All posts by Angie

My life is powered by Diet Coke. I spend big chunks of time traveling, crafting and reading. I’m a former litigation attorney, I’ve been a Weight Watchers leader, and I sometimes teach sex education classes at my church. But mostly, I love getting lost in whatever story I’m writing.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Acoma Photos

Gallery April 18, 2012 Angie

In all the years we’ve driven Highway 40, we’ve never stopped at Acoma, though we’ve seen the signs. I can honestly say I’d never want to live here, but it was very interesting to see. Take a look and see what you think!

This is the pueblo from a distance. The city sits on top.

Another view from a distance.

See the buildings on top? That’s Acoma.

All visits to Acoma begin with the visitor’s center. It’s located a distance away from the pueblo. Once the tour begins, they heard you onto a bus for the drive to the top.

Here are some views down the streets of Acoma.

The big ladders lead to the kivas–the places of worship. Usually they are large circular rooms dug into the ground, but here, that wasn’t possible. Since traditional kiva’s are entered through the roof, here there are ladders to the roof and you enter the kivas from there.

Another kiva ladder.

The round object is an oven. There were several community ovens on the pueblo.

A view from the top. There’s no guard rails, or warning signs to stay back from the edge. If you’re stupid, you pay the consequences.

There’s no electricity or sewers on the pueblo. So it wasn’t surprising to see modern porta-potties to solve the problem. Otherwise, it’s a long way down every time you have to go. 🙂

More views from the top.

All parts of the structures were used. Here, a staircase leads to the roof. The kid’s scooter reminds me that kids actually live here.

More street views. Not all the front doors are at ground level.

Here you can see the visitor’s center in the distance.

Believe it or not, this is where the staircase down the side of the pueblo begins. Don’t see it? Neither did I. It was more than a little scary to step over the edge and trust you wouldn’t fall.

Here’s what the stairs look like from the top. Yikes is right!

They are barely carved into the side of the rock. Here, there’s nothing to hold onto.

Be careful!

They weren’t too bad here. Obviously, these stairs have been made for modern tourists. In the 1500s they were so primitive, they weren’t obvious to the eye as stairs at all.

Okay, now we get a little dicey. This section is more like a ladder. See the hand holds dug into he rock by centuries of hands grabbing on?

Is this even passable? I had my doubts!

It was crazy!

It’s really hard to even see the way. All you’re sure about is you need to go DOWN.

Our well-deserved reward. We found Navajo Tacos for lunch at the diner in the visitor’s center. I’m a fan.

This is the little piece of pottery we bought in the gift shop. It’s only about 3 inches across. The detail in the tiny black lines, and how close together they are, is amazing. Also, I love the butterflies because the wings are three dimensional.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Catwalk Photos

Gallery April 17, 2012 Angie 1 Comment

This is another of my favorite places. The catwalk was just cool, and weird. Why put it there in the first place? I really enjoyed it.

Entrance to the park.

The trail was rough and steep in places.

Here the catwalk crosses the bubbling stream below.

By its nature, the canyon is shadowed. Here, the sun hits this tree just right.

More of the catwalk. It snaked around every twist and turn of the rock face.

Another view of the trail leading to the catwalk.

Looking down on the lower levels of the trail.

Perhaps the catwalk was once fastened here instead of where it is now?

Another view of what lies below the catwalk.

Click on the picture to enlarge it. Then you’ll be able to read the sign. Very interesting stuff!

Another perfectly illuminated tree. Of course, that unique spring green color always pops.

Bob on the catwalk.

All the views from the catwalk were spectacular. Here are a few.

This was the equivalent of a viewpoint on a highway.

Tight squeeze. Bob made it through 🙂

Here’s a bunch more of the scenery.

The sky in New Mexico can appear really blue.

I loved these white branches agains the blue sky. The trees were just on the verge of leafing.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

The Catwalk

April 16, 2012 Angie Leave a comment

After a morning of cliff dwellings, we traveled to a very different part of the Gila National Forest. In Whitewater Canyon is a trail called the Catwalk. It’s a place where the river canyon narrows, sometimes to only 20 feet wide, and a catwalk about 1/4 mile long has been welded about half way up the canyon wall. Bob thought it was kind of ho hum, but I loved it. It was different, weird, and such an interesting kind of experience.

Spring is a perfect time to be out in nature and it was just beautiful. Enjoy the pictures, it was really awesome. By the way, the catwalk, and many of the stairs, bridges and other access points to the things we saw throughout our trip, were built by the CCC in the 1930’s.

