another dog to the family.  I’ve begun teacher training in “applied arts” also known as handwork and am working part-time as a handwork teacher at a Waldorf School.  Aquarius is parked on our property and we took her out again for two weeks in Maine last summer.

I kept thinking I would get back to the blog and write about our adventures.  After White Sands, we visited Gila Cliff Dwellings, Flagstaff AZ, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Red Lodge MT, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, De Smet (S.D.), the U.P. of Michigan, and then finally, New York State.  We camped outside of Ithaca during the job interview/house-hunting phase  and finally came to rest in Horseheads where we now reside.  I still hope to write down our memories and experiences and post some more photos but for now, just want to say, we are alive and well and the days and nights in Aquarius are just fond memories.

White Sands

Our younger daughter had been worried all along about her 10th birthday – wondering where we would be and how we would celebrate.  I can’t say as a I blame her.  I remember well the months of planning that went into my “double digit” birthday; turning 10 really is a big deal.  But we really couldn’t make plans in advance as we simply didn’t know how long it would take us to get places.  By this time it was clear we would be in New Mexico for her birthday and we decided that spending the day at White Sands National Monument would be a very special birthday indeed.

 

Rest Area between Artesia and Alamagordo

The drive from Carlsbad to Alamagordo took us through miles and miles of desolate desert scrub and then up into a high elevation pine forest dotted with little ranches and even orchards along a small but lively river.   As you come into the basin which is home to the city of Alamagordo, Holloman Airforce Base, and White Sands National Monument, you drop down from pine forest at the top through a very steep canyon and onto a totally flat basin rimmed on both sides by high cliffs.   We had originally planned on camping on Holloman Airforce Base but having read a rather dour description of the campsites there, opted for a state park, Oliver Lee Memorial State Park in Dog Canyon.  This was farther away from White Sands but it was a lovely place to camp, very affordable with amazing views, it was worth the extra driving.  Once again, we found state park camping to be a worthwhile experience.

 

Our Campsite in Dog Canyon

 

The dog in Dog Canyon

Just as we did in the Smokies, we hit the wild flower peak here in New Mexico.  The desert was covered with flowers, the trees, shrubs, and cacti were all in full flower, Prickly Pear Cactus, Ocotillo, Mesquite, Creosote, Soaptree Yucca (State Flower of New Mexico), and many, many more.  When I was a geology undergraduate, I learned to love the beauty of the desert and I had never seen it more beautiful than now.  Yet the desert is menacing, with water so scarce, plants and animals have to defend themselves so there are many hazards facing both man and dog.  Just walking to a campground bathroom, one is always on the lookout for snakes.  We saw one little snake dart out right at the bathroom door, a harmless racer but still your heart beats a bit faster as you clutch your toothbrush and your child’s hand and watch a snake slither away and into her hole in the ground.

Once we were camped, we headed to White Sands National Monument.  You might be wondering, what the difference between a national park and a national monument is.  This is something we learned upon arriving at White Sands.  It is actually very simple, a President can declare a national monument by executive order, the full Congress has to vote on a national park.  Some parks, such as Zion, are declared monuments first and then later Congress has given them full national park status.  What we are not sure of is what the differences are in terms of funding etc.  We did notice that the national monuments such as White Sands rely heavily on volunteer rangers and have very few paid rangers.  The Visitors’ Center at White Sands is a gorgeous Adobe style building built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  The CCC was established during the depression for young men who were out of work.  The idea is that these young men would be fed and kept off the streets and even learn a trade and in return the country would get public works projects, schools, dams, roads, campsites, picnic areas, hiking trails etc.  The beautiful work of the CCC is evident at nearly every park and monument we have visited in the west.  I hope the current economic stimulus will invest in projects of similar value and beauty of those undertaken by the CCC.

White Sands National Monument Visitors' Center

We picked up the Junior Ranger booklets for the children at the visitor’s center and bought sleds and wax for the dune sledding the next day (THE birthday).  We also learned to our delight that our dog was welcome anywhere in the park.  Further, we saw that there was a sunset walk on the dunes with a ranger scheduled for later that evening.  What fun!

