New Mexico - Day 7

We are hitting our stride.  We woke up this morning after having slept an entire night and appear to be breathing normally once again.  So, what else to do but to drive back down the mountain – this time on the west side of the range – to visit the White Sands National Monument.

Some of you may be wondering what the difference is between a National Park and a National Monument.  Tish and Tess taught us this at the bottom of Carlsbad Caverns – monuments can be designated by a President at any time – White Sands was made a monument by President Hoover in 1933.  To gain national park status, the area must be declared a park by Congress.  The difference?  Funding. 

Holy moly, folks.  National park or no, White Sands is definitely something to see.  What an incredibly fun day we had.  Only mom wanted to do the Junior Ranger program on this one – although Ross helped fill out the booklet.  I was going to bail at one point, but then caught sight of the sweet ranger badge that only Junior Rangers get to own.  So I hunkered down and finished the book.

Piece of Selenite

White Sands, I learned, is actually composed of billions of tiny grains of gypsum and exists because of a unique relationship between water, wind and the particular desert environment surrounding Alamagordo, NM.  The Sacramento Mountains (where Cloudcroft is) and the San Andres Mountains contain high levels of gypsum.  Rain and water seeping down into the desert floor from these areas also contain high levels of the mineral.  The gypsum infused water is trapped on the desert floor in Lake Lucero – the lowest point in White Sands.  The water eventually evaporates leaving the gypsum behind in crystal like formations called selenite.   

Selenite is an incredibly thin, fragile crystal that a good stiff wind grabs and sends scooting over the existing sand dunes.  The selenite eventually tumbles and rolls itself into fine grains of sand which then form the sometimes 60 foot high sand dunes of the national monument.
That’s the scientific version.  To everyone else, White Sands is
basically a HUGE sandbox.  And, Oh. My.  Is it FUN.  For this part, I think I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves. 

I will say, that in the park’s bookstore, Ross and I met our future.  Ranger Greg and his wife were working behind the counter and were the official people who signed my junior ranger paperwork.  They are Ranger Volunteers.  They call Rocky Mountain National Park their home, but they basically spend their winters traveling from one park to the next offering their services as docents and general park enthusiasts.

 

On the critter front, White Sands is unique because of how the animals have adapted themselves to

their environment.  There are several examples of animals and reptiles who have, through the process of adaptation, developed white versions of their darker selves so that they reduce their chances of being eaten.  The roadrunner, the state bird, lives here and snacks on the lizard population.  On our hike through the dunes we only saw little white lizards, but we saw lots of evidence (tracks) of jackrabbits and roadrunners.


The other really cool thing we learned about the park was how the vegetation has adapted itself to the ever changing environment.  Two plants grow in the park that made us feel very much at home - Little Bluestem grass and cottonwood trees!  We saw a sign on one of the trails indicating that there was a cottonwood tree nearby.  We looked and looked and then realized that, right in front of us was a small, leafy looking bush sticking out of the sand dune.  Lo and behold, it was the top of the cottonwood tree.  The trunk and larger branches were buried beneath the sand.

The soaptree yucca also grows very tall and extends its flower stalk so that it can grow above the moving dune.  All you see is the top part of the yucca – but what you don’t see is the (sometimes) 30 feet of stem that is buried in the dune.  Finally, sumac is a bush that basically uses water to solidify the sand moving around its roots to anchor itself to the dune floor.  The moving sand travels on leaving a towering piece of permanent gypsum rock with a shaggy, bushy top.

This structure then becomes a home for small rodents and insects that live in the interdunal regions (the flat areas between the dunes).

We messed around White Sands for about four hours before heading back up the mountain.  We ate dinner at Big Daddy's Restaurant on the east edge of town.   Occasionally, Ross and I like to listen to The Splendid Table on NPR.  Ross had heard on one of those shows that there is a close correlation between excellent tasting food and the number of religious items in a restaurant.  All I'm going to say about Big Daddy's is this:  The entire west wall of the restaurant was covered with crosses, there was scripture on the menu, signed guitars from both George Straight and Alan Jackson were hanging on the wall next to an American flag, and a nice warm stove greeted you at the entrance.  The food was AMAZING.  Eat there.  After another great meal (we ate there for lunch yesterday as well), we went back to our room to watch one of my alma mater's win (WSU) and the other one lose by one point (KSU).  Although the loss was heartbreaking, it does save me from being very conflicted during the next round.  Oh yeah, and KU won as well.

