Santa Fe

Poppies by Kids

Today we visited the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in downtown Santa Fe. Although the museum is small, and some of my favorite of her works are in other collections, we spent about two hours there. We watched two interesting films about her life and work, and went on a self-guided audio tour. Before we left on our trip, the kids’ watercolor teacher Janice Hambelton did a lesson on Georgia O’Keefe and the kids painted red poppies. Unfortunately, the museum does not allow any photographs, however I had taken a picture of the kids red poppies paintings before we left.

St. Francis Cathedral

After the museum, we went to Jalapenos for lunch. It is a small restaurant in a strip mall. I have to admit I was a little skeptical. The food was great! They had the best queso fundido we have ever had (and we have had our fair share).

Then we finished our day shopping in the old part of Santa Fe. I got some ristras (strings of chile peppers) and magnets for our magnet board (we collect magnets of places that we have visited).

Learn More About:
Georgia O'Keefe: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/
Jalapeno's: http://www.jalapenossf.com/
Ristras: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ristra

We Thought There Were Going to be More Aliens

Originally, our on our way to Santa Fe, we were going to stop in Roswell. However, as we were driving through, these are the only aliens we saw, so we decided not to stop.

While driving to Santa Fe there was a wind advisory, so when we arrived we had a sandstorm (at least we thought it was) and we saw tumbleweeds (really! We were very excited). We found one at our campsite and hung it over our dining table. Today we decided to hang around our campground and rest a little. Katie has a fever and a bit of a cold. She is feeling better so tomorrow we are going to explore Santa Fe.

Sorry it's a little blurry, but it's hard to photograph a
tumbleweed. Especially when it's tumbling!

Carlsbad Caverns

Today we visited Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, New Mexico. There are different tours available with varying degrees of difficulty. The original tour that we chose was booked, so we decided to take a 2 hour self- guided tour of the “ big room”.


It was really nice exploring the cave on our own. We were able to go at our own place and the kids were able to pretend that they were the first explorers of the cave. Because the cave is so large, we didn’t run into many people.
We were hoping to see the bat flight at dusk (hundreds of thousands of Mexican Free-tail Bats leave the cave at night to feed on insects) but this time of year they’re not all back yet (they winter in Mexico) and last year Carlsbad had a fire and this year they’re in a drought so insects are not as plentiful. So the only evidence of Mexican Free-tail Bats was 45,000 year old bat guano. Today it was 103 degrees, so after getting back to the camper we went swimming and counted jackrabbits. We saw eight. Tomorrow we are headed to Santa Fe.

Special Note From 
Blog Technical Support:
Because of poor WiFi quality at this campground we will not be able to update the photo gallery with more of today's photos until tomorrow from Santa Fe where hopefully the bandwidth is wider! 

Palo Duro Canyon

The Canyon

Our Guide Kathy with Chris & Katie

Yesterday we spent the morning exploring Palo Duro Canyon by jeep. It was absolutely breathtaking (in more than one way- there were several hairpin turns that left me gasping). Our guide drove a pink kind-of jeep with steers on the front and black and white spotted furry cow seats. 


She gave us a history of the area and pointed out plants, animals, and landmarks. Until planning for this trip, I had no idea Texas had a canyon. 

The more we travel, the more I realize how much I don’t know, and how much other people can teach us. We have met so many friendly people. A clerk at a gift shop helped us identify a picture of a lizard we had taken, and showed us a picture of a roadrunner that she had taken on her phone. (speaking of wildlife we have seen countless turkeys, ring-collared lizards, deer, and jackrabbits) (we narrowly missed a roadrunner). The woman at the basket factory was so good with Katie and Chelsea, I briefly considered asking her if she wanted to come along :0). We have also met some rather interesting people. Ted met a man who was traveling the country trying to visit all of the baseball stadiums. And last night we went to The Big Texan steakhouse and met a visiting Russian. He had read about the restaurant’s free steak deal on the internet and wanted to try it. (If you eat a 72 oz steak, shrimp cocktail, salad, bread, and baked potato in an hour you get it free) So he sat on a platform in front of everyone with a timer set and ate. People got up out of their seats to take pictures and try to talk to him. In 45 minutes he finished. It was really quite amazing. We all applauded.

The Russian

Today we left Texas and arrived in Carlsbad, New Mexico. We hung out at our campsite and I did laundry (2nd time). Tomorrow we are going to Carlsbad Caverns.  Thanks to everyone who left comments and/or e-mailed us. We're glad you’re traveling with us.


Be sure to check out the Photo Gallery for all of the amazing photos of Palo Duro Canyon.