We had a couple of hours to kill before the sunset talk so we stopped by Holloman Airforce Base to buy sandwiches for dinner and other groceries.  Holloman is a joint American and German base and so both flags fly together at the base entrance.  In the commissary there was more than the usual amount of German food to select from as well as German pilots and families shopping there.  I can’t quite imagine what it must be like for a German family to move from temperate and lush Germany to the harsh environment of the southern New Mexico desert but they seem to adapt quite well.  Germans are very adventurous people, everywhere I’ve ever camped or backpacked in the world, including the American West, most of the other hikers are German.

We munched down our sandwiches on our way back to the park.  It was very hot so I had also bought a box of six strawberry popsicles for a treat.  Problem, there are only 5 of us and 6 popsicles in the box – what to do?  In one of my zany “let’s see if I can embarrass my kids and husband with my outgoing nature” moments, I offered our extra popsicle to the ranger at the entrance gate and was tickled that she accepted it.  She seemed equally tickled to be offered a popsicle!

We found the parking for the talk and saw that there were a number of families and couples there already as well as several other dogs. Biggie, our collie, must not have liked the look of the ranger’s hat or something because he had to be dragged out of the car and refused to walk up to the group so my poor enduring husband had to lag about 20 feet back the entire evening with the dog always trying to head him back to the car.  There was also one charming and very well dressed Italian family with a baby and a toddler who alternatively let the baby scream and scolded, smacked, and yanked on the toddler around the entire time.

Despite these drawbacks, the talk was informative and interesting and the scenery spectacular.  The white sands are just what the name suggests, sparkling white dunes consisting of pure gypsum sand.  The wide, flat basin is flanked on both sides by mountains.  As the mountain rocks are weathered and eroded, the mineral Gypsum is dissolved in rain and runoff water which then collects in low lying areas of the basin to form a temporary lake (otherwise known as a dry lake or playa)  The area is so dry that this water soon evaporates and leaves behind it mineral crystals, these relatively soft mineral and soon the desert winds start to break off little pieces of it and these blow around and around until they collect and form dunes.  The conditions that create these dunes are rare and the White Sands National Monument are the biggest gypsum sand dunes in the world.

A Strange and Beautiful Landscape

 

Soaptree YuccaFragrant Rosemary-Mint

More Soaptree Yucca

Only two plants are adapted well enough to survive the shifting sands, the Soaptree Yucca and Rosemary Mint (other plants in the dune environment are generally killed as the dunes advance).  Both plants were useful to the Native People of the area.  The seeds and roots of the Soaptree Yucca were an important food source (reportedly tasting a bit like baked potato).  The Rosemary Mint was a seasoning, a tea and medicinal herb.  In addition, the Squawberry Sumac plant (used to make ersatz lemonade) creates pedestals which are home to most of the birds and animals who live in the dunes, snakes, lizards, kangaroo rats and the tiny kit foxes.  The tops of Cottonwood trees poke out from the dunes with the bulk of the tree living under the sand.  When the dune moves on, the tree is left exposed.

Sumac pedestal is a great place to call homeCommuning with the Cottonwood Tree

 

 

A "Stinkbug" makes tiny, exquisite tracksA Reluctant Participant

The next morning was the day of the long awaited birthday.  We left Dog Canyon bright and early as we wanted to get the most out of the park before the heat.  The air was pleasantly cool when we arrived and the sand was cold and crisp.  We kept having to remind ourselves that this was sand and not snow as we drove around deciding where to sled.  We literally had the whole place to ourselves, we didn’t see another soul for two hours.  Sledding was great fun and enjoyed by all with the possible exception of the dog who did not quite know what to make of it.  When we had had enough (climbing dunes is hard work!) and were packing up, a few others were starting to arrive.  We did a short nature hike on our way back to the Visitors’ Center and then we sat out at the shaded picnic tables while the children finished their Junior Ranger assignments.  I sold our used sleds back to the gift shop and had a second chance to do some shopping in the fabulous gift shop.  It is lucky that we don’t have any room in the trailer as there were many beautiful pieces of Native and local art I would have loves to buy in that shop.  One tiny vase particularly caught my fancy but with a price tag of $345, it was out of my reach.  I contented myself with a couple of ornaments for friends and older daughter splurged on a little wooden box with a carved horse on it for her sister’s birthday.

 

Sled Races

 

One, two, three, go!

