The last few days of our trip.

Wednesday June 19

We had met two ladies the day before who were intrigued by our camper.  They visited discussing our camping adventures.  They had done some backpacking in the Gila up to some waterfalls.  It almost made me want to try that again.   They had left their card in case we ever came to Arizona again.

We had a quick breakfast and played once again with the cute squirrel.  He really needed a snack.  One cashew!  Pulling out of beautiful Luna Lake I was amazed when we pulled into Lyman Lake north of Springerville, AZ.  The lake level is dropping each day at an astounding rate.  The sign for “swimming” is in the middle of an extremely dry area.  When I was there before, I had not seen the petroglyphs.  Petroglyphs are very common to the area and can be viewed along the Peninsula Petroglyph Trail and the Ultimate Petroglyph Trail. The trails are fairly easy and even if I did bite the dust stepping over a rock. Scraped knee but did not hurt the camera.

I was excited to be going through Zuni Pueblo.  I stopped at my favorite place to purchase items.  The lady there was so friendly and shared a story of her family traveling to Chaco Canyon.  She believes that the spirits encouraged her to take the trip and be where her ancestors once lived.

The road to Acoma led us by El Morro.  El Morro National Monument is located on an ancient east-west trail in western New Mexico. This massive sandstone bluff was a welcome landmark for weary travelers. A reliable waterhole hidden at its base made El Morro (or Inscription Rock) a popular campsite. Beginning in the late 1500s Spanish, and later, Americans passed by El Morro. While they rested in its shade and drank from the pool, many carved their signatures, dates, and messages. Before the Spanish, petroglyphs were inscribed by Ancestral Puebloans living on top of the bluff over 700 years ago.  We walked the base trail to see the pool and inscriptions and it was of course the heat of the day.

Further east is El Malpias National Monument.  The visitors center was full of information via a lady from Texas who has blended well into Native American culture and adopted by the Acoma people.  For centuries people have lived around and sometimes in the lava country. Ancient Indian civilizations crossed the lava flows with trail cairns and related to the landscape with stories and ceremony.  We chose to drive the area on another visit.

We spent the night in Grants ready to travel to Acoma for the first tour of the day.  As many times as I have been there I have never taken the tour to the top of the mesa - The Sky City. The new Cultural Center is the gateway to the Pueblo and Museum.  A few families live up top but I believe that it is now mostly for tourist just as in Taos.  I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful museum, tour and eating lunch of somewhat typical native food…maybe.  Their pottery is not my favorite though quite beautiful.  A couple of new trinkets are in my jewelry bag – Acoma pottery pieces beautifully painted.  I have no photos of Acoma so purchased cards but will not put them in as my own.  hee hee

Lyman Lake, Arizona

Petroglyps at Lyman Lake

Sunset at Red River, NM

Mountain goats between Questa and Red River.  I think this is discipline.

Last night in Red River at Elephant Rock Campground in forest.

The rest of the trip was spent on the road toward Red River.  We were meeting my family and friends for several day of Red River Family Encampment.  We were in that area for several days and enjoyed every minute, every song, every service and visiting. Leaving Red River on Wednesday morning took us to Philmont Boy Scout Camp and on to Caprock Canyon in Texas.  Those last days will be pictured in another album.  A good time was had for 19 days.

Tuesday 18th

Tuesday June 18th

Alpine seemed to be in a depression following the fire in the mountains in 2011.  The beautiful ponderosa pine and aspen forests are black trunks now.  Even at Hannagan's Meadow, the trees are all but gone.  Firefighters had used the lodge and the meadow as their base camp. We had lunch in the lodge and enjoyed looking at what was left of the forest.  Most of the forest roads, Daddy had taken me down, were “pass at own risk of falling trees.”

The Snail at Luna Lake

Luna Lake

My new friend came visiting early each morning.  "Little Begger"

 Breakfast is served.

Later that afternoon we returned to the Hannagan Meadow area to check for wildlife.  Not to be disappointed ~ there they were ~ one cow and six big bull elk were making their way up the side of the mountain.  What a thrill! Of course I was driving and had a tough time getting a decent shot.  I have it in my mind!!!  Awesome!

There were 6 big bulls.

Paulettes "Ranger Ray" on a charred tree trunk.

Back to the lake and another good night sleep. This concludes 2 days of dry camping.  We are getting pretty good at this when the weather is cold at night.

Monday 6/17/2013

Monday 6/17/2013

Morning dawned and the Snail followed the navigators toward Socorro, NM. We wandered around and came into Socorro from the wrong direction.  In doing that we turned to come upon a beautiful mission.  Luck was that we could not go in as they were renovating.  The ribbon was removed by three photographers (two were us) for better photos and then returned.   

We should have then turned NW on the path to Albuquerque; however, looking at the map showed that Reserve, NM was a mere 143 miles.  On the new path we stopped in Magdelina only to find that little village had “NO” water.  We visited with a shop owner and got word of another couple I met at a Cowboy Campmeeting years ago.  Jim Ford was an artist and also a friend of my parents. His wife is still selling his prints and I saw one I had never seen before.   

Depot in Magdalena, NM

How fun was it going to be to return to Reserve and visit friends of my parents.  Paulette and I had gone there to sell the things in my parents summer home of 20 years.  It was not a great road so we took our time.  Arriving at the “Y” we pulled in at the home of Patti and Dave Stultz…. Mom and Dads friends who befriended us in the mid 2000’s.  We had volunteered with them during a forest fire.  No fires in the immediate area this time.  

 We had a lovely visit and then ventured on to Alpine, AZ and camped at Luna Lake Campground between Luna and Alpine.

Mama and Daddys summer house prior to 1999.

Sunday June 16

Sunday  6/16/2013

We had a leisurely breakfast and dressed for church.  We went to church in Ruidoso, New Mexico

With a little change of pace we went to Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino for an inexpensive and not so great lunch.  The art work in the casino was incredible.

Leaving there we headed for the Hubbard Museum at Ruidoso Downs.  I am always excited to see a pot of Maria the Potter of San Il Defonso Pueblo. The exhibit was outstanding. 

 

 

 I was disappointed when we arrived at the museum at Mescalero Apache Reservation.  They were closed and no near the facility I saw in the ‘90s.  The next stop was Three Rivers Petroglyphs.  The site is one of the few locations in the Southwest set aside solely because of its rock art. It is also one of the few sites giving us such direct access to petroglyphs. It is also the largest and most interesting petroglyphs sites in the Southwest. More than 21,000.