Friday, October 31, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
National Park Trip Oct 2014
Ready for some more National Parks!! We are adding three more to our list!
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Big Bend National Park
Friday Oct 10
We scooped Jadeyn up from school and hit the road just in time for Denver Friday traffic. Dang. We
should have pulled him out of school a few hours early. It was a solid 6
hour drive. Jadeyn entertained himself, and decided to watch Frozen
and finally fell asleep around 8:45. Kevin and I got to listen to
Killing Kennedy. We pulled into lovely Las Vegas, NM right at 10pm.
Welcome to the southwest. Christmas lights, lighted icicles, cactus's,
bright colors, random yard statues inside the hotel. Our room had hot
pink pillows on top of turquoise sheets. The towels in the bathroom
will sure wake you up in the morning. Dark blue on canary yellow! But
the beds were comfy and we slept well.
Saturday Oct 11
We woke up in our hotel room to
Jadeyn's questions: Does this place have a bathroom? Wow, I can't see a
thing (as we hear him start to go to the bathroom and we cringe hoping
he is aiming) Can I tell you something? Lazer tag is really good in the
dark! Then he jumps into bed and snuggles up to Kevin then: Dad, are you
cold yet? "Cause I'm trying to steal all your heat! Well, I guess it
is time to wake up. Breakfast: nice to eat, incredibly helpful service,
and okay food. The front desk guy poured our drink mix apple and orange
juice, made our very crispy waffles, etc. On the road again!
We
passed through Roswell, NM on the way. We are staying there on our way
back, but it was a blast to see just how many little green aliens we
could spot! Jadeyn became obsessed with UFOs! We played 20 questions
for quite a bit of the drive and man it was fun to hear Jadeyn's
questions: is it alive, is it a squid, is it made out of wood, is it a
doofus? So funny.
We finally made it to Carlsbad Caverns
National Park! Something from my bucket list!!! Yay! We found out that
all the ranger programs were full, but the self guided tour goes all
the same places but you just don't experience the blackness and ranger
stories. So we decided to do it. We started Jadeyn on his Junior
Ranger program and had lunch. Beautiful and strange country out here:
yucca plants, spikey Dr Suess looking things, cactuses for miles and
miles. So, all the focus is on the bats so we really hadn't thought a
whole lot about what the cave would be like. We were amazed. It was
massive! And the formations were spectacular. Stalactites and
stalagmites 15 to 30 feet long, soda straws that were longer than us.
Draperies and cave popcorn all over. There was even a really strange
formation we had never seen before called a lion's tail. A long
stalactite with cave popcorn only on the end. The cave just kept going
and going and kept being spectacular. All in all we walked about 2
miles throughout the cave and were amazed at every corner. Just
thinking about the early explorers of the cave blew our minds. Looking
up made us dizzy. Wow!
After the cave, Jadeyn finished his Junior Ranger book and he received his badge. He did much better on his pledge this time we are happy to report and the ranger added that he pledged to eat all his vegetables too! So we had an hour to kill before the bat flight program, so we walked up and down the nature trail testing out our pedometers. Mine it totally messed up counting only half of my steps. I must walk weird! So everyone gathered in the bat amphitheater to await the main event. Barn swallows were swooping and circling and showing off for us at the mouth of the cave. I think they were trying to steal the spotlight or else they were the pre-program. Ranger Rick arrived and started talking about the rules to watch the bats: no cameras, cell phones, noise, standing, etc, but he did it all with hilarious jokes. We were all excited, but along with all the awesome information he was giving us, we got the feeling he was killing time. Oh no. All the sparrows went back into the cave and still no bats. He said that last night had a good showing, but this morning people waiting for the bats return didn't see any bats. Oh please don't tell me that they left this morning and we missed them by one day! It would be so disappointing. They have most recently been coming out by 6:15 and 6:25 at the latest. It was 6:45. I was looking bleak.