 

Today she is 10!

Tired and happy, we retreated from the now blistering heat back to the campsite and have a little birthday celebration.  Younger daughter opened her presents and was very pleased with them.  We made home made ice cream with one of those ice cream balls they sell in the L.L. Bean catalog for camping.  For dinner we drove into Alamogordo for some good, cheap, authentic Mexican food at a place recommended to me by the woman who worked at the White Sands gift shop.  The meal was great and the staff even sang and brought out a complimentary slice of cheesecake.  Back at the campground with the sky dark and full of stars, I told the Native legend of “Coyote and the Star Pictures” to the two girls (our son having fallen asleep in the car).  A lovely end to a special birthday, one I hope my daughter will remember all her life.

Carlsbad Caverns

I don’t have a single photograph from one of our best experiences so far – Carlsbad Caverns in Southeastern N.M.  Carlsbad Caverns are simply AMAZING limestone caves, carved from a fossilized Permian era limestone reef by naturally occurring sulfuric acid.  If you have never been inside a limestone cave decorated with cave formations (speleoliths) then I can hardly describe what it is like.  First of all, caves are cold and dark, even when the temps outdoors are over 100 degrees which they are this time of year in New Mexico, the inside of the cave is always in the low 60s.  Second, the limestone formations, which are formed as water containing dissolved minerals drips into the caves and the minerals come out of solution, are simply beautiful, strange, and wonderful.  Some hang from the ceiling, some grow up from the cave floor, some look like icicles, others like popcorn, others like a fairy castle, others like explicit parts of human anatomy, I could go on and on.   In the caves I visited in the former Yugoslavia when I was a child, the formations were colorful, orange, yellow, red, and white.  In Carlsbad Caverns, they are mostly just white and gray, but beautiful and awe inspiring nonetheless.

Caves are also scary.  Seriously, it is not normal to walk down deeper and deeper under the earth into a cave, it feels creepy and thrilling and even a bit demented.   Everywhere inside there are huge piles of rubble from bits of cave roof or formations that have collapsed over time.  At any moment, of of these “bits” (meaning thousands of pounds of rock) that are still clinging on over your head, could decide to give in to gravity.  That would be a seriously bad day.  But caves are also beautiful and magical, and somehow you feel a better, braver person once you’ve been down and have safely emerged again into the sunlight.

After our time “down below” we emerged from the elevator which hurtles at high speed up 800 feet from the bottom of the cave into the bookstore (a bit of a shock to the system).  We sat outside the Visitors’ Center in the late afternoon sun and the children finished up their Junior Ranger booklets and got sworn in just before the The Visitors’ Center closed at 5:00.  We sat there munching trail mix (I hadn’t thought ahead to bring anything for dinner) and contemplated what to do with 3 hours, as we had decided to stay and wait to see the bats.  We struck up conversation with a young tatooed vegan couple traveling across country on bicycles.  It turned out that they were from Pensacola of all places and had ridden their bikes from there.  The boy had attended Milton High School.  Talk about a small world!  It was humbling to learn that they had been on the road for roughly the same time-period we had.  They didn’t have a camping book for the area so I gave them my AAA Southwestern States Camping book thinking I would easily acquire another (this was 3 weeks ago and we are still without).  I wish now we had their contact information so we could find out whether they made it to San Francisco.

We considered driving out of the park and finding dinner but the “Velvet Garter Restaurant and Saloon” in town didn’t sound worth driving 30 minutes for, and anyway, we had trail mix, so we decided to try the nature drive recommended by the Ranger at the Visitors’ Center.  By the time we got there, it was 6:00 and the sign said the drive closed at 5:30.  However, the gate was still open and the Ranger had said it might be left open for people waiting around to see the bats so we risked it.  The drive was an 18 mile loop around a canyon with numbered stops along the way.  By stop number 4 we noticed a Ranger jeep trailing us and sheepishly, we pulled over so she could pull up along side of us.  Ranger Jan was not amused.  ”You shouldn’t be down here” she said before we could stammer out our excuses.  ”But the other Ranger said it might be left open . . . ”  ”No, it closed at 5:30″ she cut us off – clearly not a fan of park visitors who don’t obey posted signs.  ”Sorry” we mewed meekly.  There was no way to turn around on this steep narrow dirt road so we crawled the next 16 miles at 15 mph with Ranger Jan on our tail watching our every move.  Thankfully, she didn’t issue us a ticket on the spot.