New Mexico - Day 6

People from Montana, Colorado and other mountainous states call people like us Kansans “flatlanders.”  And there is a good reason.  Today, the Hicks family demonstrated our flatlander status in high style.  Outside of a very brief drive out to the Sunspot Solar Observatory on Sacramento Peak, we spent the entire day trying to breathe properly.

The good news is, if you must convalesce in a hotel to acclimate to 9700 feet – The Lodge at Cloudcroft is a p.r.e.t.t.y. good spot to do it.  As lovers of all things old and quirky, the Lodge is chockfull of quirks and stories – for example, it just happened to be managed by Mr. Conrad Hilton of Hilton Hotels early in his career.  History practically oozes out of every wall, picture, ironwork banister and wooden rafter.  On a Thursday, the hotel was quiet, relaxing and we sort of felt like we had the run of the place ourselves.

We wandered the halls where hung displays telling the history of the town, the Lodge and other interesting tidbits from the area’s past.  Probably the most interesting thing about the Lodge is that it is apparently haunted.  According to brochures found in the lobby, the hotel’s permanent resident is Rebecca – a red-haired chambermaid who disappeared from her quarters shortly after her lumberjack boyfriend found her with another man.  Seriously, you can check out ghost hunting equipment from the front desk if you so desire to meet Rebecca herself.  We didn't.

Room 101

As flirtatious in death as she was in life, Rebecca apparently likes to mess with people – turning on and off lights, moving furniture, hiding things and opening and closing doors.  Only a few have seen her, but the legend is big enough that the Lodge has landed in a book on haunted hotels that is for sale in the gift shop and the owners have named their restaurant after her.  The only potential connection we had with her was during our first dinner here yesterday evening.  As we sat waiting for our food, the lights flickered and dimmed unexpectedly.  We all looked at each other and in unison said, "Rebecca."  There was another incident with a disappearing desert plate, but we figured out that one was accomplished by an efficient table server who removed it while we were engaged in a particularly interesting conversation.  Truth or legend, Rebecca made our stay more exciting to say the least.

The Lodge was originally built in 1899 entirely of wood.  One of the wall displays questions the sanity of a person who would build completely out of this material on the top of a forested mountain as, sure enough, in 1909 the hotel caught fire and was completely destroyed.  In 1911 the hotel was rebuilt where it stands today, complete with a replica of the original tower room offering views of the surrounding peaks and canyons.  Looking to the west, you can see White Sands Missile Range from the Tower windows.

We grabbed a key to the tower from the front desk and spent a little time stretching our mountain lungs on a five story climb.  Although the activity is forbidden today, past inhabitants of the hotel would carve their name into the wood beams of the tower.  On the final staircase up to the top room are two very famous names – Clarke Gable and Judy Garland who stayed here in the early 1930s.  Outside of Clarke and Judy, other famous guests have included the guys from MythBusters, Sandra Day O’Conner, Poncho Villa, and nearly every state governor since the hotel’s beginning.  It is rumored that Rebecca’s favorite room is 101.  So if you decide to stay there, expect company.

The restaurant has a nice variety of incredible food and the staff is incredibly friendly.  The wooden bar in the restaurant was shipped up to the mountain from Al Capone's bar in Chicago after the building it originally was in burned to the ground.  The Lodge sits on a golf course and offers tee times or, if golf isn’t your style, you can spend the day in the spa.  A game room off of the lobby offers a chess board, checkers, backgammon, scrabble and several cases of paperbacks - I read 3 while lounging.  Wireless internet is available in the lobby.  As I write this, I am sitting on the balcony at a small round granite café table overlooking the lobby’s beautiful stone fireplace.  A fire is crackling below me and the soft sounds of hotel guests are making everything nice and homey.  All in all, like my financial aid friend before me, I HIGHLY recommend staying here if you get the chance.  We all enjoyed our stay and feel like it is a little slice of home away from home.

