To Saguaro National Park May 12

 We start the day with a light breakfast at the motel before heading back to White Sands.  One of the things they say you can do at the park is use plastic saucer sleds to slide down the dunes.  The motel has some we can borrow.  We drive back to the park and park in the picnic area where there are some big dunes.  I'm very excited and am looking forward to reliving sledding memories from childhood. We're the only ones there.  I climb to the top, plop down on my saucer.  Nothing happens.  Okay, I need to push off a bit to get started.  Hmmmm.  This is hard work to "slide" down the hill.  I'll try it again.  Maybe it needs to be packed down a bit more.  Hmmmmm.  Not any better.  Maybe I'm just to heavy and that's the problem.  

Nick and I walk along a "trail" towards an area where there is hike in primative camping.  We're way past the time in our lives when we would do that.  Climbing up the dunes is quite hard.  Take a step forward and slide back down about 1/2 a step.  (But the saucers don't slide.....)   By the time we get back to the car, other people are there trying to slide down the dunes.  Even the little kids aren't having any luck.  I don't feel so bad now.  One woman is stuck in the middle of the hill and is posed as if she is zooming down the hill while someone takes her picture.  False advertising on the sledding front but it really is beautiful.  

We have a long drive ahead of us today so head back to the Visitor's center.  Have to take the obligatory picture in front of the National Park sign and I have a couple of questions for the rangers.  How often do they plow and grade the roads?  It's someone's 0 hour a week job to plow and grade!  The dunes are always moving.  They can move like 40' a year!  Are there animals that have evolved to survive in the white sand?  There is a white lizard that is only found here.  Also a white praying mantis.  Didn't see any of them.  Maybe because their camouflage is working really well.  

Off to Tuscon and Saguro National Park.  We stop in Las Cruces for lunch.  A Bite of Belgium got really good reviews on Yelp so that's where we decide to go.  There are lots of locals there and the menu is extensive.  I have a lamb sandwich with caramelized onions.  Nick has a pork belly eggs benedict.  We were both a little disappointed.  I think our expectations were probably too high.  On the road again.

We listen to The Warriors Apprentice by Lois McNaster Bujole. It helped all those miles to slide by.  

In Tuscon, we're staying in a Best Western.  (we don't do the "No Chains" for hotels - just restaurants.  But what is nice about this Best Western is that when we checked in, she told us that happy hour is from 5;00 to 6:30 and that there are 2 free drinks of wine or beer for each of us!.  Well, that's a nice way to relax after a day of driving!  I have a beer and then we get two glasses of wine to take back to our room for later.

We ask about a good place to watch the sunset.  The parking lot at a city park outside of town.  Sun sets at 7:12.  Sounds like we watch the sunset and then come back into town for dinner.  We find the place and there are already quite a few cars parked there and people all looking West.  Another sunset without any clouds but the dust in the air still makes it good.  

For dinner, we go to a local Mexican place, Seis and order the big fancy nachos.  They have jamaica!  

Back to the hotel and that glass of wine waiting for us.  

To Alamogordo and White Sands National Park May 11

 

Today started earlier than we expected.  The hotel alarm clock went off at 6AM.  UGH!  By the time we got it silenced, we were quite awake,  and decided to get an earlier start than planned.  It is another drive day.  The hotel has the usual chain hotel included breakfast.  Those waffles really are quite tasty and their scrambled eggs were real.  

The scenery starts changing soon after we leave San Antonio.   There are small rolling hills.  Pretty yellow flowers line the road and the road cuts show a light colored sediment rock.  Lots of small scrubby trees.  After several hours, Nick asks me to drive.  Wow! The speed limit is 80!  I guess if we have over 800 miles in Texas, a higher speed limit will be nice.  Traffic is really light.  Mostly semi-trucks with the occasional RV.  Sprinkle in a few pick ups and then the rare car like us.  So much open, unoccupied land!  There’s even a sign warning to fill the gas tank. 

We drive about 4 hours and finally come across a population center – Stockton, where there are a handful of small motels and family owned restaurants.  We choose Mi Casita as it has good Yelp reviews.  Yes, Yelp does even cover this remote place.  Good fresh home-cooked Mexican cuisine.  When they brought the bill, it was accompanied by two little scoops of sherbet.  A nice little touch. 

Looking around I realize that I’m really not a smalltown girl anymore, if I ever was one. I REALLY would not want to live here.  

Another hour drive and we start seeing the mountains ahead.  OOOOH!  A scenic overlook!  A long driving day and anything to break it up is welcome. 

We are very close to the Mexican border.  There is a checkpoint along the interstate where everyone has to stop.  We’re waved right through.  Don’t fit the profile that they’re looking for. 

Around 4:00 we roll into Alamogordo which is the town closest to White Sands National Park.  We have reservations at the White Sands Motel.  It’s a 60’s style motel.  Still has the 60’s style neon sign! And a rock garden with plastic flamingos where I’m sure a pool once stood.  But it’s clean and everything we need. 

