Cats, Cakes, and Chaco Culture

We have been back at Russ' parent's house in Aztec, New Mexico for just over two weeks now. We have enjoyed visiting and spending the Thanksgiving Holiday here with Russ' family (we usually spend the winter holidays with my family). 

Cheers and be grateful.

Slicing the turkey.

I ate a Tofurky roast.

Bandelier, Santa Fe, Los Alamos and a Camel Rock

We stopped once more at Rio Grande del Norte National Monument as we left Taos, at the visitor's center this time. The river looks especially pretty with a flotilla of yellow leaves cascading downriver on the water's surface. We established ourselves at the Trailer Ranch RV Resort and ate an early dinner at a nearly restaurant, Tortilla Flats. We are staying for three nights, so we should have a chance to visit some favorite spots in the area before returning to Russ' parents home for the Thanksgiving Holiday.I'm beginning to feel a bit homesick, and I hope that seeing family will help keep the feeling at bay for a few more weeks.

Seeing the Visitor's Center after the park is not efficient.

R-Pod parking.

The Rio Grande del Norte.

Russ loves the green chile.

The High Bridge, Taos Food, and the Rancho de Chimayo, and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

The nights in Taos are cold, and the days are warm. This is northern New Mexico in the winter. We are a bit lucky in that the night time temperatures are just at freezing and not to much below, so our trailer water pipes have not frozen. Partly this is because we looked at the weather forecast before planning our route, but some of it is pure chance. The night after we left Taos, the low temp was 20 degrees F. The sunsets are big and colorful, and that makes up for the fact that they signal your imminent freeze.

We passed our first day here driving out the the Rio Grand Gorge High Bridge, which is just outside of town. The gorge is designated as the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, and this had protected the area from development (nothing within 3 miles of the rim). The High Bridge has been used in 8 movies, including one of my favorites,"Paul." I found that I could not walk out to the center of the span, despite the high railing, because it just felt so exposed. I ventured across just far enough to take a picture of the river below.

The High Bridge.

Rabbit brush and the Rio Grande Gorge below.

It is a long way down. This is the same river we saw at Big Bend National Park.

The Gorge Rim Trail. 3.7 miles out and back. We didn't walk the whole thing.

Rita Blanca National Grassland, Tristate Monument and Capulin Volcano National Monument

We've arrived at the Rita Blanca National Grassland... this may be the actual middle of nowhere, but it's really Texas. The National Grassland is broken up into several large pieces, but the main visitors center is in Wall, South Dakota. We are camped at the Thompson Grove Picnic Area, where you can camp for up to 14 days. It's quiet. We've had company in the form of one other camper each night. The first night had a young man who drove in a white sedan and set up his tent; he never cooked, and he never said a word to us. Admittedly, we were mostly inside the R-Pod because there are a lot of flies here. They have a pit toilet, and it is a good one, but still, lots of flies. Tonight (second night here for us) a lady drove in with a camper van and settled down in front of our truck. She is also quiet. It was wonderfully dark here last night, as we are a good ways from any settlements and it was a dark moon. The stars were bright, and the milky way was prominent. 

From the drive in. This is Oklahoma.

Our spot at the Thompson Grove Picnic Area.

Gin and Tonic with Fudge. Treats!

Sunrise over the Rita Blanca.

This is the marker near our campsite.

Russ in the grass.

The expanse is breathtaking.

Rita Blanca National Grassland Unit 12.

Just a note from our last stop. I ended up buying a bracelet at the Boothill Museum Store. I rarely buy souvenirs, but this was unique and I didn't want to pass it up. It is jewelry made from tumbleweeds.

Bracelet sits on my Hobonichi planner.

The bracelet is sitting on top of my planner. I've been using these Japanese planners for at least 5 years now. I prefer an analog method to a digital one. It is especially helpful when we are on the road for my travel planning. I use the calendar and also write where we plan to stay on the day pages. I use the day page to also record what we saw and did, including chores, and I write down costs for gas and camping. This is a bit similar to a Bullet Journal Style, but in a planner form. I do keep some lists at the start of each month and in the blank pages at the back of the planner. Adding drawings and stickers keeps things fun for me so I use it every day.

We watched a last sunrise from the grasslands and started traveling west, with a short detour to the Tri-State Monument, where Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico meet up at a corner. It is odd to think that the three farmers that share the intersection all live in different states.

Sunrise over the grass.

A great horned owl. We saw him(?) several times.

It was remarkably plain and unmarked.

I'm standing in Texas to take the photo.

Dirt roads along the border.

A raven makes a rest stop more interesting.

We continued west and ran across the signs for the Capulin Volcano National Monument. Just seeing mountains begin to emerge after so many weeks of the plains, I took so many pictures that the novelty wore off quickly. The monument was only 3 miles off our route, so we went out there. There was a road up the cinder cone volcano, but we couldn't drive it with our trailer, so we just went to the visitor's center and did a short hike called the Lava Flow Trail. I was impressed with the views. You don't need much height off the plains to get long views to distant peaks.

Capulin Volcano.

The trail was about 1 mile.

Views of Sierra Grande.

Decisions, Decisions.

We stopped for lunch in Raton, New Mexico.

No need. The food and the beer were awesome.

Green chile quesadilla and roasted corn fritters (elote).