After all the exercise, we decided we were entitled to some pie in Pie Town, NM. We started to head in that direction, but after consulting Fodor’s, we discovered the pie places were already closed for the day and there wasn’t really any place to stay the night. So, we diverted to Albuquerque for the night.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Gila Cliff Dwelling Photos

Gallery April 16, 2012 Angie 1 Comment

Inside Gila National Forest are many interesting things to see. There are cliff dwellings, the catwalk, the Santa Rosa mine, among others. Its a beautiful mountainous area and worth a visit.

This is me walking down the trail after visiting the cliff dwellings. It’s a little out of order 🙂

Santa Rosa strip mining operation. You can see how big it is by comparing it to the car on the road.

It was unbelievably huge. It swallowed the entire town and they plan to fill it in once the mining is finished.

This is where we started the walking part of our explorations.

Bob by a little house we passed on the trail. It’s a tiny room made up of the wedge in the rock. The door only goes to Bob’s hip. This place is very tiny compared the dwellings in the pictures to come. Maybe it was a hunter’s outpost, or something.

The view from the little house.

Petroglyphs. There were walls of them. They’re faded, but they were everywhere.

I liked this little guy.

View from the beginning of the trail that leads to the more substantive Gila cliff dwellings.

The dwellings are in this rock around the corner on the left

Entrances to the dwellings

More entrances. There were 7 caves of dwellings here. If you click on the picture, you’ll be able to see the structures inside the caves.

Steps to the dwellings. Mostly, the path was uneven and rocky.

Some of the dwellins. Many have T shaped doors.

No one knows why the doors are T shaped.

This is the same picture as the one above, but this one gives you an idea of how big it all is.

Smokehouse? Storage? 2 story house? Who knows? I can’t imagine living, sleeping, and raising kids in such a precariously placed home. It’s rock solid, but one slip and fall and you have a big problem.

Bob looking over the wall. These dwellings originally had roofs, even inside the cave.

Lots of the dwellings rely on ladders to get around.

Another of the ladders. These were provided by the Park Service, but the Indians who lived her would have had their own.

Another view of the dwellings.

The view from the cliff dwellings.

The road to the dwellings is curvy and full of switchbacks and other driving challenges. This view gives you an idea of just how curvy. At times, even going 20 m.p.h. felt too fast. It was like a fun house ride.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

City of Rocks Photos

Gallery April 16, 2012 Angie 1 Comment

City of Rocks is a fun, almost whimsical, place. There were lots of people camping in and among the rocks, so it felt even more like a little city. We wandered around for awhile and really enjoyed the fine Spring weather.

Some of the cactus were blooming. They are shockingly colorful.

The entrance to the City of Rocks,

Bob on the trail.

Lots of fun rocks were everywhere. This one was about 20 feet tall.

More of the rocks. These are building-sized rocks.

Here’s Bob climbing on one of them.

More rocks 🙂

View of the rocks from a distance. It looked like a little city.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

City of Rocks and Gila Cliff Dwellings

April 16, 2012 Angie Leave a comment

On our way to Gila National Forest, we passed by the City of Rocks State Park. Thousands of years ago a volcano erutped and ash and soot fell in this area. Over years that layer of rock has been eroded to make what look like a city of rocks. The rocks are like buildings and there appears to be streets between them. It was a fun place. We also saw a huge cat slinking around between the stones that we believe was a largely overgrown pet of one of the RV’s staying in the ara, but we weren’t sure. We had already seen a coyote and several deer run down the road along with our slowly moving car (on separate occasions). We saw lots of great wildlife on this trip. You can see our pictures of the City of Rocks here.

After City of Rocks, we traveled on to Silver City, New Mexico, the jumping off point for Gila National Forest and the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We were also near the Santa Rosa pit/strip mining operation which we stopped to see. It was an unbelievably huge hole in the ground. I’m glad they plan to fill it back in some day when the mining is done, but it’s gigantic now! It is so big that it swallowed up the entire town of Santa Rosa. Pictures of the mine are here.

The Cliff Dwellings are also very interesting. They were the first we’ve seen. To get there, you have to travel a narrow mountainous road that goes up over 7000 feet above sea level. It is twisty, treacherous, full of switchbacks, hairpins, and lots of sharp twists. It goes on for about 30 miles, but it takes more than an hour to travel. It was very challenging and, luckily, we encountered very few cars on the road. In fact, this entire trip was perfectly timed to avoid crowds but still take advantage of great weather. We were really lucky. We’ve decided that we will plan all our trips to National Parks in April or October.

Anyway, to reach the cliff dwellings, we had to hike about a mile over a great paved trail with lots of bridges over the stream that formed the canyon. It was a beautiful walk, but a little strenuous.

The dwellings themselves were amazing. They were well organized, well built, and took advantage of every natural resource available. All alcoves in sandstone cliffs are formed by seep springs, so there is a water source right in the back of the cave. The cliff dwellers also stored their food by placing it in rooms that were made of rock, plaster, and part of the cave. Once the food was sealed in, insects and rodents couldn’t get to it. They could store dried corn for several years if necessary.

