Bandelier National Monument

Ted. Our buddy, Jeff had promised to show us more interesting sites in his home state so one morning he drove up from Albuquerque, picked us up and took us to one of his favorite destinations; Bandelier. 

Jeff knows New Mexico!

Most of this National Monument is wilderness and can only visited on foot. However, one can drive into Frijoles Canyon and explore the cave dwellings of the people now know as the Ancestral Puebloans. Human presence in this corner of the Rio Grande Valley has been traced back 10,000 years. 

The canyon is carved out by a stream known as Rito de los Frijoles which flows just a few miles before emptying into the Rio Grande River. The importance of water is readily apparent. The canyon floor is lush with grasses, and ponderosa pines. The desert is clearly visible, though, as cholla, yucca and sage thrive just 100 yards up the sides of the canyon. 

Following a loop trail, we visited the ruins of Tyuonyi Pueblo and explored the cave dwellings along the canyon walls. Carved out of the soft volcanic rock known as tuff, these spaces provided relatively safe and cozy homes for the inhabitants. 

Big Kiva in Tyuonyi Pueblo

Tyuonyi as seen from above

Cave dwellings

"Anybody home?"

Cave interior

Petroglyph

Jeff had more adventures in store for us later on that day, but the morning was a great start!

Got one in a king size?

Pecos National Historical Park

Ted. Northern New Mexico has been home to the Pueblo peoples for thousands of years. There are still 19 inhabited pueblos (or villages) with the most famous being Taos Pueblo. Many more have been abandoned, sometimes because of drought but often because of the arrival of settlers - first from New Spain (Mexico) and then the United States. One morning, Judy and I traveled from Santa Fe to visit the ruins of nearby Pecos Pueblo; now a National Historical Park. 

Pecos Pueblo was located on Glorieta Pass, where one can cross the Sangre de Christo Mountains from the High Plains to the Rio Grande Valley. Here is where traders from the Pacific, the plains and Mexico could gather. The nearby Pecos River served as the boundary of the plains Indians (notably the Apache) who would come to Pecos to trade items such as buffalo hides and slaves with Puebloans for manufactured goods like pottery and textiles. With the arrival of the Spanish, and the United States, Glorieta Pass continued to be well travelled. It was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, then the rail line from Chicago to Southern California, later US Route 66 and now Interstate 25. It is no coincidence that the one Civil War battle in New Mexico Territory took place on this pass. 

Pecos Pueblo was abandoned on the 1830’s and the buildings fell into disrepair. Ranchers purchased the land and in the 1930’s the area around the Pueblo was know as the Forked Lightening Ranch. The owner, Buddy Fogelson married British actress, Greer Garson who became instrumental in transferring the land to the National Park Service.

Preservation work continues and we were fascinated to learn of the local history on a ranger led tour. For instance, we were not aware of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 when nearly all of the Pueblo peoples rose up and chased the Spanish out of Nuevo Mexico (the name given to this province of New Spain). I won't dwell on the revolt but you can find a lot more information on this fascinating story on the Internet.

This was our first outing in New Mexico and it was apparent that we had a lot to learn during our time here. Here are a few snapshots.

Ruined church with Glorieta Mesa in background

Foundations of houses

Perimeter wall with trading field in background

A kiva (sacred circular underground space)

Kiva interior

The 4th church (the 3rd was destroyed in the Revolt)

Alaska to New Mexico

Judy. Two weeks ago we left Alaska, and to say the last two weeks have been a whirlwind is an understatement! 

Our first stop was Olympia, Washington, to visit our friends Terry and Sue. Luckily for us, this is becoming a regular event! We had a quiet few days, walking and spending time in their pool, and catching up since our last visit.

 

Vegging in the pool

From Olympia, we flew into Atlanta, where we spent the night in an airport hotel before flying out the next morning to Boston to visit two of our nieces and the great-nephews we hadn’t met yet. We had a great day and a half with Kelly, Stephen, Henry, and Teddy, playing with the boys, and, when they were in daycare, heading to Castle Island with Kelly and Stephen and pup Logan, where we indulged in lobster rolls and a walk around the park. 

Lobster rolls!

Henry and Teddy are daredevils!

