Category: New Mexico
A Little Time in Las Cruces

A Little Time in Las Cruces

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Hey Guys!! Our last stop in New Mexico this time was Las Cruces. We spent two weeks in the area, but didn’t really do a whole lot of adventuring.

The first thing we did when we got to Las Cruces was head to Hatch, NM for some spicy melt-your-face-off food. Our go to spot in Hatch is a joint called Sparkeys. Even the ice cream at Sparkeys is spicy!!

Prehistoric Trackway National Monument is a BLM run National Park that was established to protect a large collection of Paleozoic era fossilized footprints along what’s called a megatrackway.

The monument consists of over 5,000 acres and has been called by some scientists as possibly the most “scientifically significant Permian track sites in the world…and Guys…we couldn’t find a single track. We tried so hard. We looked around the trail for a couple of hours but didn’t see single track. We found a couple of shell fossils, but no tracks.

There are a few different hiking paths. There’s supposed to be a way to link a couple of them and make a loop. We tried to do that and we somehow got lost and ended up in a section that was supposed to be closed. It was great to get outside on a beautiful day with some great views though! We’ll call it a win even though we didn’t find what we were looking for.

We hit up some of our go to foodie spots while we were there and found a few new spots that were fantastic! If you’re in Las Cruces, go check out Chala’s Woodfire Grill and High Desert Brewing Co!! This was our last chance to get some authentic New Mexican food so we ate as much of it as we could.

So, as you can see, we didn’t really do a lot during the two weeks we were in Las Cruces. We ate a lot more than we probably should have, soaked up the beautiful sunsets, and made some plans for our 2020 adventures.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour

Lava, Petroglyphs, and White Sands

Lava, Petroglyphs, and White Sands

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Hey Guys!! We made it down to Alamogordo, NM where we spent a week cramming in as many adventures (and foodies) as we possibly could! It helped that Jerl had a few days off to celebrate the New Year.

As per our usual timing while in New Mexico…we raced a snow storm to get to Alamogordo. I think we saw all four seasons of weather on our way between Santa Fe and Alamogordo. It was quite the drive.

We found the Valley of Fires Recreation Area during our second visit to the Alamogordo area, but didn’t make it there to explore. I guess going to see a lava field in the snow wasn’t the best idea. But, we weren’t the only people there! Ha! I guess sometimes, you have to just work with the weather you’re given. If you look closely, you’ll see the black of the lava peeking out from under the white snow. Valley of Fires Rec Area is a BLM run National Park. There’s a visitor center, and small gift shop on site.

You can see the Carrizozo Lava Flow on Google Maps if you look. It formed when lava was pushed up through vents in the earth’s surface sometime around 4,000 years ago which makes it one of the youngest lava flows in the U.S. When it’s not covered in snow, you can see cracks, collapsed lava tubes, fissures and collapsed lava bubbles. In some places, the lava is more than 160 feet deep.

Right down the road from the Valley of Fires Rec Area is the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site which is also a BLM run National Park. There’s a visitor center and small campground at this site. I’ll be honest, I spent as much time ogling the snow covered mountain as I did checking out the petroglyphs here.

The petroglyphs found at Three Rivers were made by a group of prehistoric Native Americans referred to as Jornada Mogollon. There are more than 21,000 petroglyphs at this one site. The sheer number of petroglyphs in such a big concentration makes Three Rivers one of the largest rock art sites in the Southwest.

Even though we know when these petroglyphs were made and have a good idea of who made them…we still don’t know what they really mean. We can guess, but we’ll never truly know.

There are also the remains of a Mongollon village that was occupied for around 400 years. The village was only partially excavated, but you can see part of three different structures.

Our favorite thing to do in Alamogordo is go visit White Sands which was recently changed from a National Monument to a National Park. When we were there in December 2019 the park was still working on getting everything switched over to National Park status stuff. We’ve been to White Sands many times, but it never gets old. We’ve spent two New Year’s Days at White Sands…so those gypsum sand dunes will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Anytime we’re in Alamogordo, we have to stock up on some of our favorite foodies. Pistachios are pretty high on our list of must haves and the ones from both Heart of the Desert and Pistachio Tree Ranch are awesome! We also fill our freezer with as many chopped green chilies as we can fit in it. The grocery stores there keep a supply of freshly roasted and peeled green chilies and jalapenos right in the produce section. It’s the best!! We stock up and then freeze them so we can use them throughout the year. I’m greedy with them though…I try to stretch out the good stuff so we don’t run out too quickly.

Confession: We were only in Alamogordo for a week…and we ate out every single day we were there. Every. Single. Day. And we’re not even sorry.

Every time we go back to Alamogordo it feels a little like going home to us. No, we’re not thinking about settling down there…but, we could definitely spend a season or two there. Not summer though…we’ve heard it gets way too hot.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Santa Fe For Christmas

Santa Fe For Christmas

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Hey Guys!! We always seem to end up in Santa Fe around Christmas. This year (2019) makes our third Christmas in Santa Fe since we started this grand adventure of ours. There’s something so magical about seeing Santa Fe in the snow. I think, for me, it’s the luminaries lit up and the adobe style buildings with their chili pepper garlands all covered in snow. I fell in love with it during our first visit to Santa Fe back in 2015 and it kind of feels like revisiting an old friend now.

We’ve had snow in Santa Fe every single time we’ve been there and this time didn’t let us down! In fact, I scheduled Santa Fe for Christmas because I wanted to have a white Christmas.

So, in between all of our adventuring, we did our Christmas traditions. We have tamales for our Christmas dinner and Guys, it’s almost impossible to find decent tamales outside of New Mexico.

