Going no where fast

still working on action shots

Nothing as soon as we crossed the border. Absolutely nothing. The landscape turned into open dessert and the only interesting thing to note is the name, and the slogan of New Mexico. First, the name; Nate and I tried to imagine Canada creating a province called New US where we are not allowed in.... weird. Second the slogan of New Mexico is “the enchantment state”. What are they smoking? There is nothing enchanting about vast, flat, dry, desolate wasteland.

endless road

 I would not call our Las Vegas detour with bulls chasing us down dirt roads enchanting, thrilling maybe, more terrifying than anything else but not enchanting. La Fawnda was not enchanted when she lost her voice in New Mexico. Oh, please excuse me, I'm not sure if I properly introduced our Honda, La Fawnda to everyone yet, she's a great o'gal, has been with me since 2003, 245k, born in 1992 and is currently our home sweet home. Anyway, she lost a pin that creates quite a low roaring when her engine sores, sounds like a race car now. Apparently this is 1000 dollar upgrade for some cars but I feel like we beat up and abused her.

State patrol stopped all traffic on a freeway and asked everyone for drivers, license, proof of registration and title. Nate and I technically don't have current registration with my married name as we unsuccessfully  attempted the process of change in ownership through the mail and decided to take care of it once we moved. Fortunately the police officer waved us on after about 10 seconds of fumbling through the glove compartment.

Roswell, the alien town, is quite large and we hoped to find a greasy dinner with alien memorabilia but were unsuccessful. If anyone knows of one that's still open please make a comment for the benefit of the readers on this blog. Our stop was brief and we beelined for our first primitive camping site almost murdering a million rabbits along the way. We enjoyed a pretty sunrise here.

Carlsbad Caverns was by far the highlight of our New Mexico experience. Nate still talks about how serendipitous it was that we happened to pick up a book in Denver that led us to the caverns. The study of stalagmites and stalactites in school seems to be the most vivid memory I have in the study of rocks. We got in free with our golden national Pass we purchased in AZ. When we visit Yellowstone the yearly investment of 80 dollars will not only have paid for itself but saved us money. After walking the equivalence of 75 stories and a couple miles we were deep inside the earth and overwhelmed by the vast size and variety of the rock formations.

natural entrance complete with bat dung fragrance

Thank goodness we were lent Kurt's back up camera to be able to capture these images. After a few hours on the trail of the caves we got to the end of the tour where there existed an underground airport. The line to the elevator was an hour wait so my impatience won over my laziness. As we started up the path we had to bypass a ranger orientation about the climb back up the natural entrance of the cave. The rangers wanted to know if we suffered from hypertension, heart issues and wanted to make sure had used the restrooms and had a supply of water with us for the 1,000 foot elevation climb. What has American health deteriorated to these days? They also reminded us to pace ourselves, so as not to be overcome with exhaustion. All I can express is gratitude for my health and the ability to climb steep elevation and still carry on conversation. We got out, made lunch, ate and came back into the main lobby by the elevator to finish reading the exhibit before people in getting in line with us made it up.

In the 1980's there was another cave discovered near Carlsbad Cavern that is over 130 miles long and they still haven't found the end. We definitely look forward to visiting again enjoying, dare I say, the enchantment of the caverns.

we did go through Roswell, but this picture was taken near the caverns

Colorado High

After driving in the middle of nowhere we gained a litle elevation and suddenly saw trees, water and hills and found ourselves in Colorado. Our first night we spent at the Colorado National Monument, yet another important rock, and went to Grand Juntion that evening to reconnect with the world. It was Tuesday the 15th of February and after some terrible service at starbucks, we read the horrible news online about Japan. Overwhelmed with the tragedy and exhausted from driving we decieded to use my Chili's gift card and treated ourselves to a yummy, greasy dinner. The next morning we went to a great visitor center at the Colorado National Monument. While in the gift shop I happened to pick up a book about national parks that led us to adjust our itinerary in favor of  Carlsbad Caverns on our way to Marfa, TX. While we wre there we watched a video that Nate and I were subcousiously looking for since the Grand Canyon. The video just summed up the time line for the formaiton of the earths crust over the last hundereds of millions of years.

