On my way to ghost ranch I found El Rito. Am art installation there is a spoof on the Mars Rover. Quite interesting.
I stopped at the Georgia O’keefe museum. She found her inspiration from the landscapes here in New Mexico.
At Ghost ranch there were trails to walk and a museum about the oldest dinosaur found in the US and the official fossil of New Mexico. A large number of the fossils were found near here when they died as rivers dried up then the rest in the resulting flood when the rains came.
It was a great time ther but less time to hike the next day due to a lot of rain.
I picked up Alycia Owen from the Albuquerque airport to drive to her home in Taos. I worked with both her and Steve in China. We spent a lot of time talking and catching up but also went sightseeing.
We went to the North Rim of the Rio Grande.
We went to Earthship. These ar homes that help to solve sustainability problems though it is difficult to solve all problems. I didn’t pay to view the houses and just looked at the outside.
The sunsets here in the desert are beautiful.
And do are the sunrises.
We went into Taos and spent time looking around the cool shops and eating Green Chili soup, which is delicious, and a New Mexico dish.
It has definitely been hot. I went to the Petroglyph monuments and hiked the trails to look at the carvings left by the ancient Pueblos some time ago. They used stones to carve signs into the basalt rock from an ancient volcano.
I then went to Old Albuquerque Town to look at the artisans and different shops.
I then went to a trailhead in the Cibola National Forest to camp for free among the Juniper forest. Very peaceful.
I then stopped at a couple different places to hike in the morning.
I rolled into Tucumcari which was one of the iconic Route 66 stops. I walked around to take pictures of the old motels and cars.
A last minute change took me to Roswell. I mean, why not? I went through some of the most desolate place ever without seeing many cars or actual houses on the 2.5 hour trip.
There were many alien statues throughout the town.
I went to Roswell’s museum about alien encounters.
I then went to Santa Rosa where I went to the lake Park and then the route 66 auto museum. Lots of cool things from the route 66 era as well as the collection of cars.
I stayed at the Santa Rosa State Park. Beautiful campground near the dam!
I drove quite a distance to get to the canyons. They are the second largest canyons in the country and quite beautiful. I hiked several trails including their famous lighthouse trail. All these sedimentary layers were from when Texas was under water and materials settled. Later erosion created the features. The lighthouse was likely an arch where the middle part collapsed. It was a great hike and a little bit of a climb to get to the base. I was happy it was a bit cooler that day.
A roadrunner visited the campground. Still looking for the coyote…
I then traveled to Amarillo and my first visit was Cadillac Rancho. Of course, I had to spray paint the name of my car and me: Thelma and Louise.
Amarillo Botanical Garden
Tucumcari and Route 66 was nostalgic and a little depressing. Many businesses are run down and empty and I can imagine what this was like in its heyday. Sad that interstates have shut down much of these places. I decided to spend the night in one of the motels to escape the heat and relax a bit (and do some laundry in the room).
i then traveled to a suburb of Dallas to visit Ruth Vol who I worked with in China. We walked around and talked, catching up. We also did a road trip to see a few sites.
Dinosaur Valley State Park. There are actual tracks left in the riverbed when prints were left in the limestone and over time the other sediment that covered them was worn away. Before we got there, we saw a bunch of dinosaur statues in a a pasture (and of course there are dinosaurs throughout the town outside of the park).
At the park ar two dinosaur statues that were at the 1964 world fair.
The prints in the river. I needed to wade across to the other side. The water was cold but not very deep.
We walked to the second site that had both types of prints with rocks that you can use to walk across.
From there we drove to Waco to visit the chapel at the site of the Branch David is compound siege that occured in 1993. It was definitely propaganda that is anti government even though there were plenty of reasons for the federal government to come into it that day. Unfortunately many people lost their life that day. Maybe it could have been handled differently. However, the information on the inside was definitely cultist.
From there we headed to downtown Waco and found the Dr. Pepper museum. Interesting intersection on sodas and the int rejection with history, innovation, and culture. Getting a free drink and upgrading to a Dr. Pepper float was a highlight.
I also visited Magnolia, the site of the Gaines’ media empire after their days on HGTV.
On our walks in the neighborhood we looked for wildlife and Texas bluebonnets.
After New Orleans I stayed at Bayou Segnette State park to get some nature and look for alligators. Nice and relaxing.
I also used the beach shelter that I bought to help stay cool when camping.
I bought fresh caught catfish to cook for dinner and just relaxed. From there I traveled to Vermilionville to see some Acadian history.
