Monday around Santa Fe

This morning we went to Cerrillos Hills State Park for a hike. Nana shared her hiking pole with me:




There is life in the desert, but it's difficult because there is so little water. The yucca plant beside me has pretty yellowish-white flowers. The pile of black sticks behind me was a pinon tree until the bark beetles killed it 10 years ago.




The park brochure said there are bobcats, mountain lions (both are cousins of mine), foxes, and coyotes in the park. But it didn't mention any food for them to eat! We hiked for almost 2 hours and only saw 2 birds, a skinny 4" lizard, and a horned toad smaller than a potato chip. That wouldn't even feed a fox.

After the hike we drove to Madrid for lunch. This was a tiny coal mining town for the railroad until 1950. Now it's an artists colony, like much of northeast New Mexico. Madrid was the setting for the movie Wild Hogs.

We went back to Santa Fe for the afternoon and toured Canyon Road, the biggest collection of art galleries in Santa Fe.

These two photos are from a sculpture of an Indian woman, done in bronze:







I found some new friends to play with:




Poppa found an old friend to contemplate with:




Nana made friends with a HUGE cottonwood - it's base actually straddles that wall!




Poppa says he doesn't know much about art, but he knows what he likes:




I don't know much about art either, but I know what my friend Pooh likes - HONEY!




Posted from Nana's iPad

Day trip to Taos

Today we took a day trip to Taos. We took the High Road to Taos and took the Low Road back to Santa Fe.

The High Road is scenic, winding up into the mountains. It goes through a number of small villages, such as Chimayo, which was listed as one of the 16 most picturesque villages in the WORLD. We weren't very impressed with Chimayo and not much more with most of the other villages.

We did stop in Las Trampas because Poppa wanted to take me to church. But the San Jose de Gracia Church, built in 1776, was locked and they wouldn't let Poppa in.




There was some very nice scenery on the road.




Taos is an interesting town with lots of art galleries. We didn't go to any of them. Poppa did go to the Kit Carson Home and Museum.

We visited the Taos Pueblo where Taos Indians have lived for over a thousand years. They still don't allow electricity or running water inside the pueblo.

We went to see the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge. It was so scary looking down as we drove over the bridge that I stayed in the truck when Nana and Poppa got out to look. Poppa got this picture:






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Touring Santa Fe

This is our trailer lot in Santa Fe. The lilacs small great!





We toured part of Old Santa Fe today. This sculpture is a tribute to the pioneers who came here on the Santa Fe Trail, which started in Independence, Missouri. If you look on a map, you can see how far that is. Most of them walked!




This is the Loretto Chapel.




It has a fascinating spiral staircase.




Originally it didn't have a railing. Would you walk up and down this staircase?




Nana and I made a new friend today. His name is Doc. He's going to be in a movie about the Lone Ranger. Johnny Depp plays Tonto.




Have you read a good bus lately?



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Carlsbad to Santa Fe

We drove 271 miles today, from Carlsbad to Santa Fe. The first 76 miles were O.K., and put us in Roswell. It is well known because a flying saucer from outer space crashed near here in 1947 (or not!) We stopped at this (cheesy) museum:




This is what the crash looked like:




And this is what the people from outer space were supposed to look like:





The rest of the trip was awful. We were going uphill from 3329 feet in elevation to 7000 feet into winds of 40-60 miles per hour. It was hard to keep the truck going 55 mph. Poppa said it was like swimming upstream all day. About an hour from Santa Fe, the wind shifted to the side of the truck and peeled back the tonneau cover on the back of the truck. Poppa pulled off to the side of the road. It took him three tries to open his door and get out. Nana got out too and they moved stuff from the back of the truck into the trailer. They made me stay in the truck because the wind probably would have carried me to Amarillo, Texas. We finally got to Santa Fe and got thing organized again.

I have noticed that since we left Austin the only wild animals we saw were doves and buzzards. We saw one bunny the day we watched the sunset, and at Carlsbad Caverns we saw 2 squirrels,some cave swallows, and some bats. It's just to dry and brown for many animals. Finally today we saw pronghorn antelope. They're really pretty! Maybe your mommies can find more pictures to show you.

Nana and Poppa are taking good care of me, but they're kind of shy about being in pictures. That's why I'm usually by myself in pictures. I'll try to get them or other friends into pictures with me.

Speaking of pictures, here's one of Autumn (3 years old) and Brenna (1 year old) who live in Pittsburgh. They visit me at Nana and Poppa's every week. Their mommie calls this picture "Picking your friends":





I have a brother who lives with Quinn and Tessa in Seattle, where we will be in June. I'll post a picture of them next.

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Carlsbad Caverns

Remember the nice pictures of the Pecos River in Carlsbad from yesterday? Poppa found out today that the river is dammed up below the town. We went exploring and I met these friends by the dam:





Here's the real Pecos River below the dam. It's only 15 feet across, and Poppa could wade across it without getting his knees wet!




We toured the Carlsbad Caverns today. They are incredible! We were 800 feet underground. Poppa took this picture of Nana and me:





There wasn't very much light, so we're hard to see. Later in the tour, Park Ranger Robby turned off all the lights and Poppa took this picture of me:




We learned a lot from Park Ranger Robby. Maybe when I grow up I'll be a Park Ranger. Don't I look good in uniform?





The caverns are in the Guadalupe Mountains, which are next to a flat area that used to be a sea. You can see there isn't any water in that sea now:





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Fort Stockton, Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico

We drove 141 miles today, from Fort Stockton to Carlsbad. This is what it looked like when we left:




West Texas just got flatter, drier, dustier, browner, and hotter. New Mexico got a little hillier, but was very desolate - almost nothing except oil wells. Oddly enough, we saw a few large irrigated fields that looked like sod farms! The few towns were very small, with very little commerce except oil well supply, hardware stores, and one or two diners and gas stations.