We spent an entire day exploring the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. This National Monument is split into three separate mission sites. It’s quite a drive to get in between them, so if you’re going…go early and plan on an entire day. You do drive through small communities so you could grab lunch somewhere if you didn’t want to pack a picnic.

We started our explorations of the Salinas Pueblo Missions at the Gran Quivira Mission which is the largest of the three missions. Gran Quivira was an important trading community because of it’s location between the Pueblo Tribes and the Plains Tribes who were more nomadic.

When the Spanish explorers arrived in this area in 1583, they reported that there were eleven pueblos with close to 40,000 people. Gran Quivira started as a group of pit houses around 1,200 years ago but grew into a thriving community with over twenty masonry buildings. They had water catchment systems in place for the dry times because there wasn’t a water source close by.

The Friars and the Franciscan missionaries showed up in 1627 and started preaching with translators. They allowed some religious freedoms at first, but by the 1660s changes started to appear in church policies that forced the Natives to hide their sacred ceremonies and beliefs. In 1630 the first priest moved into the pueblo and had the Natives start building a church and by 1659 had plans for a bigger church. Everyone helped…even the women and children.

At some point in the 1660s there was a drought in the area and the already dry pueblo suffered. In 1670 the people of Gran Quivira left and went to Abó and those that were left behind died from either smallpox or a different disease brought over with the Spanish soon after.

Mission San Gregorio de Abó was home to the Pueblo Indians for over five hundred years. In 1622 the Franciscan priests came to this area to “civilize” the Tribes who called this region home. For close to one thousand years, people have been drawn to this area.

Abó had two priests who lived there. That was unusual for that time and made Abó one of the largest missionaries in all of New Mexico. While the priests and the friars worked to Christianize the Native population, they had them building not one church but two.

When the Spanish found Abó, they estimated the population close to 800 Indians. By 1670, drought, Apache uprisings, and disease caused the abandonment of Abó. In the span of just fifty years, this flourishing community was left empty.

The Villages of Quarai are largely unexcavated. The church is really the only thing left standing. They took several ground surveys and based on what they found…they believe this community was around 400 to 600 people.

I didn’t see a ton of info about life here at Quarai. There’s still quite a bit they don’t really know. So, I don’t have a ton of info to pass on to you about this site. We do know that in 1598 when the first priest showed up, Quarai was a thriving community.

I can also tell you that by the late 1670s, the residents of Quarai were all suffering from the same drought, famine, and disease we’ve read about at so many other ancient dwellings and missions of this time. Quarai also had trouble with nearby warring tribes.

It always makes us sad when we learn how thriving and full of life these communities were when they were living and worshiping their way and then to ‘see’ how fast they declined once interference was inserted into their lives. I don’t feel like their lives were made better and I often wonder, while walking amongst the ancient dwellings, what their lives would have been like if they’d been left alone.

Bandelier National Monument is one of the parks we’ve been to numerous times now…and every time we visit we find out some new information or see something with a new perspective. Since we were in the Santa Fe area, we spent some time in one of our favorite parks.

Bandelier National Monument protects close to thirty thousand acres and eleven thousand years of human history. Found on the slopes of the Jemez volcanic field in what’s known as Frijoles Canyon, the Ancestral Pueboloans built their homes out of the volcanic tuff that was left over after the Valles Caldera volcano blew her top over a million years ago. Today, you can see what’s left of several ancient communities.

You can see where the walls of this ancient dwelling used to be. the holes in the rock are where support beams used to be. There is even a small space where you can see how the interior of these homes used to be decorated. We like to walk amongst these sites and imagine what life would have been like for the former occupants.

Our favorite trail takes you up to Alcove House. This is a fun trail where you get to climb up four wooden ladders and some stone stairs to get to an ancient dwelling 140 feet above the canyon floor. They believe about twenty or so people used to live there. There’s a reconstructed kiva at Alcove House, but we’ve never seen it open to the public. The views of the canyon from the top are pretty amazing!

Bandelier not only has some amazing views, fun trails, and ancient dwellings (that you get to explore from the inside) it also has some of our favorite trees…ponderosa trees smell so good! What can I say…we’re a tree hugging/smelling family of nomads.

Back in 2015 during our first visit to the Santa Fe area, we found the little town of Los Alamos and the Bradbury Science Museum. While we were soaking in all of the science goodness, we found out that the National Park Service was actually in the process of making a visitor center for the Manhattan Project National Historic Park in Los Alamos. Our little science hearts were so excited! We’ve tried a few times to make it to the visitor center and every time we were thwarted. But this time…we made it! And…it was open!!! I don’t know if you know this about us, but we’re nerds. Science is totally our jam. Back in 2015 I had the boys read a book called The Secret Project Notebook by Carolyn Reeder. It was a great way to start our Los Alamos explorations and get them interested in the history of the project Los Alamos is known for…the atomic bomb.

If you have the chance to visit Los Alamos, you really should. It’s a great little town with some top notch science nerdery.

Did someone say foodies? We might be slightly obsessed with New Mexican food. Maybe. We ate so much of it while we were there that we started to smell like a Mexican restaurant when we would sweat. Ha! It was fantastic!! We have our favorite spots…but we also found a few new favorites that we will definitely revisit next time!

That’s it for our Santa Fe adventures for this time!

See y’all down the road!!

#NationalParkTour
Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

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Hey Guys! We’re back in Farmington for one more post. This time we’re taking you to Chaco Culture National Historical Park. We found out about Chaco years ago. While we were visiting a different ancient dwelling, a Ranger saw how much we enjoyed the park and she dug out a map and started telling us about some of her favorite National Parks/Monuments. I think she was thrilled to have a family who was excited about learning to talk to and we were thrilled to have some insider knowledge about what parks we should put on our list.

