Colors, Colors Everywhere

I was just asked what are my favorite colors. I think I found them at White Sands Nat'l Monument.

 I had low expectations when we went there to visit. After all I have seen plenty of sand dunes in my day. But these are very unique. 

The road looked just like it was packed with snow but it was gypsum sand. 

 This lizard blended right into his environment after I startled him he tried to bury himself and stay still. He left his tail exposed, so I gently pulled him out for a photo op. He (or she) was about 1.5" long. 

The sand is cool even in warm sun - it reflects the heat; it felt great on my bare feet. I love the colors of the distant mountains. If we go back I want to take the 4 mile hike across the sand to one of the lakes where the sand is formed. 

Other colors I love-

 We spent a lovely 3 weeks in Hawaii in November this flower is growing in a lava lake from an eruption in 1957, year I was born. A few other tropic photos with colors I like:

While in Hawaii I took a couple classes to learn to do Hawaiian style quilting. 

 This is my project. It will be a pillow cover about 18" square. I am a little over half way around the design appliquing it to the background. 

 Then there is my design wall in my quilting room at the moment. In the foreground is a complete baby quilt waiting for a little girl to arrive any day so it can be labeled. On my wall is a partially assembled quilt with about 60 blocks - each with 52 pieces and more colors than you could name. 

I guess my favorite color is life. 

jb

Trains, Tarantulas & a little bit of Taos

Our adventures continue...since my last post we have experienced lots of Southwestern territory. 

 Canyon de Chelly we took a canyon tour with Beauty Way Tours. 

Chaco Culture Park 

Between Canyon de Chelly and Chaco we relaxed for four days at Navajo Lake State Park NW of Farmington, NM. While there I finished a quilt top of a baby quilt. 

My sewing studio al fresco. 

We traveled onto Bandelier Nat'l Monument...an interesting stop on the way- 

This is Soda Dam - a natural dam of mineral deposits on Jemez Creek. A bystander told us 20 years ago the water flowed over the top, now it has bored a hole through on the far right side. 

The fun thing about visiting Bandelier NM is the trails and ladders. 

And

Always a warning sign: 

Dan is doing great just 6 months post heart surgery. We were at Bandelier during the liner eclipse. Park rangers brought out some big telescopes and it was a fun event. No pictures of that worth sharing.  

I am often entertained by the tiny wildlife we encounter. 

This is a blister beetle about 3/4" long. 

This is a cracker the ants near our campsite ate while we were at Bandelier. At Chaco we saw a 4' bull snake (under the camper) and a herd of elk, again no photos of either. There are lots of ant hills and I keep wondering how big and how old they are. At the museum about the Los Alamos Nat'l Laboratory they had a display about ants at the Trinity bomb site who bring up green glass bits that were created when they tested the first atomic bomb. 

Oh yes I mentioned trains and tarantulas in my title...

We took a fantastic ride on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad. We stayed at an RV park in Chama, NM. Thursday morning we got on a bus there and took an hour drive to Antonito, Colorado where we boarded our train to ride back to Chama. The scenery was terrific. 

Beautiful aspen

Rugged canyons. I sat with my head out the window most of the day. 

I loved the pace of the whole day. The clickety clack of the wheels and the sound of the whistle....

Rainbow in the vented steam from the engine. 

From Chama we drove over a 10,000' pass. 

This is the Bravos Cliffs, we passed on the way to the Rio Grande Gorge. There is a national monument managed by BLM called Rio Grande del Norte or Wild Rivers National Recreation Area. There are well dispersed camps along the rim of the gorge. If I have my numbers correct. The gorge is about 600' deep and if it weren't filled with silt it would be 6 times deeper than the Grand Canyon! 

The deep canyon was right behind the camper. We were there two nights and we had wild thunder storms both nights. 

This is a view into the canyon where the Red River flows into the Rio Grande. 

Once again I was distracted by the not so tiny wildlife. 

This tarantula was walking through our campsite when we arrived, the coin is a dime for perspective. 

We met another one at the visitor center plus we saw at least 20 crossing the park road.  Another question I am pondering "Why do the tarantulas cross the road?"

This bit of color is some fabric I bought at a quilt shop in Taos. We didn't do anything else there but our travels may take us back through in a few days. 

I apologize for the length of this post...we have been "off grid" without phone or Internet most of the time. So I am going to make this longer and tell you persistent readers a kitchen story or two. 

Since we really live in the camper the majority of the time I mostly do real cooking not just easy camp cooking.  A few days ago we had German pancake. 

 And tonight I made a kale & tuna noodle casserole 

 It was yummy. 

But yesterday morning we had a little disaster... I recreated the event in the next couple pics. I remember the first cooking lesson from my mom was to never leave a pot handle poking out from the stove top. And I am usually very careful. So back to yesterday, I was making "savory sweet cakes" ala my talented son-in-law Dane. I grated sweet potato, added minced green onion, garlic, mushrooms, stirred together with a little flour, egg and seasoning. They were just starting to brown on the griddle and for just a moment, to get them nice and even, I turned the griddle this way:

Then I got warm and was removing my sweatshirt and CRASH!

Breakfast was on the floor! The dark spot you see in front of the griddle is some of the stains that remain. Not a good morning. Ah but, life goes on. Buenas Noches from New Mexico. 

jb 

Travel Update and a Sand Storm

Our wheels have been turning. 

We spent about a week traveling south through Utah.

Our first night was in Ogden parked on the street near my childhood friend's house. Susan Beem Beery and I have known each other since Sunday school and church camp days. After a nice visit with Susan and her husband, John, we met my cousin Phil Coulter for a breakfast time chat. 

Our first travel adventure was to Timpanogos Cave Nat'l Monument. To get to the cave you climb 1100' in 1.5 miles. The scenery was spectacular. 

The cave formations are great but my iPhone camera does not do them justice so I won't bother with those. 

Moving on we headed to Fremont Indian State Park. 

 A quiet place in a canyon surrounded by gray hoodoos. We explored the petroglyphs etc in this area where the early Fremont people lived until 1300AD. 

We moved on to Cedar Breaks NM. NM = Nat'l Monument, I was corrected on a FB post that Cedar Breaks was in Utah not New Mexico. As I am typing this I see what caused the confusion. We explored all of the overlooks and took a 4 mile hike. 

I love Bristle Cone pine trees. These guys at Cedar Breaks are about 1700 years old! The trail passed through a grove of these ancient beauties. 

 

 The rougher their environment the longer they live. 

Yesterday we drove to a dispersed camping area by Lake Powell. 

We were at a place called Lone Rock. This photo makes it look like we were all on our own, but in reality it was a very long shoreline with mobs of people. 

When we first arrived we were aware of the dark cloud south of us, but didn't give it too much thought... 

 We relaxed near the lake for a bit, then all hell broke loose! Wind & blowing sand like crazy! The first hit blew all kinds of beach toys and gear into the lake all around us. We holed up in the camper and spent the next several hours cleaning sand out during the brief calms. 

 Many gusts felt like the camper would blow over. Between some of the waves of storm a tour group of kayakers launched near us. It was well after dark before they returned. Their laughter sounded as if they had a fun adventure through the storm. 

By morning all was calm and peaceful. 

Advice from a Bristle Cone Pine

"Sink your roots into the earth

      Keep growing

   Weather adversity

It's OK to be a little gnarly

       Honor your elders!"

jb