Southeast Arizona with Jutta – Day 4

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Bisbee, Arizona

After staying the night at the Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee in Southern Arizona, we started the day with a visit to the Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum. Small place, but well worth the visit.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt in Bisbee, Arizona

Caroline and I first visited Bisbee back in 1995, shortly after we moved to the United States when we went out “camping” with my sister, mother, and step-father in their motorhome.

Jutta Engelhardt, Caroline Wise, and John Wise at the Mexican border in Naco, Arizona

From Bisbee, we drove southeast to Douglas, Arizona, and after four tries taking a photo of the three of us in front of the sign to Mexico, the best we got was this one of us squished together but still couldn’t find the right angle to capture us and the overhead sign behind my head.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona

In one of the most remote corners of the state of Arizona lies Interstate 80, which runs between Douglas on one side and Rodeo, New Mexico, on the other. Along the way, you might see a turnoff to Skeleton Canyon Road which is unpaved but pretty well kept and which will take you out to Skeleton Canyon and the Geronimo Surrender Site. I’ve got the feeling that this might be the only time in our lives that we’ll be out this way, but at least we’ve done it.

Caroline Wise and Jutta Engelhardt at the New Mexico State Line near Rodeo, New Mexico

To get to Arizona, we have to pass through New Mexico for a short drive until we hit road number 533 which turns into Portal Road back in Arizona, leading us into the mountains.

Near Paradise, Arizona

The road to Portal, Arizona, is paved, but beyond it, we are on dirt roads up over the mountains into Paradise, and from there, we’ll remain on dirt until we reach Chiricahua National Monument and finally start our return to civilization.

Native Lands in AZ, NM, CO – Day 3

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Southwest Colorado

The beautiful San Juan mountains are just astonishing, and on a calm morning, seeing these colors reflected in still waters was a kind of eye candy that only out of the perfection of nature can such a scene be realized.

Southwest Colorado

Funny how just as quickly as we reach our ultimate destination, we are already heading back the other way, not that it won’t be loaded with detours such as this particular view along the Million Dollar Highway in southwest Colorado.

Southwest Colorado

Beaver dams are incredible works of engineering that blow my mind that a furry little 40-pound semi-aquatic mammal can construct a dam that holds back so much water and radically alters our landscape building new ecosystems along the way. It’s truly a shame that we hunted them nearly to extinction in Europe and carelessly took all we wanted here in America for fashion when beaver pelt hats were all the rage. I’m yet to see one of these elusive animals in the wild, but it’s not for lack of trying.

Southwest Colorado

As gorgeous as the landscape is, I can’t help but ponder how people of European descent got to claim these lush lands while the original Native American settlers of North America have been pushed to the most inhospitable lands the country has to offer. While I love the sights of the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservations, they are very arid places that make everything about living there difficult.

Shiprock, New Mexico

We are back in New Mexico, passing through Shiprock, named after this inselberg or monadnock in the distance. A monadnock is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. To the Navajo, it is known as Tsé Bitʼaʼí, meaning “rock with wings” or “winged rock,” and is a sacred site.

Navajo Reservation, Arizona

These landscapes carve out a place in our senses as deep as they stand out in our vision. Our good fortune of being able to place ourselves in such dramatically beautiful locations is a bit of luck that it seems many cannot appreciate. I can only say this due to how many times we are asked how we endure the monotony of the open road, as though sights like this don’t leave indelible impressions.

Native Lands in AZ, NM, CO – Day 2

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Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico

I’ve probably told this story once too many times, but these trips of discovery where we careen through the landscape with the sole objective of becoming oriented with what’s what and what’s where are sometimes tinged with a tiny bit of regret that we don’t have more time to immerse ourselves in a place that is so fascinating that a couple of hours will never do justice to our experience and knowledge. Chaco Culture National Historical Park is just one of those places.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico

There’s an enormous amount of history to learn of here and the complexes that make up this abandoned site. From ground level to the kivas below and above the cliffs where ancient trails and other structures beckon our attention, we will not be able to do justice to understanding the smallest fraction of Chaco and what it meant to the early Puebloans and other indigenous peoples who may have visited here so many years and centuries ago.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico

Chaco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and deservedly so. Until the 19th century, Chaco had the largest man-made buildings in North America, and to stand here among the millions of stones that were carefully placed in order to build such structures leaves us in awe. Fortunately, this northwest corner of New Mexico is only about 360 miles from where we live, and hopefully, that will allow us to return again.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico

How many hands over how many years chipped away at these rocks in order to make relatively uniform sizes that could be fitted together to make these walls? Some of the structures were up to four stories tall, and it has been estimated that Chetro Ketl alone was made up of as many as 50 million hand-placed stones.

Southwest Colorado

Our drive out of New Mexico takes us into Colorado to the old mining town of Silverton, this was along the way.