As the sun began to set we made our way down to the amphitheater to await the bats.  The “nice friendly” ranger from the Visitors’ Center was there to talk about bats and Ranger Jan was there too packing her side arm and wearing her sunglasses although it was already fairly dark, ready and willing to issue a ticket to anyone using a laptop, cell phone, or camera in the presence of the bats (evidently bats don’t like the hum of electronics and camera flash bulbs throw them completely off their game).  Already on her bad side, we were on our best behavior throughout the program.  Bats are the only mammals who can fly and are very interesting creatures yet surprisingly little is known about them.  There are about 1000 species of bat worldwide.  They live on every continent except Antarctica.   The largest species, the Giant Flying Fox has a 5 ft wingspan!  Only 3 species drink blood, the rest eat insects, nectar, or fruit.  In short, bats are interesting.

Waiting for bats is a risky business – some nights they show, others they don’t – it is hard to say why or when they will decide to fly.  We were all tired, hungry and worried about our dog who was waiting for his dinner and evening walk in the trailer an hour away at the KOA, so we started to feel a bit antsy.  And then, there was the scratchy sound of the speakers, the bats had tripped the wire that let us know they were on their way.  First just a handful of bats fluttered out, then suddenly there were hundreds, and then thousands.  As they left the cave the bats (these are Mexican Free-Tailed Bats), fly in a tight spiral formation up and away from the cave.  This flight formation is believed to be a defense against predators as many predatory birds consider bats a tasty snack.  An owl had recently built his nest right at the cave entrance enjoying a nightly “all-you-can-eat buffet”.  We watched and watched in awed silence, just mesmerized by the sheer number and beauty of the flying spiral of bats.  After the first few minutes, many of the spectators left, hoping no doubt to get out of the park before it was completely dark.  We couldn’t tear ourselves away and as the amphitheater emptied, we crept closer to the bats until we were sitting at the bottom of the amphitheater with our necks craning over the wall nearest to them.  ”You can’t sit down here, the aisle has to be kept clear” came a voice behind us.  Shit!  We had forgotten about Ranger Jan and were in trouble a second time.  Finally, it got too dark to make out individual bats so reluctantly, we slunk away feeling Ranger Jan’s malevolent stare boring into our backs as we retreated.  Careful to obey all posted signs and speed limits until we were well outside of the park boundary, we set off home to our awaiting dog and our cozy home on wheels.

Mother’s Day/Tucumcari New Mexico

The dreaded drive across the Oklahoma and Texas was actually not so bad.  I wish I had taken some photographs so I could capture the feeling of vast emptiness in this part of the country.  Just mile after mile of nothing but scrub, and an occasional windmill to draw up water for the grazing cattle.  Even the road side rest areas were windblown and dreary.  The poor dog could barely take a step without getting a sand spur in his paw.  The term “God forsaken” is what most comes to mind when traveling through this part of the heartland.  It may be for this very reason, that someone took it upon himself to erect the reputed “tallest cross in the Western Hemisphere” in one of the small towns along the highway.

 

A Subtle Reminder to the Faithful

We made a short stop in Amarillo for some food (note to self, “family fajita combo” is not the best choice for eating in the car) but we were determined to make it to New Mexico before dark.  Sure enough, within a few short miles of the New Mexico border, we started to drop down from the high plateau and entered a landscape that looked distinctly Southwestern, buttes, mesas, and washes dotted the landscape.  Crossing the border we entered Mountain Time.  This was thrilling, for months it had seemed like the Southwest was an elusive fantasy, but now we were almost there!

We had decided to reserve two nights at the Tucumcari KOA camping ground.  I had read online that during this weekend, you could camp one night and get the next night free.  We needed clean hot showers, laundry, and wifi and this is what KOA “kampgrounds” offer.  Many have dog runs with agility equipment and heated swimming pools.  Many campers go for the easy pull-through sites and full hook-ups.  That is why KOA can and does charge much more than other non-chain campgrounds.  If you are a member you get a small discount so of course we joined.