Finally, we saw two little bats pop out and make a circle above us. Here they come!! Out they poured in bursts, each time the group circled in a swarm right at the mouth of the cave before flying out. We had so many swoop mighty close to our heads, it was exhilarating! It was perfect! We stayed and watched them as long as we could until we couldn't even see the little guys flapping around anymore. What a day! Back to Carlsbad to our hotel. Much nicer than last night's. Jadeyn busied himself with bouncing and flipping between the two beds. He did belly flops saying he was a sugar glider! Spectacular day!
Sunday Oct 12
Up
for breakfast which was a little better than yesterday's and on the
road for Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Now this is the one on the
trip that we know the least about, but we have two nice hikes planned
out. During breakfast we had watched the news coverage on the
Albuquerque balloon festival on its final day. I guess the winds were
really high which prevented the mass ascension. Well, we discovered
that the wind really was amazingly strong.
Our first hike was
McKittrick Canyon. The most incredible thing that was so new to us was
hiking through so many cactuses and yucca plants. All the Prickly Pear
Cactus had large dark red fruits on them and the branching cactus had
their yellow pointy fruits. None of the yucca were in bloom, but the
remnants of their heavy blossoms still loomed 12 feet above our heads.
We were so surprised to still see so many wildflowers still in bloom.
Bright oranges and yellows! So we are in the Guadalupe Mountain range.
The mountains weren't massive, but the steep sides were all green,
covered in shrubs; with a pure blue sky and rapidly moving white puffy
clouds, it was really beautiful! The hike lead us along a canyon edge
and occasionally we would drop down into a riverbed which sometimes had
water, sometimes didn't. It was a mystery each time we crossed it:
where did the water go? We finally came to a place where the river was
flowing and then simply disappeared in the rocks! It went completely
underground. Our destination was the Pratt Lodge. A stone cabin in a
beautiful tree filled oasis. We had lunch on a picnic table, caught
some giant beetles and started back. We saw many lizards, two snakes a
heart shaped cactus. 4.6 miles round trip and Jadeyn did great. He was
dragging a little by the end, but we started telling him stories about
World of Warcraft and Star Wars. By the time we finished the hike,
Jadeyn said he was ready to fall asleep and couldn't believe we were
planning another hike!
We only had about 45 minutes reprieve at the
visitor's center and then we hit the trail again. This time Devil's
Hall. The end of the trail is a natural staircase that is supposed to
be really cool, and there are a lot of boulders to clamber over along
the way. The cactuses were plentiful at the beginning of this trail and
Jadeyn was fascinated by the big red fruits and wanted to collect
them. He proudly carried several along the way, we cut one open to
discover a beet red mushy inside filled with black seeds and it was
actually sweet smelling and would make a tasty meal for lots of
creatures. We chucked some at a rock and there was a big red explosion
splattered all over! Well, soon Jadeyn discovered that those little
devils had a microscopic defense: tiny hair-like spines and Jadeyn had a
ton of them embedded in his little hands. Kevin and I got quite a few
ourselves but nowhere near as many as him! Poor guy! We made it only a
few minutes at time before he would insist on stopping to work on the
spikes which were "hurting like insane!" It made for some slow going at
first. The second mile dropped us into a dry river wash and that was a
blast. Massive boulders and rocks that we had to scramble over.
Jadeyn got his second wind and chose all the most difficult routes. We
caught a nice little lizard with yellow, green and blue on his belly.
Big bugs and even a dead tarantula!
This place is going to be
breathtaking in about two more weeks when the maple and oak and madrones
change color. Several had already changed and had perfect puddles of
color on the white rock. We almost made it they full second mile in the
wash, following the cairn piles, when Jadeyn desperately needed a
break. It was about 4:30 and the wind was coming in intense gusts that
would knock our hats off. So with Jadeyn being worn out and the sun
starting to go behind the mountain, we decided to turn back. We were
really proud of Jadeyn. All in all, 9.2 miles. Not bad for two little
feet.
Monday Oct 13
Breakfast
was the best yet! Hot chocolate, real sausage and Texas shaped
waffles! Funny.
