Jutta and John say Goodbye

Jutta and John say goodbye as Jutta stays at my mothers overnight allowing Caroline and I a night alone before the roadtrip with my mother

Jutta and I say goodbye as she stays the night at my mother’s house, allowing Caroline and me to have our first night alone since May 13th! In the morning, my mother and I will depart on our cross-country road trip.

These past two months with my mother-in-law have been one of the best visits, and one of the “could have been better” at the same time. I am probably too impatient and Jutta a bit too forgetful, but still, we managed to end our part of the visit with smiles, and some laughs in addition to sharing many, many moments taking in some incredibly beautiful sights. I hope her next ten days alone with Caroline will go well and that they enjoy each other’s company minus the aergerlich schwiegersohn. Somehow I actually will miss my mother-in-law, believe it or not.

Cross Country with Mom

July 6

Not so much a photo of the day but a look at the Excel file detailing my cross-country road trip with my mother that begins on Friday, July 8th.

Our trip will focus on the Great Lakes with a brief excursion into Canada before stopping in Buffalo, New York, where my mother and I were born. While out on the road, I will attempt to post the occasional photo of the day instead of turning over duties to Caroline as I did in March. Caroline will be too busy with a full class load in addition to her mom staying here in Phoenix through July 17th.

Magic Purse

A purse found in the ladies room in Clifton, Arizona finds its owner for the second time

Yesterday in Clifton, Arizona, at a roadside public restroom, Caroline found the above purse. No phone number of the owner, no cash, but bank cards and a driver’s license were still in it.

Upon returning to Phoenix and not finding the phone number of the owner from 411, we glanced over the contents once more and found a phone number for a brother in New York and left him a message concerning the finding of the purse.

This morning, Jessica F., the owner of the purse, called to retake possession. Turns out that this purse had been lost in Austria sometime before with $400 in traveler’s checks and was returned intact. Later today after she comes to Phoenix from Tucson, we will give back her purse, again intact. Lucky girl.

Coronado Trail Scenic Byway

Very Large Array near Datil, New Mexico

Disclaimer: This post was updated in November 2022, as the original only included 1 photo. The bigger details were written back then, although a few things needed to be figured out.

Today’s return to Arizona started with us fueling up at El Camino Family Restaurant, as we’ll never miss an opportunity to eat there. Once out of town and heading west, it was inevitable that we would be passing the VLA (Very Large Array – see the movie Contact with Jodie Foster to see what I’m talking about).

Apache Creek Store in Reserve, New Mexico

Maybe living in Europe for ten years helped me better appreciate these unique American sights; I never tire of the old-fashioned places if, for no other reason than walking in, we might get to hear the creaky wood floor announcing our arrival. Well, that and buying ice cream to support the local economy.

Luna Post Office and Cafe in Luna, New Mexico

Another 30 minutes further east and it’s already to stop again, this time in Luna, New Mexico, for refreshments.

Somewhere near Alpine, Arizona

Back in Arizona, we stopped for homemade ice cream at the Lollipop Shoppe in Alpine and then took a turn south on the 191.

Coronado Scenic Byway in Eastern Arizona

This was the original “Photo of the Day:” wildflowers along the Coronado Trail just north of Hannagan Meadows, taken by Caroline. This is one of my most recommended scenic drives in Arizona.

Coronado Scenic Byway in Eastern Arizona

State Route 191, also known as “The Devil’s Highway,” is the Coronado Trail Scenic Byway. This road descends 5,000 feet (1,600 meters) over 60 miles (97km) via 525 sharp curves and switchbacks. The byway closely follows the route Coronado took back in 1540.

Coronado Scenic Byway in Eastern Arizona

One has to wonder, who drives around with their bow and arrows so they can shoot an arrow at a dead tree, hoping to actually hit it? I’m only showing you a section of the tree; just imagine how many arrows are in the surrounding forest from those who missed their shot.

Coronado Scenic Byway in Eastern Arizona

Approaching the end of the Coronado Scenic Byway, the smoke on the left is actually dust from what lies just over the way.

Morenci Mining Operation near Morenci/Clifton, Arizona

This is the rather giant Morenci mine, the biggest copper-producing open-pit mine in all of North America.

Clifton, Arizona

The mine has its own town, also named Morenci, and just down the road is the old town of Clifton, which appears to be falling into disrepair.

Geronimo Memorial in Geronimo, Arizona

Welcome to Geronimo that really isn’t anything much of something anymore. Aside from some nearby ruins and a couple of roadside signs that always seem to go missing, go figure as they just say “GERONIMO,” there’s just this monument giving a tiny bit of background about the Chiricahua Apache rebels and how the U.S. Government built them a “camp” called Fort Thomas where they were supposed to stay next to the Gila River and be good little Indians. Apparently, medicine man Geronimo didn’t appreciate the concentration camp. And before you get your panties into a bunch, I said concentration camp, not death camp.

Bosque Redondo – The Long Walk

Geiler Cattle Company in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Disclaimer: This post was updated in November 2022, as the original only included 1 photo. The bigger details were written back then, although a few things needed to be figured out.

After leaving the Guadalupe Inn in Whites City, New Mexico, the three of us had breakfast in Roswell at the Nuthin’ Fancy Cafe. After a ton of desert and not one alien, we stopped for a laugh here off State Route 20 and the intersection of Altito Road, but if you don’t read German, you may not know why we stopped. You see, Geiler in German means hornier, and the idea of some serious horny cattle out there as though that were a possibility, well, that seemed pretty funny to us.

Billy The Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Not so funny is this shrine to a mass murderer, but because this psycho arrives out of the over-romanticized Old West, he’s a kind of folk hero. So, what’s in the Billy The Kid Museum?

