Carlsbad Caverns – Ruby & Axel

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

John Wise and Axel Rieke at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Spent the day before driving from Phoenix to Superior to take Ruby and Axel through the town U-Turn with Sean Penn was filmed after watching it with them. From there, we continued on the scenic route eschewing Interstate 10 as we headed to Globe and Safford before entering New Mexico near Mule Creek. Down through Silver City, we traveled south to Deming, where the I-10 was unavoidable until we were able to merge on the US 180 outside of El Paso, Texas. We arrived a bit late at the Best Western in Carlsbad, so maybe driving 598 miles of scenic route wasn’t the best idea, but we were adamant that we’d avoid major freeways, so we accomplished that to the best of our ability.

Yes, Axel and I are reaching out for the giant nipple.

Caroline Wise at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Early in the morning, we arrived at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and sadly took the elevator in as we didn’t appreciate yet what the natural entrance had to offer as this was our first visit, and we had reservations to visit the Left-Hand Tunnel at 9:00 and didn’t want to be late. These photos were taken in the Big Room if I’m not mistaken. While you can’t see it in this photo, Caroline is wearing cords, and it wasn’t even the ’70s anymore.

Ruby Rieke at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

In the afternoon, we had reservations to visit the King’s Palace in the cavern, and from there, we needed to get going for Roswell where we were spending the night. This is our friend Ruby Rieke. As for our impressions of the caverns here in the southeast corner of New Mexico, we were so enthusiastically impressed that we would return many more times after this.

The Honeymoon – Ruby & Axel

JWise Photo of the Day

Axel Rieke and Ruby Rieke in Scottsdale, Arizona

Sometimes it pays to dig into the archive and have the means to rescue long-forgotten memories. At some point, I scanned a bunch of old negatives and threw them into a directory grouped to the best of my ability. Old film images weren’t stamped with dates, GPS data, or anything at all that would help you identify details that are lost in time. But an old itinerary floating around from 1998 helped me identify the order of an 11-day visit that Ruby and Axel Rieke took with us that summer. But this wasn’t just any journey with us; this was Ruby and Axel’s honeymoon as they had just gotten married five days before, and we were there too. So, to the best of my ability, I’m trying to match those random photos to the days the itinerary says we were doing particular things. The day prior to our departure to New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, we went to the hottest new restaurant in the Phoenix area at the time called The Rainforest Cafe. It was at the Mills in Tempe, where there was also a new IMAX theater. According to my notes, we took in a movie there but there’s no recollection of what it was.

Caroline Wise with Axel Rieke and Ruby Rieke in Scottsdale, Arizona

We’ll never forget the long-gone restaurant Sam’s Cafe, as it was a favorite, and it was on our way to our next stop.

John Wise with Axel Rieke and Ruby Rieke in Scottsdale, Arizona

Fashion Square needed a visit as we required a couple of things before taking off on our 7-day road trip that starts tomorrow. You may not notice it right away, but in my mouth is a cigarette. I believe this is about the only photo that exists of the short time I was a smoker. From the day we landed on April 6, 1995, I started smoking and finally stopped on September 9, 1999. I still can’t believe I subjected those around me to such an ugly stench, but on the other hand, I had worse personality traits at work during those years; good thing I was on a path to growing up.

In a couple of days, we left for New Mexico, but sadly there wasn’t one photograph that documents our day on the road.

Getting Married – Ruby & Axel

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Ruby Rieke, Caroline Wise, and Axel Rieke in San Francisco, California

Caroline and I flew up to San Francisco this week to join Ruby Alvarez and Axel Rieke as they get married. Sadly, this was the age of taking photos on film, and it hadn’t occurred to us yet to take lots of photographs, but it was also pretty expensive, so there was that. While this isn’t the best photo of Caroline, though she is sweetly beautiful, notice the long hair because a week later, all that hair was gone, and we were welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Rieke into Arizona to spend their honeymoon with us on a road trip across the southwestern United States in the four corners region. Thanks, Ruby and Axel, for having us join you on these momentous days.