The visitor’s center at the park closes at 5:00 so we go to the park before unloading our stuff.  There is the requisite gift shop and a small museum.  We’ll check the museum out more tomorrow.  The ranger said any of the dunes is a great place to watch the sunset.  When you are on the top of one, you can see both ranges of mountains, Sacramento and San Andres.  The sun sets at 7:53 tonight.  We decide to go back into town for dinner and then come back out for sunset.  When we asked the ranger what we should be sure to do while in the park, he said, “Take your shoes off, walk in the sand and kiss your wife.”  It seemed like he started to say “Smoke a little weed.” And checked himself.  We did the first two things anyway. 

Back in town, we go to a wonderful restaurant that was recommended by the motel owner.   – D.H. Lescombes Winery  & Bistro.  The best meal we’ve had so far on the trip and that includes some good food in New Orleans.  We each got French Onion Soup and then shared the special meatloaf.  We also got a flight of wine matched to our order.  The flight came with 3 small appetizers – a wonton, a bacon wrapped date and a bacon wrapped shrimp.  The bread was wonderful too.  I seem to always be so anxious to eat the wonderful food that I don’t take a picture of it.  All of them were great but Nick and I agreed that the bacon wrapped date was the best. 

Back to the park for sunset.  The sand (actually gypsum) is plowed to keep the road free.  It looks so much like snow plowed in the winter.  Thousands of years ago the area was a lake and mammoths, sloths and American camels, yes American camels roamed the area.  The weather got warmer and the lake dried up.  The camels and mammoths became extinct and the gypsum was left behind. 

We drive well into the park, park at the picnic area and climb up the nearest dune.  There are enough dunes that everyone can have their own and there are still plenty left.  It is strange to have what looks like a winter scene feel warm between your toes.  It’s quiet and majestic.  The sun sinks down behind the mountains.  There aren’t any clouds just a beautiful golden glow.  The park closes at 9 and once the sun is down, the temperature is dropping.  This is the first National Park destination of this trip and it didn’t disappoint.  Looking forward to seeing it in the morning and maybe doing some sledding.

About 10:00 I step outside our motel door.  No moon, the sky is quite black but the city lights are blocking out the stars.  We decide to get back in the car and drive back to the park which is away from city lights.  There is a closed gate at the turnoff to the park.  But enough space for us to pull in off the road.  There are LOTS of stars.  But the Milky Way is elusive.  It is in the direction of the highway and cars come often enough that our eyes don’t have time to adjust to see it.  That’s okay.  I only know the names of a few of the stars and the constellations and that’s okay too.  What is important is the feeling of being a teeny tiny spec in the amazing cosmos. 

Good night.

On to San Antonio May 10

 

A travel day today.  Destination – San Antonio. Waze tells us that it is 8 hours of driving.  Gotta get going!  

As we leave New Orleans, there are miles of the interstate that are raised as a low bridge.  We see large areas of water as well as boggy tall trees.  After about an hour of driving, we cross into Texas.  OMG, The exit is 817.  That means more than 817 miles in Texas! 

Keeping with our habit of avoiding chain restaurants while on our trips, we find a place that fits the bill.  Cajun Claws.  ½# of boiled shrimp.  

 

When it’s a driving day, a Buckees is a highlight.  Praline pecans caught our attention. 

We  get into San Antonio about 7PM.  After settling into the hotel, we walk a few blocks to the River Walk.  When we were here on our last Out West trip, we took the little boat ride.  This time walking is all we’re interested in.  The atmosphere is relaxed with couples strolling, young families taking pictures of each other, girl’s groups laughing and talking, the occasional jogger.  After wandering up and down on both sides of the river, we decide on a Mexican place only to find that it had closed 15 minutes earlier.    The Irish pub is still serving – that will do.  We share a Ruben and I enjoy a good local beer. 

By the time we are ready to go back to the hotel, the mall entrance is closed where we had entered the River Walk .  After a bit more walking, we find a stairway up to the street level.  Now to get oriented on the street level.  Waze is a good friend in such a situation.  Our path back to the hotel took us past the Alamo.  We visited the Alamo when we were here last time.  Really don’t need to ever do that again. 

 

NEW ORLEANS May 9

 May 9  New Orleans

A leisurely departure and then out to explore the town.  Where does one start a day in New Orleans?  With beignets at Cafe du Mond.  We knew we were getting close when we started seeing the powdered sugar trail.  Took us right there and a traditional NO band was playing outside.  Now, I really feel like our adventure has begun and it's great!

We wander through Jackson Square, past Preservation Hall.  Unfortunately they are all sold out for tonight.  I love walking the streets and seeing the architecture, decorated balconies.  The streets are pretty quiet.  Life doesn't start in NO until pretty late in the day.  We walk back to the hotel to make plans for the rest of the day.  Nick finds a "Sample New Orleans Cuisine" walking tour.  Oh my, that sounds perfect! 

We head out again about 1:00 to the meeting place for our food tour.  

We had a leisurely start and walked down to Café du Monde. Where does on start a day in New Orleans? With beignets at Cafe du Monde.  We knew we were getting close when we started seeing the powdered sugar trail.  Took us right there and a traditional NO band was playing outside.  Now, I really feel like our adventure has begun and it's great!