Thanksgiving to Roswell – Day 3

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Roswell, New Mexico

As one might imagine, aliens play a large role in this remote desert community. Lucky for the residents of this outpost, a spaceship crashed nearby back in 1947 because, without this as a tourist draw, I don’t believe there’d be much reason to stop here other than passing through on the way to Carlsbad for those coming from the north.

Mark Shimer, Caroline Wise, and John Wise in Roswell, New Mexico

We stopped for breakfast and ordered pancakes with green alien faces cooked into them, some green eggs and ham (oops, wrong story), and some cross-sections of abducted and dissected pigs.

Roswell, New Mexico

Checking out the local gift shops while they check us out. You just have to know that we left with more than one of these little guys; we left with three of them.

Roswell, New Mexico

The UFO Museum & Research Center is the main draw here in Roswell and is worth every penny of the few dollars it will cost you to visit the place.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Roswell, New Mexico

Here on this Internet terminal, we paid to bring up our website, Alienzoo dot com. The t-shirt I’m wearing is from my last project called TheLinuxStore, which you can guess was focused on all things Linux. Now that I’m working on all things alien, I see lots of similarities with the Linux community.

Socorro, New Mexico

Oh wow, check out that amazing neon sign, said the driver as we sped by, not really giving a second thought to stopping in. But then we look at the map and consider where we are staying in Alpine, Arizona, and figure this might be our last best chance to get some dinner. Good thing we did, as this place rocks. When you find yourself in Socorro, New Mexico, be sure to stop at this kind of New Mexican Denny’s where green chili on their steak and eggs and a side of guacamole is a great way to enjoy dinner.

Thanksgiving to Roswell – Day 2

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John Wise, Caroline Wise, and Mark Shimer at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Human bats entering the cave. We are at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and are about to enter the bowels of the Earth.

Robert Bell at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Better be careful about my metaphors else someone might think I was talking of a friend’s bowels or their full bladders.

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Okay, so the photos down here will leave a lot to desire regarding image quality, but they are the best I have to offer.

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Yay, more poor-quality cave photos are just what everybody wants and needs, right?

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Okay, how about stacks of generic lunches that are just as uninspired as their packaging?

Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

Speaking of those bowels of the Earth here after lunch.

John Wise, Caroline Wise, and Mark Shimer at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

We have emerged back on the surface and will go north in search of dinner and aliens.

Robert Bell in Roswell, New Mexico

Robert found the aliens right where you’d expect to find them. Welcome to your anal probe at Walmart.

New Mexico to Colorado – Ruby & Axel

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Ruby Rieke and Caroline Wise in New Mexico

Our first impressions of New Mexico have been terrific. A giant cavern, a whopper of an alien tale, and the delightful taste of New Mexican cuisine all made for a great experience as we cut a diagonal line across the state. The state sign features the claim that this is The Land of Enchantment; I wouldn’t disagree. While difficult to see, Caroline is pointing to the spot on a map where we currently are, which is at one of the boundaries of the Navajo Reservation.

Ruby Rieke and Caroline Wise in Colorado

I searched high and low, trying to find where we were passing through, but I came up empty. I’m fairly certain we are in Colorado, as our next stop was at Mesa Verde National Park. This was an unscheduled detour as we found that with just 100 miles to drive today, we had plenty of free time.

Caroline Wise and Ruby Rieke at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

And here we are at Mesa Verde. After we visited this profound site, we had to head south again back into New Mexico as we were staying in a cabin over in Brazos.

When we arrived after dark to check in to the Honeymoon Suite, we couldn’t find anyone at the front desk. The lights were out, and the door was locked. So we just hung out a bit, trying to figure out what to do. After a short wait, someone emerged from the darkened front office and apologized for not opening it. It turns out that in the seconds before we drove up, a black bear was right in front of the door and had been wandering around camp. Needless to say, we were somewhat disappointed not to see any sign of the bear though we were a little nervous as we made our way in the dark to our cabin.

But the story didn’t end there. In the middle of the night, well after we’d all gone to sleep, Axel had to get up to use the bathroom. Having finished taking care of business, he went to leave the toilet and like people are apt to do, he was turning off the light in the instant before he opened the door. In that quickly fading light, he saw his wife Ruby. Axel hit the floor like a bucket of water being dumped out from above, smack. Ruby screamed, thinking Axel had just had a heart attack, and from his gasping for air Caroline and I were seriously frightened by Axel’s condition. He tried to tell us what was going on, but he gasped and couldn’t get whole words out. He stuttered with, “I, I, I…” but that’s all he could say. Finally, he croaks, “I’m okay.” We are all frantic with the situation and demand to know, what do you mean, “you are okay?” With his breath returning, he starts to tell us that when he sleepily opened the door, there was just enough light for him to see the BEAR. He didn’t see Ruby; he registered seeing the bear that was still on his mind and fell absolutely limp with what was likely the biggest adrenaline rush of his life up to this point. We finished our midnight adventure in hysterical laughter and were still laughing about it the next day.