PART 4: New Mexico!
Friday,
March 20
Tucson to ShowLow, Arizona
196 miles
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| West end of Catalina Mts. north of Tucson |
We are ready to depart sunny Tucson
and it is a beautiful morning! We saw
goodbyes to Ted and Elinor, Josh and Abi (doing a little extra CHRPA work
today!) Abi said she was ‘so excited to
see you were still here’ when she rode in on her bike! Two final hugs! We are finally ready to head out at 8:45
am.
The drive today was everything we
hoped for: different and scenic. We took
Dan’s suggestion and followed Alvernon north to where it turned into River Road
which wound around to meet up with Highway 77 heading north toward Oracle. We literally skirted the edge of the Catalina
Mountains and then around the tip. To
see those mountains up close from a different perspective was great. Some very sharp cliffs up there!
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| Is this not a classic Arizona photograph? Taken from moving car....hence a bit of reflection on bottom. |
I can’t tell you how many times my
ear popped today from the constant up and down.
We climbed up and then we headed down….over and over! Gradually we lost our saguaro cactuses by the
time we got to Globe. We stopped in this
central town of 7500 to gas up and lunch up!
The drive over the Mescal Mts. was filled with cuts and strata,
bluebonnets aside the road, fields of yellow and orange. White fluffy clouds and dark storm
clouds. We even had a few drops of rain
during the day.
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| Salt River Canyon |
From Globe we climbed another
1500-2000 feet, only to descend steeply down into the Salt River Canyon, a
spectacular mini Grand of proportions.
We stopped at a viewpoint enroute down to see some sweeping views both east
and west. Gorgeous!
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| Desert mallow at Salt River |
As we neared ShowLow we entered a
Ponderosa Pine forest! Finally what I
consider merits distinction as a National Forest! ShowLow is a popular summer home town for the
communities of Phoenix and Tucson – or any hot place in the south! Its elevation of 6400’ means cooler temps in
the heat of the summer months. We passed
multiple affluent housing developments and mini resorts. Fool Hollow Recreation Area lies just a
couple miles north of town and it is a beautifully maintained and managed
campground, lake, fishing area, etc.
Campsites are meticulous. Cement
pads, sturdy tables, campfire rings. We
were lucky and able to get into one of the few remaining unreserved sites. Full hookups for only $30. Not bad.
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| Beautiful old building at our turn in ShowLow. |
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| Fool Hollow Lake |
Afternoon spent relaxing, reading,
and I took a short walk around the two loops nearest us and along the
lake. Got a presunset picture down near
the boat ramp.
Tomorrow morning we will zip into
New Mexico, hoping for a Socorro arrival around noon….just in time to take a
hike with our son!
Stars tonight were ‘stellar’ – such
a dark sky, no moon yet. High elevation
and clear. Wow.
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| Campsite at Fool Hollow Rec Area |
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| Panorama of Salt River Canyon |
ShowLow, AZ to Socorro, NM
205 miles
San Lorenzo Canyon Hike
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| Typical flat land view |
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| Quemodo's touch of class |
And then we
climbed some more! Between ShowLow and
Springerville, AZ (near border) we passed a roadside elevation sign of 7500’ –
almost as high as the 7700’ at the Continental Divide in PieTown! Mountains to the south had patches of snow on
them. This is such a high plateau area –
golden grassland, small juniper trees, and wide vistas!
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| Snow on the road! |
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| Datil Mts and pine trees! |
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| VLA dishes |
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| Jed pulls up at the campground to show off his new car! |
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| Route A... or |
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| Route B? Neither was great! |
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| But we made it to the top of the mesa! |
Great hoodoos,
cliffs, weathering lines and cracks, and sculpting by the elements. Fairly dry right now, but new growth is
emerging on the shrubs. Junipers and
salt cedars (the latter not native and considered invasive). A few wildflowers. Pockets of cottonwoods which would be
beautiful in the fall, but not leafed out yet this year. We hiked up the various trails of the side
canyon, sometimes losing touch with Rick as he was slightly ahead and we didn’t
always pick the same route! We
eventually wanted to get to the top for a view.
Had heard the trail went up. Not
sure we found THAT trail, but with a little help from my guys, we got up
there! Loose rock in many places. A good adventure, although Rick came back
with a little blood on the side of his leg from a slip. We came down by a different route!
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| Cottonwood leaf beauty |
I found a
cottonwood leaf (very distant from the trees) at the base of a tiny slot
canyon. When held up to the light
filtering through, it was beautiful!
