Ranchman John had off work on Tuesday, so we decided to head out for a road trip to western New Mexico to search for a few letterboxes and hide one, too.
Jem was still feeling sick from the creeping crud, so he decided to stay home and rest, while Jax and Jen came along for some hiking and fun.
(They both watched movies from the back seat of the truck. Of course you want to know what they watched, right? Kung Fu Panda and Cars ……..quite appropriate since we traveled right alongside and on RT 66 the entire way)
Our first stop was south of Grants, NM on NM 117, to La Ventana, which means The Window in Spanish.
We took some photos.
Did some hiking and exploring.
And found a well-hidden location, with great views, to hide our letterbox.
And then we headed back up to I-40, where we traveled for a short distance before exiting and heading south again on NM 53 through El Malpais National Monument (which translates to ‘Badlands’ in Spanish) and crossed the Continental Divide. We were hoping to reach El Morro National Monument before the trails closed, but alas we were too late…so we missed our opportunity to hunt for a letterbox and place another one, too.
Guess we’ll just have to go back.
We continued on down NM 53, enjoying the scenery, and drove through Zuni Pueblo, with me vowing to return soon to do some shopping for beautiful hand-crafted Native American art and jewelry.
We then drove north to Gallup, NM to search for a few more letterboxes, finding all that we searched for and stopping off at a very unique wooden playground so the kids could play and explore, while Ranchman John and I logged in our letterbox finds.
Our last stop was at Red Rock State Park to search for our last letterbox of the day. It was perfect timing because the sun was beginning to drop out of the sky and we were awarded a gorgeous sunset.
(Photo is SOOC, with only a watermark added)
In the end we found four letterboxes and placed one while enjoying a beautiful day Letterboxing and exploring in our enchanting New Mexico.
20 comments :
you do truly live in a spectacular area! Thanks for sharing
Great pictures. We've made that trip down NM 53, stopping at El Morro and then on to Zuni Pueblo. There's a great little restaurant in the Pueblo, but I can't remember the name.
Dan
Wow. Lots of wow. :) My favorite picture (I think) is the one of Jax up on the rock against that gorgeous sky. Great composition and contrasts. (And the handsome young man doesn't hurt either, lol.)
Can you imagine the amount of water it took to create the arch in the rock?
Truly Beautiful !!
Gotta add New Mexico as a must visit someday!! I know I've said that before, but it is soooo gorgeous!
Beautiful pictures, as always!
Beautiful area. I wish I could have joined you there instead of going on the ridiculous geocache hunt around town that I had today.
Wow thats beautiful country!!!
But I always think rattlesnakes!!!
LOL
How often do you see them?
Hey, I've been to Grants, NM! I spent a night there at a campground just off of I-40. It didn't look anything like your pictures! We were in a volcanic 'bubble'. It was rather fun as we pulled in after dark, so in the morning we had the opportunity to see what surrounded us.
Maybe if we get back that way we can do more exploring and hiking...and maybe find your letter box!
Reddunappy,
You probably won't believe me when I say this, but we have lived in New Mexico for almost 20 years and have only seen one rattlesnake in all those years...and he was on the road leading to our house.
We've camped and hiked and spent many hours outdoors, but the only snakes we've seen are non-venomous bull snakes.
~Lisa
NM,
I wish you could have joined us, too. We would have had a great time together :)
~Lisa
Dreaming,
I bet you camped in El Malpais. If you drove another 10-15 miles south of that campground, you would have seen the same views of La Ventana and The Narrows with all the tall red rock.
I hope you are able to revisit NM and search for our letterbox....I'll even meet you so we can explore together :)
~Lisa
Beautiful pics! Thanks for sharing your trip. We're still hoping to get out your way this summer. It depends on the price of gasoline.
That is some awesome country to be going on a road trip!
How cool! That arch in the rock is amazing!
Truely the Land of Enchantment, great shots of the arch and sunset..:-))
What a gorgeous area and beautiful pictures. Makes me want to go hiking. :)
Deja vu! I remember stumbling upon this archway with you several years back. We decided then that it was a great place to put a letterbox. I'm glad you did.
What a wonderfully amazingly beautiful land to live in. Thanks for taking me along.
Stunning photos!
Your photos capture the beauty of New Mexico perfectly! I loved going on this day trip with you...=)
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