Four days in the sun...

We have enjoyed a great four days of sunshine here in New Mexico. Albuquerque is a lovely city and we really enjoyed touring the Old Town which had many quaint shops and lots of great food. We had a special birthday dinner for Shawn at the Church Street Café which came highly recommended. Even though they said nothing there was too hot, I still had to drink a blended margarita to help cool me off while enjoying my burritos. We are becoming huge fans of authentic sopapillas and will certainly miss this yummy fried bread and honey when we return to Ontario.

After Albuquerque we headed for Roswell and stayed at a beautiful state park called Bottomless Lakes. Apparently, when the area was first settled, locals tried to determine the depth of the lakes by lowering ropes and determined that they had no bottom. The truth however is that they are between 17 and 90 feet deep! What is most interesting is that they really aren’t lakes at all. The water from nearby mountains flows through the porous rock at the base of the mountains and then under some non-porous rock. The pressure then forces the water back up from under the ground through the soft rock and gypsum layer. It was really lovely to camp by the largest lake with tall red rocks cliffs in the distance. The children especially enjoyed the opportunity to try their hands at scrambling up the rock faces. It was a tough climb, but since there soft sandy sections below each rocky section, it seemed like a safe place to set them free and let them explore. Thankfully, our timing in early April placed us just before the onset of rattlesnake season. The beware of rattlesnakes signs entering the park were a little off-putting, but since reading up a little, we feel a bit more knowledgeable about what to do if (when?) we see one. It was also really neat to see a dessert environment and a wetland coexisting in one place. The high winds were new to us and since they were warm and gusty, aside from adding costs to our drive, were actually lovely to experience. Most unusual were two rivers flowing nearly side by side along the valley floor – one bright green and one as red as the rock. Here is a video we took from the van driving by. It doesn’t do the colours justice, but you’ll get the idea.



Yesterday, we took some time to explore the Roswell UFO Museum. I have to say that I went in as a sceptic and came out believing that something definitely happened that day. The walls of the museum are covered in newspaper clippings, but also in first-person accounts and affidavits from the folks who were there. They are certainly very convincing! It was a really interesting experience and I felt a little like I was living an episode of the X-files. The truth is out there…

Today, we travelled across a mountain range and through an Apache Indian Reservation to Almagordo. We are looking forward to a couple of days to explore the White Sands National Monument, the New Mexico Space Museum and a couple of nearby State Park known for great hiking. Upon arriving at our RV park (we decided to forego the beauty of the State Parks for the WiFi available at the RV Park and Skype with our families tomorrow on Easter Sunday!), we had the pleasure of meeting the really interesting man who owns the place. He regaled us with stories from his childhood of Ranchers with 6-shooters, Apache Chiefs, and the first white priest who was stationed on the reservation. Tomorrow, we are planning to attend Sunday Mass at nearby St. Francis, a church built to thank God for safe settlement of early arriving families and a treaty with the Apache people. It is a historic building and a great place to spend Easter Sunday. We are also planning to have brunch at a local lodge known for amazing cuisine. It should be a wonderful couple of days!

Tammy