There are moments in life when you realize that you have great kids.  Some are important events such as college graduation or the birth of a grandchild and others are so small that you have to be paying attention so as not to miss them.  I had one of these moments at the Tucumcari KOA.  We pulled in just as it was getting dark.  It takes some minutes to level the trailer, unhitch from the vehicle, and attach all the hook-ups, so I handed the girls a flashlight and sent them off to find the bathrooms so they could brush their teeth and get ready for bed.  A few minutes later I joined them in the bathroom.  As I walked in the door, they said, “Watch out Mom, there is a tarantula near the door, be careful not to hurt him.”  My children, having never seen a tarantula before outside of a zoo, took it in stride and were concerned only for his safety.  I was SO proud!

The best thing about this campground was meeting the owners, a lovely couple from Salt Lake City who decided to get out of the auto mechanic business and buy a KOA franchise.  One of the great pleasures of traveling this way is meeting people like this all across the country and having the time to stop and chat and get to know them a little.  I find it enormously edifying to gather these bits of insight into the lives of folks we normally would not meet or have the time to get to know.  Of course everyone is very interested in our story, the vintage Airstream is a great conversation starter and if that doesn’t do it, the two red-headed girls playing their fiddles or the large neurotic collie dog will inevitably draw folks in.

Tucumcari New Mexico is a dying town along the current I-40 with a half dead main street that is part of historic Route 66.  Formerly, this was a thriving little metropolis because it was a truck stop as well as a busy train depot.  The new faster speed limits made the truck stop obsolete, now truckers can make it all the way from Flagstaff to Amarillo in a day, bypassing Tucumcari completely.  The trains no longer stop here either, I think because of new, faster rail lines.  What there is in Tucumcari is an interesting little college.  They have an very active paleontology department with more dinosaur (and other) digs than they know what to do with, a wind energy department and state of the art wind turbine, a rodeo program, and a farrier school (a farrier for those of you who are not horse people is the person who shoes horses and generally cares for their hoofs).  The college has an excellent dinosaur museum and even better, if you are lucky as we were, you can get a behind the scenes tour and see where the students are working on the actual fossils from the digs.  Did you know that dinosaur fossils will stick to your tongue?  In my many years of studying geology, I hadn’t experienced that phenomenon. Older daughter got to experience that first hand with a little fossil fragment in the museum/college paleontology laboratory.  How cool is that???  If you are over the age 15 or older and have always wanted to go on a dinosaur dig, you can do it every summer at this college.  You camp and they provide the meals.  The cost is around $450 and you get college credit.  My little son is counting the days until he is old enough to go on a dig.

 

Mothers' Day Bouquets

Mothers’ Day morning I was greeted with the sweetest little bouquets of New Mexico wildflowers.  Though the children just picked flowers by the road at the back of the campground, there were around 10 different species in my little bundles.  

 

Then they took me out to breakfast at the Lizard Lounge at the Pow Wow Inn on historic Route 66.

 

The Lizard Lounge on Historic Route 66

Initially we had planned to head south to Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands.  By the time we were in the area, we read that the highs in southern N.M. were over 100 every day and we started to have second thoughts.  But having come this far, it seemed a shame to miss those unique sights and after all, as everyone says – it is a dry heat.  So we bid our gracious KOA hosts goodbye and headed south towards Carlsbad.

Oklahoma City

With a little sigh of regret, we left the rolling limestone hills of the Ozarks behind and lit out for Oklahoma City.  As many of my readers know, I have ties to Iceland and we recently owned an Icelandic Sheepdog named Tinna.  The Icelandic Sheepdog community is a tightly knit group several of whom are Icelandic expats living permanently in the U.S. and I was interested in meeting up with Thordur, a professor at the University of Oklahoma and owner of several fine Icelandic Sheepdogs.  We made a camping reservation at Lake Thunderbird State park just outside of the University town of Norman.

 

Breaking Camp at Lake Thunderbird State Park

 

 

Lake Thunderbird is a huge and nicely equipped park with several camping areas nestled among leafy scrub oak trees.  I can only imagine that on weekends and in summer it is packed with people looking to escape the heat and swim or boat in the lake.  However, in early May on a weekday, we had the place mostly to ourselves.  We unhooked our trailer and headed out to Thordur’s house.

