June 4 - Leaving NC Campground and Arlo in the gym

Today s the day we picked to head north for awhile. Will surely miss seeing little man, Arlo everyday. 

But I’m sure I’ll get pics and videos quite often of the little man. In fact, here’s one of him in their climbing gym with daddy https://youtube.com/shorts/JmNZRTnhEeg?feature=share

We decided to drive north out of Truckee, CA. On the way north, we drove Route 395 and saw some snow north of Truckee and lots of farmland.

A short stop for everyone to stretch their legs before we finish for the day. 

Drove north on 395 to Susanville, CA to a BLM campground called North Eagle Lake. It’s a good choice. Hardly anyone around, big sites and $4 with ATB pass. We are staying 2 nights so we can hike some. 

This is our view from our site. 

As you can see it’s cloudy and looks like it’s raining south of us. 

Petroglyphs National Monument

Last day with Drew before he flew back to California. We visited the Petroglyph National Monument. Petroglyphs are images carved into black lava rock. Some are very recognizable as animals, birds, and people. Some of them took awhile to find while others were right in front of us as we hiked two different trails. 

Can you find this little face underneath the plant?

One of the hikes took us to the top of the Mesa. The winds had started to blow and we’re quite strong as you can see by our picture. 

The lava rocks formed when several volcanoes erupted many thousands of years ago. 

With the winds blowing in our faces, we needed to find a brewery … Lava Rock Brewery. Great way to end our time with Drew in New Mexico. 

Driving the Turquoise Trail to Madrid and Taos

Today’s trip took us on a drive on the scenic Turquoise Trail, so named from turquoise mining years ago. This road goes through the artsy town of Madrid where Wild Hogs was filmed. A one-block fun town to explore. Several stores for shopping and a coffee shop. 

On to Taos, a small artist community that has fun shops and great restaurants around a plaza. There is even a quilt shop in the exact place when I was there in 2008. 

This is where we had lunch. 

Twelve miles out of town was the the Rio Grande Canyon Bridge and State Park. The depth is hard to comprehend. Quite impressive. 

Another great day making memories. 

Santa Fe and Los Alamos

What a day of differences. Started out in Santa Fe. Walked the Plaza and visited an Art Museum. 

The first indigenous female saint, Kateri. 

The following pics are some of the artwork in the museum. 

Look at the ceiling. The architecture is so southwest. 

As soon as I saw this, I thought what a beautiful quilt it would make. 

Love the mixed media on both of these. There was a lot of diversity in the artwork, from 1920s to more contemporary. 

A Georgia O’Keefe print, a favorite artist of Drew. 

The courtyard of sculptures was quite unique. This artwork was made to fit into this spot. 

Since the art museum made us thirsty, we had to find a brewery before we headed to Los Alamos.

Interestingly, we wouldn’t have known to stop at Los Alamos, except two guys from Philadelphia told us we had to go. 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Los Alamos fame, it was where the first atomic bomb was created in 1945 and changed the world forever. Bill and Drew visited the science museum and were enthralled. Bill said it made his head hurt with all the information. 

I visited a quilt and yarn shop and then sat and read at the park. The quilt shop was called the Atomic Quilt Shop. Very fitting. 

After the museum we started on a walking tour of the city and what did we find … another brewery called the Bathtub Row Brewery, named from the row of houses that had the only bathtubs during the Manhattan Project. 

A beautiful sunset awaited us as we got home. 

Bandelier National Monument

Had a great time hiking and crawling up ladders at the amazing Bandelier National Monument.

The Ancestral Pueblo people lived here from approximately 1150 CE to 1550 CE. They built homes carved from the volcanic tuff and planted crops in mesa top fields. Corn, beans, and squash were central to their diet, supplemented by native plants and meat from deer, rabbit, and squirrel. Domesticated turkeys were used for both their feathers and meat while dogs assisted in hunting and provided companionship. They moved on when the land couldn’t provide for them anymore. (Excerpt from the park’s pamphlet)

Drew climbing up the first ladder. This was a short one!

Yes, I’m holding on tight!

Made it up. Couldn’t stand so the Ancient Ancestral Publoans must have been short or they didn’t stand upright. 

I made it up and am sitting inside!  

The view from one of lodges. 

Bill and Drew going up to the Long House.

It was a long way up the ladder to the Alcove House … and down but was so worth it. 

So much to explore and learn. 

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Beautiful drive from Arizona into New Mexico. Lots of red rock bluffs. Made the time go fast. 

For the next 6 days we’ll be camping at Enchanted Trails Campground, just west of Albuquerque. Drew will be joining us so we can show him one of our favorite states. 

Not much of a sunset but they have a lighted tree of hubcaps that I enjoyed. 

Monday morning we took a 4 mile hike along the Rio Grande River. Glad we started early because it was getting hot by lunch time. Even though it was only 74, the sun is so intense. 

Tomorrow we’ll pick Drew up and head for Bandelier National Monument.