Across Texas to Palo Duro Canyon

A quick post to everyone. Not very good cell service here and no wireless. But since Leslie has been so good about posting everyday I wanted to put something out there so everyone would not think we drove off a cliff or something. I am trying this from the iPad which is the only thing that can get any signal. We drove the Chisholm trail today and saw lots of giant windmills, oil rigs, and cows. We also stopped at the Cherokee Trading Post. Arrived early evening at Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo, Texas. Drove down to our campsite which is actually inside the canyon looking up from the bottom. I can see why they call this the Grand Canyon of Texas. The views are breathtaking. It's hard to upload photos to the blog because of signal strength, so you may not hear from us until Tuesday when we arrive in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Since I can't send photos, here's a link to Palo Duro Canyon's website: www.palodurocanyon.com - Posted by Ted

The World's Largest "Praying Ants!"

World's Largest Praying "Hands" - Tulsa, Oklahoma

We have a route and a basic itinerary that we are following. But after seeing the giant ketchup bottle and world’s largest rocker, we thought it would be fun to travel some more on Route 66. Today we saw the world’s largest totem pole, a blue whale, a building with a car sticking out of it, a huge round barn, and a soda pop bottle 66 feet high that changes colors at night. These were all sights on Route 66. Ted said that last night while I was sleeping he was looking online and found the world’s largest praying ants. Even though they weren’t on 66 they weren’t too far out of our way. This took a minute for me to process. “Praying ants?” I asked incredulously. “The ants are praying?” “Yes” he said. “O.k.”  and I went back to my knitting. (I finished Chris’s afghan and now I’m working on Katie’s) Daddy tells the kids ,” Keep your eyes open for the next largest thing. You’ll never guess what it is.” “Never,” I agree. We’re looking and looking and finally Ted says it should be right around here. “ I don’t see it,” I say. “ The only thing I see is back there. “ Looks like they’re giant h-an-dss. “ Laughing, “look at the praying ants, kids.”

Read more about the World's Largest Praying Hands: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11895

Be sure to check out many more photos in the photo gallery!

Getting our Kicks on Route 66!

Having found the Largest Ketchup bottle in an earlier blog (also on Route 66), of course we could not pass up the World's Largest Rocker!  Here are some photos from our trip through Missouri today on Route 66, (or as a toll booth attendant as we entered Oklahoma pronounced it, "Mizzura".  We camped just inside Oklahoma today.  Tomorrow will be more time spent on Route 66 in Oklahoma on our way to Oklahoma City.  Could we find something else that is the largest in the world?  - Posted by Ted

To learn more about the history of Route 66, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66

 

Lots of Cows on Route 66

Ted takes a wrong turn

We're Here!  Finally!

Nice Campsite on "Grand Lake o' The Cherokees"
To Learn more about Grand Lake,
click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lake_o%27_the_Cherokees

Since we have no idea where the nearest store is, it's BBQ Chicken!
To learn more about BBQ Chicken,
click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBQ_chicken

Play Ball!

We decided to stay one more day in St. Louis so we could watch the St. Louis Cardinals play the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium.  Although Ted is a NY Yankee fan, he was not recognized as one and was allowed to attend the game.  It probably helped that he was forbidden from wearing any of his Yankee regalia. 

This was Katie and Chelsea's first baseball game. Chris had attended games in the past with his Dad.  Here are some photos from today's event.  Tomorrow we leave St. Louis and head further west.  Cardinals - 3, Reds - 6

 

Gateway To The West

Today we chugged down the Mississippi on “The Tom Sawyer”. As you will see from the pictures, it is a busy port. Certainly not the same as a boat ride on our lake in Maine, but pretty in its own way. After the boat ride, we went to the Gateway Arch. When we were first planning our trip, I thought 15 minutes for the arch should do it. Look at it, take some pictures, and you’re done. I had seen pictures of the arch (we have a really cool game called “Snapshots Across America” where you “visit” different states and historical landmarks) but I didn’t know you could go inside and ride to the top. You get inside this little pod and travel 630 feet to the top. It’s quite an engineering marvel. The views, as you might expect, are amazing.














At the base underground, there’s also a museum about westward expansion and a great movie about Lewis and Clark with a little Sacajawea thrown in (not enough in my opinion). If you go to St. Louis, this is definitely a must-see. After our full day at the arch, we walked down the (very long) stairs and waiting at the bottom were several horse drawn carriages. One looked like Cinderella’s carriage. Although this was the carriage we chose, that wasn't the reason. We chose our carriage because the horse’s name was Moose. :o)

We were supposed to continue our westward trek tomorrow, but we have decided to stay in St. Louis another day.
Be sure to check out many more photos from today in the photo gallery!

Back in St. Louis With Yogi

We arrived back in St. Louis today.  Here are a few photos from Jellystone Park in Eureka, Missouri where we are camping.