It is always a bit nerve wracking to meet someone in person you have only known on the internet – sort of that going on a blind-date feeling.  But of course it was fine.  We really enjoyed meeting Thordur and catching up on gossip about Iceland’s economy and politics while his daughter played hostess to our children and the dogs (including Quinn our Collie) enjoyed a romp in the backyard.  Thordur’s dogs were a trip.  Spori is a very handsome and easy-going male who to me epitomizes what and Icelandic Sheepdog should be both in looks and personality.  Veiga, a very atypical looking girl, tiny with short legs, long body, and grey fur, stole all our hearts, she is quite possibly the sweetest dog ever!  Thank you Thordur for welcoming my “pack” into your home!

We asked Thordur for his recommendation on where to eat in town and he directed us to Van’s Pig Stand for some authentic Oklahoma BBQ.  We thoroughly enjoyed this fun and family friendly restaurant where we ordered the family BBQ platter with ribs, brisket, curly fries, fried okra, and Texas toast.

 

Van's Pig Stand - Authentic Oklahoma BBQ

 

We did not linger in Oklahoma although there are many fine things to explore in Oklahoma City, the National Cowboy Museum, the Federal Building Monument, etc. but it was time to move on.  For one thing, the tick situation at the State Park was out of control.  Tiny deer ticks everywhere.  For another, rumors of severe thunderstorms on the horizon didn’t sound great.  Finally, we were eager to get to the real west, Mountain Time, red rock, prickly pear cactus, roadrunners.  It was time to set out for the long, flat, miserable drive along I-40 and head for New Mexico.

Mansfield Missouri

Next it was across the Mississippi and up through Arkansas to the Ozarks Mountains of Missouri.  The reason – Mansfield Missouri is the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder home where she and Almanzo Wilder moved with their baby daughter Rose and where she wrote all of her famous books.

 

Rocky Ridge Farm

Here is the little farm house that Almanzo built for them one room at a time.  No other family has ever lived in the home and many of their personal belongings are still in the house including much of Laura’s handwork and and furniture and hooked rugs made by Almanzo.  This is where their only living child Rose grew up and there is plenty of information on Rose at the little museum there.  Rose became a wealthy author and journalist.  She was an outspoken critic of the New Deal and was the second oldest war correspondent in Vietnam.  Rose was married briefly and later divorced.  She had no living children and none of Laura’s sisters had children either so there are no living descendants of the “Little House” family.

 

 

Rose later had a stone cottage built on the property and furnished it in the best style even bringing in electricity from the town of Mansfield (several miles away).  She spent $11,000 on this project using a house kit from Sears which cost $700 (a more typical price for a home at that time).  She presented the keys to her parents on Christmas and she herself continued to live in the original farm house.  Several years later Rose moved to Connecticut and her parents promptly moved back into the farm house though they did take much of the furniture Rose bought with them.  Laura said the house looked lonely and they were both homesick for it.  Evidently no one knows how Rose felt about this.

The little museum has some wonderful Little House artifacts such as Pa’s fiddle and Mary’s Nine-patch quilt, family photographs, newspaper articles, items handmade by Laura and Ma etc.  Definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of the books and are passing through southern Missouri.

 

The Stone Cottage

 

Pastoral View from the Stone Cottage

Laura must have been in her early 20s when she moved with her husband from Dakota Territory to Mansfield.  Her sister Carrie visited a few times and she went back to De Smet after Pa died but other than that, she never saw any of her family again.  It makes me a bit sad to think of how this little family endured so much together and were so close, were separated from Laura and she from them for most of her life.  An example of how much we take for granted in this modern age of travel.

There isn’t much else to see or do in the area.  We ate at the only decent place in town, a family owned Mexican restaurant called “Estradas” where we befriended the owner and also another couple having lunch there (all of the above were from CA).  We also went to a local flower nursery/gift shop/chocolate shop that was 15 miles from Mansfield.  The chocolates were nice and we bought a nifty “wrought” iron wall hook thing which we needed for the trailer to hang our cups.

We camped at Missouri Park Campground and what the grounds lacked in charm the very nice owners more than made up for.  We parked next to the another Airstream Overlander (a 1974) which it turned out was owned by a middle school math teacher (Rex from Oklahoma) who was making teaching his second career teaching after working construction and on oil rigs all his life.  Rex was nearing retirement and was teaching too far from home to commute so he renovated the Overlander to live in during the week and went home on weekends.  His renovation, which he did with a buddy , while not original or vintage, was really nice and cozy.  

