Ft. Davis and Home for Thanksgiving

After leaving the Bosque del Apache we made a quick stop in El Paso for service on our RV chassis.  The dust was blowing so we were welcomed back properly to West Texas!  We decided to head to Ft. Davis for a few days before we went to visit with family in Odessa for Thanksgiving.

 

View from skyline trail of Ft. Davis area

 

It was so nice to be in Ft. Davis again.  I had forgotten just how dark those night skies can be (and on our trip we’ve been seeing some pretty good night skies).  We used to visit Ft. Davis frequently when we lived in West Texas but it had been years since our last trip.

Javalina checking out the campground

 
Davis Mountain State Park was quiet with only a few campers.  Javalina wandered through our campsite at regular intervals and Maya became most interested in them.  It did get pretty cold a couple of nights, but the days were warm.  We hiked, visited the McDonald Observatory for a ‘Sky Party,’ drove around some and generally slowed down a bit.  These past 5 months we have travelled at a pretty good pace and crossed time zones frequently.  So we needed to take some time to get back in a Texas frame of mind. 

Thanksgiving in Odessa with family was very nice.  We had the traditional turkey and trimmings and lots of catching up to do.  David and I will be travelling to San Antonio in just a few days and are hoping to see many of our friends there very soon.

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

Snow geese and other light geese taking flight

November 10th marked our 5 month anniversary of travelling in our RV and being ‘On the Road with Maya.’  And in that time we had driven almost 10,000 miles!  That meant we needed to get our first service for the Sprinter chassis – oil change, fluid check, etc.  From Santa Fe, the nearest authorized service center was El Paso and that suited our need to head south and stay ahead of the cold temperatures.  Lucky for us and right on our way was the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near San Antonio, New Mexico (also home of the Buckhorn Cafe, famous for their green chile cheeseburgers). We had time and warm enough weather for a couple of days stop.

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

 
Although David and I had been doing some birding all along our travels, we had not gone specifically to one birding destination. So we decided it was about time. The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is on the Central Flyway for migrating birds and is the winter home of thousands of sandhill cranes, geese and waterfowl. We had never been to the refuge and were excited to be there during migration and just a week before the 25th Festival of the Cranes.  The Festival marks the arrival of the first large waves of migrating sandhill cranes and snow geese.  It is  not uncommon to see 3,000 to 8,000 cranes and 30,000 to 40,000 geese during this time.

Sandhill cranes at sunset

Marsh area at the Bosque

The wave of migrating birds had just begun to arrive and David and I estimated that we saw about a thousand cranes and maybe 10,000 snow geese plus Canadian geese, Ross’s geese, thousands of ducks – mallards, pintails, buffleheads, black bellied whistling duck, blue-winged teal and cormorants and coots .  Throw in some white ibis, night herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills, brown thrashers, harriers, American kestrels, red tail hawks, an Aplomado falcon, and these two novice birders had a great time.  We saw more birds, we just weren’t good enough and quick enough to identify them all.  But what fun to try and what a great place to work on it!  It has inspired us to do more birding.  So, look for us on the Texas Coast this winter…

 

A Return to Santa Fe and the Pecos Wilderness

Fallen aspen leaves, Pecos Wilderness

For several weeks colder weather has been pushing us farther south and to lower altitudes and now the holidays are fast approaching.  So we are headed back to Texas.  We have been having so many adventures and such great fun that our time away has really flown by.  But we will be glad to be seeing family and friends very soon.

It was fitting on our way back that we returned to Santa Fe, our first stop in June when our adventure began.  During our week in Santa Fe we took several hikes in the Pecos Wilderness, reconnected with some friends we made at our campground in June and visited my cousin, Carol Ann.

Frozen Nambe Lake, Pecos Wilderness

At an elevation of over 10,000 feet, the Pecos Wilderness was getting cold.  Many of the streams and lakes were starting to ice over and the aspen leaves had fallen.  We had never hiked the Pecos at this time of year and although the hiking was cold, it kept most people away leaving us almost alone in the wilderness.  No snow had fallen yet and the views were more open through the bare aspen trunks.  Each season has its beauty and we enjoyed the quietness of approaching winter.



Nambe Creek

On top of Hamilton Mesa, Pecos Wilderness

 

One afternoon we met friends Keri and Melody and their dog, Oso, who now live in Santa Fe.  They were the first friends we made on our journey.  Back in June we were staying at Hyde Memorial State Park and Maya and Oso (a handsome Great Pyrenees) became buddies, so we did too. We found out that Keri and Melody had just arrived in Santa Fe from Rhode Island and were camping until they could find a place to live.  It was so good to catch up and see them happy and settled in Santa Fe.  Oso and Maya had some catching up to do too and seemed to really enjoy their time in the dog park.

Keri, Maya, Oso and Melody

It was also wonderful to reconnect with my cousin, Carol Ann, that I hadn’t seen in many years.  She recently built the cutest little adobe house not too far from downtown Santa Fe.  We had a wonderful New Mexican dinner together at the Zia Diner and then a tour of her house.  So much fun!

Although we had some chilly hikes up in the Pecos, Santa Fe itself had been enjoying unseasonably warm weather.  But as the weekend drew near a front was  on the way with snow in the forecast and temperatures at night in the teens.  Time to move on again…. 

Monument Valley

Sunset on West and East Mitten, Monument Valley

The four corners of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico have always attracted us.  This area is so rich with beauty, history, archaeology and geology that it would take many visits to enjoy even a fraction of what is there.  Like many places that we have visited in the past few weeks, Monument Valley was a place we had passed through before but wanted to spend more time exploring. 



