We embarked on our summer travels Monday. Traveled north through wind and rain and as we got a late start we stopped in Liberty, MO for the night. Rain and storms all night. Tuesday we continued our northern travels in lots more rain and very strong winds. Tonight we are in Lincoln, Nebraska where we saw a very brief bit of sunshine and then the rain resumed. The weather is currently very cold west of here so we may hang around here for another day.
No photos yet, too busy keeping the Roadtrek on the road. 😎
After spending some time in El Paso with Marilyn visiting her sister we are back on the road. We spent a few days in the Fredericksburg, TX area and have many images to share. There are several interesting things to see in Fredericksburg. The downtown area, several very old churches and not too far from town is the Enchanted Rock State Natural area. Also just out of town other interesting attractions. So many it makes it difficult to determine where to begin.
It was Spring Break time in Texas and many people were at the Enchanted Rock which is reported to be the second largest granite formation in the United States. Below is the entrance sign.
Below are images of the rock and some other outcroppings. The first image provides some scale showing the enormous size of the Rock. The second image the number of people attempting to climb the rock, perhaps to get it off their “bucket list “.
This image is of another outcropping of granite in the park. Below that shows our mode of travel, Geraldine III, our Roadtrek.
Our next post will have images from Fredericksburg.
While the name is actually HubbardMuseumoftheAmerican West, it is also popularly known as the museum of the horse. It is located very close to the Ruidoso Downs horse racing track.
Below is one of the many exhibits, this one of how a cowboy’s horse would have been equipped on a working ranch.
Here are two views of a Conestoga wagon like the settlers of the west would have used.
We were told these horseless buggies/carriages and other items are just a small number of those donated to the museum.
Two of the carousel horses on display at the museum.
A statuette depicting the artist C. M. Rusell “On the Scene”.
A view of the main exhibits area of the museum.
A burro, outfitted with a pack like those which may have been used in the mines of the southwest.
This statue of two horses fighting to determine dominance are near the entry to the museum. The second image is to give a closer view of the detail of the statue.
Outside they had some statues representing some of the breeds of horses with plaques.
The first American breed of horse was only featured on the weathervane above the museum.
Courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management, “Valley of Fires recreation area is located immediately adjacent to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States.”
They have a very nice campground there and below are some photographs showing some of the features of this area. It is located just west of Carrizzo, NM. One unique feature is the handicap accessible trail which you can see a portion of in the photo below.
This is an image showing more of the Valley of Fires and a portion of the paved trail.
Here is a closer view of a small portion of the lava field.
This image shows the ability of cacti and other vegetation to grow in the lava field.
We have truly enjoyed our stay in the Tucson, Arizona area but it was starting to get a wee bit hot. So we decided to strike out and find what we could find.
We had heard about a elegant Trogon being spotted in the Patagonia, Arizona area and decided to head there. We stopped by the state park where the report originated and found that no one had reported seeing it for several days. As the park campground was full we decided to come on over to Patagonia and check out this city. It is a charming little town with a very nice main street which is no longer the highway through town. It is very conveniently located though. A photo of a portion of the main street is below.
Below is a renovated Railway station from back when the town was served by a railroad. This is no longer the case but they’ve done a great job of renovating the depot.
Below are a few photos of Patagonia Lake where the state park is located and the campground. as you can see fishing is allowed on the lake.
Below are two images taken from an overlook on top of one of the higher portions of the road on the way to Patagonia. The drive is designated as one of Arizona’s scenic byway’s and we believe it is justified.
Below are two images of examples of some of the amazing rock formations one will encounter during the drive.
The wonderful weather. And it is been very nice most days but very recently we woke up to a surprise. A big surprise in the way of very large snowflakes coming down heavily.
We decided to drive around and get some images of the snow on the desert plants. Here are several to give you an idea of the amount of snow in the Tucson area.
Fortunately the snowfall was not so much that it close my favorite place. As large as the snowflakes were I was a little worried. ðŸ¤
During our Times visiting the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum we had noticed this bright white dome many miles away on top of a mountain. We learned it was Mt. Kittt and there are a number of observatories up on the mountain. As we had some idle time in the Tucson area we decided to drive over and see what it was. Is about 50 miles from Tucson to the observatory.
Below is an image of what we had been seeing from about 40 to 50 miles away in the desert. This photo was taken on the way up to Mt. Kitt. The mountain summit is at 6,875 feet.
Below we will be posting some additional pictures we took during our drive. At the end of the post we will do our best to upload a fairly large long video of the drive of the steepest part of the climb to the summit.
Below we are only partially up the the mountain and it is already possible to see a very expansive view of the desert below. The views were fantastic the few times we pulled over to see them. If you take the time to watch the video at the end you can catch glimpses of them. We really enjoyed this very beautiful drive. A lot of desert scenery on the way out and lots of mountain scenery on the way up the mountain.
This is an image of the mountain and the primary observatory as we were about a third or so of the way up the mountain. A beautiful drive with some very severe fall offs primarily on the passenger side.
This image is when we were much closer to the observatory in the top of Mount Kitt. The white and silver on the rocks is snow and ice as we were getting high in elevation.
Finally after quite a long drive out to the mountain and then a pretty long drive up the mountain we arrived at the parking area for the visitor center where they have a lot of information about all of the various observatories on the mountain.
Below is the entrance to the visitor center and a couple of mosaics on the exterior walls.
Inside the visitor center there are many interesting displays and a small gift shop. The diorama In the third image of all the white buildings indicates all of the observatory facilities on Mt. Kitt.
Now for those which wish to ride along below is our video of our drive up the mountain. I have muted the sound as the engine noise was very boring. Play your favorite music and we hope you enjoy the video. 😎
We hope you will turn on your favorite music while you watch this video of many of the things to see at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We visited several times and enjoyed every visit. It is located south west of Tucson, Arizona.
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