So back to the flow... Karen made a delicious pork roast (stuffed with spinach and mozzarella cheese!) with yams at Jon's place. We pigged out (pun intended), and still had leftovers for two lunches on the road. She is an awesome cook!!
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| Awwwww, my man is a sweetie...just say'in |
At Jon's recommendation, we stopped in Driftwood, Texas at The Salt Lick, the best barbecue around. And topped it off with a piece of pecan pie.
The pie wasn't bad, but came in third behind Lisa at the Amboy Cottage Cafe and the Blue Ribbon effort of Ms. Mary Preston of Fort Atkinson, WI.
Then on through endless miles of west Texas... We planned to spend the night in a roadside rest, but at 1:00 in the morning, the noise of idling semis woke us. We drove another half hour to the next roadside rest, which was even more full than the last. On another half hour of road to Ozona (Lost in the Ozona again, Commander Cody?) We drove around town for a bit and finally just parked on a city street and slept from 2:30 AM to 8:00 or so, got up and had breakfast at the Cafe Next Door, and toodled on.
The next stop was Carlsbad Caverns. What an incredible sight! We got there rather late in the day, and were only able to hike down a ways, but again Mother Nature showed her stuff!
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Can you find the Heart? Happy Valentines Day! |
That night we pulled into a quiet and peaceful spot at Lake Brantley State Park. The next morning Tank got to go swimming in Lake Brantley (fresh water!) and then got a nice bath at the campsite. He just loves to go swimming! Happy camper! |
| Tank...keeping his eye on the ball |
ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO...we found out the truth....take a look....
Just a short jog north and we found ourselves in Roswell, New Mexico, home of the UFO Museum. We watched a film on crop circles, which was actually pretty interesting. These have been researched and measured world-wide. Some of them are actually very complex, and illustrate geometric properties and relationships matching the intervals between notes in musical scales. I came away a little less of a skeptic.
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| Most crop circles are in wheat fields |
In our parade of greatest hits, the next stop was the White Sands National Monument. Acres and acres of huge snow-white dunes which dwarfed our van and camper. They rented saucer sleds at the visitor center!
Then on to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park near Alamogordo, New Mexico, and a surprise for Mr. Marousis. When I taught middle school English at Maple River West Middle School in Amboy, I read a Gary Paulsen book, Canyons, with my students. It was a favorite of mine! The plot involved a rather complex relationship between a 19th century Apache boy who was murdered by Cavalry soldiers, and a teen in present day who lived in Alamogordo. The Apache boy was murdered in Dog Canyon. Imagine my surprise when the campground map identified the large cleft in the surrounding bluffs as Dog Canyon! Indeed, the same!!
As I looked at the top of the bluffs, where the climax of the story took place, I felt a moment of real connection with my time at the middle school, and a sense of pride and accomplishment in my connections with my students.This morning we took off from Dog Canyon, just as it started to rain. We continued on through New Mexico and just into Arizona. Yes, 29 degrees and snow in Benson, AZ! My daughter Jordin just texted me that it was 60 degrees in Connecticut today!! Yes, the S.B. has a sense of humor. But now that I am warmed by propane, I find my sense of humor returning...
And on to visit my with cousin Andy in Scottsdale tomorrow! Looking forward to it!!