Billy The Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Oh, a gun that maybe he used to murder someone. It makes me wonder why we don’t have a roadside museum dedicated to Jeffrey Dahmer featuring power tools and blood-stained towels for processing the eating of his victims.

Billy The Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Okay, this fits: why not feature racist iconography out of the dark past, as those who worship at the feet of villains might enjoy memories of better times?

Billy The Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Right on, some angry injun beating his drum, that works for this abomination of a place.

Billy The Kid Museum in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

I think the wheels fell off this once-quaint idea of building a museum to this type of character.

Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Bosque Redondo was the end of the trail for over 8,000 Navajos who were force-marched off their lands and into New Mexico on what is known as “The Long Walk.” A new visitor center has opened here on these grounds next to the Pecos River in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. I would have supplied a link to more information, but the links are a hit-and-miss hodgepodge of snippets of info that fail to go into great detail about the significance behind the memorial.

Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

This map shows a proposed route of what could one day be the Long Walk National Historic Trail.

Pecos River at Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

We are out on the interpretive trail; this is the Pecos River running through the Memorial Park.

Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

This memorial was just opened back on June 4th, not even 3o days ago; even the dragonflies are new.

Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

The exhibits in the facility are not yet all-together there; this is all a bit of work in progress.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt at Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

And if you arrive in the summertime, expect the temperatures to be north of 100 degrees (40c).

Bosque Redondo Memorial in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

There’s a nearby photo that depicts Native Americans under armed guards building the barracks for the white guys, except those were built with adobe bricks; we’re guessing this is a recreation over the foundation, so we get the idea.

Billy the Kid grave site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

Nearby, the Billy The Kid Grave Site is guarded by a cage, and somehow, people want to throw money at it and leave flowers. Next week, I’m gonna set up a shrine and museum in honor of John Gacy, the Killer Clown, so people pay my bills by throwing their spare change at his headstone. Don’t go telling me or anyone else that he was cremated because that doesn’t matter; we just need a place, some artifacts, and maybe some body parts.

Encino, New Mexico

Encino, New Mexico, simply turned into a ghost town and is being allowed to crumble. Too bad Charles Manson didn’t kill people here.

Encino, New Mexico

Maybe Kenneth Pinyan, a.k.a. Mr. Hands and the city of Enumclaw, should come to mind? Last night he died after having his internal organs used as a punching bag by a stallion penis.

Encino, New Mexico

Makes you wonder what kind of bestiality might have been happening out in these parts, seeing how this Encino Motel was under new “menagement,” obviously a play on menagerie and management.

Somewhere on New Mexico Route 60

My mother-in-law’s body is in there, don’t tell anyone.

Rio Grande River in New Mexico

We crossed a fuller-than-usual Rio Grande River; seems I’m kind of full of it, too.

El Camino Family Restaurant in Socorro, New Mexico

Of course, we stayed the night in Socorro, as where else should we have had dinner? Staying here allowed us to not only grab our evening meal at our favorite little restaurant in New Mexico – the El Camino Family Restaurant, but you can rest assured that breakfast will also be right here.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Leaving Las Cruces, New Mexico at dawn

Disclaimer: This post was updated in November 2022, as the original only included 1 photo; the bigger details were written back then, although a few things needed to be figured out.

Up early Saturday morning for the 188-mile (304km) drive that passes through Texas and back into New Mexico.

Ruin in New Mexico

Welcome to Salt Flat, Texas. This is about all that’s left.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park in New Mexico

Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

We reached Carlsbad Caverns quickly enough, and like Jutta’s and my trip here a week ago, a single bat was on the wall to greet us as we entered its domain.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

We hoped to enter the cave through the Natural Entrance, which can’t be a given and depends on if my mother-in-law feels she has the stamina. Fortunately for us today, this is how we entered the cave.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

Having just photographed the cave a week prior, I wasn’t sure if I would find any new angles to share, but here goes.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

While the cave system feels huge, it also feels rather compact as the paved walkway twists and turns so much that you never really know where you are.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

The trail is 1.25 miles long with an elevation gain or loss of 750 feet, though somehow it doesn’t feel like that at all, probably because your senses are tuned to taking in as much as possible.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

While this cave is astonishing, there’s much gone and broken as when it was first discovered; people didn’t know anything at all about the fragility, age, or health of an ecosystem that might be still evolving in this now mostly dead cave. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy it quite the same without the great lighting and pathways, but it sure would have been great to see and hear the cave while water was still actively forming these ribbons, stalagmites, stalactites, and other formations that boggle the mind.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

Like organic creatures, these formations could have been considered lungs, and if you’d told me that, I might have believed you.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

After descending about halfway, we detoured from the Big Room so we could make our reservations for the King’s Palace Tour at 3:00 p.m. Finishing the King’s Palace, we re-entered the Big Room to finish the trail we skipped earlier.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

What photos came from the main cave area or the King’s Palace are lost to time; suffice it to say that they are all from Carlsbad Caverns.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

Just stop and think about this: all of this rock used to be a solid structure until groundwater dripped through the earth, carving out the limestone.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

But as where rivers scrape clean the surfaces they run over, these waters leach minerals carrying them along to form what we see here today.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

Somewhere in our vicinity is the Lechuguilla Cave system, which is still very much alive but it’s off-limits to all but scientists and park personnel.

John Wise, Caroline Wise, and Jutta Engelhardt at the bat flyout at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

With barely enough time to get good seats at the Natural Entrance amphitheater, our explorations ended with us watching the Bat Flight  – more than 350,000 bats making their way out of the cave’s Natural Entrance tornado-style for a night of bug munching.

Bat flyout at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico

Afterward, we felt like munching on something as well and headed to Carlsbad for dinner at Chili’s, one of the few eateries still open at 9.30 PM.