Evidently teacher salaries and benefits in Missouri are not what they are where we come from.  Nearing retirement, Rex makes $35,000 a year.  Although he does have insurance, it did not cover his hospitalization for his heart attack last year because the ambulance took him to a hospital that doesn’t accept his insurance.  They said it wasn’t an emergency so they didn’t have to cover it.  When he gets that paid off and his youngest child through college (she is dyslexic but a hard worker and has found her niche as a sign language interpreter), then he’ll retire and go back to duck hunting.  He also has a 1957 Airstream Caravel to completely remodel and his house paid off so life is good for Rex unless he has another heart attack.  More about Rex, he was a star pole vaulter and several of his kids were pole vaulters too.

Although we could have stayed longer in the Ozarks and even visited friends in St. Louis, we were itching to really get out west.  The next day we were off to Oklahoma City.

Tennessee

After leaving the Smokies, we headed for another Airstream Only park – TCPC or Tennessee Cumberland Plateau Campground.  Once again we were met by the friendliest campground hosts.  ”What exactly is a campground host?” you might be asking.  Well, these are usually retired couples who agree to work as hosts at a campground in exchange for free camping.  This can be at a National Park, a State Park, a military base campground or in this case, an Airstream Campground owned and operated by a local Airstream Club chapter.  At the National Park, our hosts had full hookups including sewer where the rest of us regular folks had primitive campsites without hookups.  So back to TCPC, we were thoroughly surprised and delighted at the lovely countryside in that area of Tennessee.  This is one of those rare areas that seems neither economically depressed nor overbuilt.  The countryside is rolling hills with mixed woods and fields.  The nearest town is Crossville with a population of about 10,000.  While Crossville does have the requisite Walmart and Lowes, it seems to have a real down town with locally operated restaurants and shops.  There is also one of many beautiful Tennessee State Parks in the area.  Our Campground hosts (who almost literally talked our ears off) told us we absolutely could not miss the catfish fry at the State Park on Friday morning.  Well, we weren’t planning to stay until Friday but we saw that it said that Tuesday was “Seafood Night” so we showered and headed out to the State Park.  The park was stunning with amazing facilities, campground, tennis courts, swimming pool, hiking trails and a gorgeous restaurant set on a lake which we approached by crossing an arched stone bridge.  For a minute I thought we were back in Europe.  With our mouths set for fried seafood we walked in to the restaurant and once we could take our eyes off the view out the floor to ceiling windows we took a look at the buffet and noticed that while it looked inviting, it was certainly NOT seafood.  What the  . . . ?  OMG, it was not Tuesday, it was Wednesday.  We no longer know what day it is!!!!  I thought this was rather funny but my poor structured, organized and dependable military man was a bit shocked by the extent that he had lost touch.  At any rate dinner was first rate and quite inexpensive.  We were totally blown away with the number and quality of state parks in Tennessee and would go back again (we still haven’t had the catfish).

Restaurant Exterior

Restaurant Terrace (wouldn’t this be great for weddings?)

State Park Restaurant on WEDNESDAY

TCPC had wifi and I had a little work that was overdue so the next day Geoff and the kids played and hiked in the local area while I got my work done and spent a little time updating the blog.

Rain set in as we headed out to Memphis to catch up with some old Navy friends we had not seen in way too long.  Pouring rain and multiple car accidents on I-40 was the scene and it continued to rain cats and dogs throughout our three day stay at the Navy base in Millington Tennessee.  Nevertheless, we had some nice times there most notably seeing our friends (oh, how the children have grown!)  and visiting the art museum in Memphis which happened to be having an exhibition of Southern Quilts.  The quilts were lovely and inspirational although it was a bit of a shock to see on display the quilts which symbolized rank within the KKK!  There was also African American freedom quilt and a pre-civil war quilt made by a man who was convalescing from an illness.  My Memphis Navy wife girlfriend is the woman who started me off quilting so it was extra meaningful to go to this show with her and enjoy a tour of historic Memphis homes and a sushi dinner afterward.  Went to Memphis, didn’t see Graceland, didn’t eat BBQ but, trailer was leaky and soggy but we still had a great time.