New Mexico - Day 5

If God makes perfect vacation days – today was it.

We got up at leisure, ate a hotel provided hot breakfast, packed up our belongings and said goodbye to our Carlsbad home for the past few days.  We were again headed to Guadalupe National Park, this time to spend the entire day.

We had two options – hike to the top of Texas (8,000 some feet in the air), or smell the roses.  The sun was shining, we were in a relaxed mood, and no one was feeling like breathing hard.  So we decided to smell the roses.  On Ranger Holly’s suggestion from the day before, we walked up to the ranger station and asked for the junior AND senior ranger activity books.  The books were free and they also generously gave us pencils to use.

For those who are not familiar with national park culture, the junior ranger program is a great way for visitors who are twelve and under to experience the park.  Ross and I hold the distinction of being one of the few “not-so-junior rangers” to be sworn in during our trip to Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  Apparently, the program was such a success, there is now a ranger program for seniors – defined as anyone thirteen or older.  If you have a chance, and you don’t mind looking just a little nerdy (we don’t), these programs are a fantastic way to engage with the park and get far more out of it than you will just hiking the trails.

Isaac was hardcore and went for both the ranger badge and the patch.  We were only able to work for a patch.  We grabbed our books and headed into the exhibit area of the visitors center where we spent the next half-hour identifying the plants and critters that call the desert their home.  From there, we were required to hike a trail and because Isaac was so energized, he had to hike two.  So we set out for the first hike – Frijole Ranch.

This hike was not part of the original plan, but I am so glad that we did it.  Frijole Ranch is an actual ranching and fruit operation at the bottom of Frijole Ridge.  It is there because of a natural spring that spills onto the ranch property.  The enterprising owners used a sophisticated pump system to push the water out to feed the orchard and the house.  The family lived and raised eight children on the property which consisted of a two-story home, a small one room school house, a bunk house and several other out buildings.

Circling to the west of the ranch was a trail that led into the ridge and up to Smith Spring.  On that trail we identified many of the plants that we had learned about – Sotol (also called the Desert

Candle) being the most common – and stopped to watch a few birds and lizards playing around in the underbrush.  The Texas Madrone was also standing gracefully in several areas and we found ourselves wondering if it would grow in Kansas.  We spied some “cat scat” on the trail and kept an eye out for the 8-10 mountain lions that call the area home.

Smith spring was at the apex of the trail and in a crotch of the Ridge.  We passed several areas that looked like they contained water when rain was plentiful, and started to wonder a bit if we had missed it.  Our fears were put

to rest when we turned a corner and were suddenly in a small oasis of waterfalls, streams, trees and shade that you could neither see or hear until you were on top of them.  The boys, who had hiked on ahead were already enjoying a shady bench.
The thing that makes Guadalupe Mountain National Park so special is a large area on the other side of the Ridge called “The Bowl.”  It is here that water falls on a regular basis due to the higher level of elevation.  The water then trickles down through a sandstone layer left there by a reef that formed years ago and surrounded an inland sea that covered what is now the Chihuahuan desert.  The sandstone filters the water and then shoots it out into the lower elevations in the form of several natural springs – five of which can be found on the Frijole Ranch property.  The water helps sustain life not normally found in a desert environment and makes the area an “island” all to itself.

The other thing that makes the area special was created because of this permanent water source.  The Butterfield Overland Stage made its stop there at Pine Springs – the ruins of which can be viewed by walking another short trail (the second requirement) from the visitor’s center.  The ruins

apparently hold the distinction of being the only remaining structure from the original stage line that still exists today.  The Overland Butterfield Stage was a mail route run by the man who founded the American Express.  He guaranteed his customers that he could get a letter or package from St. Louis to San Francisco in 25 days.  The Pine Springs stage stop was a popular horse changing station because of the water source and abundant shade that was there during that time.

All these things we learned because we participated in the ranger program.  We were sworn in by Ranger Bridgett.  We all got our ranger patch and Isaac received his additional, ranger badge.  The sun was beautiful, the weather perfect and the wind a whisper that came along right when you needed it to cool everything back down.