Chaco Canyon is the largest excavated, best preserved ancient dwelling site in North America. This National Park sits in the middle of nowhere so don’t count on cell service…or really any kind of service. Make sure you’re geared up with plenty of snacks…possibly some lunch…water, and gas for your car. You’ll want to get there early because there’s so much to see…plan on spending an entire day here.

In the visitor center there’s a great little museum that has a cool little diorama that will give you a view of what Pueblo Bonito looks like from afar. It really gives you a better perspective of just how big a Chacoan Great House was.

Chaco Canyon is home to several great houses and hundreds of smaller sites spread out over the entirety of the canyon. Above you can see a few pictures of Hungo Pavi, an unexcavated Choacoan great house they believe had about one hundred and fifty rooms.

We spent the most time exploring Pueblo Bonito. This Chacoan great house was constructed in stages between 850 CE to 1250. At that time, Chaco was basically the center of the ancestral Puebloan people’s world. It was built at the geographical center of more than two hundred communities located outside of the canyon.

Chacoan builders often times oriented great houses with solar, lunar, and cardinal directions. The doors and windows pointed to specific directions. The inhabitants of the pueblos would use these guides as a type of calendar to know when to plant crops and hold specific ceremonies.

For three hundred years, generations of people worked on building Pueblo Bonito. Looking at the size and number of rooms, you’d think that the population of this pueblo was in the hundreds, but archaeologist think the permanent population was really only around 100 people. It’s thought that the residents Chaco Canyon numbered up to 6,000 people and the great houses were more of a center of trade, politics, and community business.

When the archaeologist started excavating, they found a sealed room containing 50,000 pieces of turquoise. That would have been amazing to see! Just to give you some perspective on that turquoise find…that’s more turquoise than what’s been found at all of the other archaeological sites in the American Southwest. In another room they found 4,000 pieces of jet and fourteen macaw skeletons. The fact that archaeologists found rooms full of items that would have been traded, leads them to believe that most of the rooms in Pueblo Bonito were used for storage.

In 1941, a huge rockfall destroyed around thirty rooms and damaged a portion of a main wall. Today, there’s only so much the NPS can legally do to help maintain and preserve sites like this. At one time, they could actually replace load bearing timbers and were able to put up these support beams. Now…it’s tricky. Rangers have to walk a fine line between to preserve as much as possible within the law.

There are quite a few petroglyphs in several places with the canyon. There’s an entire wall of them. We’ve seen petroglyphs at several different ancient dwellings and it’s always interesting to try and guess what they are or mean.

Archeologist have found proof of over 10,000 years of human occupation within Chaco Canyon. Pueblo del Arroyo was built between the years of 1065 CE and 1150. The most interesting thing we found about Pueblo del Arroyo was the triple wall kiva. A tri-wall kiva is rare in the Chaco region…in fact, only about a dozen or so have been found. Another big difference with this pueblo is that it faces east instead of south the way the other great houses are.

Casa Rinconada great kiva was constructed on the top of a hill surrounded by smaller villages. This great kiva is the largest found in Chaco Canyon and one of the biggest ever found within the Chacoan world. The layout seems to be very much like the reconstructed great kiva we saw at Aztec National Memorial. If you missed that post you can find it here.

We had the best day exploring and learning while at Chaco Culture National Historical Site. We were bummed when we ran out of light and the park closed before we could see everything. We’ve decided we need to find a place to stay that’s closer so we can go back at least a few times.

If you’re anywhere near Chaco Canyon…go visit. It’s one of the best, perhaps the best, ancient dwelling sites we’ve ever been to.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Aztec Ruins National Monument

Aztec Ruins National Monument

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Hey Guys!! We’re back in New Mexico!! This is one of our absolute favorite states to visit…and not just because the foodies here are sooo insanely good…we also really love the history and culture of New Mexico.

Each state has a feel. I know, I know…I’m getting all woo woo on you, but stay with me here… Every place has a feel to it. Usually, you associate certain feelings or emotions with a place based on your experiences there. But, sometimes you can visit a new place and you just click with it. It resonates with you in a way you might not understand, but you like. New Mexico is like that for us. We’ve liked it from the get-go…it resonates with us. So, we always look forward to spending time in New Mexico.

We spent two weeks in Farmington, NM so we could visit a couple of National Monuments and explore some close-ish by places we wanted to see that aren’t National Parks, but interesting.

One of our first stops was Aztec National Monument. No, the Aztecs never lived there. This location got it’s name from early Spanish explorers who often used the name “Aztec” pretty much anytime they found ancient sites. The people who lived and built the ancient community of Aztec National Monument are known as ancestral Puebloan people. The descendants of the ancestral Puebloan people who are still in the area don’t like to call the ancient dwellings ruins. They’re not ruins to them. They believe the spirits of their ancestors still live in those ancient dwellings.

The ancient building you find at Aztec NM is called a great house and is considered to be part of the Chaco Phenomenon. This period of time saw members of the Chaco community move to the banks of the Animas River and start building the Aztec Community around 1100 CE. These Great Houses were used as community centers where business, politics, trade, and ceremonies would have taken place.

There are places within the ancient dwelling where you can see the original ceilings. Still holding up after 900 years of use. The wooden beams are made of trees like ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, spruce, or aspen. Most of these trees are all found in higher elevations and would have required at least a twenty mile walk to get them to this site. Because of how well preserved these ceilings are…the scientist have been able to do a test called dendrochronology where they take tiny little core samples of the trees to find out the age of them by counting the tree rings. This process tells the scientist when each room of the community was built and allows them to more precisely date the ancient dwelling.

