We had spent four nights at the Carlsbad KOA and we were more then ready to set off to a new part of New Mexico. We continued our journey westward a further 144 miles with our destination being Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, located just south of Alamogordo, NM. The days drive proved to be a short one, yet challenging with a mountain pass through Lincoln National Forest. We were pleased to be able to stop and explore the charming alpine town of Cloudcroft along the way. The town’s main street is bustling with cute shops and several restaurant options. We…
Gilla Cliff Dwellings
Our final day of touring around the beautiful state of New Mexico had arrived. We would begin the long drive home the following day. Bobby had read of the amazing National Monument, the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Tucked into the cliffside along the Gila River are the stone structures where a group of several families from the Mogollon Tribe, roughly 20-30 people according to the volunteer ranger we spoke to, lived in the late 1200s. Bobby was drawn to this site for multiple reasons. Primarily, things like pictographs and ancient dwellings are intriguing, mysterious, and wonderful to view. Secondly, the road…
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Our stay at the Carlsbad KOA was supposed to be coming to an end but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that we weren’t going to be visiting Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We were only 75 miles away and it felt wrong to be that close to a National Park and miss out on it. We decided to squish two days together further along in our itinerary and stay an extra day at the KOA, thereby making the day trip to Guadalupe a reality! We drove the hour and twenty minutes to the national park. Jack had fallen asleep on…
Sitting Bull Falls
We had been driving A LOT for the past 7 days so we opted for a hike, recommended by many, that was only 40 minutes from our campground. After driving down a winding desert road for 20 miles or so we arrived at the day use area within Lincoln National Forest, found at the end of the road. We were the first car in the parking lot! The park opens at 8:30am and closes to incoming traffic at 4:00 and outgoing traffic at 5:00. This is strictly enforced with gates and a tire shredder. The day-use area is $5 per…
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
I had read of Carlsbed Caverns in Nevada Barr’s mystery novel, Blind Descent. Her descriptions of the caverns intrigued me and had me dreaming of visiting there someday. As we were planning a two week road trip to the southwest, so as to escape the frigid Minnesota winter temperatures, I knew Carlsbad Cavern National Park had to be on our “Must-See” list. Driving while hauling our newly purchased Lance 1575 travel trailer along with traveling with a rambunctious toddle meant that our daily progress wasn’t nearly as fast as we had planned. We were a day behind schedule right off…
Hiking into the Light
Every day tragedy strikes all around our planet. Often times, we are not personally affected by tragedy. But, it happens too often that we, or somebody we know, is affected. Loss of a loved one, a friend, a confidant. Loss of trust. Loss of faith. Every day we deal with a myriad of issues and concerns and fears. Every day we do our best to provide our children and those around us with happiness, light, and love. But, sometimes the darkness creeps in on us and takes over our lives. It consumes us. Sometimes the losses, the tragedies, the anguish,…
Baxter State Park
While we were in Maine we had hoped to summit the state’s tallest peak, Mount Katahdin (elevation 5,268 feet). This tall point didn’t seem an improbable summit for us to reach. Jack has reached higher elevations with longer trails several times before. However, while researching the trails we soon learned that children under the age of six aren’t allowed above the tree line at Baxter State Park, where the trail and mountain are located. We tried our best to research the rule online but decided a phone call to the park might be our best bet. We had read a…
Cadillac to Dorr Mountain
Our first day at Acadia National Park we decided to do two hikes, one in the morning along the Ocean Path Trail and one in the afternoon. We drove, along with hundreds of other tourists to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, the tallest point in Acadia National Park at 1,530 feet. We were miraculously able to find parking in the main, and topmost parking lot. There, we geared up. It must’ve looked odd to the hoards of tourists as we donned day packs and our hiking boots and left the main trail. Many people stick to the tiny, paved, and well…
Acadia National Park
We spent a lot of time in Acadia National Park during our week long stay in Maine. It’s difficult for me to write about and it was difficult for Bobby to develop our pictures. But, we feel we must write about everything that happened to us while we were there. The week began with amazing, beautiful family moments in the park. We were filled with joy and anticipation at everything the next year of our lives would bring us. We had planned a special photo shoot that would announce the coming arrival of our next baby. Halfway through our trip tragedy struck…
Dealing with Changes and Challenges on the Trail
Hiking with small children will always present challenges. Every stage of development comes with it’s own unique issues to be dealt with when out on the trail. When we started hiking with our son, Jack, at just two weeks old, he was swallowed by his Baby Bjorn. I was terrified he would suffocate against my chest. I stopped regularly to check on him and make sure he was still breathing. Whoever wasn’t carrying him was slipping and sliding along on the trail making sure that the other was being careful and aware of the hazards that were around, all the…