We ate lunch in a picnic area at the Frijole Ranch between hikes and we talked about just about everything and anything that seemed important at the time.  After that we piled back in the car and headed to our next destination – The Lodge atCloudcroft – our home for the next three nights.

The Lodge is perched on top of a mountain in the Lincoln National Forest.  It was night when we arrived, but we were in time to partake in Prime Rib Wednesday at the Lodge's restaurant, Rebecca’s.  I must give credence to one of my financial aid buddies at this point for cluing me in to this spot.  It is everything he described and more.  A warm fire in a huge, stone fireplace in the lobby greeted us as we arrived as did rich wood trim and plush leather sofas.  Our room was just off the second floor lobby balcony and the entire place oozed peace when we walked in.  Perfect end to a perfect day.

New Mexico - Day 4

We started today early with the Left Hand Tunnel tour in the Carlsbad Caverns.  This tour is an excellent example of repurposing an area of the cave that has been mined for silt and ravaged of most of its prettier speleothems (cave decorations).  What’s the solution?  Take your visitors back in time and show them how to explore a cave sans modern conveniences – like electric lights.

We started the tour in the same room as our adventure tour from yesterday – but this time there were smaller people allowed.  The youngest person in the room appeared to be about 6 years old which was the age cutoff for the tour.  Labeled “moderately strenuous," the best part of this experience is that you carry your own light source - a wooden box with glass panels and a single, medium sized pillar candle in the inside.

With this as our light and Ranger Georgina as our guide, we headed down the elevator for the tour.  Ranger G. was fantastic with the four-foot-and-shorter crowd.  They were comfortable learning from her Q&A style and she allowed them to take turns “leading” the tour.  It was quickly obvious that this tour was geared more to people of their size than people of ours, but it was enjoyable watching the kids have so much fun especially when Ranger G. pointed out two dead bats found in one area of the cave.  That was a HUGE hit.

What was most interesting to us was what the candlelight did to the walls, floors and cavities of the cave.  In the places where the tunnel was ravaged, the cave looked almost fake, like a movie set.  The rocks were massive and overpowering.  The shadows the candles cast added to the fantastical, Disney-park-like “look” to the cave.  I knew I was not supposed to touch the stones, but found myself leaning very close to some with my candle in an attempt to figure out if the cave was indeed a farce.  But then we finally reached an area where the cave was still active.  In this area there were a few stalactites and draperies still in the process of forming (bad water leak in the roof).  Here, the candlelight eerily illuminated the white of the growing formations in contrast to the darker limestone beneath.  In places, the contrast created a beautiful bacon effect that was strange, unearthly and difficult to grasp.  Ansel Adams, photographer of light, also struggled to describe the caverns.  "(They are) something that should not exist in relation to human beings.  Something as remote as the galaxy, as incomprehensible as a nightmare, and beautiful in spite of everything." Well said, Ansel.  Well said.

After a trip to the gift shop for some cave swag, we drove to Guadalupe Mountain National Park's visitor center to eat our lunch out of the back of the car.  When we were done, we grabbed our offering of chocolate chip cookies for the Rangers and headed in to check out the displays.  (Quick side note:  For those of you who do not follow our blog, our habit of giving rangers chocolate chip cookies began at Mesa Verde National Park where an bored ranger deviated from the traditional junior ranger pledge and included a phrase about delivering chocolate chip cookies to the rangers wherever we go.  A Hicks family tradition was born.)  As normal, Isaac walked up to the desk and handed the two rangers the cookies while thanking them for their service to the National Parks.  Ranger Holly and her sidekick were surprised and thankful.  While we were perusing the displays, we overheard the other ranger say, “I think that is about the most exciting thing that I’ve seen happen at this desk!”  Ranger life can be a little boring.  We were glad we could bring a little sparkle to their day.)

