CaRlsBad, RoswEll, CaNyon de cHelLy, and MetEOr CraTer

anne: (first of all - excuse my lack of capital a's b/c I have to copy and paste them since my keyboard doesn't type them and i get lazy)

So it's been a while since we've gotten to blog but we're sitting here on our computers at the Knight's Inn in Flagstaff currently catching up.  Before I forget, we'd like to mention a thank you to my mom for making the most awesome chocolate chip poundcake we didn't forget to devour on our trip already, and to Jon's dad for letting us use his camping stove and equipment b/c we certainly have!

The road to Carlsbad was awesome, we had a clear, starry night and nobody was on the road but us - for real!  We even stopped at one point and Jon turned the car lights off so we could see how pitch black it was and we saw like 5 shooting stars!  It was really freaky though...being SO pitch black but then again really beautiful...

We stopped in Ft. Stockton, Tx to get gas and found this cool restaurant called La Casita.  The food was awesome & they even have a small appetites option.  There were cool murals on the wall & at the end of the meal they even walked around offering holiday shortbread cookies, which was my favorite part! 

In Carlsbad we found a camp spot right at the entrance road to Carlsbad Caverns and negotiated our car camping price for the night (see sexy photo below).  Sunrise woke us up in the car and after more beauty rest we got up, made some coffee and apple and pb sandwiches and headed for the caverns.

 

Well...Carlsbad Caverns is pretty awesome!!! I'm sure people have probs. with disturbing this natural cave to the public but then again it's pretty awesome to be able to see it and enjoy the "underworld".  It's so fascinating and unbelievable you feel like you're in the evil world of a comic book or some mystical legend.  Then again, some formations have such other similarities...

Here's a pic. of our parking/no stealing strategy - parking up close to sharp prickly things - and jon putting his ass on a prickly pear.

  Our next stop was Roswell but only for coffee and an alien drive by.  We met a very informative shop owner who suggested we see the Three Rivers petroglyphs.  We bought a mug and listened to his stories about area 51 and entertained our imaginations up to the scary coyote noises but cool campsite near Three Rivers.   Oh...also Jon got a speeding ticket for $71 on the way!

We managed to cook our meal of rice and beef stew while pretty much kind of freaking out about hearing the coyotes all around.  We made Rudee stay in the car so she woudn't roam around and get eaten.  While we ate we watched "Carnival of Souls", which was one of a series of 3 disks of classic horror films we picked up for $5 at a Wal Mart in Ft. Stockton. The next morning we met the campground host and his 1 1/2 yr. old punkish hair grandson who was awesome and took me on hikes while Jon heard cool stories from Johnny the park ranger. also, here's a pic of our super sticky sweet morning coyote survival thank you pancakes.

 

 

Then we parked and left Rudee (not pet friendly) in the car for venturing through the petroglyphs and then stopped a few more places on the road to take pix at this beautiful spot. We also saw a road runner, which Jon identified - see below.!

 

 

On the way out we even stopped at a little chapel called Santo Nino De atocha, which is just down the road from the petroglyphs.

On our way to Magdalena, NM, we stopped to get gas (forgot to take pic of the name) at this adorable place that just happens to sell the most delicious homemade fudge...smart. We took with us a sampling of peanut butter and chocolate, rocky road, mint, and a couple of other kinds for emergencies.

We found a nice, very reasonable hotel called the Eagles Nest in Magdalena, NM for our visit to see the "very large array" just down the road. We took showers and made pork n' bean, rice, and swiss cheese wraps and watched our classic horror movies while soaking in the joy of not camping in the car in the cold that night. Jon was able to proudly negotiate our price for the room too! The next morning we ate a big fat breakfast at a cafe called Magdalena's Cafe and headed to the VLa, which takes only about 30m to see.

 

after the VLa we headed to Canyon De Chelly, our next destination. We passed through Gallup, NM to change our minds about mt. biking...then headed with muddy virgin bikes on the rack for a night journey to the frozen campgrounds of Canyon De Chelly.  Once there Jon cooked up some fat steaks we bought at the grocery store in Chinle, which we ate along with salad, corn, and potatoes in the dark on a picnic table in 30 degree weather b/c we're tough.  after eating we snuggled in the car to keep warm under the blankets with Rudee between us and watched horror movies again until falling asleep and waking up in a frozen car. In the morning we had breakfast at the Best Western and loaded up for the canyon.