Ancestral Peublo people were living in and building the Aztec NM site from the late 100s to sometime during late 1200s. The community was so large its thought to have rivaled the size of the community found in Chaco Cannyon.

The ancestral Puebloan people incorporated solar and lunar alignments into most of their structures and used these markers as a way to determine when to plant crops, when to do certain ceremonies, and to keep a balance within the community. The inhabitants of Aztec NM often included green stones within certain walls. You can see this in the above left picture. No one really knows why they did this. Did it have meaning or was it purely decorative? There are some archeologists who believe, based on shared ideas by some Pueblos and Navajos, that the stripes could have been associated with water and believed to protect the community.

The Great Kiva was considered to be the heart and soul of the community. It is believed that great kivas would have been used as public buildings for the surrounding communities. A sanctuary. Possibly a place where different clans had meetings or held ceremonies. The great kiva at Aztec NM was excavated in 1921 by Earl Morris and then reconstructed in 1934 so that we could get an idea of what these amazing buildings would have looked like when they were being used. We’ve been to several ancient dwellings and have seen what’s left of kivas of all sizes. We’ve read what they were used for. We tried to picture in our minds what they would have looked like. We’ve listened to Rangers talk about what’s known and guessed about them…but being able to actually walk into one of the great kivas and explore it…even though it is a reconstructed one…was amazing.

The dwellings at Aztec NM consisted of several different sites. The great house we’ve been talking about was a three-story building with over 500 rooms. It held quite a few smaller kivas and also had a great kiva as it’s community center. Sometime during the late 1200s people started moving away from this area. No one really knows why. There is speculation it was a long period of drought and perhaps some social factors that caused the move, but there’s no hard evidence. We know that from this area they traveled west, south and east to what are now Hopi and Zuni communities.

When the people left, they left pieces of their lives behind. I always enjoy seeing the pottery they made. It amazes the how detailed they are.

The ancestral Puebolan people might have moved on, but the descendants of those people still come to Aztec NM to remember. They still feel a connection to their ancestors as they walk the ancient dwellings. They believe their ancestor’s spirits are still there and that the ancient dwelling is still inhabited. So, when you go visit these places please respect them and those that are believed to still be living there.

Shiprock is known by the Navajo as Tsé Bit’ a’í which means rock with wings. It stands at somewhere around 1500 feet high, making it’s peak close to 7,000 feet above sea level. Located on Navajo Nation land, Shiprock is very important to Navajo beliefs and culture. They ask that you don’t climb it or hike to it or it’s surrounding rocks. They also ask that you no longer drive down the dirt road leading to it. It is a sacred site and should be treated with reverence. Shiprock was created over a millennia ago and is at the center of three volcanic pressure points.

When we went to Shiprock, there was a group of people holding a public event along the dirt road leading up to the rock. We asked them for permission to drive a little on the road up to the rock and they told us we could. We didn’t go far and we didn’t climb on anything. In fact, we just took some pictures, marveled at the whole structure and left.

We also made it out to Four Corners where we stood in four states at once. The Four Corners complex is also on Navajo Nation land and there is a small fee to get to it. We went during the winter so there weren’t a whole lot of people. There are vendor stalls set up all around the complex so locals can sell their art. We chatted with a couple of them, bought a few things, and headed down the road. I’ve said it before…and I’ll say it again here…talk to the locals. They have some really great stories about their culture and beliefs…that they might be willing to share with you. We talked for quite a while to a woman selling sand art. She told us how she and her family go up into the surrounding mountains to find the different rocks to make the various colors needed for her art. Each color is made using a specific rock or mineral. Each has meaning. We find it all fascinating and really enjoy chatting with the local artists.

I’ll end this post with some foodies…because…well, yum! We found a pizza place called Pizza 9 and fell in love with it. We ate there several times in the two weeks we were in Farmington. Some of us have even declared it to be our favorite pizza place of all time while others still insist Back Road Pizza in Santa Fe is top of the list. We also ate a a couple of Mexican places…one was Fiesta Mexicana and I can’t remember where the other one was. Both were good! Not great…but good!

Well, that’s pretty much everything we did in the Farmington area. I’ll finish up with one more National Monument in the next post!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Five Year Nomadiversary!!

Five Year Nomadiversary!!

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Hey Guys!! It’s that time again…it’s our Nomadiversary!! Today marks five full years of being digital nomads and living our American Dream. You know, we started this whole journey to show our boys that not all American Dreams have to look the same. Some might include a white picket fence, some have you wearing suits and working in offices, sometimes it means you go to work outside and some dreams might look like a home-on-wheels that takes you wherever you want to go. Everyone has different goals and dreams…and that’s ok. It’s those differences that make life so interesting and our Country so great. We really believe that if you can dream it, you can do it. You just have to be willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

It’s been quite the year! We started our year in Texas eating our way though BBQ places and then we spent a couple of months in Missouri visiting family. Every time we’re in Missouri we seem to have a never ending list of projects we need to work on. We did make it to Branson with my (Jennie) parents for a long weekend of family fun. And, the boys got to have Shop Class with Grandpa. We always look forward to our time with family.

We spent almost two months in Colorado finding the wild places and visiting National Parks. Colorado is, with out a doubt, one of the most beautiful states in our country. Our favorite day in Colorado was the day we went exploring up in the mountains on old mining roads.

Utah was in a word…amazing. We did some hard hikes, found some breathtaking views, drove down some awesome dirt roads and woke up with ice on the inside of our walls a few times.

