From Tamponian to Tempenian

I've made the move. Its amazing how much you can see in 11 days of driving. After 40+ hours in the car... driving the whole way since helen and manual transmissions are not friends, we made it to Tempe. The last sections of our trip brought us through Texas, more texas, texas, a little bit of New Mexico, back to Texas, another small section of New Mexico and Texas, into Arizona. That New Mexico Stint included Carlsbad Caverns and Gila National Forest. If you've never heard of Carlsbad Caverns, I highly suggest adding it to the list of places you'll visit in your lifetime. Its home to the largest single underground chamber in the western hemisphere. It makes Howes Caverns in NY, for those who have been, look like you just walked into your closet to go caving. It was massive. While pictures of the underworld are a little difficult to get, you can get some idea of what it looks like with these pictures.

We spent 3 days near the caverns staying at Guadalupe National Park (in Texas). The forest is home to the highest point in Texas and many mountain lions. We chose to stay away from both of them. The idea of hiking up a mountain in 100 degree weather with humidity was not cool. So we chose a hike into McKittrick Canyon, a 6 mile round trip walk to a Cabin and Grotto. The walk was perfect, hot still, but tolerable. Our two gallons of water came in handy. Its going to take me a while to get used to all of the different plants and animals here in the west. The cabin may end up being my dream home. Its was made in the 1920's by hand of all stone. Surrounded by mountains, it was the perfect place for an impromptu tuna fish lunch and later a nap on unbeatable adirondack chairs. A few miles past the cabin was the grotto. Interestingly enough, the whole Guadalupe mountain range is a coral reef. At one point there was an inland sea covering that area, after the sea drained, the mountains eventually lifted an exposed part of the old reef. So the grotto is a clear example of what the rock around us was made of. The interior of the stalactites (top hangy things) looked like coral, or like a solidified sponge. The area is so remote that at night there were not any nearby city lights, so I was able to take some pictures of the stars. The milky way is a sight to be seen in a place like that. We saw 4 satellites and 3 shooting stars.

The final stop was to Gila National Forest, home of some ancient cliff dwellings. The drive in was intense to say the least. A 40 mile (2 hour) winding mountain road resulting in some smoking breaks (old Suburu issues) and a lot of stress. Im glad we did it when it was light out. Just previous to that we drove through some torrential rain which ended up pounding the cliff dwellings and camp sites where we were staying. The sites were a little muddy, but a whole trail at the dwellings was washed out. The actual dwellings were awesome. Built some 700+ years ago they have withstood the test of time. The ceilings are still blackened from the soot from their fires. It is another must see. From there we went back out the crazy road and ended up in Silver City NM, home of the Silver City Brewery- if you like beer go there. And green chili cheese fries are wonderful. From there it was a quick (not if you ask Helen though) 5 hour drive and we made it to Phoenix. We stayed in a Days INN for 3 days then ended up finding a place (after seeing 13 apartments) more about the new place and orientation to come.