Three hours to Big Bend National Park. Driving in the middle of nowhere
with random run down houses and trailer homes really made us think we
had jumped into the middle of the movie Tremors, totally. Our welcome
to the park led us on a dirt road (Old Maverick Rd) and a beautiful
falcon flying overhead. We saw an old homestead built of rock and mud
with a cactus roof, only about 4 or 5 feet tall.
Santa Elena Overlook:
Jadeyn's first look at Mexico across the Rio Grande River. We walked
down to the river and crossed cracked mud with chunks 2 inches thick.
We found a trail that climbed up and up switchbacks until we were about
800 feet above the river and then back down into a different world. In
the shadow of the canyon, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees and
suddenly we were walking through 15 foot grasses and vines, it was like a
tropical oasis. It was beautiful and there were butterflies
everywhere! We discovered tracks in the mud that probably belonged to
coyote, racoon and all sorts if birds. It was so pretty.
We had heard that this park has the most varied of landscapes and we were about to witness it. From the complete deserts of Texas, to the oasis of the land near the river, to volcanic mounds of white turned to ash with black pumice protruding out, to beautiful mountains covered in green. We made our way toward the Chisos Basin nestled in the middle of the park where we would be staying tonight. The drive was so beautiful as we entered these steep mountains and felt like we were not at all in Texas. Granted the mountains were only about 6,000 feet, but they were beautiful! We were lucky enough to get two nights at the Lodge and it was worth it. The room was perfect and felt just like our own cabin. We walked down to the Window Overlook where all the rainwater from the whole Chisos Basin rushes down to a V shaped valley called the window and spills out to the desert floor below. Beautiful.
Tuesday Oct 14
Up and at 'em early: 6:45, but 5:45 in
our minds. Funny thing was it was still so absolutely pitch black
outside. The stars were still brilliantly bright, but with the addition
of the moon, the Milky Way had faded. You know the saying that the
early bird gets the worm...well, the early hikers see the bears! On our
way to the trail head, not 15 feet from the road was a beautiful black
bear happily munching on the prickly pear fruits. He delicately bit off
the end of each fruit and sucked the innards out leaving the rest of
the shriveled pod. We were able to watch him for about eight minutes as
he dined and destroyed the cactus, then he ambled on up the hillside!
Wow, pretty awesome!
There was only one other car at the trail-head, so
we practically had the mountain to ourselves. The entire hike was
uphill with switchbacks, but so beautiful. We had to hike fast to get
warm since it was only about 55 degrees and the sun hadn't come up over
the mountain yet. Wildflowers mixed with cactus lined every step of the
path. We kept our eyes peeled for any more amazing creatures along the
way. As the sun crept higher in the sky, the mountains across the way
began to illuminate and burst with color. Magnificent. We made it to
the top and were greeted by amazing mountains and cliffs on all sides to
take our breath away. So rewarding.
The way down was completely
entertaining. We played: what is your favorite or least favorite?
Everything from color to Star Wars character, fruit to roller coaster.
We played it the whole way down. All in all, the hike was 4.3 miles.
What did we see on the way down? Jadeyn was bounding downhill and
somehow miraculously managed to not step on a pile of reptiles. Kevin
jumped so high because it seriously looked like a coiled snake and it
was between him and his boy! It turned out to be two big alligator
lizards, the largest lizards found at Big Bend. We only just learned
about them last night reading a trivia card and then we find two of
them! We missed a tarantula as reported by fellow hikers, but hopefully
we will get to see a live one!!
We happily piled back
into the Jeep completely rewarded by such a fun and amazing hike. Off
to Panther Junction visitor's center to ask questions and pick up a Jr
Ranger booklet. They had two dinosaur skulls bronzed (a T-Rex and a
giant alligator). Jadeyn really thought they were cool to climb on. We
found a nice place to have lunch where there was a small watering hole
that early settlers had rigged a windmill to pump the water in and keep
the source consistent. It was a little oasis in the middle of the hot
dessert. Songbirds, bugs and all sorts of things flocked there. We
grilled chicken quesadillas in the shade of a huge cottonwood and then
walked through the nature trail. Then we went on a hunt for scorpions.