We spent several weeks in Northern Arizona. before heading to New Mexico. I always forget how cold New Mexico gets in the winter. A few of us wanted an actual winter with a white Christmas so we ended our 2019 in New Mexico. We visited some new NPs and revisited an old favorite. Even as nomads we’ve developed family traditions…ours just revolve around certain places. Is it weird we feel at home in several different states?

Arizona was home to us for most of our nomadic year. We were just starting our time there when the Corona Virus started to do its thing. Luckily, we did get a little exploring done before everything closed down. Sedona has been one of our favorite areas since our very first visit back in 2015.

Ok, let’s talk about the real reason you’re all here…the foodies. We do love our local mom and pop foodie shops. And, Guys…we found some ah-mazing places this nomadic year!!

We had big plans for 2020 with tons of National Park units on the schedule. In February and March while we were in the Sedona area, we realized things weren’t going to go as planned. Due to the Corona Virus, everything started shutting down and it became almost impossible to find things in the grocery store. State and National campgrounds closed, some private RV parks were ordered to close, and…all of the National Parks closed. All of them. It’s hard to go on a National Park tour when the parks are closed and there’s no definitive answer as to when they’ll open back up.

When our reservations in Sedona ran out we decided to go ahead and keep with our planned reservation schedule. Our next stop was back to Page, AZ and honestly, we didn’t mind that it was basically a ghost town. Mostly locals. It was so different from the last time we were there when there were people in every nook and cranny.

For now, we’re hanging out in Utah, waiting to see what happens with the National Parks and the campgrounds. We’ve been enjoying the scenic drives that are close by…and the snow topped mountains aren’t the worst thing ever. ;-P

It’s been quite the eventful year for us even with this whole corona virus mess! During our fifth year of nomadary we: explored six states, visited thirty-two National Park units, drove a total of 4,689 miles, and made countless memories.

A few of our favorites from this year are hiking Angel’s Landing, exploring the mountains of Colorado, getting to talk to some Navajo while visiting their home, and hiking the Peekaboo/Spooky slot canyons.

All in all…I’d say our fifth year of living the nomad life was a success. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

See y’all down the road!

#nomadiversary
Our 2018 Year In Review

Our 2018 Year In Review

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Hey Guys! Happy New Year’s Eve!!

I thought we’d end the year with a quick post to share some of our favorite memories from this year.

Our year started off…well…not the best. We spent last New Year’s Eve driving through an ice storm to get back to Missouri so Jerl could have eye surgery and our home-on-wheels could get a new engine. It was a stressful start to the year, but it got loads better!

We made it to twenty-one different National Park Units this year! Twenty-one! Two of those were revisits, but nineteen were new for us…so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that seven of our top ten memories for this year are about National Parks.

Let’s start with our honorable mention…Sparky’s Burgers in Hatch, New Mexico just missed our top ten, but we all like it so much we decided it really should at least get an honorable mention! We’d been eyeing Sparky’s for a couple of years now. We found out about it in 2015 while we were in Alamogordo, but didn’t want to drive that far in the time we had in the area. This year, however, we made it! And Guys…it’s so good! We got there right as they were opening and it’s a good thing because when we left, the line was already starting to curve around the block. Alex had to try one of Sparky’s famous green chili shakes. He chose chocolate and raved about it the whole time. I think next time I may have to get one too!

Our number ten spot isn’t a foodie or city or state…it’s not a National or State Park…it’s a view. The Columbia River Gorge from the Portland Women’s Form State Scenic Viewpoint in Corbett, OR was spectacular even though the smoke from some nearby fires was wafting through. We had this entire viewing area to ourselves…well…there was one other person there and he was busy having a conversation with himself…so…yeah. But, that view!

Sequoia Park Zoo comes next. We found this little zoo in Eureka, CA and made time to visit right at the end of a day of exploration. We got there just in time for the red panda feeding and zoo talk. We’ve been to some of the top rated zoos in the country and this little zoo is one of our favorites. Happy animals, clean and big exhibits…what more does a zoo need? What it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in heart.

One of the things we love is a good view and what better place to get a view than atop one of Colorado’s tallest mountains. Pikes Peak is the most expensive mountain we’ve explored…but Guys…that view. When we were there, the summit was torn up for construction of the new Summit House. It’ll be fantastic when it’s done! We just might have to go back and see it completed!

One of the states that Jerl has been looking forward to the most is Colorado. The mountains have called his name for many years so it shouldn’t be a surprise that Rocky Mountain National Park is on our top ten list. We were only able to spend one day exploring this giant park and hope to go back one day to see more of it.

Yosemite National Park is in the number six spot on our top ten list for 2018! We were there right before the busy season, but there were still so many people. The few days we ventured into Yosemite Valley the crowds were insane! It wasn’t our thing…all of the crowds. But, when we drove Glacier Road and Tioga Road…the crowds weren’t nearly as bad and the views were ah-mazing!

One of the places I’d been looking forward to visiting is Redwood National and State Park! These two parks work together to preserve one of the largest tracks of old growth coastal redwoods left in the US. And! There’s Fern Canyon! This canyon has fifty feet walls covered in several types of ferns. It was so fun to wade down the small creek! If traveling isn’t your thing…you can take a look at Fern Canyon without leaving your home…it was used to film parts of Jurassic Park II.

We made it to Oregon right as the burn season was revving up. We could see the smoke from one of the fires at the park we were staying in. We were worried we wouldn’t make it up to Crater Lake National Park due to the fires. I’m so glad we did! Crater Lake is gorgeous! The blue of that water!! There’s a bit of lore that says the blue bird used to be black before it dipped into the waters of Crater Lake.