Rick discovered some sand patterns on the face of a cliff which were
fascinating. All of us discovered some
random prickly pear bushes, usually by a prickle!
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| Twister Chili |
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| At home in his office! |
To Jed’s
house….to discuss plans for his graduation party, take measurements for the
ordering of his doctoral gown, and FIND the missing registration stickers for
the car in the old Toyota glovebox!
Thankfully I remembered I had given them to him in Salt Lake City at the
concert last summer and there they were!!!
Details!
8:30pm and we
were ready to crash! Plenty of sunshine,
a hike, a drive, and a good meal for the day!
SUNDAY,
March 22
Socorro to Edgewood, NM
via Mom’s in ABQ
110 miles
A
good lazy morning in Socorro. We are
both fighting colds and sore throats, so a quiet morning was good. We would have had to unhitch to attend
church, so I’m afraid I spent the morning drawing prayer pictures instead. Hope God understands!
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| A quick snapshot at Red Lobster |
We
left Socorro around 11:30 to head up to Albuquerque. We called last night to let Mom know she
would get a visit today instead of Monday!
Jed is driving up himself for his volleyball matches, so is going to
meet us afterwards for dinner with Grandma!
Arrival
at Mom’s around 1p and a quiet afternoon visiting. I run over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few
basics for our breakfast menu while out at Randy’s. Jed arrives around 4:30. Our hope was to dine at Azuma’s Grill, but
there was going to be a 45 minute wait, so Grandma’s second choice? Red Lobster, of course! (Azumas was Jed’s hope!) Good meal as usual.
We
drop Jed and Grandma off at Three Fountains and then head out to Randy’s. Arrival just as it was fully getting dark,
but we get backed in around all of the cars parked here and into our ‘slot’ by
the garage. Hour of visit time with
Patty, Rach, Reg, and little Jaxon before heading out to bed.
I'll been having internet connection problems at Randy's - mostly with the phone, so it isn't uploading my photos to Dropbox so I can access them! So I shall post this much and catch up as I go this week!!
Had to get moving today a little
quicker as we are heading up to Santa Fe for the day. Rick went down to the basement at the
Fountains to retrieve the wheelchair so if Mom gets tired she can just ride! It is a really light-weight chair so easy to
move around.
Poked in a couple of the old mission
churches, admired the flowers budding and blooming, including forsythia, and in
general spent a relaxed day (once we found that parking spot!) We got a downtown map of the city that will
now STAY in Mom’s car!
I'll been having internet connection problems at Randy's - mostly with the phone, so it isn't uploading my photos to Dropbox so I can access them! So I shall post this much and catch up as I go this week!!
MONDAY, March 23
Chillin’ with Mom
Nothing too exciting today! Rick didn’t get up until nearly 10:30 (trying
to sleep off his cold!), so we visited with each of the kids during the morning
and didn’t move too fast! Jaxon is going
to the doctor today for HIS cold (Dominic is really sounding bad!)
Got to Mom’s around 1. Lazy afternoon just being together. Mom and I went over to JoAnne’s Fabrics and
Walmart for a little shopping time. I
managed to talk my way into the WW meeting at 5 even though I can’t find my
tracker weight guide. A good
weigh-in!
Mom made ham loaf and taters for
dinner and I added a tossed salad (naturally).
I drove us back out to Edgewood around 7pm, in time for Regan to cut my
hair!
TUESDAY, March 24
Santa Fe!
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| St. Francis Cathedral |
Hardest part of the day was finding
the parking lots for the downtown sector.
Not that well marked and we didn’t do our homework ahead of time! Shame on me!
I’m finding no internet out at the trailer is hard, and I can’t get my phone
to connect to Randy’s wireless, so I am using up tons of data to transfer high
quality pictures!
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| Rick and Mom R at La Plata |
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| My yummy grilled sandw |
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| Silversmith and armor he restored. Reminded us of Mike Braymen |
Weather in Santa Fe was sunny, but a
cool breeze blowing! We ambled around
the plaza shops, poking in some stores.
Hard to keep up with Rick cause unless Mom said she wanted to go in,
they just peeked in windows. I got a few
more gifts for kids.
We ate lunch at La Plata, a very
quiet restaurant that used to be attached to the St. Francis historic hotel,
but is now unaffiliated with the hotel.
Regal austerity for the décor.
Menu was reasonable (by Santa Fe standards). I had a grilled cheese sandwich to die for:
filled with cheese and avocado and tomatos, plus an artichoke-tomato soup (I
couldn’t taste the artichokes, though!)