 On a spontaneous whim we stopped in Glenwood springs, CO and spent a few hours at the hotel reading their shrine of Teddy Roosevelt. It's amazing how similar out current political and economical situation resign-ate with Roosevelt term in office. Roosevelt was overwhelmingly popular with both parties just like our current president was. Roosevelt came in as a cowboy, a young president, he did not really adherer to his own party and actually did so many things that Nate and I are currently benefiting from in our trip. As we camp and visit all these national parks we are reminded of all the men employed during the depression and extremely large inheritance Roosevelt's intiative gave America for generations. He was very extreme and made huge changes while in office.

Crazy facts; The Mayo Brothers stayed here at the Glendwood Springs Hotel while they researched the medical benefits of spring water.  They latter were the founders of the Mayo clinic.

Snow contrasting with Red Rock was pretty sweet.

What might look amazing was actually hard packed ice... no new snow in six weeks.  Not worth the lift ticket.

 Nate and I love our mountain top experiences ever since before we started dating, Nate asked me to be his girlfriend at our favorite mountain top vista. I tried to figure out the logistics of hosting our wedding ceremony on top of tiger mountain for a good few weeks before abandoning the idea. We honeymooned at Lake Tahoe and reach our highest elevation ever with the help of a gondola, 9,990 feet. So we were very excited in Colorado to cross the continental divide at 11,514 feet elevation. Highest elevation for both of us on the ground.

Bolder, CO

Downtown, Bolder, CO

Our guest house while staying with Ywam, Denver.

 Ywam Denver, and everything that happened there was quite the mountain top expereince for us. We enjoyed good friends and fellowship and spirit filled worship. The Ywamers were spirit led and were used by God to speak specifically to me and also Nate about our future and specifically getting on mission in a new community. As you all know community and family are my life line and I miss home so much however God is speaking directly to me about His family that needs me. My trust and dependence on God for love and a feeling of belonging has been tested and I am growing to have faith in His plan for our lives.

The top students died in the gun shotting incident of 2007 and the bottom two students were injured by gun shoot wounds but recovered from their injuries.  

Utterly Underwhelming Utah except for Moab and Bridges

No sooner did we cross the Arizona Utah border and the land became a dry, desolate and hostile place. We just entered the largest Reservation we had ever visited. And aside from these cool rocks.....

there was nothing. There were signs up that I hoped were at least 50 years old advertising “Friendly Indians Here” and an American flag adorned all the highway side shops. These signs and gestures were quite disheartening. Are people really still worried about their scalps? Surveying the reservation land first hand helped me to understand all the guilt money dispersed all over our country. I wouldn't live on this land even if the government paid me to do so. It was at this point of the trip where I began to noticed every mile marker, every curve sign, all the speed limit signs but still fixed my gaze outside the car window in hopes that the land would offer up an oasis of vegetation, variance of hills or even a change in hue, but to no avail.

We attempt to take as many scenic routes as possible, thanks again Dad and Mom for the atlas, and thought that our drive off the beaten path might produce a change in view. We ran into this:

A sheer cliff of a scenic bypass presented itself to us. (Coordinates on Google earth:  37 degrees 15ft and 25inches North, 109 degrees, 55 ft and 20 inches west.  Sorry, no easy copy and paste here, you must be very curious.) As we approached the face of this cliff the formation of rocks complete alluded the road from our view. Nate and I honestly thought we came to a dead end. But sure enough the signs assured us that there was indeed a road and route up and over this massive obstruction and we drove up with the thrill and anticipation of a roller coaster ride. This accent tops highway 1 on the California coast for steepness and scariness.

We made it to the top.

Safely on the other side of the red wall Nate and found some vegetation and with the vegetation came cattle that stopped us in our tracks, literally. What does one say in this scenario? Shoo cow? Nate and I had a little chat with the cows while they moved out of our way, thanking them for their good work in producing some yummy cheese.

Natural bridges, the next stop, is also internationally recognized as a “dark sky park” as there are no towns for miles and no light pollution. To my dismay it also has no cell reception.

Nate and I took a sunset bike ride to visit the different rock formations the park had to offer and we attempted some night pics. I had this great idea for a sunset pic under an arch of the natural bridge that required a steep descent into the canyon. After two flights of stairs, ladders, and rock scaling down these trails the clouds did not cooperate and we had to hike out in the dusk.

