Santa Fe, NM to Harlingen, Texas

Our final side trip in the Santa Fe area was to the Los Alamos area with stops at Bandelier National Monument and Jemez. Jim had visited Bandelier about 25 years ago when working on a project for Argonne at Los Alamos. It was great to return. The road to Bandelier was spectacular with cliffs and canyons, mountains and mesas. The ruins were in a wilderness area that seemed undisturbed in the years since the Indians left. The walk started in the canyon to see the ancestral pueblo of the Anasazi Indians that once farmed this land. The Indians lived in this area from the mid 100's to the mid 1500's. The canyon walls were volcanic rock that had solidified into unusual shapes.The walls of the canyon were filled with cave rooms used by the Anasazi. Ladders were braced against the rock formations to view the rooms. It was eerie to imagine what it would have been like to live in these rooms and in this rugged area at an altitude of 6500 feet. Our final climb consisted of about 250 ladder steps that led us to the ceremonial cave. There was a ladder down into the kiva to view the room below. The view from this high cave was spectacular. We looked down below at the canyon, a stream and the cottonwood trees whose leaves were a brilliant yellow-gold. Our next stop was Jemez Springs which led us on a search for some natural springs but instead led us to a beautiful waterfall. Jemez is a town of monasteries. We viewed the Handmaidens of the Precious Blood nuns walking comtemplatively on their grounds. Another feature of the area is the Valles Caldera National preserve. The caldera was formed by a volcano that erupted about one million years ago. The preserve is home to many animals including elk, black bears, and mountain lions. It is one of the best elk hunting grounds in the US.




Leaving the Santa Fe area, we travelled down route 25 to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro in the town of San Antonio. The refuge is well known for the thousands of white snow geese and sandhill cranes that live here in the winter. Not yetat its peak , we saw hundreds of white snow geese on a single small lake. At some unknown signal, they all took flight at the same time to another lake in the refuge. The sound was deafening. It sounded like a jet taking off. The sand hill cranes were busy during the day grazing on the corn fields planted by local farmers for the birds. and roosted in the ponds at night. The cranes were endangered and the habitat was designed to increase their numbers. A festival of cranes is held here later in November.




Continuing thru New Mexico, on our way to Roswell, we passed the " Trinity Site" , the site of the first atomic bomb testing. No access is given to the public, but just driving by this site sent a shiver down your spine. We stopped in Roswell, the site of a possible UFO event in 1947. The International UFO Museum/ Research center proved to be very interesting with pictures, testamonials and newspaper articles dealing with what supposedly happened on a farmer's field with the landing of a UFO containing alien people. Many sightings of UFO's are documented in this museum. You leave the museum wondering when and if we will ever know for sure. Another highlight of Roswell was the Roswell Museum & Art Center. It contained a large collection of Southwest culture, including models of conquistadors in full battle array, cowboys and soldiers. There was a large collection of weapons used in early days. The science area contained the inventions of Robert Goddard, the "father of modern rocketry". He tested many of his unusual inventions in the Roswell area. The art collection featured a spectacular mural of an Indian ceremonial dance and other southwestern artists.




Continuing west, we arrived in Ft Davis, Texas for a visit to the McDonald Observatory. we were treated to an evening of star gazing using the Observatory's 36 inch telescope to view Jupiter and its moons. Other objects seen were double stars, nebula, and even objects not in our galaxie. An added bonus were the shooting stars and sattalites we saw crossing the sky. It was a breathtaking evening up at the top of 6800 foot Mount Locke, one of the highest points in Texas. Marathon, Texas , the gateway to Big Bend NP, was our next stop. We had visited this wonderful NP 3 years ago and were delighted to return. Unfortunately, since the hurricane hit this area in July, the Rio Grande river has overflowed its banks and closed all the canyon hikes we loved. The river looked muddy and rough and the workers were bulldozing mud and plowing it like snow. We enjoyed the park and its roadrunners and deer. Marathon and Ft Davis have the Texas flair with old buildings and elegant hotels. We met a group of seniors travelling in restored Model A Fords. They were driving them throughout Texas and we met them again at Big Bend.


Driving from Marathon, we hugged the Rio Grand thru Del Rio, Eagle Pass, and spent the night in Mission. A visit to Bentsen-Rio Grande state park gave us our first look at a Green Jay,a Great Kiskadee, and a screech owl. Amazing birds ! We continued on to Harlingen to attend the Rio Grande Birding Festival for a few days. We learned to look on the wires for the Crested Caracara and the Kestral. We learned the call of the Plain Chachalaca and saw many hawks and falcons. One trip was a boat ride on the Rio Grande and a visit to King ranch, one of the largest ranches in Texas. We were lucky to see the Ferruginous pigmy owl that roosts there. Many new wading birds were seen in this area including the black necked stilts, avocets, and curved billed curlews. On a trip to South Padre Island, we saw the marbled godwit with its incredible pink legs. That was a first for us. The beach at South Padre is driveable although we saw some non 4 wheel drive vehicles stuck in the sand and needing a tow. The beach is wild and beautiful with huge crashing waves and some unusual shells. It was great to walk on a wilderness beach on the Gulf of Mexico again. Brownsville was another interesting town to visit. It was so close to the Mexican border that you had to be careful not to go thru the border without realizing it. We enjoyed another wildlife refuge and a visit to the Gladys Porter zoo, the home for many cranes from Africa and Asia. Each bird was vibrant in color and a joy to observe.