Yes, the eclipse was cool and all but our trip was about SO much more than the sun. We began in New Mexico at El Morro National Monument. It is an outcropping of rock with a spring at the base of it. Travelers for centuries have been stopping there because of it's natural spring. Etchings on the wall date back to Ancestral Puebloans, Spanish conquistadors, and American settlers.
We hiked to the top and found Atsinna Pueblo. It was a wonderful place to spend the afternoon.
After a day of high winds, the following morning we woke up to...snow.
Day two, Saturday April 6th and we're off to Fort Sumner and Bosque Redondo. Bosque Redondo is a memorial sight for the internment of the Dine' and Nge' people of the mid 1800's. We were thrilled to see the art work of a local Flagstaff artist, Shonto Begay, in several of the exhibits. The trip there was crazy windy and our reservation at Sumner lake State Park was voted down. Following the memorial visit we went on to Lubbock, Texas, got a hotel, and were happy to be out of the WIND! On the way to Fort Sumner we witnessed a medium sized RV nearly get toppled in a gust of wind. It got thrown into the oncoming lane, managed to maintain control and ease himself back into our lane. Thank the universe that there was no traffic at that exact moment.
Abilene State Park was our next stop and it was beautiful. And not windy. This was our launching spot the the following day's solar event.
In 2023 it was listed as Texas' most popular state park so we were quite thrilled to be able to grab a spot in April, the night before the eclipse. It abounds with wildlife, has easy walking trails and a nearby lake.
The buildings you see were build by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) back in the 1930's as part of the New Deal. It's part of a swimming pool complex that is still in operation.
Monday April 8th, eclipse day. We left Abilene State Park at 4:00 a.m. and headed toward Fredericksburg 2.5 hours away. We were hoping to beat the crowds. We had read that Fredericksburg, our original viewing location, was expecting 100,000 people. Whoa. So we changed course. We headed that way and were planning to stop at a smaller town between Mason and Cherry Spring. We wound up on this county road and no traffic. We were asked twice by two different sets of cowboys in pickups what we were doing. They were the real deal, and very nice. We just had to promise to stay on the road and out of the pastures. Speaking of pastures...
The entertainment arrived and lasted a couple of hours. These gals were great, inquisitive and funny. There was one bull of which we avoided.
Oh right, the eclipse. Yes, it was way cool. We had some clouds, not nearly what we were expecting. I had a filter on the camera until it was in totality, then I took it off. The clouds rolled in as it was ending and really got us socked in...so we left. We had seen it, mission accomplished. It was four minutes of no more birds and funny colored sky. We figured because of the clouds bouncing the light around it wasn't as dark as it could have been.
Texas wildflowers were in full bloom! Passing the hours on the dirt road was easy. My brother had come down from Denver and stayed the night with us in Abilene. He left after the eclipse.
Off to Brady Lake Park for a well earned rest.
The following day, we headed to Davis Mountain State Park for two nights. On the way we stopped at Fort McKavitt. Standing atop a windswept remote hill, the remains of this 150-year-old West Texas fort is considered to be one of the best preserved and most intact examples of a Texas Indian Wars (1850–1875) military post.
Davis Mountain State Park in Texas, is near the McDonald Observatory of NPR fame. We had a much needed layover day and spent it hiking and viewing wildlife.
The following day, on our way to Bottomless Lakes State Park in New Mexico, we stopped by Fort Davis, a nearby outpost. Fort Davis is one of the best surviving examples of an Indian Wars' frontier military post in the Southwest. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the Trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and on the Chihuahua Trail.
That afternoon we stayed the night at Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico. One can enjoy non-motorized boating in your kayak or canoe, camp, fish, picnic, swim, hike, go birding or even scuba dive! The unique lakes at this park are sinkholes, ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. The greenish- blue color created by aquatic plants is what gives the lakes the illusion of great depth.
Lincoln Historic Site is ua collection of historical buildings in the community of Lincoln. This most widely visited state monument in New Mexico is part of a community frozen in time—the 1870's and 1880's. Most of the buildings in the community are representative of the Territorial Style of adobe architecture in the American Southwest. Below are two images from El Torreón (a defensive tower built by native New Mexican settlers in the 1850s),
We then went to the Smokey the Bear Museum in Capitan and learned all kinds of things about this American Icon.
We finished a long day by driving the 11mile long road in and around Bosque del Apache, a National Wildlife Refuge, south of San Antonio, NM. The refuge of 57,331 acres was established in 1939 to provide a critical stopover site for migrating waterfowl. The refuge is well known for the tens of thousands of cranes, geese, and ducks who winter here each year. Over 30,000 acres of Bosque del Apache are designated wilderness.
Our final stop before heading home was City of Rocks State Park, NM. Located about halfway between Silver City and Deming, City of Rocks o encompasses a one square mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southwestern New Mexico at an elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen today, creating a stunning, otherworldly landscape.
It was a spectacular trip with details and nuances that numbered far too many to add to this post. Thanks for looking!
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Wow, thanx for introducing us to a bunch of new interesting places and parks along your way - great photos as expected including the eclipse!
Stupendous. I learn so much. I love your ad entries and fabulous photos!
Well done ❣️