Per Ranger Holly’s advice, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon hiking McKittrick Canyon.  We decided that we would hike to Pratt Cabin and on to the Grotto if we felt like it.  The entire trip was a little over 4 miles.  There are several trails at McKittrick Canyon – one of which is the Permian Reef trail.  As we were stocking up with water and snacks, we ran into a group of about 20 college looking people.  I started chatting with one of the girls in the group who said they were headed to the Reef trail as it is a great place for viewing exposed fossils.  The group, it turned out, was none other than the geology department from Wichita State University.  We shared where we were from, had a good laugh, and said if we had known we should have carpooled.  GO SHOCKS!

 

Our trails diverged at the trailhead, so we left our neighbors and headed down the dry creek bed to the cabin.  About 100 yards into the trail, we ran into three deer who were snacking around the side of the riverbed.  We followed them for about 50 feet until they caught sight of us and bounded out of the creek to safer hiding places.  From there, the trip was windy, but normal.  There were a couple of rangers maintaining the trail so we regularly had

to bail to let the ranger gators through.  We heard more critters in the brush along the sides of the trail but couldn’t manage to see them.

We reached the cabin in about 1.5 hours and decided to stop, have a mid-day snack and water break on a picnic table.  The cabin was the home of Jim Pratt who, after living in the canyon for several years, donated his land to the National Park.  He built the structure out of limestone blocks found in pastures outside the canyon and

drug in with horses.  The simple home had a living room, kitchen and two bedrooms.  The best part, though, was a peaceful front porch.  It was there that mom caught a quick mid-afternoon snooze in a very comfortable adirondack chair. 
We messed around for about an hour on the property.  There was a quick history about how the cabin was built posted to the door and you could peek in some of the windows to see sparsely furnished but comfortable rooms.  We also sat down and had our mid-afternoon snack on a conveniently provided picnic table in the backyard.  And then, of course, the nap on the front porch while listening to the wind rushing through the canyon.  All in all, it was a great stop.  None of us felt the urge to continue on to the Grotto, so we turned back to the trailhead.

In places, the creek bed of the canyon wasn't completely dry and there is running water - an interesting thing to see alongside a sea of prickly pears and other desert flora.  In other places, and according to posted signs, the creek has disappeared underground.  The presence of water, however, has created a small oasis in the desert where a wider variety of plants and trees are given what they need to flourish.  We were pleasantly surprised by two huge ponderosa pines in the back yard of Pratt Cabin – we know, we smelled them to make sure.  Mom’s favorite tree on this trail was the Texas Madora.  The Madora is a graceful tree with red bark in the areas of old growth.  When the tree gains its new growth, it sheds the older red bark to reveal a lighter, pink bark underneath.

After returning to the car, we drove back to Carlsbad and ended the day at the No Whiner Diner where we enjoyed some excellent comfort food and homemade honey wheat bread. Yum!

 

New Mexico - Day 3

We spent the entire day today crawling, climbing and meandering approximately 750-850 feet underground.  Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an easy, 30 minute drive south of Carlsbad.  The visitor’s center is perched atop a mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert.  Let me tell you, desert scrub brush, yucca and prickly pears look a lot more interesting when they are accompanied by changes in elevation.

We arrived about one hour after the visitor center opens at 8:00 am and grabbed our tickets.  (Most of our special tours were reserved online over a month ago per park recommendation.)  There are two ways you can see the cave for the basic entrance fee - the natural entrance and/or the Big Room.  Each can be accomplished in an hour - two hours if you do both.  The natural entrance is a mile walk down some pretty steep trail.  The Big Room can be accessed by elevator.  We, of course, headed immediately to the cave’s natural entrance.  Over lunch, we discussed which you should do if you only had one day to spend in the cave.  The consensus was, if you have already been to a cave and only have time to work in one of these tours, do the natural entrance tour.  Otherwise, do the Big Room.  We did both and got bored halfway through the Big Room.

Our first BIG ADVENTURE happened at the mouth of the cave.  Flying around the entrance in a continual loop were about one hundred, chirping cave swallows.  The site was mesmerizing and incredibly cool.  We all paused to watch.  The adventure began when we realized that the swallows would change their trajectory occasionally to sometimes fly en masse up an out of the cave and then sometimes turn and fly down and into the cave.  When they would fly down and in, they would fly incredibly close to the cave path.  Those of you who know Ross and his aversion to birds already understand the things that were running through all of our minds.  Steep inclined path.  Very deep, long drop to the bottom of the cave.  Flying, winged creatures zipping in, out and around the path.  A definite recipe for potential disaster.