Olympic National Park rests in the number three spot on our top ten list for this year! This place…Guys, I could totally spend a season or two in this area of Washington. There is so much to love about Olympic National Park! You get beaches, mountain vistas, and forests of moss covered trees to hike through!

This next park is not only in our number two spot, but was the biggest surprise for us. We weren’t entirely sure of what to expect from Kings Canyon National Park, but we loved it! You get the gorgeous tall trees and you get to explore a huge canyon! We somehow ended up taking an old forest service road to get into the park and in doing so drove right through one of the largest groves of redwood old growth left. We had it to ourselves and it was fantastic! The canyon was a total surprise. There are views for days, hikes and waterfalls to explore!

Our number one memory of 2018 is Sequoia National Park! We heart tall trees in a serious way. We can’t get enough of them. We stayed in the Sequoia National Park area for two weeks and we spent every spare minute we could up the mountain, in the park walking amongst the tall trees. I’m already trying to plan our next trip to Sequoia.

We’ve wrapped up our State Tour. Y’all haven’t seen the last few posts about those explorations yet, but they’re coming! We hope that each of you have a wonderful New Year’s Day and a blessed 2019! Thank you for being a part of our crazy nomad journey!

See y’all down the road!
Las Cruces

Las Cruces

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Hey Guys! We spent a week in Las Cruces.

We had to tandem drive from our overnight stop in Junction, TX. If you know me, you know I’m not a driver…so I was pretty nervous about an entire day (it took us right around seven hours) of driving. It was actually ok until we got to El Paso. El Paso is huge with tons of lanes and tons of cars and I was a nervous wreck driving through it. Luckily, all I had to do was follow Jerl who was driving the RV. Nicholas rode with me and we listened to music the whole time.

After a drive day like that we needed a breather…and a burger. The next day we found our way to Hatch, NM and a place called Sparky’s where we had some of the best (and hottest) green chili cheeseburgers we’ve ever had. But, what do you expect from a town known for its chilies? We got there right before 11am and had to wait in a little line. As we sat there eating, the line kept growing and before we left it was out the door and down the block. It was that good. Aaannddd…when you’re in a town known for it’s green chilies…you have to try a chocolate green chili shake. Right? Alex said it was a good thing all of those green chilies were covered in sugar because they were super spicy!

We stopped by a little curio shop in Hatch to look around. Check out the hand painted pitcher and glasses! It’s a good thing we don’t have room for any big souvenirs…I would have walked away with a set of these. We did pick up some green chili powder. We’ve been adding it to our taco seasoning. It has a great taste!

We celebrated Alex’s 15th birthday with a pie. We now officially have a 17 year old, 15 year old, and a 13 year old… how is that possible? I swear I’m not old enough to have three teenagers!

Quite a bit of our time in Las Cruces was spent doing car work. Jerl ordered and replaced the broken headlight. We also spent a fair amount of time replacing the tow bar. You might remember our old tow bar ended up under our car. It was bent beyond repair. We upgraded and went with the next best model plus we added locking pins anywhere and everywhere someone could tamper with them. We would really like for out toad to stay behind the RV where it’s supposed to be…not racing us down the highway. No more joy riding please!

Jerl and I actually had a date night. We don’t have them often, but…we do have three teenagers who are capable of cooking for themselves…so, we out. We ended up at the High Desert Brewing Company and Guys…Oh. My. Goodness….we had the absolute spiciest green chilies EVER!! Wowzers!! Jerl had the green chili burger in the picture above with green chili queso fries. (right picture) I had a green chili quesadilla. We walked out of there with burning bellies! The food was so good, but sooo spicy!! We will totally go back the next time we’re in Las Cruces!! It’s a good thing we didn’t take the boys with us because there’s no way any of them could have handled the amount of spice those green chilies were packing. We did take the boys to a place called Andele’s Dog House for some very tasty and not too spicy food! These are the nachos I got. (left picture) They were really good! I asked for beef expecting to get ground beef…like taco meat…but got steak! The boys like it mainly because you could go get your own chips and salsa at the salsa bar. Kids. Ha!

Right down the road from where we stayed was Old Mesilla which was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Trail. The Butterfield Overland Trail is the predecessor to the Pony Express and ran from St. Louis to San Francisco. We had a good time walking around the little downtown square with all of it’s curio shops.

The Courthouse that Billy The Kid was tried in is now a gift shop. It was kind of fun to stick our heads in and see some of the old architecture.

We drove over the San Agustin Pass. There’s a little pull off at the top where there are some info signs and a pretty darn good view. The San Agustin Pass goes through three mountain ranges…the Organ Mountains, the San Andres Mountains, and the San Agustin Mountains.

We spent a little time hiking around the Dripping Springs area of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Before I tell you about the hike…let me just say that we almost didn’t do this hike. We were talking to one of the volunteers and she told us a couple times about all of the diamondback rattlesnakes down on this one trail that were super aggressive and had actually chased her down the trail. Guys…I do not want to be chased by a snake. Ever. I have a healthy fear of anything that can kill me and venomous snakes are pretty high on that list. I plucked up my courage and was bolstered by the fact that it was a pretty cool morning (and snakes don’t like cool weather) and we went for a hike up to Van Patten’s Mountain Camp. It was a pretty nice hike…it was a constant gradual up so we were breathing a little hard. It warmed us up and gave me a reason to stop every so often to take some pictures. You know, because I need a reason to take pictures. *wink wink*

Part way up the hike we found a set of old buildings that had been used as a livery for the Mountain Camp. (right picture) In the late 1800s the guests could ride a stage line from Las Cruces up to the hotel (mountain camp). By the early 1900s guests were showing up in automobiles too. About a quarter of a mile on up the trail we found the remnants of Van Patten’s Mountain Camp. (left picture) Major Eugene Van Patten built the resort hotel in the late 1800s. In 1915 Van Patten had some financial troubles and sold the resort to Dr. Nathan Boyd.