Visitors from Germany – Ruby & Axel

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Axel Rieke and Ruby Alvarez at Wupatki National Monument in Arizona

After Caroline and I had been living in America for a little more than a year, we had visitors from Germany come in for a few days. Thank you, Ruby and Axel, for honoring our friendship by absorbing the cost of stopping in Arizona while you are out traveling on vacation. It was a short trip but a great one; our first stop on a road trip north was at Wupatki National Monument.

Axel Rieke, Ruby Alvarez, Caroline Wise and John Wise at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

Our next stop was up at the Grand Canyon National Park, where Caroline and I spent our honeymoon nearly two years earlier.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

I’m so happy we have at least a few photos of ourselves from this time and that we’ve been so fortunate to visit the Grand Canyon again and again.

Axel Rieke, John Wise, and Ruby Alvarez in Sedona, Arizona

On another day during Ruby and Axel’s visit, we drove up to Sedona to sit on Bell Rock and take in the view.

Axel Rieke and Ruby Alvarez in Sedona, Arizona

While I dated this visit July 15th, I don’t know the exact date but had to guestimate based on the length of my hair and increasing weight, but it’s close enough. The next time we saw Ruby and Axel, he too would have cut off his hair just as I did the year before, and also, during that visit, these two would be getting married.

Native American Music Festival

JWise Moments

Native American Music Festival in Tsaile, Arizona

Who gets so lucky to attend something as special as the 2nd Annual Native American Music Festival held at the Navajo Community College in the Tsaile Mountains of Arizona? We do, of course. From traditional native sounds to metal and hip-hop, this festival had a little bit of everything. Caroline and I had already been in America for two years by this time, but this wasn’t our first time on the Navajo Reservation. The opportunity to dip into some authentic culture absolutely justified the 5-hour drive north to get up this way. That, and the roast mutton and pine nuts.

Somewhere on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona

For those of you who may be stumbling upon my blog and find these old posts that predate the existence of blogs: these get posted from time to time after I’ve scanned in old photos or negatives. Even though the old film quality nature of the images and our cheap scanner leave a lot to be desired, I still enjoy the images that inspired us to continue exploring our world. Being able to extract enough data to pinpoint certain aspects of these times is also helpful. While I’d forgotten what year and the specifics of the event, we still have a t-shirt with the dates and list of performing acts.

Caroline Wise and Mark Shimer at Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona

Traveling with my 29-year-old wife (who looks like a 15-year-old boy here), and I was Mark Shimer, who was still living with us at the time while he and Caroline worked for the Marion Foundation. Those two are pictured here at Canyon de Chelly National Monument of the Navajo Reservation.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona

Seeing we were in the area, an obligatory stop at Petrified Forest National Park was in order, especially because Mark had never been here. Notice my lack of a beard? This has only happened on very rare occasions.

Somewhere on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona

Taking sunset photos from the car has never proven very worthwhile, but that hasn’t stopped us in the 30 years we’ve been doing just that.

Getting Married in Vegas

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Engelhardt, John Wise, Klaus Singer, and Jo Lincke in Las Vegas, Nevada

It’s just hours before Caroline Engelhardt and John Wise are about to be married but first up, dinner at Excalibur with jousting in Las Vegas. So, this would be the very last photo of Caroline before she became Caroline Wise. Why there are no photos of us getting married is not a mystery; we were operating on fumes after going non-stop for weeks leading up to this day. Add to that, my mother was being difficult as the witching hour for our exchange of vows was approaching at 12:12 on January 12, she was tired and cranky. While likely mentioned elsewhere, this created a state of chaos, and the mess of that drama is better left in the past. That’s Klaus Singer with the beard and Jo Lincke on his left. As for Connie and Uwe, who were with us, they did everything they could to avoid being in any of our photos.