After a moment, we headed down.  Thankfully, about the time we started down the path – half of the birds headed up and out, another half headed down and in and only one lone soldier remained flying menacingly in circles around the top of the entrance.  Perfect.  We scooted into the cave where we saw the rest of the swallows resting and “chatting” at the top of the cave.  Cool.  Very cool.  Carlsbad Caverns is actually more famous for its nightly bat viewing.  Unfortunately, March is a little too early for the majority of the bats to arrive.  Even so, we felt that we got a private preview of the show via some bat-like little birds.

The rest of the cave was just like a regular cave – only bigger.  A book at the park bookstore says, "It isn't the longest cave in the world...It isn't the largest cave, or the deepest...What it is, is overwhelming."  The temperature in the cave is a pleasant 56 degrees and has 90% relative humidity.  We ate a sandwich from the snack shop at the bottom of the cave. (Calling it a restaurant is stretching it.)  Then we grabbed the elevators back to the top for dessert and then split up for our tours that started at 1:00 p.m. 

Split?  Yes. Split.  There are those of us in the Hick’s clan who are not fond of heights and tight spaces and those of us who appreciate that kind of challenge.  Carlsbad Caverns has cave tours for all types of adventurers.  So, Ross went back down the elevator to what he started calling the “AARP” tour of the King’s Palace – he is, after all, the person in the family closest to the age requirement for membership.  From his report, the tour was delightful, the ranger guide informative and he met and chatted with several nice people.  The boys and I went the opposite direction to meet Rangers Tess and Tish at the far end of the Visitor’s Center where we would don our gear for the Lower Cave tour.

The three of us and nine other people were handed cave helmets with a headlamp (we supplied the batteries) and gloves, individually questioned to gather our names, hometowns and affirmative statement that we did want to go on the tour and were then herded down the elevator to the Lower Cave entrance.  We went through a gate in the rail where Tish attached a knotted rope to an established spot near the Big Room path and we proceeded to rappel backward down a slanted flowstone to a flat space on the rock about 15 feet down.  After that, we descended another 90 feet down three stainless steel ladders anchored to the cave walls.  Only one person at a time was allowed on each ladder and we were taught to listen for the verbal code “On ladder 2” before we could start going down ladder 1.

Ranger led tours never disappoint, folks.  If you visit a National Park, take the time to attend a ranger led tour of some kind.  You will be glad you did.  Tess and Tish were funny, interesting and playful making our time wandering through the lower depths of the cave fun.  I have three more pun jokes to add to my arsenal thanks to Tess – code names: “deer,” “carion” and “column.”  I taught Tess my “What do you call a fly with no wings?” joke.  We both knew the “What do you call a fish with no ‘i’s’ joke.  Like I said, we had a great time.


Down there, the cave is left much as it was when it was discovered in 1906.  Our “path” was two lines of red tape spaced about 1-2 foot apart on the cave floor.  There were red and white sections of tape that marked dangerous areas.  We used the “cave communication system” to pass the word down the line concerning areas that were more slippery than usual or things we should watch for and step over.  There were no lights outside of the LED lamps on our foreheads.  And there were plenty of tight spaces, bridges and rock falls to scramble over.  At one point, there was a hands and knees crawl through a tunnel about 15-20 feet long.  Awesome.

Some of the more interesting sights were a couple of dead bats – one which was inside one of the stalagmites and easy to see when illuminated by a flashlight – a dead cave worm and dead cave cricket at the edge of a body of water we were crossing by bridge, and a huge area of cave pearls which are apparently unique to the cave and very rare.  Tess and Tish kept things hopping and after about 2 hours mucking around, we returned to the gear room to turn everything back in.

 

After that, we were tired.  On a tip, we returned to Carlsbad to eat at Mi Casita – a mom and pop Mexican food restaurant that was a perfect end to a fun day.