Hidden Arch near our campground

Monument Valley is located in the Navajo Nation and its name in Navajo means 'moonlight against the rocks.'  It is always an amazing place, but at night and with moonlight it becomes magical.  We just happened to arrive in time to take the last full moon tour of the season.  Our Navajo Guide drove us and 7 others into the back country to watch the moon rise over Monument Valley and to view the rock formations in the moonlight.  

Once the sun went down we huddled together to keep warm in the open vehicle.  Our guide, Bennett, told us stories of the Navajo in Monument Valley as well as the more recent history of movies and movie stars like John Wayne and Johnny Depp (who plays Tonto in a new movie to be out soon).

Our campsite in the Valley

 Navajo 'campground dog'

 

Many of the Navajo that live in the remote parts of the reservation still live with no electricity, water or indoor plumbing.  And much of the water must be hauled to their homes.  Children have long commutes to even get to the school bus stops and then longer rides into school.  David and I can vouch for the roughness of the roads.  Bennett joked that there were two road conditions, bad and worse.  He called the road that we were driving that night for our tour a 'Navajo Roller Coaster.'

Our campground was right in the valley and had wonderful views.  One of the local Navajo family's dog hung out at the campground.  He was so sweet and Maya loved him.  It was all we could do not to take him with us.  But we had to go so like the Navajo, we didn't say goodbye. The Navajo don't use a word for good bye, the translation is more like - 'see you when I see you.'

 

Eagle Mesa

 

 

Standing on the Corner...

Good things don't last forever (darn it!) and our campground in the Coconino National Forest was closing for the season in just a few days.  We decided that the Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona was to be our next adventure.  Also on Route 66 in Winslow was architect and designer, Mary Colter's masterpiece, La Posada, the "Last Great Railroad Hotel."

Meteor Crater, about 20 miles west of Winslow

La Posada means the resting place and it was the last and most elegant of the great Fred Harvey Hotels built by the Santa Fe Railroad.  Mary Colter designed the hotel as a fabulous Spanish hacienda and it was the only project for which she was able to design the buildings, decorate the interiors, plan the gardens and oversee construction.  Although Mary Colter is most famous for her magnificent buildings at the Grand Canyon, La Posada was her favorite.

Place mat designed by Mary Colter for the dining room at La Posada

But time was not kind to La Posada.  People stopped riding trains, planes flew farther and faster and Route 66 was bypassed and abandoned.  La Posada was closed in 1958 and gutted and turned into offices by the railroad.  Then the hotel was scheduled to be torn down - a beautiful American building and piece of history in ruins.  Fortunately it was bought in 1997 and is slowly being returned to its former glory.  Each year a few more rooms or a new garden is restored. 

David and I dined in La Posada's elegant restaurant, The Turquoise Room.  Our meal was beautifully presented and featured local and organic ingredients.  David had prime rib with fresh vegetables (which he actually ate!) and a potato.  I had the chipolte rubbed smoked chicken with tomatillo sauce, black beans, tamale and fresh vegetables.  The food was as tasty as it was pretty.

It was good to see La Posada, Route 66 and Historic Downtown Winslow being restored and rediscovered.

Signature Soup - Black Bean & Corn Chowder with Chipolte Sauce

 

Our entrees - Yum!

Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona

Looking through the maples at the canyon walls

Our time in Oak Creek Canyon and the Coconino National Forest was magical. Maybe it was the peace and beauty of the canyon or maybe our chakras were all out of whack and being near Sedona did the trick - whatever the reason - we felt wonderful!  We stayed in Pine Flat Campground in the national forest. The water at the campground was ice cold and tasted heavenly.  A nearby spring was the source and people from all around the area made trips to the spring to get the water.  So, I guess it could have been the water...

West Fork of Oak Creek

 

We hiked in the canyon most days and in the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness around Sedona a few times.  Neither David nor I had ever been to Sedona so it was fun to see this 'woo woo' place that we had heard about for years.  The red rock scenery was amazing but what a touristy and pricey town.  I had a $2 apple and a small one at that.  It was organic and it tasted great, but needless to say, I didn't buy a dozen.  Bring lots of money with you if you come to Sedona.  But the air, water and scenery are free in Oak Creek Canyon. 

Crossing Oak Creek

More Maples

 

 

Hiking near Sedona

 

Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness

 

 

 

Lake Havasu City to Flagstaff, AZ



Oak Creek Canyon near Flagstaff, AZ





After spending time in Lake Havasu City and the Phoenix area, it would have been easy to forget that we were well into fall.  But when we looked at the weather to see about going back to Utah, it was getting below freezing most nights.  Northern Arizona was still pretty moderate, so we decided to play it safe and not go back to Utah. 

We had stayed a few nights in Oak Creek Canyon near Flagstaff on our way down from Utah.  It is a beautiful canyon that extends along Arizona Highway Alt. 89 from Flagstaff to Sedona.  So we were happy to go back and spend more time hiking the canyon and visiting Flagstaff and Sedona.

Leaves in West Fork of Oak Creek

 

The weather was absolutely perfect and the maples in the canyon were in full color.  We hiked several trails but the West Fork Trail was the most beautiful.  It followed the west fork of Oak Creek for about 3.3 miles winding through a narrow canyon and crossing the creek 17 times. So that was a total of 6.6 miles and 34 creek crossings.  Good thing the boots were well waterproofed!