This is gonna take a while to write about. :)
Nancy and I LOVE to road trip together. After the nightmare drive from Phoenix to Chicago, I was so thankful to have her company for the drive back.
On our first day, we fulfilled my month-long dream of visiting George Washington Carver National Monument. I am on a quest to collect stamps in my Passport to the National Parks book, and this seemed spot seemed so obscure and mysterious. After perusing the website, I still wasn't sure what there actually was to SEE at this monument, which meant we HAD to go and solve the mystery.
Well, the reason the website was so vague is that there really wasn't much to see. However, we did learn that George Washington Carver came up with over 300 uses for the peanut. He was trying to convince Southern farmers to grow peanuts instead of cotton. He also invented peanut butter! Peanut butter is my favorite food, so clearly it was destiny that I visited the site of the inventor's birth. Unfortunately, the old buildings were all destroyed by a tornado, so there's just a nature trail to hike. (Which we skipped because of the cold.) As much as we wanted to make fun of this place, it was actually pretty cool. We enjoyed the museum and were really impressed with all the programs they offer for students. There was also a really beautiful sunset to enjoy!
Sunday was another big driving day. We did, however, manage to find something to break up the monotony of Oklahoma. After consulting my passport book, we took a quick detour to Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. We had never even heard of this place, and I'm so glad we stopped. We learned about the massacre that occurred in 1868 when General Custer attacked Chief Black Kettle's tribe, despite the fact that Black Kettle wanted peace. It was very, very disturbing. It bothers me that Nancy and I are both teachers and had never heard of any of the massacres described in the museum... We all know the Native Americans were treated badly, but I think we try to forget how appalling it all was.
Native Americans still leave prayer cloths at the site of the massacre:
We continued to drive across Texas and through New Mexico. Nancy found me an app that allowed me to listen to the Bears/Packers game, and I was thrilled (until they lost). We stopped in Roswell for dinner and were disappointed by what we found: a normal, mid-sized town. We ate at Applebee's. There is an alien museum there, so we stopped and took some pics on our way out of town.
We continued about an hour south to Guadalupe Mountains National Park and did the Devil's Hall hike. It was a little too chilly to camp. (There was snow on the ground, and I always love seeing snow in the desert.) But this is a place I'd really like to come back to. It's so remote!
The nearest town was El Paso, so we knew we had to get some good Mexican food there. The L and J Cafe did not disappoint! We also made a quick stop at Chamizal National Memorial, which ranks pretty low out of all the national sites I've seen. But I didn't realize the U.S. had had border disputes with Mexico as recently as 1963, so at least I learned something new.
During dinner, Nancy and I decided to drive back to Phoenix that night. My paycheck had been mailed to the wrong place, so I needed to get back so I could get paid, and it seemed silly to waste money on a hotel when we were that close to home. So we pushed it and arrived back in Phoenix around 1:00 a.m.
Nancy and I LOVE to road trip together. After the nightmare drive from Phoenix to Chicago, I was so thankful to have her company for the drive back.
On our first day, we fulfilled my month-long dream of visiting George Washington Carver National Monument. I am on a quest to collect stamps in my Passport to the National Parks book, and this seemed spot seemed so obscure and mysterious. After perusing the website, I still wasn't sure what there actually was to SEE at this monument, which meant we HAD to go and solve the mystery.
Well, the reason the website was so vague is that there really wasn't much to see. However, we did learn that George Washington Carver came up with over 300 uses for the peanut. He was trying to convince Southern farmers to grow peanuts instead of cotton. He also invented peanut butter! Peanut butter is my favorite food, so clearly it was destiny that I visited the site of the inventor's birth. Unfortunately, the old buildings were all destroyed by a tornado, so there's just a nature trail to hike. (Which we skipped because of the cold.) As much as we wanted to make fun of this place, it was actually pretty cool. We enjoyed the museum and were really impressed with all the programs they offer for students. There was also a really beautiful sunset to enjoy!
Sunday was another big driving day. We did, however, manage to find something to break up the monotony of Oklahoma. After consulting my passport book, we took a quick detour to Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. We had never even heard of this place, and I'm so glad we stopped. We learned about the massacre that occurred in 1868 when General Custer attacked Chief Black Kettle's tribe, despite the fact that Black Kettle wanted peace. It was very, very disturbing. It bothers me that Nancy and I are both teachers and had never heard of any of the massacres described in the museum... We all know the Native Americans were treated badly, but I think we try to forget how appalling it all was.
Native Americans still leave prayer cloths at the site of the massacre:
We continued to drive across Texas and through New Mexico. Nancy found me an app that allowed me to listen to the Bears/Packers game, and I was thrilled (until they lost). We stopped in Roswell for dinner and were disappointed by what we found: a normal, mid-sized town. We ate at Applebee's. There is an alien museum there, so we stopped and took some pics on our way out of town.
The next morning was when we finally got to the good stuff! We visited Carlsbad Caverns. Although it is very touristy, it is quite amazing and absolutely worth seeing. We were worried because we couldn't get tickets on any of the tours, but the self-guided tour alone took several hours. The main area of the cave is 14 football fields long! There was so much to see.
The nearest town was El Paso, so we knew we had to get some good Mexican food there. The L and J Cafe did not disappoint! We also made a quick stop at Chamizal National Memorial, which ranks pretty low out of all the national sites I've seen. But I didn't realize the U.S. had had border disputes with Mexico as recently as 1963, so at least I learned something new.
During dinner, Nancy and I decided to drive back to Phoenix that night. My paycheck had been mailed to the wrong place, so I needed to get back so I could get paid, and it seemed silly to waste money on a hotel when we were that close to home. So we pushed it and arrived back in Phoenix around 1:00 a.m.
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