Wanna come for a ride ?

Thought I'd use some of my vacation piccies to show you where we went and the beauty of this little corner of our planet.

I'll only put small pics in here but if you click they should all get much bigger.

Although it is true that most of this area is classed as desert...it is often not what you think of a desert looking like. We spent a huge part of our vacation up in the mountains.

When we take visitors on trips around here the one thing that always stuns them is how green everywhere is. We have many, many forests and mountains here in the southwest...and lots and lots of trees and greenery. Of course a lot of it is unnatural with the assistance of sprinklers etc but that is something you don't want to hear me rant about :-)

We wanted to explore as much of New Mexico as we could so we flew up the freeway to Vegas for the first night before heading up into Southern Utah.

One of my favorite part of the USA.....I just love driving down roads like this one.

We skipped Bryce Canyon and although we drove through Zion we didn't stop. We visited there less than 2 years ago so decided to head on.

In the Dixie National Forest, just outside of Cedar City, Utah we came across Cedar Breaks National Monument. Right up at the top of the mountains at 10,000 feet. Pretty awesome huh. Although smaller and much less visited than Bryce, it was equally as stunning.

From here we headed back down the mountains, past the Vermilion Cliffs

and into Page, Arizona where we stayed at Lake Powell.

From here we decided to take a trip to see Antelope Canyon. In the back of this pick up truck. Part of the ride was on road but we then had to go off road for about 20 minutes. Rather bone shaking :-)



Antelope Canyon was discovered by a young Navajo girl tending her sheep. It is on tribal land so access is only allowed with a Navajo guide. The Navajo consider it a very spiritual place and as such do not want people just traipsing round it showing no respect.

Apparently it is the most photographed slot canyon in the Southwest. You can see why. It was extremely hard to get a photograph due to the lighting conditions and I am amazed these have come out as good as they have. I had to adjust my ISO setting a lot which is why they appear grainy.

Our Navajo guide was a real darling and told me where to stand and where to point the camera to get the 'National Geographic' shots. Considering I don't have their equipment and was battling against the other tourists in there I am kinda pleased with these.

They do actually offer photographic tours where you can take your tripods, lighting etc....perhaps I'll do that one day.

What I'd really love to do is go there alone with just the Navajo and discover it's true meaning without a bunch of tourists clamoring to take pictures. The guide behind us was playing pipes and I just wanted to boot everyone else out and sit and listen to him play.

From Arizona we headed out into New Mexico. We spent the night in Albuquerque then went back North to Santa Fe and then up the 'hill' to Los Alamos.

Los Alamos is home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory which was founded to undertake the Manhattan project.

To walk the same streets as such minor historical figures as Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi and Niels Bohr was humbling to say the least. Even more so for my mad scientist of a husband.

You can't visit the lab obviously but there is an excellent museum there.

This is the view of New Mexico from the top of the hill.

From here we headed back down south to check out Roswell, where even the street lamps were aliens :-)

There was a pretty cool UFO museum there and they had this clock on display which I just loved. Need to catch me some rattlers for the ribs :-)

And then it was further south to check out Carlsbad and the caverns.

Halfway up the mountain there we found a little walk down to an Indian cliff dwelling.

Just had to watch where you were treading :-)

Imagine living here !

And then down into the caverns we went. There is an elevator that takes you down 750 ft and you walk back up.

Again, due to the poor light it was hard to get a really great photo.

The largest cavern here is called The Big Room and at 8.2 acres, is the second largest cavern in the world. It is huge and impossible to show in photos.


New Mexico as seen from the top of Carlsbad.

And coming back down.

From here we weren't sure whether to go to El Paso or back North into Alamogordo. We decided to stick with the nuclear bomb theme and head back north.

Unfortunately, the Trinity site, where the bomb was detonated is only open twice a year to the public...next time is October. We will very likely be making another trip over here to see this.

In the photo below you can just about see the White Sands National Monument on the horizon.

Alamogordo has a pretty impressive Space museum too.

American Avocets and a Black Necked Stilt we just happened upon in a lake by the side of the road. Waders make me smile...their long skinny legs don't look as though they can support them.

We decided to take a drive around the White Sands National Monument. Pretty awesome. Shame the weather wasn't brighter though.

And from here it was really time to start heading back west :-(

We took the scenic route as much as we could though.

Through the Gila National Forest.

And back into the desert. We had to wait for the Santa Fe train to cross the tracks...these things are miles long and don't go fast.

I always know we aren't far from home when we hit the
Mojave National Preserve.

Still a little ways to go though....and all desert.

The road we take here is part of the old Route 66. Such a shame how it has deteriorated since the freeways were built. There are many old motels, stores and gas stations on this route that have been derelict for years :-(

The infamous shoe tree in Amboy, California which has since been joined by a bra and knicker tree. We come through here fairly often and every time I forget to bring a spare pair to hang up

And then we were home :-(

Only until our next trip though...not sure if we'll take the 10 all the way from California to Key West, Florida....which is my choice...or head North up the Pacific Coast Highway though Oregon, Washington and into Canada....Mick's choice.

I have only posted a selection of photos here...if you want to see more please feel free to check out our myspace vacation log.



Well, I hoped you enjoyed your little trip around the Southwest......
normal service will be resumed soon.