I'd still never seen on in the wild and Kevin was determined to find
one for me. It didn't take flipping over too many rocks for him to
startle a big black juicy one. He was not happy to be discovered
either. He put up his pincers and strikes again and again at a stick
with his tail. It was an impressive display.
Back on
the main road, we again searched for any wildlife. Up ahead, in the
middle of the road, we saw a smallish bird and all at once we shouted:
road runner!! He ran to the side of the road as we got closer, flew
about three feet and then ran again and watched us. They really are
speedy little devils.
Off to Ernst Tinaja. It is a five mile Jeep
trail that seriously led us out into the middle of nowhere. No sign of
water, people, civilization...nothing. Along the way, we scanned both
sides of the road for Javalinas since Jadeyn said: now this is pig
country!! We made it to the trail head (not another sole anywhere) and
hiked up a wide wash of strange layered rock and sandstone. Several of
the rocks were riddled with fossilized mussel shells. We built cairns
to guide us back, but then realized we were deep in a canyon and there
would only be one way to go. It was hotter than blazes out there! As
we neared our destination, the layered rock walls, oranges and browns,
slanted every which way as if a giant layer cake had been dropped on
rocks and bent to form around the rocks beneath. Then we saw our first
pot hole. The first two weren't too deep of wide, but the third was so
deep and the sides so steep that there would be absolutely no way to
climb out if you fell in. The murky water was teeming with insects
too. We hiked further up the canyon beyond and found that it had been
created by years and years of flash floods barreling down the canyon.
The rock directly above the hole had been worn perfectly smooth and
sloped down so fast that anything dropped would slide right in.
In the
midst of this scorching desert though, we found startling beauty tucked
away in this canyon. Bright yellow honey suckle or a trumpet type of
vine and then a plant that simply exploded with color! Yellow flowers
with tons of yellow fringe shooting out of the center! As we hiked
back, we overturned quite a few more rocks in search of the illusive
tarantula, or at least another scorpion. We were finally successful
when Jadeyn and I found a pale beige scorpion and a nice juicy
millipede.
After that, we headed toward another
visitor's center to grab some hot chocolate for the morning. As we were
getting out of the Jeep, another road runner came right up to us. He
paused, watched us and then lifted his tail feathers and came closer.
He went very purposely towards the Jeep, went around to the front and
immediately started serving himself dinner: he pecked all the bugs from
the front fender. He knew right where the good stuff was!
We
were trying to find a Rio Grande overlook and it had us on a roadside
where an irrigation canal ran along the road. Way up ahead we saw and
animal figure at the edge of the canal. From a distance it looked like a
fox or something. I stuck the camera out the window and started taking
pictures, It heard us as we got closer, so Kevin stepped on the gas.
That's when we recognized it: a mountain lion!!!! It perched there on
the side of the canal trying to figure out how to jump it, then it
leaped and disappeared in the grasses. Wow! We never thought we would
be lucky enough to see a mountain lion. There are approximately 24 of
them in the park which is 1,252 square miles. We realized from the size
of the cat that it had to be a youngster because it was so small. We
talked to another couple who saw it in the same place and they got to
see the whole family:a mom and two cubs!! A little later we drove the
same route in hopes of getting another glimpse, but instead we happened
upon a beautiful large coyote! Beautiful animal!
We did a
nature walk that lead us to the banks of the Rio Grande and into the
cool oasis of 12 foot high grasses and cattails. We saw turtles and
fish as we crossed a dock surrounded by a jungle of grasses, And then
the trail switched: oasis on one side cactus on the other and then soon
all desert as we overlooked the Rio Grande and a little Mexican village
complete with burros grazing the hillside. Along the trail, a Mexican
craftsman had placed little figures made of sire and beads: scorpions,
roadrunners, snakes and also large pained walking sticks and then a jar
for payment. Jadeyn picked out a scorpion, of course, for $6.