Russ chose a road that would take longer to drive, but that yielded some nice surprises, including the Colfax Ale Cellar in Raton. The town was cute, and very close to the Colorado border. I also loved the sign as we drove out of town for the Raton Trap Club (shooting), since raton means rat in Spanish. Not every club has such a humorous name.

We continued through the Taos canyon into our new home base for the next three days, with a short visit to the New Mexico Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. It was a very impressive tribute and quite moving. The memorial is perched above the town of Eagles Nest, New Mexico and is an imposing presence from the highway. Our final leg of the day's drive was especially pretty, but I took few pictures from the winding canyon road.

The chapel at the New Mexico Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

On the path to the chapel.

Photo from the road prior to the Taos Canyon.

Tallgrass Prairie, Cows, and Dodge City

Russ surprised me with an unexpected stop between Kansas City and Dodge City. He did some research and found the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, near Emporia, Kansas. We did stop first for lunch at Casa Ramos in Emporia. We wanted to go to Radius Brewing, but sadly it was closed on Mondays. The Mexican food was good, so no problem. The Tallgrass Prairie was quiet and cold. We managed to walk before the rain started, and had a short trip to the visitors center. I bet in the spring it really shines. This place represents 80% of the remaining tallgrass prairie in the US. Only 4% of the original prairie remains. Most of it is in the Flint Hills area of Kansas because the ground was not suitable for plowing, so the prairie was used only for grazing, which actually is needed to fully preserve the ecosystem. They still graze buffalo and cattle on the land today. The rest of the tallgrass was plowed under for crops. It was a lovely surprise for me to have Russ find such a wild place to visit during our moving day.

We had Starbucks breakfast on our last day in Kansas City.

A post-it display at the Starbucks. Why?

I really liked this small (but big for the area) town.

Russ got a SALAD!

The stone wall was impressive, too.

We didn't see any bison. They were on the other side of the hill.

The bison enclosure.

The sound of the wind dominated the land.

Three-level limestone barn with wagon ramps.

In the RV parking area.

Dodge City started off with shit. Cow shit. As we came into town, several loaded livestock trailers passed us. When we parked and got out of the car, it was clear that those cows had digestive issues. It became obvious to us that cows were standard fare in this town, because of the two processing plants that kill about 10,000 cows per day between them. I don't blame the cows for losing their shit.

The next morning, rain was beginning to fall and would continue for our first two days. We had a leisurely morning and made it into town for lunch at the Central Station Bar and Grill. Following lunch, we drove out the other side of town to the Santa Fe Trail Tracks. The Santa Fe Trail was a purely commercial affair, no Oregon style trail settlers, just goods moving from Franklin, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. There were so many heavily loaded wagons from 1821 to 1880 that the tracks are wide and can be seen from the air. The trail ceased to be used when the railroad connection was completed. As we walked the short trail with wooden bridges over the track areas, a meadowlark was singing. It felt lonely, ironic considering how many passed over this ridge.

The bar was in the old railway station.

Russ prepares to attack his sandwich.

It was a classic railway station building.

The pull off was well marked, but we were glad to not have the trailer on the steep entrance.

Looking over the Arkansas river. It was nearly dry.

The trail went across the top of the hill, avoiding the deep mud.

Theoretically, you can see tracks perpendicular to the wooden path.

We went to the Boot Hill Museum, of course, because that is what you do in Dodge City. Someone was careful to save a lot of items from the town's history; the collection was impressive. They had built a replica of the 1870 Front Street and filled it with photos and artifacts. The cemetery is still there, and they moved the old Fort Dodge jailhouse onto the museum grounds.

Part of the cemetery.

1870 Front Street.

Inside the main museum building.

Tourists are an important part of the local economy.

We ate dinner at Dodge City Brewing. I was impressed with the beer, the pizza, and the photography on the walls. Someone knows how to use a camera. The place stayed pretty full of what mostly seemed to be locals, so we picked a good place. Russ also bought a T-Shirt with their awesome logo.

On the corner of 3rd and Spruce.

Good beer. Great logo design.

He ate the whole thing!

Our final day started with coffee and more cows. Breakfast was at Red Beard Coffee. I think it was my favorite food spot in Dodge City, just a comfortable coffeehouse. After breakfast, we drove out to the livestock overlook at the edge of town to see the two packing plants and the feedlot that supports them. The field (unrelated to the packing plants) in front of the parking loop had a small group of young cows grazing. They all stopped and approached the fence to interact with us. They seemed confused. It's sad to think that their fate is not far off from the thousands of cow filling the feedlot below them.

We took our cow photos and moved on to the chores. I did some quick food shopping, we took the truck through a car wash, Russ washed the lunch dishes, and I did laundry. Dinner was at King Buffet, a Chinese style buffet, which was pretty good. It's been a while since we ate Chinese food.

Sunrise over the (now dry) Arkansas River from our RV Park.

They take decor seriously here in Kansas.

We only found this because it's across from the brewery.

Tin and fall themes make for great ambience.

My breakfast biscuit sandwich and pumpkin latte.

You can see the Excel plant behind the center cow.

Russ appreciates the aroma.

They are watching us.

The low area was a sea of cows, but it doesn't show with the sun like this.

Car wash. It was needed after the shit storm.

Russ pays for the wash.

King Buffet.

We have a short drive tomorrow to the Shortgrass Prairie. Should be a nice day, even though it is definitely getting colder. We were in the low thirties last night. I'm glad to be in our warm trailer.