March 28: Back to Tucson

As a wise man once said, all good things have to come to an end - I guess he was right.  With more then a touch of melancholy, we packed up, had a light breakfast at the Trinity and headed back West for our trip home. 

We decided to take the short route going South through Texas.  It may be shorter but it was long on boring, unless you are the kind to swoon over oil derricks, sage brush and 18 shades of tan.  El Paso looked just like W. 11th in Eugene only longer and bit more tacky and a lot less green.  We headed NW back into New Mexico, switching off driving duties often so at least one of us could nap through the mundane.

We stopped in Deming for lunch at McDonalds.  Little did we know that the Mickey D's in Deming was having a convention for every loud, rude obnoxious person in a 50 square mile area.  The man sitting behind Kat was proclaiming how no #*%@ &>^ hole is ever going to take his license away and he would keep driving except he had bent the side of his car so bad that he couldn't put gas in his tank and he was running on less then fumes.  The one armed, toothless lady behind me was yelling in Spanish, the gist as I understood it was that her husband saw her Cricket bill and realized that she was cheating on him with his brother and she had been locked out of her trailer.  Oh,  the pain, the indigestion, the pact with Kat never to stop in Deming N.M.

423 miles and we were pulling into the Hampton in Tucson to rest our weary, frayed souls.  We did have a nice dinner where we sat and watched Michigan beat Tennessee to advance to the Elite 8.  Right now, we are rooting for MSU.

Final thoughts...just that we are very lucky, blessed people to have so much joy in our lives.

My new shirt, thanks Den & Laurie

A plaque commemorating a stage coach line--it was blowing a gale and freezing cold

The only scenic view we saw all day--Guadalupe mt. range

Home for the night

Interesting Cactus

Our last sunset in Arizona for awhile

March 27: Carlsbad and the Caverns

Birthday Boy Jeff here:  Well if your going to celebrate 65 birthdays on this spinning orb, this would be the way to do it!   I am currently watching Stanford v. Dayton in March Madness so I apologize in advance if my spelling or grammar is less than sharp.

I took a few pictures of our room/hotel to show how neat this place is - we are just not used to staying in rooms with 16 foot high ceilings.

The Trinity Hotel and Restaurant

It used to be a bank

Even monogrammed toilet paper

Love the bathroom

Tall ceilings and huge bed

I was up by 7:00 and we were out the door by 8:00 to continue the adventure.  First stop - Denny's for my free "Grand Slam" birthday breakfast.  How come free always tastes best?  After drinking several pots of coffee, we headed South down Rt. 180 for the Caverns which are about 30 miles away.

Free breakfast

Another perfect day, clear skies, mid 70's, no traffic and scenery which leaves you scratching your head in admiration of Mother Natures handiwork.  We arrived at the Caverns and were pleased to find that my lifetime Senior pass for National Parks still paying dividends with free admission: hey $20 is $20.00.  We took the elevator down 750 feet, the equivalent of a 75 story building to what is termed the "Great Room".  There were several options in trails and we chose the 1 and 1/2 mile one.  Words fail to be able to express the buffet of amazing sites and I can only hope it is true that a picture is worth a 1000 words as I might need several hundred thousand.

I can see for miles and miles...

Instructions on acceptable behavior

The totem pole

Hauntingly beautiful

Tower of giants, 40 feet tall or better

B cup rock

We found our imaginations strained.  We saw faces, animals, shapes and whimsy carved in this massive Cavern.  Disney could only wish he could create something so beyond belief.  As we strolled, we shmoozed with other strollers and it was a unanimous - WOW, GEE WIZ and GOSH!!  Siskel and Ebert would give it 5 thumbs up.  We spent over 2 hours below ground and felt pretty good about how well our bodies held up.  We went up top for a hot dog and almost felt blinded when we entered day light after playing mole people for the better part of our morning.

We enjoyed a leisurely drive back to Carlsbad where the conversation was centered on how blessed we are/were to have spent such a wonderful morning.

The ride home

  Kat took a break while I wandered downtown and helped the local economy with a few artsy fartsy purchases.  We watched March madness till it was 6:45 and time to strap on the old feed bag.

We checked out a few more selected wines and I went with a Merlot while Kat opted for a Sirrah, a tasty red with a fine bouquet and a heady nose.  We blew the budget with shrimp cocktails, steak for me and a chicken/chili lasagna for Kat.  Wonderful desserts of tiramisu  for Kat and a death by chocolate for me.  Oh yeah, oh yeah, we be happy!!  A very relaxed dinner with wonderful food and better conversation.

Now this is what I call dessert!!

March Madness, blogging and ending my birthday with a bang - a 36 shot Black Cat firecracker that woke up half the town.  Sorry no pictures but the smell of gunpowder still lingers in my nostrils.  Tomorrow begins the big drive to get back to Mesa airport by two pm on Saturday.  But until then, the birthday fun continues.

March 26: Las Cruces to Carlsbad NM

Jeff here:  Did ya ever just have one of those days, a day from start to finish you just wouldn't change a thing - well that is a summation of our day.  Up early, packed and out the door by 8:30.  We had the choice of eating with the hoity-toity folks at the Hilton but instead chose to break fast with the local Las Crustaceans at Dick's Cafe where the eggs are eggs and the grease trap was changed just last month.

We hit the road with Siri directing us forward.  72 degree's, clear azure skies, no traffic, good tunes and 8 hours to drive a 4 hour trip - in other words, mellow be us.  After leaving Las Cruces, we descended into a vast dessert where the White Sands Missile Range is located.  They sometimes close the road so they can test missiles.  Glad we missed that.

Our first stop was White Sands National Monument.  The white sand is really gypsum and part of an ancient sea that covered most of southwest New Mexico.  We drove back into the park 8 miles and rather then try to express the inexpressible, I will let the pictures try to capture the feeling.

Yucca

Nature study area with a boardwalk, is that truly a blue sky!

People were sledding on the dunes of gypsum salt

After Alamogordo (site of the first atomic bomb blast), which left us with that certain glow, we took the longer, more scenic route via Cloudcroft, which lived up to its' name.  The road rose to over 8,000 feet with stunning beauty, both natural and interesting.  There were lots of old, ramshackle shacks and barns tinging the area with a return to yesteryear.  It was relaxing to let the miles flow by immersed in the comfort of being with my TC.

Snow in them thar hills at Cloudcroft

Historical Marker at Mayhill

Sign in the window of the Mayhill Market.......we didn't shop there!  The sign to the left encourages folks to "kill Obama", does this conflict with the Jesus sign?

We stopped at Buster's in Artesia for lunch and made it to Carlsbad by 3:30.  We checked into The Trinity Hotel and we were blown away.  The hotel was built in 1892 and was totally restored in 2007.  It has a colorful past.  Pat Garrett from Billy the Kid fame worked here as a collector of bad loans for the bank that resided here at one time.  We didn't get a chance to take pictures but there will be some coming.

Scenery around Artesia

Busters--great burgers

Oil derrick in Artesia

We took a nap and then took a stroll around old town which was interesting.  We found out that Carlsbad is in the midst of an oil boom and hotel rooms are as scarce as hens teeth.  We went to the Trinity restaurant to enjoy their offer of wine tasting, which I have to say, we took advantage of, again and again and again.  We have plans to dine here tomorrow so we stumbled down the block to The Yellow Brix which is also an amazing restaurant to find in a town the size of Carlsbad.

We are currently relaxing and will be descending tomorrow into the depths of the earth at the Caverns.

Just an example of the luxury of the Trinity Hotel--Jeff enjoys the dual rain shower