“Boondocking” in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

View from Clingman's Dome (6621 ft.)

I could write a book and still not say all there is to say about the Smokies.  Where to start?  I guess at the beginning.  As is our wont (but not our want), we got a late start from the farm.  What is it that compels us to drive up into the mountains in the dark???  As we drove along, debating where to camp, wondering how winding and steep the roads would be and generally sniping at one another, a call came in on my husband’s cell phone.  ”Probably a call from your prospective employer right now” I quipped.  It WAS a call from the prospective employer!   The kids and I silently held our collective breath while my husband took the call.  The upshot, we are still waiting for the legal rigamarole to get sorted out.  The call was assuring us that it is all still in the works and asking us to remain patient.  All in all, this is good news but it would be nice to have some more certainty in this area.

Campsite #59 - Cosby Campground

All these worldly cares soon melted away as we lost ourselves in the wilds of the Smokies.  ”Boondocking” is R.V. talk for camping without hookups.  We ended up in Cosby Campground, a beautiful and very secluded spot on the Tennessee side of the park.  There are 5 different forest biomes in the Smokies.  This campground was in a Cove Hardwood forest.  What that means is that we camped among towering Tulip trees with their leaves just coming out and much lower down flowering Dogwoods in full glory.   We could not have asked for a more beautiful spot or better weather (the Smokies are often wet and rainy).  The campground hosts, Bob and Shirley, were very welcoming and friendly.  The bathrooms were clean with flush toilets and cold running water.  The other campers quiet and courteous (well, except on Friday night when our neighbor’s kids were up half the night screaming). Our first day in the park we decided to hike up to Hen Wallow Falls, a trail that originated right in the campground.  

Climb Every Mountain, Ford Every Stream

The biodiversity in the Smokies is greater than anywhere else in the temperate world, thanks to an accident of geography.  During the last ice age, northern species fled south as the ice sheet advanced.  In Europe, this was a disaster for many species, they could not cross the Alps which run roughly East-West.  The Smokies, on the other hand, run North-South and so became the new home for hundreds of species of plants along with the birds, fish, insects, etc. that rely on those plants.  There are more tree species found in the park than in all of Europe, the Smokies are also home to many species of birds, fish, and notably salamanders, but we were here for the spring wildflowers.  On this first hike we saw and identified at least 10 different species.  It seemed that a new discovery awaited around every corner.  We enjoyed a late lunch at the bottom of the falls.    

Painted Trillium

  

Downy Yellow Violet

 

 

 

 

Squawroot (an important food source for Black Bears in spring)

 

 

Bishop's Cap

Another day we followed a nature trail through through a Hemlock forest.  The Hemlock forests are dark and mysterious with the tall Hemlocks reaching to the sky and the masses of Rhododendron below (the latter don’t bloom until summer).  Many additional wildflowers grew in the lush shady areas especially along the streams.  Bishop’s Cap, Foam Flower, Showy Orchis, Dwarf Iris, Blue Phlox, Stonecrop, Wild Geranium, Smooth Solomon’s Seal, Dog Hobble, and many others (can you tell I love the names?).  Along these hikes we also saw many gnome and fairy dwellings and discussed the busy lives of the various inhabitants.  

Hemlock Forest Fairy Palace

Showy Orchis

The Children Discover Blue Phlox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Park Service offer Junior Ranger programs at many of their parks and we decided to try it out in the Smokies.  Each child got a booklet for $2.50 with information on various aspects of the park and questions and activities to complete.  Our three children were in different age categories so we had each of them working separately on their booklets.  All of them included a leaf hunt so the result was we all learned to identify a lot of tree species.  They also had to collect any garbage they found in the park and turn it in to the Ranger when they completed their booklet and they had to attend a Ranger-led program.  At this time of year, there weren’t too many Ranger-led programs but the movie in the visitor’s center was a good substitute. 

 

Repeat after me . . .

 

I promise . . .

The Official Junior Ranger Promise:

“As a Junior Ranger I promise to help protect the plants and animals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and keep the air, water, and land clean.  I will continue to learn more about the park so that I can help protect it for all the years to come.”