Today is my Sami's birthday. She is at a friend's home for a sleepover. I am in Arizona and she is in Maryland so this is my long distance Happy Birthday Wish to my special girl. When Becky and Matthew got married on May 2, my Sami danced every dance at the reception. She danced with all kinds of people. She is my party girl. Happy Birthday, Sami. Pop and I love you bunches!!!

Mission Trail - El Paso, Texas

This was the first mission we visited on our Mission Trail. It is the Ysleta Mission and is still in use. We saw 3 missions in about a 10 mile span.
A quick peek inside the Ysleta Mission.
This was outside of the Ysleta Mission and Tigua Indian Reservation in the heart of the city.
This is the Socorro Mission. This church is still having services. The building next door (not sure what it was-Sunday School or community building) they were having a funeral.
These folks were cleaning the church and allowed me to not only photograph the inside of the church but also posed for me.
This church,San Elizaro, was built in 1789 but has been through several renovations and paintings. The chandelers were removed and electric lights installed in the 1950's. (Did you hear that Zion Folks)
This was in the front yard of the San Elizario Chapel.
This is the inside of the San Elizario. I loved the message on the front door that was printed both in Spanish and English. They are not going to shake hands, hold hands during prayer or take common communion for the next 3 weeks. I suppose because of the Swine Flu.
This was outside of the Los Portales Museum in San Elizario, Texas. There was lots of family-type history of folks from this area. Wedding pictures and pictures of their military personnel. Very interesting.
The is a replica of a statue that was just erected at the El Paso Airport. Lots of controversy over it, something like the Arthur Ashe case in Richmond. It is supposed to be of a Spanish dude but after all the fuss, it was just named the equestrian, not Don Juan de Onate.
Can you see the logs in the ceiling of the Museum?

I love to find color in the desert. Well, folks, bye for now from the Happy Travelers. More later.

El Capitain--Texas

This was really amazing. We climbed and climbed and when we got over the top, the panorama below was breathtaking. I had to clear the lump in my throat and brush away a few tears before I could photograph -- try to photograph the most stark, mind blogging geography I have ever seen in my life. I had no idea that these mountains were in Texas! The other half of the Happy Travelers is calling me so I have to go for now but more later.

Last Day at Carlsbad RV

On our last day in Carlsbad RV Park, I had to take a picture of their roses. Roses!!! Roses in the desert. This really has been a fun place. They are very kid friendly and family oriented. We have met lots of folks and enjoyed some down time as well as a little exploration. This grape arbor was really a sweet place to sit and think. They put a bench under the arbor. Kids loved to run and hide. I thought it was pretty amazing to find this much greenery in a desert location.
I asked these kids to stand in front of their bus and then I didn't get the bus name in the picture. After I took their picture, they made me pose for them to take my picture---a Virginia Grandmother!!!
These kids were from the Zuni Pueblo near Gallup and were on their way to the Carlsbad Caverns. They were playing and allowed me to take their picture.
These little guys attracted a lot of attention.
Howdy partners, do you know me?
Do you recognize the Buzzard Food? Well enough of this. Time to take off and head south to El Paso, Texas and more fun, new people and lots of scenery. From the Happy Travelers (decided we should be in Caps)!!!

Carlsbad - At the top of the Mountain

I wish I could have captured the landscape for you. We were at the top of a mountain in front of the Visitors Center looking down on what they call the desert. There were lots of cacti, some in bloom, but you'll have to trust me because my photography didn't show what I saw. We went on a 9-1/2 mile drive recommended in the guide book that must have been written by a dare-devil. The road was graveled, very narrow, with cacti reaching out at every turn--no guardrails--no shoulders even and the road went up, up and up and then down, down and down, twisting and turning, turning and twisting. I was scared silly....I prayed really, really hard that God would see fit to get us out of this nightmare and He did. The drive from Highway 180 to the Visitors Center is beautiful--enough beauty to skip the 9-1/2 mile nightmare. The land changes from flat to hilly to mountainous. The mountainsides remind me of Route 64 in Virginia on the way to Roanoke--like someone cut the mountains with a big knife. This land is part of the Chihuahuan Desert, as the guidebook says, "one of this continent's four great desert regions". It has some remarkable cacti---some were blooming but in places everything looked dead from no rain---brown, black, dead! Well, Wednesday we leave for El Paso, Texas and the salt flats. More later from your happy travelers.