This hike would have been fine if Nate and I didn't just watch a whole evening program about mountain lions a few days before... we carried rocks.

The next few days:

This is defined as a natural arch as no water runs under it.  Pretty straight forward.

These homes are hundreds of years old.

Can you see me in this picture?

Even with the full moon we got to see many star consultations and I am so grateful for that also astronomy class I took at BCC, er BC. It's interesting what sticks and what doesn't in college. I'm sure a lot more should have stuck than did. I'm already ready for my future children to go through school so I can revisit my education.

Utah didn't have cafes or pubs, just milkshake and juice stands. We did stop in Moab for some amazing mountain biking that is way beyond my technical skill level so I let Nate do a run while I finished reading a book Grandma Pilar gave me. Thanks Grandma Pilar! Nate can highly recommend the biking, I simply enjoyed the weather, 70's and 80's the whole time.

This is Nate's view for his bike ride in Moab.

The "trail" is painted on the rock so bikers know where to go.

River Rock

If you've ever had the chance to drive through a suburban area with Nathanael you will have heard one of his rants of distaste for poorly constructed river rock belly bands, chimneys, and entrances of homes. Around 2000 river rock started popping up in mass produced suburban environments and in many craftsman wanna be homes across the Northwest. Fake river rock stands out like a sore thumb in his mind and i enjoy pointing it out to him whenever possible. So when I was thinking about the next segment of our journey across the country to visit some of Nate's favorite vistas, the Grand Canyon and Natural bridges i could not resist calling it for what it is. Nate would like me to make the distinction that the name of the blog posting does not offend him as it's name is singular as opposed to the offensive plural word. well, alrighty then. Changing subjects....

Montezuma's Castle!

"Gaze through the windows of the past into one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. This 20 room high-rise apartment, nestled into a towering limestone cliff, tells a 1,000 year-old story of ingenuity and survival in an unforgiving desert landscape.
Marveling at this enduring legacy of the Sinagua culture reveals a people surprisingly similar to ourselves."  
http://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm

I am already looking forward to our next time at the Grand Canyon, in warmer weather. The weather was lovely, however in the canyon the trails were Icy in March and we decided to forgo the slight chance we slip and sprain an ankle.

Sun rise on the first day.

We still walked about 6 miles of the rim of the canyon and enjoyed a nature walk by Ranger Scott, lovely designs by Architect Mary Kolter and ease dropping on the cowboys instructions for the clients about set off on a mule ride down the canyon.

A peace filled Canyon.

Mary Koler's Pueblo inspired structure currently used as a gift shop.

 I had no idea camping facilities could host so many activities. This is the only picture of Ranger Scott we have.  Nate and I attended a evening program about cougars that was both educational and entertaining. Did you know that the habits and study of cougars in the Grand Canyon did not come into existence until 2003? Crazy! Lori also showed us a gps tracking map that revealed one cougars path through the Grand Canyon. Many of the red dots were right by the highways leading into the park, but don't be alarmed, only 12 people in the past 100 years have died as a result of a cougar attack. Compared to the fact that so many people die from bee stings a year made me feel slightly better about walking to my tent that night.

28 degrees at night here... and I found out I'm claustrophobic in a sleeping bag.

We found out latter that it is 50 degrees at night and up to 70 during the day, much better camping weather if you can scale the icy path with a sheer cliff.

We were able to see the canyon in many lights including sunrise, sun set and at night as the moon lit up the canyon nicely.

Nate wants to paint this one.

Our furry companion during our picnic lunch.

So many colors!

Along our hike on the rim, the safe, but not first choice trail. 

First timers tip: Don't miss the Kolter Observation Tower on the east entrance of the park. Great views from the top of the tower.

My skin perfectly matches my coral earnings,  I always burn when it's over cast. Behind me are some ancient ruins of round native homes.  The inner circle is for the fire,

This amazing lady hired a ranger to find her rocks around the canyon.  He spent over a year collecting rocks for the tower.  This is my favorite structure during our trip and my favorite Architect.

The interior

You just have to see it in person

A very straight road and the last of the change in scenery for a whole day's drive through two reservations. 

When studying the old rocks and trying to wrap my brain around millions and millions of years the Grand Canyon stopped me in my tracks and reminded me that we are but a blink of an eye in time on this earth.
Thank God for eternity and thank God for each day we have here.