Canyon de Chelly is Navajo owned but maintained by the national park service so it's free to check it out by driving to the overlooks or hiking the "white house ruins" trail into the canyon, but you need a Navajo guide and special permit if you want a tour into the canyon, which is what I highly suggest.  Jon and I, I mean Jon... was able to negotiate a wonderful price for the two of us by giving away 2 freestyle connection t-shirts as part of the bargain.  We had an awesome guide named Daniel from "Twin Trails Scenic Tours" who grew up inside of the canyon patiently answered our many questions and took us to special, privately owned sections of the canyon!  This was an absolutely enchanting place to see!  We saw private properties with cattle and shade houses, wild horses, petroglyphs and anasazi ruins and cliff dwellings among just awesome, dreamy scenery.  My favorite canyon beauty is the cottonwood tree, though we also saw plenty of Juniper and Pinyon pines.  This canyon is awesome!!! I can't wait to come back sometime for camping in the canyon...hopefully!

 

 

 

after visiting the canyon we carried on to see the meteor crater near Winslow, az.  The drive was absolutely gorgeous in the late afternoon light especially!  We even let Rudee drive for a while, who sweetly stopped for all of the crossing cattle.

We arrived at the meteor crash site just an hour before closing and as soon as we pulled in we were told that although the observance site was about to close, there is no discount on the $15 per person entrance charge. This place rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning.  I was excited to see the crater, but was unimpressed by the attitudes of the unenthusiastic workers.  This site is just banking on the entrance fee and it shows they don't really care about anything else by the crass way they treat visitors. aside from this...the site is pretty cool to see and the visitor center is informative.

So next...after our Denny's breakfast tomorrow morning - we're headed to the Grand Canyon and then Las Vegas I believe?  Is Jon really good at Black Jack and do you think he can negotiate his way to a winning table?

Jon: After leaving Austin we stopped in at a little restaurant in Fort Stockton, TX for some delicious Mexican food! with a cozy and cute atmosphere. From there we drove straight to Carlsbad and after negotiating on a camp site fee we finagled on the price and got a site for $10 from $23! We camped here in the car and watched some classic horror movies we had purchased earlier at a Wall mart.

 

 

The next morning after we packed up we checked out the Carlsbad Caverns. I you ever get a chance? Check them out! Very impressive place. The big room is bigger than a football field and its 700ft down!

 

After Carlsbad we headed to Roswell, NM. Immediately we noticed the alien head shaped street lights! Ha ha. We hit up a few shops and learned a bunch about the Roswell incident from a clerk who had heard it all! The same clerk suggested we check out Three Rivers Campground and the famous petroglyphs in the area that were made 900 to 1400AD!

These petroglyphes were a site worth seeing! truly awesome!! Johny the ranger at the three rivers site was also a very interesteing dude with a confirmed UFO sighting of his own! This ranger reminded me of a cross betreen the Crocadile hunter and the blue collar cable guy. Meeting guys like this or what rode trips are all about! :)

Pix from the VLa:

 

Anne and myself slowly worked our way over to Canyon De Shelly. We found a free camp site next to the visitors center we we took advantage of. After grilling some steaks in below freezing temperatures we retired to the car for some more horror movies and wine.

We woke the next morning in the car freezing cold but in good spirits :) I must admit that Anne is a tough cookie letting me talk into saving a few bucks by sleeping in the car. HA ha.

After some investigating we learned how the canyon tours work. You must hire a guide if you don't have your own 4x4 vehicle. We were quoted $130 by Twin Trails scenic tours. Nether Anne nor I wanted to part ways with that much cash so we bartered with the guide and got the full 3 hour tour for $80 and two Freestyle Connection T-shirts! :)

The tour was amazing and its awesome to see such ancient structures in North America. Its easy to forget that people have lived in the Americas for thousands of years before any Spaniards or even

vikings made there way over here!  The yellow stuff in the photo is corn pollen - b/c coyotes are bad luck to the navajo - so they carry this with them and sprinkle on the road in the occasion that a coyote crosses the road in front of them - like a black cat. 

 

 

After the tour we high tailed it to Meteor Crater to check it out. Truly amazing to think this 150ft wide meteor created such a massive crater thats still so visible even 50000 years later! 

After Meteror crater we headed to Flagstaff and looked into a KOA camp site. Camping was going to cost nearly $36.00 for a site and internet so we opted to pay a few more bucks and grab a cheap hotel room. Judgeing by all the snow outside I would say it was a good idea :).

Tomorrow the Grand Canyon!!!