Carlsbad Caverns

Today, we went to the Carlsbad Caverns about 20 miles from where we have been camping. We went from flat, rocky, scrubby brush to hills to mountains---rocky mountains. The Visitors Center at the Caverns is perched on top of a mountain. You can either walk down to the main entrance or take an elevator. Since we were going on two tours that required 3+ miles of walking, we decided on the elevator. Once inside the cavern, the temperature dropped to about 56 degrees and a sweater or jacket became a necessity. We tried our hand at trying to capture some of what we saw on film but it was very dark and our pictures did not do justice to what God created.

Madrid, New Mexico

When we were traveling a few days ago, we went through Madrid, New Mexico. It's a cute little town where most of the homes on the main drag (Highway 14) have been converted into shops. We stopped at the Java Junction where Ron had coffee and I had a chai latte that was DELICIOUS!!!

Flowers

New Mexico does have color. Not everything is adobe colored. They actually have flowers and I treasured each one I saw. More later from the happy travelers.

Outside of Santa Fe

This is a bit of video outside of Santa Fe. If you think of a horseshoe---the mountains are the horseshoe and Santa Fe is in the center of the horseshoe on very flat land. It is really very different landscape.

Santa Fe

Today we drove to Santa Fe on the Scenic Highway 14, Turquoise Trail, that we traveled a couple of days ago. It is an absolutely beautiful drive, up into the mountains, through the mountains and then flat land.

Santa Fe is getting ready to celebrate its 400th birthday. There are so many homes and businesses that look like haceindas or Pueblo type structures. The first picture is of Kateri Tekakwitha in the yard of the St. Francis Church. She is the first Indian to become a saint. She suffered from small pox as a child and lost her family to the disease. She became a Christian and dedicated her life to teaching children to pray and helping the sick and aged. When she died, it is said that her scarred face became beautiful and she lost all her small pox scars.

The second picture is of the oldest church in the United States. Santa Fe is a real keeper. I hope we can come back and spend more time roaming around. We did get to have lunch at a cafe, outside in the warm breezes. Lovely! Stay with us and don't forget to leave us a comment or two. Best wishes from the happy travelers.

Photos at the Museum

These are pictures of pictures we saw today in the Albuquerque Museum of Natural History

This is Alberta. She welcomes everyone coming into the Museum of Natural History. Ron and I were joined today by several classrooms of kids from the local schools. There were lots of things to do, to touch, to feel, and enjoy. It was a very kid friendly place.

Tonight we are having a bit of a storm. The folks around here are all probably doing a dance because there has been very little rain in the last 5 months. Well folks, keep in touch, leave us a comment so we know you are out there. Best wishes from the happy travelers.

This is Spike. He joins Alberta in welcoming folks to the Museum.

This fellow is so big I couldn't get all of his tail in the picture.

Albuquerque Museum of Natural History

Turquoise Trail - Route 14

This is scenery from Route 14, the Turquoise Trail that connects Albuquerque to Santa Fe. There is no way I could capture the beauty and the harshness of this country. Having a wonderful time. Today the weather was perfect. Loving the traveling life.

These fellows are doing the buffalo dance. I could not seem to catch them with their heads up.

These dancers are going to do the turkey dance. The turkey and the dog were the two domesticated animals of the Pueblo Indians.

These ladies are doing the corn dance. The women carried water on their heads and when they got home, they danced!!!

This is the turkey dance at the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Albuquerque, New Mexico--1

This is the eagle dance at the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I am having some problems publishing my video taping as a movie. Sorry! You get a piece of my work but nothing like the real thing. There is such a wildness, rawness, harshness to this country. It is majestic, going from very flat to mountains in such a short space. Today the weather was PERFECT. The sky was so blue and there were just a few puffy white clouds. I am really liking this wandering lifestyle. Love to you all.