Dr. Boyd turned part of the resort into a tuberculosis sanatorium. Sometime in the 1920s Dr. Boyd sold the resort and sanatorium to a Dr. T.C. Sexton and by the 1940s the resort hotel was in ruins.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is run by the BLM. When a NPS unit isn’t run by the NPS we never know if there will be a Junior Ranger program or not. This one had a small one and even had a little badge that the boys earned. We were also warned about the Oryxx that roam the area. Apparently, they can run fast and they’re pretty muscly. They’re causing havoc with the ecosystem in the park because they don’t have a natural predator in this area. We spotted one resting under a tree. With the magic of a zoom lens we got a good look at it. Those are some serious horns!

The Dripping Springs area of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks NM is about 6000 feet in elevation. We enjoyed some pretty nice views through the whole hike.

There weren’t too many pretties around since it was still technically winter at this point, but these amazing little yellow pretties were in our yard for the week.

It was a stressful and busy week in Las Cruces with all of the car/tow bar work, but we thoroughly enjoyed the area!

See y’all down the road!

#westernloop2018

Mad Dash To Missouri

Mad Dash To Missouri

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Hey Guys!! Are you ready for more of the story?

It took us three days to drive the 1,400 miles or so to get back to Missouri. We were in sunny and warm Arizona when we started out. We said goodbye to Lost Dutchman State Park early Friday and took off for Las Cruces, NM. Now, there are three ways to get from Phoenix to Las Cruces. One path goes up and over and takes you up the steep Colorado Plateau, one path takes you straight east through Globe, NM and some steep grade mountain passes and the other path takes you down to Tucson and then over.

We chose the down and around route to avoid the steep grades since our engine was acting up. We ended up at the Hacienda RV Resort the first night after a fairly uneventful day. We’ve stayed at…I don’t know…close to 100 RV parks and this was the first one to give us treats for our cats! I thought it was super cute and the cats appreciated the treat. I don’t know how the RV park is other than the treats. We got in right before they closed and we left before anyone was in the office the next day.

We started out even earlier on day two. We had a long day ahead of us and there would be some elevation gain that would slow us down. Our route took us through El Paso. You’re looking at Mexico in the picture above on the left. We’ve heard a lot of…not so great…things about El Paso. We didn’t stop. We just drove on through. It’s a big city and took forever to get through, but we made it with no issues. The engine was behaving.

We got to our RV Park in Abilene pretty late that night. It was so dark on the road we weren’t really sure we were in the right spot at first. Thank goodness the office had the forethought to put us in an easy in and out spot. It was dark when we got there and dark when we left.

We woke up to ice on day three. We’ve driven in a blizzard, we’ve driven in wind storms, and torrential rain…but, Guys…driving on a sheet of ice was a whole new ball game.

We crept along at around 20mph and noticed our windshield wipers were freezing up so we thought we’d be smart…and safe…and stop at a gas station to recoup and fix a few things. We didn’t know we were driving onto a thick sheet of ice until it was too late. Our only course of action was to go with it and try not to run into anything. We slid past the gas tanks with the cars…we slid past the propane fill up…and somehow we got stopped without hitting anything. I think Jerl and I were in shock at this point and  sat wondering how the heck we were going to get out of the ice covered parking lot. The only out we had a chance at making it to was the one in the pic above and we watched car after car slip and slide up and down it. My (Jennie’s) dad had the idea to use cat litter to get enough traction to get out. Luckily, the gas station had one bag of it left. It worked and we made it out of the parking lot an hour and a few heart-attacks later.

It took us four hours to go 90 miles that morning.

We made it though. It took us 15 hours that third day to make it to Missouri, but we made it safely. It was the most stressful day of driving we’ve had in the three years we’ve been nomads…I’m getting all stressed out again just thinking about that day.

I’ll leave y’all here and next week I’ll give you all the updates and the plans for the rest of the year!

See y’all down the road!

#itsnotallfunandgames

New Mexico Foodies

New Mexico Foodies

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Hey Guys! I know what you’re thinking…a whole post just for foodies? But, y’all know we love our foodies! Our explorations are just as much about the foodies as they are the views, National & State Parks, and the hiking. Every new area has it’s specialty…certain things that you can only get there or that were started there.

For New Mexico, there are several foodies that you’ll want to seek out while visiting! New Mexican foodies aren’t really Mex, but they aren’t quite Tex either. They’re this happy little medium that usually looks like a plate of goop…but tastes very much like magic! There are six foodies that most people will agree are the quintessential New Mexican foodies, so let’s go through those first.

Before we jump into the foodies…let’s get one thing out of the way. In New Mexico…chilies reign supreme. In the grocery stores you’ll find them in these handy little tubs that are good for one meal. You can get them hot, medium, or mild. Fire roasted or not. Chopped, diced, or pureed. You definitely have options. My favorite (and the most cost effective) way is to get big 5 lb. bags of frozen chopped chilies then divvy them up into smaller one pound bags that I can pull from the freezer and throw into anything.

The most important question you’ll be asked in a New Mexican restaurant is if you want red or green. Until you’ve found your favorite, I’d suggest Christmas style. Half red and half green!