Stephen and Logan

And Kelly and Logan

Unfortunately, the next day Ted tested positive for Omicron. I was negative, so we masked in the hotel room, and I stayed gone as much as possible. I was able to drive to New Hampshire to visit with niece Ashley and her husband Peter, along with their daughter Despina and son Demetrius. The day was beautiful, so we sat outside admiring the view of the mountains from her home. It’s been so long, and we had so much to catch up on that we both forgot to take pictures. Ashley, an endodontist, sent me back to Boston with a load of N-95 masks to add to our collection. 

While in Boston, Ted’s fever broke, and, although he chose not to visit family again, after three days fever-free, we flew back to Georgia, Ted masked to the nines, and constantly sanitizing his hands and everything he touched. We were able to see our own kids as we loaded up Raymond the Truck and took off for our month in Santa Fe, New Mexico—a three-day road trip from Athens. We had a brief stop to see friends Sally and Gary in Snellville, since I had a dental appointment, then we hit the road. 

Outside Birmingham, Alabama, we stopped at a park in a little town called West Jefferson for a picnic lunch—what a l'agniappe! The park was across from the old high school, now the town hall. The mayor’s secretary took us on a tour of the building, where several rooms served as offices, the gym and auditorium were rented out for events, and other classrooms were turned into museums of the school days. 

West Jefferson High

In Memphis, where we spent the night, Ted opted to stay in the hotel again, while I had dinner with my brother Billy and nephew Marty. It’s always a gift to see my Memphis family, and I don’t get to enough. 

Billy flashing me the "I love you" sign

Memphis is struggling right now. Several mass shootings had recently taken place, and a teacher had been murdered while out jogging in the early morning. But Memphis is tough. That night—or rather, the next morning at 4 AM, thousands of people met to “finish Liza’s jog”. And Memphis wasn’t the only city. In demanding safely for female runners, cities all over the country did the same. The photos were powerful. 

We drove through Arkansas, spent the night outside Oklahoma City, crossed the Texas Panhandle, and stopped for lunch in Tucumcari, NM. Sadly, it’s not the town in once was—many shops, motels, and restaurants were shut down. We grabbed a tasty barbecue in a funky restaurant/feed store/souvenir establishment, then drove on into Santa Fe to our condo, where we absolutely CRASHED! 

Yummy barbecue in Tucumcari

But WAIT—there’s more! The next morning we drove to Albuquerque (an hour away) to have lunch with dear friend Jeff, and to see my friend Lucinda perform her one-woman show O’Keeffe!, a timely introduction to staying in Georgia O’Keeffe country. It was a beautiful production, and we caught the last show before Lucinda and her husband Jon headed back to Virginia. 

With my amazing friend Lucinda

All of this was fun, but exhausting. So much travel in ten days seemed like a good idea at the time, but I think we’re getting too old to push it so hard. Sitting on our patio, walking to the farmer’s market, and grabbing a coffee are as much as we’re willing to do for a couple of days. We’ll get our energy back soon. Because, y’all—Santa Fe!

View from our patio

Prince William Sound

Ted. For our last full day in Alaska, we traveled to little Whittier, on Prince William Sound. It’s a strange town – a hamlet really, and probably has more boats than residents. You can only drive there via a narrow two mile long railroad tunnel that allows cars through (one way at a time) on a scheduled basis. The port of Whittier was built by the army in 1941 and nearly all 250 residents live in one big building left over from those days. 

2 mile long Anderson Tunnel

Begich Towers, where nearly everyone lives

We had contracted with a company called Lazy Otter Charters for a tour called “The Best of Prince William Sound” and it lived up to the name. During our eight hours on board, Judy and I, two other tourists and our captain explored the coves and fjords of a portion of the Sound on a 30’ boat. We saw beautiful views, glaciers galore and lots of wildlife. This tour was definitely the highlight of our Alaska adventure. Here are a few snapshots that do not do justice to the magnificence of the area. Please look for videos and photographs on the Internet if you want to get a better idea of what we experienced.

Stellars Sea Lions feasting on salmon

Mama black bear teaching her twins how to catch salmon

Harriman Glacier 

Surprise Glacier calving

Farewell Surprise, so long Alaska!