Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

I've been trying to get to a post all day with little success until now. I thought it was pointless to post without pictures of what has kept me so busy, which of course that means I had to go through the few hundred pictures and glean the best for you all. Spoiled, aren't you? And since we've been gone for over a week playing with pictures took a back seat to cleaning the house, unpacking all our crap, spending time with the poor neglected beasts who had to stay home with a sitter, and just try to tidy up in general in a desperate effort to have the house presentable for our company that arrives tomorrow night. So, here it is in the evening and I finally get to tell you all about our trip. Or should I say, the first half? Luckily this posting will be mostly pics, and you won't have to listen to me drone on and on.

First we headed south and played in Great Sand Dunes National Monument.

Then we headed west towards Durango CO.

Early the next morning we jumped over to Mesa Verde National Park,

Before booking it further South Water Canyon to camp for our first night in New Mexico.

The next morning we had a buddy in camp.

After saying goodbye to our little pal (the first mantis I've seen in person ever! I like bugs as long as they're not on me), we headed West again to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.

After that we camped again in the wonderful mild autumn weather, well, maybe native New Mexicans wouldn't call the low forties mild camping weather but a kid from Alaska enjoyed anything over freezing, we headed towards warmer weather back east at White Sands National Monument.

We cleaned up that night in a hotel in Almagordo before hitting the early morning pavement to make to Carlsbad Caverns. Carlsbad has been one of those places I've always wanted to see and have finally made it. I would suggest to anyone to go, and take your time to wonder through, though I would suggest you enter by the natural route (an extra mile of walking) and leave by the elevator. The main cavern is 750feet down.

Roswell's Town Hall Building is Beautiful!

After we left the subteranean wonderland we just had to drive through Roswell on our way to Sumnter Lake State Park to camp. There unfortunately our trip got cold. That night we were rained on as a cold front moved through. Add that to the motorcyclists that just had to come in after dark and camp right next to us in an otherwise empty campground, equaled a lovely night. Our only lucky strike there is that we heard them discussing that they forgot to hit a liqour store and only had a little weed left so they mellowed out instead of getting rowdy. We were packed up and out of there the next morning before we saw or heard anyone. I do have to say, I was a little louder than I would otherwise had been at 6am since they were so loud (One of the Aussies thought he was a soloist from Jesus Christ Superstar) when they came in and set up.

Due to our cold early start we got into Taos early on Saturday and hit the Wool and Fiber Festival before lunch instead of Sunday as planned. Judging by the way the wool was moving I was glad we did. We won't even discuss the my expenditures, I don't account to you...

I spent a good chunk of it here. She had the most lovely BFL and Silk Roving.

Then we wondered Taos, a bit. It's quite the little artist commune of a town. Not that I could afford it but some day as I age I may really enjoy living there. It had a lot of little charms to it, such as this friendly little reminder to Breath In, Breath Out, and Move On done in the Yarn Bombing style.

The next morning we woke to head north and in the chill mountain air. Capulin Volcano National Monument was closed due to snow and Ice on the rim road, so we continued north to Pueblo Colorado.

Since we got there early we hung out with some rather odd fellows for a bit at the zoo and the raptor center. Then we wondered around the deserted old town district (I know it was a Sunday but it looks as though Pueblo has been hit hard by the recession. There were many empty store fronts and restaurants for sale.

The next morning we went out to Royal Gorge to take in the sites, and...

Zipline!!!

This was truly a highlight of the trip. That is obviously not Bob or I on the line (I wish I had that much hair) but rather one of the 4 newbie to zipping girls that was on our tour. They, as myself and all I've ever seen zipline (I have zipped several other times) quickly got over the nervousness and had tons of fun. I hope to talk Stefani into going back with us next year for the "Extreme" Zipline tour. We went through Royal Gorge Zip Line Tours and would recommend them. Ask for "Chain Saw", he's a hoot, just don't show any weakness...

I actually have a video of it and will work on getting it up on here soon.

It would appear that National Parks Inter-agency Pass really paid off this year. So far we've hit Zion NP, Grand Canyon NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Great Sand Dunes NM, Mesa Verde NP, White Sands NM, and Carlsbad NP this year, and will be hitting a couple more here shortly.

Have a great week everybody,
Q.

Oh... Almost forgot! While on the road I finally got my Jacob Handspun Shwal done, and started the Romi Hill Merope.

 There are some tension issues in the first one, I think mainly due to me just being sick of it. And aggressive block helped even them out but I can still see the difference.  As for the last one, I'm calling it my S&MMM shawl. It means Sadism and Merope in Mad's Mare. Merope is the pattern name, MAd for Madeline Tosh the brand of yarn and Mare is the colorway. It get's this name because stupidly I only took lace projects with me on this little trip. Talk about self abuse.

Oh, and in Almoagordo I found a cool little winery that sold pistachio wine... It's a rather sweet vanilla flavored wine that I just had to buy for my friend that is visiting this week. As you can see, I bought a few more bottles too and a drop spindle (I heard those gasps from some of you, you know who you are) in Taos as well.

See you on the other side!