On to the Foodies! I’ll start with the Green Chile Cheeseburger. You can easily find these all over New Mexico, but not all burgers are created equal. Any green chili cheeseburger we’ve had comes with a mound of green chilies and is covered in a white cheese. The easiest place to find them would be at a Blake’s Lotaburger. Blake’s is a fast-food place. Think Dairy Queen with a New Mexican twist. And while Blake’s isn’t our favorite, it’s where the locals go for a quick burger. After two tours through New Mexico we’ve found two places that we feel have the best all around green chili cheeseburger. We found Rockin BZ Burgers in Alamogordo our first time through NM and dreamed about them for two years before we could get back there. Rockin BZ still number one for us, but a close (and we mean a very close) second is Church Street Grill in Carlsbad. With these two places you’ll get the whole package. The chilies are hot, but not melt-your-face-off, the meat is good quality, the cheese has a nice mild flavor, and the buns hold up nicely. And then you’ve got a decent selection of really good sides.

Green Chile Stew is a New Mexican staple food. Every restaurant will have their own little twist on this dish, but they don’t usually stray too far from the simple dish of green chilies, pork, garlic, onions, and potatoes in a broth. It’s one of our favorite things to make at home so we don’t usually order it out. We’re kind of partial to our own recipe after two years of tweaking and getting it just right for our taste buds. I should say though…anytime we’ve ordered it out, the green chili stew is loaded with flavor and the meat is so tender it falls apart in your mouth!

Sopapillas are fried pockets of light airy dough! In New Mexico they’re served with the meal. You can eat them the way you’d eat a roll or save them for the end of the meal and have them with honey. Actually, if you get into some big time heat with your meal, this is a great way to help cut the heat.

One of my favorite ways to get a sopapilla is stuffed. It’s hard to see under that pile of cheese and chili sauce, but there’s a great big sopapilla on that plate stuffed with pork and green chilies, and more cheese. We’ve had some really good stuffed sopapillas! The Sopapilla Factory in Santa Fe and Sadie’s of New Mexico in Albuquerque are two of our favorites!

Breakfast Burritos are a staple in New Mexico. Pretty much every restaurant that sells breakfast has a breakfast burrito on the menu and we’ve never had one we didn’t like. The biggest decision you’ll have to make is if you want it dry or covered. Covered comes with the chili sauce of your choice (red or green) and cheese. Dry is…well, just like it sounds…more of a pick-it-up type of burrito. It’s rumored that the breakfast burrito started at a restaurant called Tia Sophias in Santa Fe back in the 70s. We’ve never had one there, but we have had lunch there and we highly recommend it for an authentic New Mexican meal!

Stacked Enchiladas are exactly what they sound like! Instead of rolled individually, the enchiladas are stacked on top of each other…kind of like an enchilada casserole. I was reluctant to try these. To me enchiladas are rolled up, sitting side by side, little tubes of awesome. But, I wanted the full New Mexican Foodie experience…so I broke down and tried them. And then I ordered them every chance I got. Yup, I’m a fan. My two favorite places to get this magical enchilada casserole-esque dish is at Casa De Suenos in Tularosa and at  Rancho De Chimayo in Chimayo. In forty-three states, I’ve only seen stacked enchiladas in New Mexico. Maybe I missed them somewhere? I don’t know, but I highly recommend giving them a chance!

Navajo Tacos are probably my favorite New Mexican foodie. I know, I know…it’s just a taco…but, y’all, it’s soooo much more than just a taco! First of all, it’s made on Navajo Indian fry bread. It’s the fry bread that totally makes this taco so amazing. Indian fry bread is similar to the sopapilla in that it’s a light airy bread, but that’s really where the similarity ends. Indian fry tends to have more of a chew and the outside is crisper! It really is perfection! There are variations to this, but usually you’ll find a Navajo Taco with ground beef, beans, green chili sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. My absolute favorite is from Twisters in Albuquerque, but the Sopapilla Factory in Santa Fe is a very close second!

So, those are your six main New Mexican Foodies, but they’re definitely not the only New Mexican Foodies!

They’re called rolled tacos…but they’re basically taquitos. A corn tortilla stuffed with a meat and then rolled and deep fried! Usually served with something to dip them in. This New Mexican Foodie is Nicholas’ favorite.

Sometimes you’ll find something special on the menu. It’s a burger, wrapped in a flour tortilla, and then deep fried. It’s the ultimate New Mexican hamburger! We’ve seen them dry (where you pick them up) and covered (fork and knife type of meal). You can’t go wrong either way!

In the more authentic restaurants, you’ll find your meal comes with a side of posole. You can see it in the picture above…it’s the white stuff. So, what the heck is posole? Well, posole is a traditional New Mexican stew made of hominy, pork, and spices. It’s usually very savory and filling. Any posole I’ve had has a bit of a kick to it and the hominy still has just the tiniest bit of chew left. It’s surprisingly good (I’m not usually a fan of hominy)!

If you’re in New Mexico…you have to try some biscochito cookies! They’re kind of cross between a shortbread cookie and a butter cookie spiced with cinnamon and anise.  They’re crispy and sweet and they are a really good way to help cut the heat of some of the food when you’re done with your spicy meal! And, if you need another excuse to try them…biscochitos are the New Mexican state cookie!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the spices and tortillarias in a post about New Mexican Foodies! There is a brand of spices called Chimayo Traditions that I absolutely love! They’ve got some great mixes with recipes on the back like the one in the pic above, but they’ve also got my favorite chile powder! I stock up and horde it to make it stretch out. If you’ve found this brand somewhere besides New Mexico…please tell me where! We can eat ourselves silly on fresh tortillas and chips from the tortillarias! We always take the opportunity to have some with our favorite home cooked meals!

OK, Guys…that’s all I’ve got for you on New Mexican Foodies! Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to take a trip to New Mexico or try your hand at making something new at home. Get out there and try some new foodies!

See y’all down the road!

#grandwesternloop