New Mexico - Day 2

Sunday morning we awoke to a fairly quiet room at The BigTexan Motel.  Room 118 was at the very end of the main building in a complex that looks like a Dora the Explorer version of Dodge City's Boot Hill Museum.  The wind storm was still going strong.  Our cell phones indicated that the temperature was a balmy 30 something degrees outside.  With the wind chill the temperature felt more like 19 degrees.  Needless to say, we sprinted across the parking lot to the buffet breakfast at the infamous restaurant and didn’t get many pictures of the hotel.

According to the souvenir, plastic cups that came with the orange juice, the restaurant started in 1960.  History indicates that shortly after the restaurant opened, a group of cowboys entered placing bets on who could eat the most 1/2 pound steaks in an hour.  One of the cowboys polished off four of the steaks (72 total ounces), some shrimp cocktail, a baked potato, a salad and a roll in one hour and won the bet hands down.  Laughing, owner Bob Lee announced that anyone who could accomplish that feat again would get the steak dinner for free.  An instant Route 66 legend was born.

(Quick note to my father: Dad, the picture to the right is the "steak" in question.  The display is inside the door and available for viewing as you wait in line to eat.  Although I didn't feel comfortable enough to actually reach out and manipulate the piece of beef - which was on ice and wrapped in plastic - it did look to be cut thick enough to be pushing the "steak" definition.  It also looked like it was indeed a sirloin and cut from as far to the back of the loin as possible - as we speculated.)

The gift shop carries a book documenting the history of the complex that includes a horse hotel, doggy corral and pool in the shape of the state of Texas.  The back of the book lists people (there are more than you think) who have “won” a free steak along with their comments after finishing the meal.  Our favorite?  “I can’t feel my legs.”

After a leisurely, buffet breakfast (you pay more for the atmosphere than the meal), we strolled through the gift shop.  Then we packed up and hit the road once again striking south on I-27.  The dust storm was still in high gear.  Visibility fluctuated from about 1 mile to about ¼ mile in some places.  We would have thought we were in a snow storm had the color of the stuff blowing across the road been white.  I think the car will be due for an oil and filter change when we return to Kansas.

Having never seen the dust bowl, this storm was - we think - a good taste of the experience.  The towns we passed each had a green highway sign at the north and south city limits.  At one point, we saw a sign next to the road indicating we were at the north city limit of Meadow, Texas (population 594).  We drove for about 3 minutes and saw another green Meadow, Texas sign.  We are pretty sure there was a town in between there, but it was apparently hidden in the dust.

By the time we reached Lubbock, the dust had cleared somewhat and we were needing a break.  So, we pulled over and toured the Buddy Holly Center and Gallery.  Housed in Lubbock’s restored train depot, Buddy's gallery is in the shape of a guitar.  This was a really nice stop and worth the 20 minutes or so we took to stretch our legs.  There were two additional art galleries showcasing other local talent as well.  The boys liked an exhibit by an artist who mixes modern pictures of decaying buildings and dank basements with old photos of people.  Ross and I thought they were a little creepy.  I enjoyed a colorful painting by Ann McDonald named "Oil and Orchids."

...and of course, we learned a lot about Buddy Holly.  I learned The Beatles named themselves after Buddy Holly’s backup band, The Crickets.  Stop in the gift shop and you can purchase a pair of drumsticks signed by Jerry Allison, drummer.  I also learned Elton John began wearing his signature glasses in honor of Buddy.  I think I knew, but had forgotten, that Waylon Jennings played with The Crickets and narrowly escaped the plane crash by giving his seat up to a fellow tour member with the flu.

After the informative break, we drove through the beautiful, Spanish architecture of the Texas Tech campus to look around.  The students had exited for spring break so we pulled into an empty parking area in front of the math and physics buildings to eat a snack out of the back of the car.  After that, we basically slept our way (except Ross who was driving) through the rest of some pretty monotonous landscape on the way to Carlsbad, New Mexico.

We arrived at our hotel early in the afternoon, unloaded and checked in.  Gary at the front desk hooked us up with a great room as we weren't able to get anything that connected.  The boys hit the pool almost immediately (pools never go out of style) and then we hunkered down for the evening.  We should get to bed early and be able to hit the cave first thing in the morning.