Grandma had a stuffed sopapilla and Rick a chicken fillet sandwich he
couldn’t get his mouth around!
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| Statue to first Native American woman to be a saint. |
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| Forsythia blooming near Prayer Garden |
Home around 5 and Rick put a
razzleberry pie in the oven for his ‘dinner’!
I had salad and a sliver of pie.
Stayed in later to watch NCIS with Mom and then back out to Edgewood for
a SHORT visit with the gang before bedtime.
THURSDAY, March 26
Our
agenda for today was a visit to Albuquerque’s Old Town, a historic plaza that
we actually enjoy more than Santa Fe.
The shops are more reasonable, it isn’t quite so crowded and squeezed
together. We don’t get there until
nearly noon, however, so only a few stores before we find the Backstreet Grill
for lunch. Good dining, although my
chicken salad was just a touch too spicy for me. We poked around in some new shops,
visited old ‘friends’, and made some purchases!
Mom bought a new shirt and a gift for Jax, I bought a shirt and a new
nativity from Indonesia (love the Christmas Store!) Happy Birthday to me!
The
San Felipe Mission Church was absolutely beautiful with its white spires
against a deep blue sky today. Add the
blossoming trees, the warmest day of the year in Albuquerque, and we had a
wonderful time! To top it off, the pan
flute ‘band’ Amauta was playing in one of the little courtyards as we were ready to
leave. We have bought their CDs before,
so today we just stood and listened to about three songs. So beautiful!
After
our big lunch, Rick just ate Scotcheroos for dinner. I finished up the salad. We again watched the first game of basketball
and then headed out to Randy’s.
WEDNESDAY, March 25
Laundry
and Ho Ho Chinese Restaurant
We are really getting into 'laid-back' mode now.
As everyone leaves the house one by one, we are finally the only ones
left around 11pm. Doing our laundry so we can make it through the final
week of travel. Once we hear that Reg, Jax, and Dom will come back over
on Sunday afternoon, we decide to spend the night at Mom's so we don't have to
get up so early on Thursday to take her to the doctor.
So, it is a windy 3pm when we finally get everything ready
to go and head into town. Mom has a coupon for the Ho Ho Chinese
Restaurant, so dinner is on her tonight! Mostly a take-out type place
with just styrofoam dishes and plastic silverware, so we take our entrees back
to the apartment to dine. Good meal, and plenty left over for tomorrow.
Lazy evening with Mom and around 10 we pull out the new
hide-a-bed and crash for the night. (Wish I could say it sleeps better
than the old one, but alas....it IS a hide-a-bed!)
THURSDAY, March 26
Eye Appointment
Up
early as the sun floods the room rising over the shadow of the Sandia
Mts.! But we need to get up early as
Rick and mom leave at 7:15a for Mom’s 8a eye appointment. I work on a few computer issues while they
are gone, and draw and write Friday’s devotional (a fast from computer media
day!)
I
can’t say the rest of the day was that eventful! Mom was a bit tired, so Rick and I went to
pick up water, etc. from Wal-mart. I ran
over to Jo-Anne’s again to get some yarn.
We did a couple little chores around the apartment – adjusting some new
sheer drapes and magnets on the cupboards.
We ate spam spread for lunch and leftover Ho Ho for dinner! Watched the first game of March Madness
basketball before heading out to Edgewood.
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| Sunset at Randy's |
FRIDAY, March 27 Happy
Birthday, Ryan!
Albuquerque Old Town!
Our
agenda for today was a visit to Albuquerque’s Old Town, a historic plaza that
we actually enjoy more than Santa Fe.
The shops are more reasonable, it isn’t quite so crowded and squeezed
together. We don’t get there until
nearly noon, however, so only a few stores before we find the Backstreet Grill
for lunch. Good dining, although my
chicken salad was just a touch too spicy for me. We poked around in some new shops,
visited old ‘friends’, and made some purchases!
Mom bought a new shirt and a gift for Jax, I bought a shirt and a new
nativity from Indonesia (love the Christmas Store!) Happy Birthday to me! The
San Felipe Mission Church was absolutely beautiful with its white spires
against a deep blue sky today. Add the
blossoming trees, the warmest day of the year in Albuquerque, and we had a
wonderful time! To top it off, the pan
flute ‘band’ Amauta was playing in one of the little courtyards as we were ready to
leave. We have bought their CDs before,
so today we just stood and listened to about three songs. So beautiful!  |
| Amauta Band |
No
birthday celebration for Ryan today.