When you moved, silt stirred up murking up the water. We stayed til the sun went down then hit the road again. It was dusk so we thought for sure we would spot my illusive tarantula on the road, but nope. Instead we had a young coyote run out in the road right in front of us, lead around and bound back the way he came. And we also startled a large desert hare. By the time we got back to the lodge, Jadeyn had fallen asleep so we tucked him in. As we got ready for bed I mentioned that we forgot to pop popcorn again tonight. Jadeyn's eyes popped open and he said: what mom? What did you say about popcorn!? Oh dear, he was awake now! We took him out on the balcony to see the Milky Way and eventually he fell back asleep. Great day. 7:30am to 8:45pm. Full day and boy we were lucky with the animals!
Wednesday Oct 15
Well, our last
morning in the National Parks. We have been so impressed by this park.
We had no idea what to expect and were impressed at every turn. It had
everything from wet grasslands, river bottom lands, deserts all the way
up to mountains.
Stepping outside into the brisk
morning in our shorts and jackets, we literally ran to the visitor's
center to keep warm! This morning Jadeyn had dutifully worked on his
Jr Ranger Book to make sure he got it done before we left. As the
Ranger graded his booklet, he watched intently and added in the details
telling him all about the mountain lion, the bear, coyote, even the road
runner pecking the bugs off our car. The ranger thought he was
adorable. They gave him his certificate, badge, sticker and even a boy
scout badge! He has no idea how much that badge will mean to him when
he is in scouts. We bought our mug at the shop. While we checked out of
the lodge, we decided to take one last look at the beautiful basin so
we hiked the trail to the window overlook. Such beautiful country, we
decided that we would definitely like to come back in several years and
see it in the springtime. The wild flowers in the fall are so
beautiful, they must be incredible in the spring.
One of
our stops on the way out of the park was the dinosaur fossil exhibit.
They had told us that they are beginning construction on a completely
amazing fossil exhibit, so this one wasn't that impressive, but we had
fun with it. W raced up the pathways to read the exhibits and then we
went on an expedition to interpret the various footprints in the sand.
Finally one last scorpion hunt. We found a small beige one. Right
before we were ready to leave, I discovered a little chubby horny toad
sunning himself on the sand! He was perfectly camouflaged and groggy
from the sun! We caught him and he flattened his body out trying to
make himself bigger. He was really sweet! We did a road nature trail
too which lead us through the desert and gave excellent descriptions of
the cactuses and other plants. The last stop was the final visitor's
center. I felt this one was the most informative. we checked out a
display that showed the main uses of each of the desert plants, like
making candles from candellia, rope from sotol or the shin dagger
plants. We told Jadeyn to look at the last giant plant that looks so
mean it could pierce you through. We asked him if he remembered the
golden stuff he puts on his cereal every morning: agave comes from the
agave plant. First words out of his mouth were: thank you plant!!
Thursday Oct 16
Enjoyed yet another delicious
breakfast at the hotel and then set off to explore San Antonio. We
already know that we really aren't city type people. We would much
rather be out in the wilderness than have everything at our fingertips
but surrounded by buildings and people. We hadn't realized how much we
had already passed that on to Jadeyn. He actually seemed a little
afraid of the city, well, nervous anyway. We saw the Spur's stadium,
pretty cool.
We found the Alamo. On the way, Jadeyn had asked what the
Alamo was all about. I started telling him all the details I knew:
General Travis, 13 day standoff, 185 against 5000, etc. Then Kevin blew
my secret. He told Jadeyn that I was getting all my info from a Marty
Robbins song! Busted, but at least I was accurate. We have to admit,
we were a little disappointed by the info at the Alamo. I guess they
have displays that are rotated every few months. So there was a display
of weapons, then a brief section on the full history of the Texas area
from the 1400s to present. So there was hardly any info at all on the
actual story of the Alamo. There was supposed to be an informative
movie, but the theater was under construction so we didn't get to see
that either. But, bottom line, the grounds were beautiful, trees were
amazing and the crumbly buildings made a very picturesque background.
The river area felt about 10 degrees cooler than the surface street. Restaurants lined both sides with waterfront tables. We took one of the river boat tours and completely enjoyed learning about the history of the place and all the unique details about the buildings and areas.
