Almost home

Another fabulous meal at Geronimo made a fitting farewell to our month-long visit to Santa Fe.

Our next stop was in Grants, New Mexico.   We've driven through the miles of black lava on both sides of I-40 in that area many times.   Lava tubes, lava bubbles, fingers of lava, always wondering about it.    This time we stopped for a little exploration.

I chose the KOA in Grants for its location - surrounded by a lava flow     It's in the middle of the round black area just to the left of "Grants" on the map above.      Behind the dumpsters is a large, collapsed volcanic bubble....neat!     The walking paths surrounding the campground wind through beautiful lava formations....fun!

 

I only gave us two days there, so we stopped at the Visitor's Center first, to get the lay of the land.    I know!   Stopping at the VC first isn't my usual pattern.

of course, Taos had to come in to watch the movie!

 We came out with a t shirt and a few maps to get us started.    I had expected to drive through acres of black lava but was surprised to find huge sandstone formations along one side of this route (117). 

The other side of the road was lava, but almost completely covered with vegetation.

We stopped at the Sandstone Bluffs area to scramble around the boulders and get the beautiful views.    Unfortunately, it was a hot day and that limited our exploration to mostly what we could see from the Jeep or from a quick walk around nearby.    Hot ground burns foot pads......

We took a short hike up to the huge Ventana Arch, but opted to skip the hike out to see the Lava Falls because of the heat and the rough footing.    Next time for sure.

Another day we drove south on rt. 53 to check out the other side of El Malpais National Monument.      Instead of visiting the touristy and developed Ice Cave (for a fee) we opted to turn onto an unimproved, dirt road that looked like it would head directly into the lava fields behind the Ice Cave (we were lucky to have been able to explore an ice cave in Washington a few years ago - all by ourselves without a concession stand and entrance fee).      Signs at the road's beginning warned that while the road looked fine it would get worse as it went along....bla bla bla.....clay surface, impassible when wet, rutted, etc.     We know about clay and how quickly and securely it can capture your vehicle.    We'd turn around if we saw anything rutted or wet.  

We were right, the red clay road ran right through the lava, along the road's edge.  It was nice and dry.     We stopped for lunch at a small pull off and checked out as much as we could.   Up close and far away.     

this pile of lava was way over my head

Silence all around us.   No sound except birdsong and a soft breeze blowing off the lava field.   

We were fascinated by the area, the soft pine needles, the rough and cracked lava, the red road, tiny wildflowers and colored lichen.    Taos, however, was not impressed and it wasn't easy to convince him to get out of the Jeep and have a look around.    To each his own, I guess.

yawn......

Holbrook was our next stop, just one quick overnight, on our way to one of our favorite Phoenix area regional parks....Usery Moutain.

Not much to say about Holbrook, we've stayed there multiple times.   It's close to the interesting Petrified Forest National Park but we've explored that in the past.  I do have to say, though, that the KOA offered a very very good Campfire Cookout meal the night we were there.    It was nice to have someone deliver a tasty dinner at the end of a day of driving.

We decided on a different route to Usery from Holbrook this time and while the road was fine, it took us through the mountains on many long ups and long downs before depositing us on the Bush Highway near the Salt River.

where are we now?

these clouds produced rain in Wickenburg last night
but not a drop here

I was able to snag our favorite spot here at Usery, #5.   The views are lovely, the site is private and there is lots to do nearby.      What I didn't realize, having always visited in the winter, was that it would be HOT, way hot.    We can't do the things I want to do here at this time of the year.     So.....I think we'll cut our stay short and head to the other side of Phoenix and - home.     It's so much easier to live in a real house when the outside temps are 105 plus....Poor Beluga's air conditioners are getting a real work out and it's not much fun having second cup and happy hour inside.

Next stop - Wickenburg!     It's been a fantastic trip with Taos.