In this barn, they stored hay as well as dried Spanish moss from the tree. After soaking in water, the outer grey green layer fell off leaving the black inner layer which was then dried and used to stuff mattresses.
From here I knew there was going to be bad weather. I had a choice to stay here or head a few hours up north to a free campground. As a serious cold front was moving through, there was going to be strong winds and rain. I decided to go north as that forecast looked not as ominous. In the end. It was the right decision. Before the temperature dropped, I went for a dip in the water.
The next morning I stopped in Natchitoches which is the oldest Louisiana purchase settlements. It was a cute little town.
The hardware store is original as when it opened. It had so many cool things.
I also learned that this is where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed.
From here I drove to Caddo Lakes State park. It was cold that day and the next. The weather though was good for hiking the upland and lowland trails.
I had a great two days in New Orleans taking pictures of favorite places for Becca, sampling Cajun and Creole food and taking a cooking class. Learned more about making different not roux for different recipes.
Bourbon street
French quarter
Cooking class
Cemeteries with graves above ground because of the high water table.
After finishing the Trace, I decided to stay in a hotel as there were heavy rains. It was a good chance to charge everything and to watch a few shows!
Natchez is a cool little town. I started the morning by walking the bluff overlooking the Mississippi .
This is the ar a under th bluff with some historic buildings and wonderful food.
The Forks of the Road is where the slave trades were held when they were forced to be just out of city limits for fear of cholera outbreaks.
The William Johnson house was wonderful. A former slave that was emancipated, he became a businessman with his barber shop and an upstanding citizen that was well respected even though he maintained slaves as well. What is great about his museum was that he kept extensive diaries and with that there is a great understanding of Natchez life at that time. His daughter also kept an extensive diary.
Downtown Natchez
I then stopped off at the Rosedown State Historic site which is an incredible plantation with original furnishings and gardens. There is extensive history here.
The oldest oak in Louisiana . It has a lightening rod atop of it.
The doctors house
The daughter that inherited the house during the civil war would take off the over garments until her underthings and hoops were showing. When army men came into the house, they would see her state of undress and leave as it was considered improper. This kept the building intact and precious heirlooms were not stolen to make bullets.
The tapestry was given to one of the family from Martha Washington.
The library has first edition Mark Twain books.
From there, I headed to Baton Rouge to visit the Leo’s whom I worked with in China. So excited to see them!
The Natchez Trace are a series of Native American trails that was used in the 1700’s and 1800’s for traveling between Nashville and Natchez (which is near the Mississippi). It has tremendous history and many different things have happened along this trail. I loved driving it even though I started in Tupelo and will do the northern portion on another trip.
Many of the markers were for missions, stations where people could get goods or stay, locations of the Chickasaw settlements, agencies where people were the go betweens between settlers and native Americans, and geologic information about the best places for farmland. DeSoto also crossed near the middle of the trace in 1540.
The owl Creek mounds were used from 1000 to 1500 and dwellings were built on top.
I laughed at the witch dance stop as the sign said there were stories of witches here and that you should walk around to look for places that the grass does not grow. What a great way to stretch your legs!
Bynum mounds wher woodland Indians lived.
I enjoyed the little walks on the nature trails and those that were still part of the old trace trail. I especially liked the trails through the cypress swamps.
The reservoir stop was beautiful!
Cowles Mead made a tavern along the Trace and held many government offices. He pursued Aaron Burr for treason and built a house along this road. All that is left is his grave.
I stopped a night at Rocky Springs campground. This is where a community lived that was supported by the Trace. All that is left here is a church. I built a fire which was doused an hour later by major thunderstorms. It was a peaceful night sleep though.
Grindstone Ford is a place where a water mill was located and troops who stayed here during the Burr conspiracy to allegedly secede the western states. What is left here are some graves.
The Mangum mounds were the Plaque and culture that had advanced agriculture tied to religion. Evidence from the mound shows high infant mortality and that when the chief dies, his servants were slain and buried with him.
I did get out to walk around these goats on the side road that did not want to move in order to view the mounds.
A section of the old trace that is sunken below the ground level.
Windsor ruins were built between 1859 and 1861 by plantation owner Smith Coffee Daniell II. With 25 grand Corinthian columns it was considered one of the most elaborate homes in the pre-Civil War South. It survived the Civil War as it was used by Union troops as an observation post and field hospital. In 1890, a guest accidentally started a fire and only the 23 surviving columns standing as ruins.
An old inn still exists in the Trace, though it was closed.
Emerald Mound was built by the Mississippians was used for temples and ceremonies as well as burials. The top of the mound would hold the place of the religious leader.