New Mexico - Day 1

First day of vacation and it’s already an adventure.  We started the day heading north.  Yes, north.  The boys both won top blue ribbons at County 4-H Days and qualified to give their speeches again at Regional 4-H Days.  So, we began the first day of our vacation in El Dorado, sitting in a crowded hallway, talking with Grandpa Coy and Grandma Jane, waiting our turn to give two speeches to a judge.  Two more blue ribbons and we were back on the road to Winfield.

After a quick stop at the house to change, load the car and take the traditional “boys about to go on the road” picture, we turned south to Edmond, Oklahoma, The Mother Road, and a day of discovery.  During the drive, we made the first of three major discovery’s that day:

Discovery #1:  At a dinner party, mom and dad would probably play soft jazz or Top 40 rock, Isaac would play classical music and Sam would have silence.  These are the things that the Hicks’ discuss in the car.

We left I-35 north of Edmond and headed east to catch The Mother Road (State Highway 66) just to the east of Arcadia, Oklahoma.  It was there we stopped at our first roadside attraction – The Round Barn.  Originally built in 1898 by Big Bill Odor, he apparently felt a round barn would be tornado proof.

While tornados may not have ravaged the building, time finally did.  A book I purchased at the gift store says “At 12:09 on the afternoon of June 29, 1988, the decaying roof of the old barn ‘just kind of sighed and fell in, like a soufflé.’’  And so, along came Luke Robinson, a 74-year-old, retired carpenter who raised funds and lovingly raised the barn and its fallen roof back to its former glory. 

There was a wedding in the top part of the barn while we were there so we weren’t able to peek in.  But we did traverse the museum and gift shop in the bottom where there is some great Route 66 memorabilia – including a highway map from 1900 showing a highway running through Winfield, Kansas that we never knew existed.

After that, we stopped at Pop’s Soda Ranch and all of us – including the car, had a drink.  Pop’s is another Route 66 landmark and worth the stop.  There is a huge, neon soda bottle in the front and the store boasts that it sells over 600 flavors of soda.  We took a little time to choose four and had our first snack from the back of the car in the parking lot.

From there, we headed west following Route 66 (which has now basically morphed into I-40), stopping at the Sayre Denny’s for dinner.  Nature gave the car a nice carwash along the way.

Discovery #2 – Approximately 20 minutes outside of Sayre, Ross suddenly sat alert behind the wheel, glanced in the rear-view mirror and loudly exclaimed, “Son of a….!”  Thinking we were about to get hit by something behind us, I jerked awake from a cozy, full-tummy snooze.  “The church clothes are still hanging on the door in the bedroom.”  So at least no one was hurt, but at 8:35 in the evening, finding substitutes in the next 12 hours was a challenge that none of us were ready to take on.

Outside of Amarillo, we ran into a good old fashioned Texas windstorm the likes of which I have never experienced.  There was so much dust in the air, visibility was limited.  We were sharing the road with what Isaac termed, “the most semi trucks I’ve ever seen in my life” so the high winds and low visibility were making driving slow and troublesome.  Tumbleweeds were blowing across the road at a nice clip, occasionally hitting the side of the car but creating some interesting entertainment as we hunted for our exit.  Finally, we reached exit 74 just outside of town and pulled into The Big Texan where we had reservations for the night (more on The Big Texan tomorrow).

Discovery #3 – While checking into the hotel, Holly, the hotel clerk pointed out that I was using a Discover Card that didn’t have my name on it.  Sure enough, when she handed me back the card and I examined it, I discovered that I had been using a girlfriend’s card!  Apparently, during our girlfriend night to the movies last weekend, the cards had gotten switched at dinner.  I quickly called said girlfriend and told her to pull out her Discover Card and look at it.  We both had a good laugh at the circumstance.

Vowing to cease using the card, we hunkered in for the night to the sounds of gravel hitting the side of the hotel and the “whap, whap” of a loose tarp in the back end of a truck parked outside our door – a tiring but eventful day.  We are going to sleep in late tomorrow and have our own church service in our PJs when we decide to get up.