Randy comes home late Sat night.
They will do their traditional family bowling party next weekend. But Patty was making cookies (for church on
Sunday) so Ryan was enjoying them!
Patty,
Ryan, Rach, and I enjoyed a trivia game of Bezzerwizzer (or something weird
like that), which I was winning until Ryan make a dramatic come from WAY behind
victory. Oh well, it WAS his birthday,
after all!
Straight
out to Edgewood and the Walmart to pick up some roasted chickens for dinner
plus potato salad. Nothing fancy on the
menu, just EASY! Patty now has the cold,
Randy is tired. No one wants to cook,
just chat! Patty pulled out some baked
beans and I made a tossed salad, plus some cut pineapple (especially for Jed!) Mom is spending the night and Jed will take
her home in the morning when he heads back down to Socorro.
Ryan
and Rachael got home from work around 4:30 and we ate dinner! Regan and Dom back with Jaxon around 6:30,
just after we all returned from a walk around the ‘block’ (about a long mile in
this area!). Good time playing with
Jaxon. We gave him his birthday present
– a shirt and book, both with geckos.
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| St. Felipe Mission Church, Albuquerque Old Town |
SATURDAY, March 28
Weekly Shopping for Mom
Big
shopping day on the agenda for Mom!
Actually, just her weekly stock up that she usually does when Ran and
Patty come into town to shop each weekend at Sams, etc. We decide we need sustenance first and Mom
has a coupon for Olive Garden she wants to use!
So….off for a little Italiano!
Always
like Olive Garden. We ask for the lunch
menu (they didn’t give it to us even though it was 1pm on Saturday – good to
know – it pays to ASK!) I seriously
consider the soup and salad all you can eat, because I love their Caesar Salad
and a vast array of soups! (Not to
mention the breadsticks!) But Rick
points out a portabella ravioli on the ‘light’ menu and that sounds very
inviting, especially with the endless salad to go with it! Mom had angel hair spaghetti and Rick
lasagna. A good meal. A very good meal. J
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| Our little spot by Randy's shop, from back balcony of house |
Then
it is across the street to Hobby Lobby – Mom rarely gets a chance to just
peruse the aisles of such stores. I
think she left empty handed, but I didn’t!
Found a few fun quilling and paper flowers kits and instructions, plus a
fun gift for Kaila to honor her new little brother.
Finally
in to Walmart to let Grandma do her grocery shopping. Rick and I pick up a couple items and I make
one last trip to Dollar Tree for a few birthday cards.
A
late night at Moms as the Kentucky-NotreDame March Madness BB is on the TV and
no one is at Randy’s anyway tonight.
They are in town and picking up Randy at 10 pm at the airport! So we stay to watch the end of the game and
arrive out in Edgewood shortly after 9:30pm.
We are still up when we hear the car pull in around 10:45 from the
airport, but will save our hellos until tomorrow!
SUNDAY, March 29
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| Regan, Dom, and Jaxon |
Covenant Presbyterian Worship
Family time in Edgewood!
Up
a little earlier today to be ready to leave for town shortly after 8:30 to have
Grandma to church on time! The service
has been moved from 10:30 to 9:30am!!
But Mom is ready to go and we just pick her up and head to the
church. I like this church – largely on
the surface because of all the rainbow colors!
They are Covenant Church and the Rainbow covenant with God is evident
everywhere! A nice service for Palm
Sunday. Mom had a palm to wave!
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| Jed and Jaxon meet! |
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| Mom and Jaxon |
Everyone
joked about when Jed would arrive. He
said between 3 and 5 and I suggested
closer to 3, but hadn’t heard anything back. Patty and Randy said we would see him at 6
then! But….Jed surprised everyone by
pulling in 5 minutes BEFORE 3!!!
Amazing!
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| Jax checks out his new birthday book |
Ry,
Rach, Jed, and I played a game of Galaxy Trucker. Ryan was the eventual
winner. A strange game as both Jed and
Ryan and Rach all lost
their ships during one round or another. Fun time, however. I think Grandma just plain enjoyed being in
the middle of all the chaos. Randy and
Patty are leaving on Monday also for a three day vacation over to Arizona
country.
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| Rach, Rand, Patty, and Ry |
This
will wrap up the New Mexico portion of our Southwest Spring Swing blog for
2015! Tomorrow night we will be in
Colorado and homeward bound!
PS. This will be a little slow in getting posted as I don't have good enough internet to process the pictures on the way home!
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