Category ArchiveEverywhere Once |

Upon Further Reflection

by Brian on May 29, 2012 in New Mexico, Travel, United States

We lead pretty good lives, so there isn’t much to lament. In fact, I often think that if a Genie were to appear offering me the chance to magically change anything in my past, I’d have to politely decline the invitation (politely, because it’s never a good idea to piss-off an all-powerful Genie).

After all, everything in my past leads to this present, which I happen to think is pretty great. If I made different choices along the way, I wouldn’t be where I am today. And who’s to say that would be better? I happen to think it probably wouldn’t be.

None of that, however, prevented me from gritting my teeth in regret at having traded in our old Audi as I tried to navigate our Jeep through the crazy winding roads that took us from Silver City, NM, to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

Every hand-over-hand turn screamed for an automobile with tighter cornering and better downshifting ability. I knew I was overtaxing the Jeep’s abilities when I started to smell burning breaks. With great sadness, I had to ease back on the throttle.

Meantime, our iPod random shuffle kept selecting classical music, making the entire episode feel like a Lexus commercial. I’d like to think the iPod missed our old car too. More likely, it was just mocking me.

Petroglyph National Monument

by Brian on January 26, 2012 in New Mexico, Travel, United States

It is believed Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque, New Mexico contains over 25,000 stone carvings created some 800 years ago. On our visit, I think we saw at least as many of these guys . . .

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

by Brian on January 23, 2012 in New Mexico, Travel, United States

Our love for subterranean spaces is something we discovered only within the last year. It began with our spelunking trip in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave where we learned there are better ways to experience the underworld than along paved paths. There’s just something unnatural about the aluminum handrails and colored ceiling lights that are the hallmark of developed cave tours. Far better, in our view, to turn on a headlamp and squeeze into pitch black sections few other people get to see.

White Sands National Monument

by Brian on January 18, 2012 in New Mexico, Travel, United States

Easily mistaken for snow, these brilliantly white rolling drifts are actually the world’s largest gypsum dunefield.

The 275 square mile New Mexico desert, known as White Sands National Monument, is a remarkable place both for its beauty and its improbability. Gypsum dissolves in water and normally is washed out to sea before it can grow into such large dunes. In White Sands, however, gypsum washed down from the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains remains trapped in the Tularosa Basin, where it accumulates into a snow white desert.

Santa Fe for Sale

by Brian on January 13, 2012 in New Mexico, Travel, United States

Santa Fe, New Mexico may not literally be for sale, but it sure seems as if everything else in town is. The downtown Plaza, listed as a National Historic Landmark, struck us as a giant adobe shopping mall. Street front stores sell everything from tourist memorabilia to art. Nearby passageways open to larger interior malls with even more retail options. Outside, street merchants pedal crafts and Native American jewelry. Santa Fe is a shopper’s paradise. Fortunately for us, though, there is plenty more to see and do in New Mexico’s state capitol.