Another interesting feature was the kiva. It is where the Native Americans worshipped. Basically, it is a large circular room that is sunk into the ground. There is a roof over the kiva and the top is flush with the ground outside so you could walk over a kiva and not even know it was there. The only entrance is through a hole in the roof that is directly over the fire pit. It was accessed by a long ladder. Kivas are found everywhere throughout Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. In addition, some of the cliff dwellings had 6 or 8 of them.

It’s clear the cliff dwellers were very resourceful and it was so interesting to walk in their footsteps, if only briefly. By the way, in the past it was believed that the Native Americans, called Anasazi, who occupied the cliff dwellings, mysteriously disappeared. We now know this is not the case. Rather, the Anasazi are actually ancient Peublos who simply migrated on to other destinations as required by their faith, their religion.

I’ll probably mangle this, but, basically, as a people, the Indians believed they are required to live in many different areas that they are lead to by the spirits. Over generations, they learn about each area, how to survive and grow crops in different locations. That knowledge becomes part of their oral tradition and then they move on to the next challenge. Once they have lived and learned all there is no know about each location, they have reached “center” and they are no longer required to migrate. Of all the indian tribes today, only the Hopi Indians feel they have reached “center.” Maybe that’s why they’ve lived on their plateaus for literally thousands of years.

You can find all our pictures here.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Solar Observatory and White Sands National Monument

April 15, 2012 Angie Leave a comment

Sunday, April 15, 2012

We woke to a beautiful day, the winds had all died down. However, I could barely walk because my muscles were so sore from our caving adventures. I managed to hobble to the car and we headed up into the mountains to the National Solar Observatory on Sacramento Peak.

It was pretty quiet on a Sunday morning but we did take the self guided tour. It was interesting to see the equipment used to map the sunspots (the town all the scientists live in is Sunspot, NM, by the way), monitor solar winds and the sun’s corona, etc. This location is one of only a handful worldwide that keeps track of solar weather. It was built in the 1950’s. Some of the pictures I took are here.

We found a really fun local bar and grill for lunch. We figured it was good because it was so crowded we had to park about a block away along the edge of the highway. I hobbled in. They were playing twangy Christain music and everyone was dressed up, probably just coming from church. I loved it. The food was great, too. One thing about food in New Mexico, EVERYTHING has chilis or peppers in some form. Even for a simple hamburger or eggs, you have to request “no peppers” when you order. I never get to eat food like that because Bob can’t eat peppers. While he struggled a bit on this trip, I got to really enjoy food I normally wouldn’t.

Next, we headed to White Sands National Monument. The picture above is of some picnic tables there. It is an area of NM where the winds blow gypsum down from the mountains, which is pulverized on the way. By the time it arrives at the bottom, it is as fine and white as talcum powder. There is just enough moisture there to anchor the sand, so it doesn’t blow away. Over about 10,000 years, quite a bit of the white sand has accumulated over about 250 miles. It is so distinct from the surrounding areas that it is visible from space. It blows around in huge dunes that move a couple inches a day in some places.

It was really strange to see great white dunes that looked like snow, but there were people sunbathing everywhere. To make it more visually confusing, people were also sledding down the dunes. In fact, the visitors center rents disc sleds for that purpose. Also, instead of evergreens, the sand was punctuated here and there with cactus and yuccas. It was amazing and lots of fun. We didn’t do any sledding, but we did walk over the dunes. The sand was hard packed enough that it was like walking on sand at the waterline of a beach.

If you’re ever in the Southwest, add White Sands to the list of things you must do. It’s a unique and interesting place. What’s more, it’s a lot of fun. It’s definitely worth making a detour to see. Take your kids, you’ll all love it! See all our pictures here.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Solar Observatory and White Sands Photos

Gallery April 15, 2012 Angie

National Solar Observatory

There wasn’t much going on during our visit, it was a Sunday morning, after all. But the buildings were impressive and they let us into a couple of them. The cool part of this visit is saying that we were there. Also, some of the views along the way were wonderful. It was also freezing cold!

One of the observatories.

Another observatory.

Bob at one of the overlooks along the road up the mountain. The Observatory is at the top. See White Sands in the distance?

Another view of White Sands in the distance.

White Sands National Monument

What a fun place! It was definitely one of my favorites. If you ever have a chance, take your kids there. It is worth a day of your time to expore this amazing natural wonder. For those who love biology, the native species have evolved to live on the white sand in record time, less than 10,000 years. Its quite the wonder.

About the sands. Another interesting fact is how fast the dessert creatures adapted. Spiders, lizards, and other dessert animals have lost their pigment and blend in with the sand, and it all happened over just a few thousand years of evolution. That’s pretty quick.

