Saturday, October 29, 2016

Deming, New Mexico

Two weeks exploring Deming, New Mexico 
and the surrounding area.


We took a couple of short hikes at Rockhound State Park.
This is one of three parks in the United States 
where you are encouraged to take rocks and minerals. 
Fifteen pound limit.
Since we are traveling in an RV we passed up on this deal.
View looking up from the trail.
Can you find our car which is parked all the way to the right in the center? 
Florida Mountains are in the background.
Fishhook Barrel cactus. 
Doesn't it look like little pineapples on top?
While walking along the trail we stirred up a covey of Quail 
and saw two Roadrunners. 
Beep! Beep! They were too quick for the photographer. 


Cow Tongue Cactus
The bees love the fruit from the cactus.
This sign reminds me of the jeep tour in Moab. 
We couldn't see where we were going some of the time.
Spring Canyon 
We started up Lover's Leap Trail which was difficult and
 had to climb over these boulders to see 
what was around the corner. 
 The trail wasn't clearly marked so after 30 minutes 
we turned around. 
 Great views.

We have been on many roads but not one with a 17% grade 
(except in a jeep).

If you put a car into neutral and coast down,
you can get over 60 mph. 
I don't know how I pick up this trivia.

30 miles north of Deming you can find this quiet park.
It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and then
up pops these rock formations.
The camp sites are in and around the rocks.
We didn't camp here but it would be great for a few days.
These rocks were formed from volcanic ash 
30 million years ago and have been worn by water 
and wind into these monolithic blocks. 
The formations are so unique and only known to exist 
in six other places in the world. 
This is a fantastic place for kids of all ages 
to explore the different caves and paths.

 I love the zoom capability of our new camera.



Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
A must see if you are in the Deming area.
 This museum will surprise you!
We spent 2 1/2 hours there
and don't want to start listing all that we saw.

You know you are getting old when
you see many items at the museum that you have owned,
used, or your parents had as you grew up.

"Aging is not lost youth 
but a new stage of opportunity and strength." 
Betty Friedan

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Fasten Your Seatbelts!



We were overjoyed to have friends meet us in Moab, Utah for several days.
 I want to thank Duane for some of the photos in the blog this week because I lost our camera. The first day we drove through Arches National Park and saw a few of the arches.

 Double Arch
Delicate Arch
This place is beautiful night and day.
Next, we had scheduled a jeep tour.
 If you ever get a chance to visit Moab we highly recommend 
Dan Mick Jeep Tours ! Be sure to check out the video section.
Our driver Robert was professional,
but scared us, very knowledgeable about Moab and its history, 
 Here we go.
Up

Down

and all around what seems to be impossible. 
Yes, we did go up this hill and so much more... 
we don't want to spoil it when you go.

At the top we were treated with Goose Island Lookout, Colorado River,
 brownie bites, strawberries and whipped cream!
Happy Birthday Sue!
Life is good!
These pictures don't convey the blast we had on Hell's Revenge.
 You can also check out some of the videos on YouTube.

The next day we hiked in Arches National Park
We saw Landscape Arch and many more.
Did you know there are over 2000 arches?
Here is the view from Dead Horse State Park.
The blue is a Potash Plant.
This is White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park.

We rented a jeep on Saturday and started on 
Gemini Bridge Trail.
It is a short hike to see Gemini Bridges.

Our next adventure was Shafer Trail.
 Yep, the road down there is where we are headed.
 Down the single lane road with narrow switchbacks 
and we had to pull over so other vehicles and bicycles could get by.
 We survived!
Here is the view from the bottom.
You can barely see the switchbacks. 

Next was Long Canyon Trail
 Through Pucker Pass which is very narrow and looks impassable.
We needed some assistance from Duane to build up the trail 
and guide us down this sharp drop!

 It doesn't look like we would fit but we made it.
Maneuvering these trails were tough
but Scott and Duane did a fabulous job! 
Words and pictures don't convey the thrills we had!
 Memories we will cherish for a lifetime.

"Friends are the sunshine of life." John Hay