Lunch was entertaining as Jadeyn was thrilled by all the pigeons and ducks that surrounded us picking up tiny scraps of food. We saved dessert for the Rainforest Cafe especially for Jadeyn. What a treat. We had the towering volcano dessert: a mountain of brownies and lava fudge covering vanilla ice cream and whip cream on top. Wow, we were stuffed!!
Friday Oct 17
SeaWorld!!!! We just couldn't set foot
in Texas without a trip to SeaWorld. Because they are on winter hours,
they didn't open until 12pm so what did we do to entertain ourselves?
We went to a car dealership and checked out a few vehicles and then went
to Toys R Us. Jadeyn hasn't been in a massive toy store since he was
little and he was blown away especially by the Lego section!! So were
we. We had fun looking at all the stuff and making plans for
Christmas. SeaWorld was so much fun as usual. We decided that while
the exhibits weren't quite as good as the other ones (no underwater
viewing areas, or manta ray petting areas) the shows were top notch! We
got to see a performance that we had never seen before. White sided
dolphins and beluga whales were in the shows. The Belugas are amazing
creatures and can really show their personality. We were quite
impressed. The best show was the last one where they brought out the
orcas. We sat in the splash zone of course (Jadeyn had been
disappointed that he hadn't gotten wet on the first show, so we sat nice
and close). He loved the pre-show entertainment of the clown in the
audience. The show was fantastic and it never ceases to amaze us to
watch the grace of these magnificent creatures! Well, when the
splashing time came, we really weren't prepared for the quantity of
water that these big guys could throw! The first wave hit us, Kevin hit
behind Jadeyn while Jadeyn and I caught it right in the face! I ducked
for the second wave, so I got soaked front and back!! Jadeyn was in
heaven, licking the salt water off his face! There was a baby orca who
followed her mother around during the whole show. The mom would do her
tricks and the little one would simply follow her around. Sweet. Well,
the sun was starting to go down and that meant that the Halloween part
was soon to begin. There were places marked out on the map where the
halloween stuff would be happening so patrons would know where to avoid
if they didn't want to see any of it. Well, since it was still daylight
and they were still setting up, we walked through it. Um, bad move
parents. It was really quite scary already. hospital set first,
graveyard next, carnival clowns, zombies and at that point we escaped
into the penguin exhibit for a break. Jadeyn didn't want to go back
out, but thankfully, there was just the pirate section left, and the
actors were really just pirates, nothing freaky thank goodness. Well,
we learned our lesson tonight and ended up sleeping in Jadeyn's bed with
him. We felt terrible!Saturday Oct 18
What an amazingly fun trip, and we filled it jam packed with awesome stuff. On the road home now. We are spending the night is Roswell, NM because honestly, with the route we took, there was not much else that was remotely interesting along the way. After last night's little adventure in haunting, we decided to steer clear of any alien stuff just in case. We didn't want to somehow manage to traumatize Jadeyn two nights in a row. So we found a local free zoo! It was a pretty cool one. Very spaced out with nice enclosures for the animals. We just wandered around, read about the different animals and enjoyed the evening. We even got to watch two brown bear wrestle for quite a while. There was a funny park inside the zoo too with ancient equipment. I mean ancient! So old I even took pictures! We found our hotel proudly sporting a nice green alien out front and a downed space ship inside the fish tank. Nice place. We took a dip in the hot tub and swimming pool before bed.
Sunday Oct 19
Well, it was nice to split the return
home into two 8 hour sections, it seemed to go quicker than we
expected. Jadeyn is the best traveler! It helps that we have been
doing long trips with him since he was born. Most kids would have gone
crazy doing 2700 miles and 29 hours of driving, but this boy never once
complained! We were 40 minutes from home when he made his first
complaint: how much further is it 'cause I really have to go to the
bathroom! He read and did math in the back seat and was happy as could
be. When we are gone that long, its always a little strange to come
back home. It was a beautiful day outside so we opened the windows and
were practically knocked over by the brilliant reds and oranges in the
back yard. All the leaves had changed while we were gone. Beautiful!
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