Sled marks on the dunes.

It’s a fine powder. It doesn’t stick or get in your shoes.

It’s a very beautiful place.

Bob at the beginning of the boardwalk trail.

Bob along the boardwalk over the dunes.

The scenery was very beautiful. I wish the pictures did it justice.

Little dessert plants living in the sands

Our car in a sea of white.

View from the top of one of the dunes.

A family of sledders. Notice they’re in shorts. It was a beautiful day.

Many people were sunbathing. It was so strange to see all that white and then see people running around in shorts and swim suits. In my brain, white means snow, so it took a bit to adjust.

One of the picnic tables.

I think they’re designed to protect picnickers from the wind.

One of the dunes. It was a reasonably calm day, so the wind wasn’t a problem for us.

More of the scenery.

The sleds at the visitor center that were available for rent.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Carlsbad Cavern Photos

Gallery April 14, 2012 Angie 1 Comment

Love this! I tried to buy a bumper sticker, but they were sold out.

Along the way, we ran across several Ocotillo plants. They’re indigenous to the American Southwest, and one of my favorites. They’re just so weird–a bunch of stems sticking out of the ground with leaves growing out of the bark. These ocotillos were blooming and they were beautiful.

Interesting, right?

This is the entrance to the cave. The amphitheater in the foreground was built for those who want to watch 100,000 bats leave the cave on summer evenings. Apparently, it’s quite a show. However, during our visit, the bats hadn’t returned from their annual migration to Mexico.

From the amphitheater, there’s a winding path that leads down into the cave. Here’s Bob on that path.

A view of the path from above. It’s steep. It twists and turns quite a ways. Here and there are plaques to explain what you see along the way. Mostly, it’s barren rock.

At the bottom, there’s a gift shop and a restaurant. It’s surreal to all of a sudden come upon these things. At times it’s quite noisy here because the pumps have to bring in water and expel all the waste. Also, there are generators for the electricity.

On the tour, we saw many interesting formations. If you come, definitely go for the ranger-led tour. It was fascinating and we saw many things we wouldn’t have otherwise seen.

This formation is called Queens Curtains.

There were lots of blooming cactus in the area.

More ocotillo. Love this stuff.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Carlsbad Cavern

April 14, 2012 Angie Leave a comment

After dropping Abby off at school, we headed West. We spent another day in Kansas City with the family and got the car serviced. As much driving as we do, the 5000 mile oil change comes around often. In fact, after the years of traveling, the dealership in Kansas City knows Bob by name! We also made a quick stop in Wichita where we visited with Grandma again before meeting Mom, Donna and Bill for dinner. After doing so much research on the family history, I had lots of questions for Donna and she had all the good gossip — even though that gossip was from a generation or two back!

We left Wichita just in time to miss all the tornadoes. We got all the way to Carlsbad, New Mexico in one day of driving and woke up the next morning to all the news reports. We were lucky, we didn’t even have much rain during our drive.

Our first official day of vacation we spent at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It was really interesting. We chose to walk into the cave from its natural entrance and it was well worth it. However, we walked down the equivalent of 75 stories in about a 3/4 of a mile. The path was at a pretty steep angle. When I was walking, it wasn’t a big deal, but the next morning I could hardly move. Bob said I looked like Tim Conway’s old man character from the Carol Burnett show. Once I got going and warmed up, I was ok, but if I sat down for a couple minutes, I had to warm up all over again. It was ridiculous 🙂

Anyway, the cavern itself was very interesting. We spent hours down there on the self guided tour and a ranger-lead tour. We learned quite a bit about the caves, the bats who live in them durig the summer, etc. We really enjoyed it. I put the pictures here. We also wanted to see Guadalupe Mountains National Park just over the border in Texas, but the wind was so bad, visibility was down to a block.

In fact, the wind was so bad, we couldn’t really get around. There was so much dust in the air, visibility was low. We went to the Denny’s near our hotel for dinner; going any further was dangerous. As we walked into the Dennys, there was a notice on the door asking patrons not to ask the staff questions about the “unfortunate event” and that the police investigation was ongoing. Hmmmmm. After we ordered, I did a little digging on my iphone and found that a waitress had been murdered there only days before. It was a horrible story, she was killed at random by a stranger who then shot himself and later died. I wished I hadn’t looked.

The Shiroffs' Travels

All posts by Angie

Acoma Photos

Catwalk Photos

The Catwalk

Gila Cliff Dwelling Photos

City of Rocks Photos

City of Rocks and Gila Cliff Dwellings

Solar Observatory and White Sands National Monument

Solar Observatory and White Sands Photos

National Solar Observatory

White Sands National Monument

Carlsbad Cavern Photos

Carlsbad Cavern

Exploring the World