From the café we wandered through Jackson Square and on deep in to the French quarter.  Stopped in at Preservation Hall.  They are sold out for the show tonight but we at least got to see the gift shop. We left all the merchandise in the shop.  Mornings are pretty quiet in the French Quarter. 

Nick finds a walking food tour.  Perfect for this afternoon.  We walk to the starting point.  Our group of 14 includes a group of women on a girl’s trip.  And 3 other couples.  Our guide for the afternoon is a knowledgeable, engaging, man.  He shares a lot of local history.  The vast majority of it, I found interesting and don’t remember much of any of it.  Any time he asked about a king, the answer was always King Louis.  Learned the difference between Creole style and Cajun style cuisine.  Creole is more French and Cajun is using more of the native ingredients such as okra and gamey meats.  Therefore Cajun needs more spice to balance the gaminess of the proteins. 

At our first stop, we sampled a creole gumbo.  Instead of rice, it has mashed potatoes and no okra.  Really good, rich flavor.  From there we walked to the Pepper Palace where we sampled different sauces, jellies and spice mixtures.  They offered a $5 mail it home option which we took advantage of.  They also had a horseradish called Napalm.  It was really good but since it was refrigerated, I didn’t think we could get this home well.  Passover will just have to do without it. 

Next stop is the Royal Praline Company.  We sampled some pralines but left without purchasing any.  Next stop was for muffulettas, po-boys and boudins.  The muffulettas  and boudins were really good. The po-boy a bit mediocre.  The po-boys got their name from a restaurant that gave out sandwiches to the workers.  The cook would ask “How many of them po boys am I making sandwiches for today?”

The last stop was at New Orleans Creole Cookery.  Here we have beans and rice and a banana foster bread pudding.  Both are wonderful but by now, I'm full and really can’t finish them.

Back to the hotel to rest up for the evening.  Our tour guide suggested a few places  for music.  One is to go to Frenchmen St and wander until we find the place that we want to hear more of the music that is drifting out into the street.  Many of the places were loud with standing room only.   Walking down the street was an experience in itself.  Seeing people with drinks while they walk down the street is not something we see in Marietta but nice and casual.  Smelling dope is not surprising.  Having someone doing cocaine on the street and offering us some is something that I haven’t experienced before.   We chose a quieter  place. one with a trio of guitar, clarinet and singer.  Music and crab cakes were a nice relaxing time.  After a set, we were ready to move on. 

We walked back to Bourbon Street.  We got to Fretzil’s just as the band was taking a break.  Luckily, seats opened up and we grabbed them.  The band was a piano, clarinet, trumpet, string base and drums.  Now we’re talking! These guys were fantastic!  Just what I wanted.  Jazz classics.  We only stayed for one set as it was late and we have a long drive in the morning to get us on to San Antonio.  

 

 

 

On the Road Again!

 

May 8

Two years ago, we set off for a long cross-country camping trek with Bellingham,  Washington as the far point destination to visit our niece, Marissa.  We really enjoyed that trip and decided to have another out West car trip.  The last time we set it up to drive only 3 or 4 hours a day.  This gave us time along the way to see a lot of places.  The downside was setting up and breaking down camp A LOT.  This time we’ve decided to have heavy driving days with motel stops and then when we get to a destination point, we stay for 3-4 days.  This cuts down on the camp setting up and breaking down.  We’ll see how it goes.

Last week we said we wanted to leave about 9AM on May 8.  Last night, it was clear that wouldn’t happen.  We celebrated David’s and my birthdays last night.  Strawberry, Rhubarb pie for me.  (Brought the leftovers with us and enjoyed some along the road).  Cake for David.  

We had hoped to have the car all packed before they came over for dinner.  Well, when they arrived, the living room staging area still looked like an explosion had occurred.  We adjusted our departure expectation to somewhere between 10 and noon.  We pulled out of the driveway at 11:43.  Not bad! 

Our first stop was very close to home.  We got several empanadas to go at our favorite empanada restaurant.  Stop at the bank, fill up the gas tank and we’re really on the road by 12:10. 

The drive to New Orleans was uneventful.  Just the way you like a long drive.  A little rain in Alabama but nothing that slowed us down much.  We gained an hour which was nice.  Nick drove all the way which is the way he likes it.  I did some embroidery on the travel tablecloth.  We listened to several chapters of the book Sweet Dreams which our friend, Patty Shade reads.  An episode of the podcast “Hidden Brain.”  All in all, an enjoyable travel day.

We got to our hotel, NOPIS, in New Orleans about 6:30 PM.  It is an elegant, older hotel in downtown.  Our room is huge and gorgeous.  The sitting area is quite separate from the sleeping area. 

Randy and Amy had suggested a place to go for dinner. – Basin.  A specific recommendation of crab beignets.  They were delicious.  We also had some gumbo, short ribs, corn something and I ordered Brussel sprouts.  It was all good but those crab beignets were the best.  The restaurant was on Magazine St which is quite cute.  After dinner, we strolled along, looking at the shops and little eating places, hearing music float out of some them.  It felt good to walk after being in the car most of the day.  Speaking of which, it is time for bed……..