It was 105 degrees in Carlsbad today (that's 41 degrees Celsius for Poppa's friend in Sweden). After setting up the trailer, we went to the laundromat to wash clothes. The woman who worked there was very nice and chatty. She said it is a bit hotter than usual, but sometimes it gets to 110 degrees (43 degrees Celsius) in July and August. She said that the bigger problem was the lack of rain. She has horses and the price of hay to feed them has gone a lot. Many people want to sell their horses, but no one wants to buy them.

The campground we are at is right next to the Pecos River. Poppa and I took a walk this afternoon and got two pictures:







Unfortunately, these are probably the nicest two pictures in all of Carlsbad.

Tomorrow we'll go to the Carlsbad Caverns, about 24 miles from here. I'm really looking forward to that after reading the brochures.

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Fredericksburg to Fort Stockton

Before we left Fredericksburg this morning, we stopped at the National Museum of the Pacific War. Poppa said I'm too young to understand it, and he hopes I never have to experience anything like it. I stayed in the truck while Poppa and Nana went in. After, Poppa said said he thought it was the best presentation of a single theme he has ever seen in a museum or monument. I never saw tears in Poppa's eyes before.

Poppa did show me one picture from the museum:




This is a Jeep from 1942. The first one was built by Bantam Motors in Butler, Pennsylvania which is only half an hour from where Autumn and Brenna live. Poppa had a newer Jeep and loved it.

I didn't understand why there was a museum about the Pacific Ocean while we were in the middle of Texas. Poppa showed me this sign:



Chester Nimitz was born in this house and had some kind of big role in what was shown in the museum.

Then Poppa showed me that Mr.Nimitz's house is now a childrens' toy store:



Poppa said that seemed fitting in a "swords to plowshares" sort of way. Whatever that means.

We drove 287 miles from Fredericksburg to Fort Stockton, AND WE'RE STILL IN TEXAS!! Wow, Texas is BIG! And flat. And dry. And dusty. And brown. And hot.

We arrived at the Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton and found some whimsical sculptures:







The park owner said his wife has forbidden him from buying any more.

There was a beautiful sunset tonight,and lots of people were sitting outside watching it:








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Special morning edition!

Oh, No! They have white winged doves here in Fredericksburg too! At 4 o'clock this morning "who cooks for you?", just like in Austin. Poppa says it sounds like 'coo, coo, cachoo' and he'll never watch Anne Bancroft again (whatever that means).

Well, a Tigger can only stand so much, so I decided to climb a tree and get my own breakfast this morning:



By the way, when we were having lunch yesterday, a woman sitting beside us called me Flat Stanley (whatever that means).

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Passing through Fredericksburg, TX

We drove 86 miles today through the Hill Country of Texas to Fredericksburg.

On the way we stopped at the LBJ Ranch - home of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th president of the USA. When we registered at the visitors center, the ranger asked where we were from. When we said Pittsburgh, he said he was from West Virginia. We asked where in West Virginia and he said Keyser (Hello, Nancy and Dave!) Then the woman behind the desk said "Hey, I'm from Charleston, West Virginia!" Poppa said he lived there when he was my age. Quite the little reunion!

Here are some of the cattle on the LBJ ranch:




Poppa says many of LBJ's speeches were full of a by-product of these cattle, whatever that means. On a kinder note, LBJ was dedicated to education, calling it the only path out of poverty.

We thought Nana was bringing work with her when we saw this bus:



Nana's psychology practice is The Creative Learning Center; this bus was from The Center for Creative Living School.

O.K. - another reunion when we got to the campground in Fredericksburg. Poppa saw a motorhome with license plates from Indiana. He told the owner we had just been in Richmond, Indiana visiting Nana's mother. The man said his daughter is on the city council there. We didn't get her name, but it's either Misty Hollis or Kathy Cruse-Nicholson.

Fredericksburg is an interesting little town settled by Germans in 1846. There lots of tourist shops, but the more interesting part is some of the neat stone buildings.

We went to a brew house for a light lunch:





Then we went for a hike at Enchanted Rock to work off the lunch:




I got stuck once:




We saw some cattle with really big horns:




Time for dinner and "Dancing with the Stars". Tomorrow we'll stop again if Fredericksburg to visit a museum before we head for Fort Stockton, Texas.

Posted from Nana's iPad

Wow - urgent update!

I can't talk Poppa into staying in Austin for a big family get-together! I need you to call him and say they should stay another week:

http://www.eeyores.org/

Come on - you voted for American Idol!

Tigger

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Sunday in Austin

Remember in my post on Friday when I mentioned the birds that made a lot of noise, like mourning doves on steroids? I found out today that they are White Winged Doves, just like the Stevie Nicks song. Their call, which goes on from 4 in the morning to 10 at night, sounds like "who cooks for you", with the accent on "you".

This morning we went to Threadgill's for brunch. There was a band called "Bells of Joy" who recorded their first record in 1951 and sold a million copies. It was cool.

After that Nana went with Jill and her kids to a birthday party. Poppa and I went to Hippie Hollow at Lake Travis to go swimming. I learned that Tiggers aren't the only people who don't need swimming suits:





Below is a picture of Sergey, Jill, and Larisa, minor parts played by myself and Nunyet.




Tonight we went to a jam session with Jill's band The Studebakers.

I thought Siggie was big until I met this Maine Coon:











I felt a lot less like a snack when this woman held me:






Jill's brother told us that last summer Austin had 105 days with temperatures over 100 degrees. Next time we're here will probably be in a February!

Tomorrow we leave for Fredericksburg, Texas - On the Road Again!

Posted from Nana's iPad