Summer of 2012, Finale

When Pat returned from Indiana we had a few days before we left the Colorado Springs area so we drove up into the mountains.  We had been to Pike’s Peak before but we just could not resist driving up there again.




Another day we drove to the old mining town of Cripple Creek.  The town is now just another tourist town with casinos but there is still one large working mine nearby.  To get back to our campground we found a great back road that went by some interesting rock formations.



We made our way back to New Mexico and after a few days, we again found ourselves near Santa Fe. Have I mentioned the food around Santa Fe?  Only four or five times?  I believe I can still taste the New Mexican style Mexican food.  If you cross the border in  any direction out of New Mexico the food is just not the same.  I can still taste the…….Oh well, never mind.  I must continue.
We were near the mountains in the fall so that means just one thing;  Aspen trees.  We drove into the mountains near Santa Fe and found






One must be careful when driving mountain roads while looking at the scenery.  One can drive right off the mountain.









It was October in New Mexico and that means it is time for the famous  Albuquerque ( I still remember how to spell it) Balloon Fiesta.  We had made reservations to stay at the Balloon Fiesta park so we could just jump on the shuttle bus just in front of our motorhome and ride to the entrance gate. The bus ran about every 15 minutes starting at 4:30 am!  We didn’t make the first one.  There were about 550 hot air balloons there and at times the sky would be just full of them.  Because of the wind patterns near the mountains, the wind can blow in different directions at different altitudes.  On several occasions we  looked directly above us and saw three levels of balloons all going in different directions.

















Alert!!  Elvis sighting













































High and fast.  Low and slow
































On our way back to our winter quarters in Surprise, AZ we stopped at a state park near Las Cruces.  One evening we had one of the famous New Mexican sunsets.  It was a fitting end to our Summer of 2012 Irwin Adventures.

Continuing Our Summer of 20012

 

I have survived the Summer Olympics and the US Open tennis tournament.  It was tough work but someone has to do it.  After resting from all that exertion, I decided it was time to catch up on our summer travel blog.

 

We left you in the southern New Mexico high country near Cloudcroft.  We dropped out of the mountains and stopped for a few days at the Valley of Fires National Rec. Area near Carrizozo.

The camping here is on a ridge that overlooks a valley that was covered with a recent (in geologic time) lava flow.  See the very small bump on the horizon, just above and to the left of the covered table? That is where most of the lava came from. No big mountain volcano here.  Bummer! 

How do you tour a lava flow without getting all scratched up?  You take the easy way and walk on the path.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Carrizozo we moved to the small central New Mexico town of Mountainair. This town is surrounded by the ruins of three old Spanish churches that were built in the early 1600s.  The ruins area is called the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.

 

Gran Quivira Ruins

 

 

Abo Ruins

 

 

 

Quarai Ruins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was just a short hop up to Albuquerque.  While there we visited two museums.  This shot was taken at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.

 

I was going to offer a prize to anyone who could identify the object in this picture but I couldn’t think of one so, if you know what this is, just imagine that you have received one.

 

The following  images were taken in front of the Albuquerque Art Museum.  This is a larger than life size, multi-piece sculpture showing the early-day travelers on the Camino Real, the road from Mexico City to Santa Fe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Albuquerque we moved to Santa Fe.  Ahhhh Santa Fe!  We really like Santa Fe.  We stayed there almost three weeks.  There is no place where you can get Mexican food like you can at Santa Fe.  If I lived there I would probably weigh 300 pounds.  Santa Fe is a relatively small town but it has over 200 restaurants.  Between trips to the restaurants and window shopping at the art galleries,  we squeezed in the world famous Santa Fe Summer Opera.  We were going to go to just one opera but we enjoyed it so much we ended up going to three. Some of the singers, conductors and stage designers are in the world class category.

We did manage to get out of town now and then.  On one of our trips we went to Tent Rocks National Monument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Las Vegas was next on our trip.  No, not that Las Vegas; the original Las Vegas.  While there we drove up to Fort Union National Monument.  The fort was built to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and as a supply point for the other forts in the southwest.  Sort of like the Wal-Mart distribution center of its time.  Supplies from there went as far away as Yuma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For sale, one wagon, cheap

 

 

Eagle Nest, our next stop, is a very small town with a nice lake and is located in a high mountain valley (over 8000 ft.). The valley is surrounded by mountains and is one of the most beautiful places in New Mexico.

 

 

We spent some time near Raton and then drove up to Colorado Springs, CO.  From there, Pat flew back to Indiana to visit relatives and I stayed there and played pickleball.  They have a good group of pickleballers (picklers? those who pickle?) and they are a very nice bunch of people. They made me feel right at home.

Before Pat left we had time to do some tourist things. We went to the Air Force Academy to tour the chapel.

 

 

 

Can you find Pat?

She is standing at the top of the stairs, in front of the second yellow panel from the right.

 

Upper level

 

 

 

 

Lower level

 

 

 

 

 

We also took a tour of the U S Olympic Training Center.  In front of the visitor center they have a sculpture garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime you just luck out.  While we were on the tour, we discovered they were having a men’s junior national team volleyball tournament. The junior team is just one level below the national team that goes to the Olympics and the World Championship Tournament. The teams there were from North America and the Caribbean.  We stayed after the tour to watch the games and then went back two more times.  Great fun!  As some of you know,  I would rather watch a good volleyball game that any other sport and this was just about as good as it gets.  People in the stands were waving large and small flags and chanting USA, USA.  It was a mini version of the Olympics.

 

 

And who won, you ask?

 

 

Victory!

 

 

USA, Gold

Canada, Silver

Mexico, Bronze

 

The top three finishers qualify for a tournament in Turkey.  I think I may skip that one.