Wonders of New Mexico-Day 4

This will be the last post from this series. On our fourth day there in New Mexico , we decided to travel to the Tent Rocks or Kasha Katuwe National Monument. It was almost an hour’s drive from where we were staying. So we started our journey towards this beautiful place at around 10 am , after being served breakfast by the lady of the Airbnb place. Telling you guys again she is a wonderful woman.

A brief history and geography of ‘Kasha Katuwe’. The word means ‘white cliffs’ in the Puebloan language ‘Keresan’. It is located on Pajarito Plateau, South-West of Santa Fe, New Mexico near Cochiti Pueblo. It is said that humans have occupied these rocks for more than 7000 years. Distinctly in the 15th century, the ancestors of Pueblo Indian people lived there and they were the ones to name it. Now a days the tribal people of Cochiti Pueblo contribute and help manage this monument. They also have access to this place through tribal lands.

Source: My Phone’s camera (Kasha Katuwe from a front view).

The tent rocks are cliff faces of Peralta Canyon which are pierced by smaller canyons containing the tent rocks and that is why they have been named so.

Now that we are done with a brief history of the place, let me tell you guys about our day there. We took the Cave loop trail, which is a 1.2 miles long and you can get a wonderful view of Hemet Mountains, Sandia Mountains, Rio Grande Valley. I am sharing a few pictures that we clicked there.

A view of the comes when it is close to sunset during Winter.

The little grooves we had to walk through.

The view from the top- Sandia and Jemez Mountains.

The vacation was successful for us and the very next day we returned back to the Natural State- Arkansas.

Wonders of New Mexico -Day 3

On our third day, we solely spent our time visiting the Bandelier National Monument.

These monuments preserve the homes and territories of the ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the South-West. Most of the pueblo structures date to two eras, dating between 1150 and 1600 AD.

So much for its history:

It was an hour and almost 45 minutes drive from where we were staying at the time. One our way we passed through the White Mountains which truly resembled its name at the time. Covered with snow the mountains looked amazing .

Source : My Google Pixar 4 plus

Clicked on Nikon L830

It was a wonderful experience for me as I had never seen such a picturesque view.

Once there, we first went to the Visitor’s Centre .

Clicked on Nikon L830

There we chose the “Main Loop Trail” which took us almost 1 hour 45 minutes to complete. Throughout trail there are ladders you must climb to get into the ancient Puebloan houses.

I have posted here some pictures that we clicked while walking through the trail.

When we began walking towards the Puebloan dwellings.

The houses from far. Try to identify the little ladders connecting the houses.

This well or large dug out area was supposedly used for some rituals as mentioned by the archaeologists.

View from a house. Notice the mountains opposite, covered in snow.

Mr. Long Legs sitting in one of the dwellings.

Us after we completed the trail.

I would rate this tourist spot a 5/5 . Please make sure to visit this monument when you are there in New Mexico.

Wonders of New Mexico -Day 1

I am extremely sorry, for not being able to post earlier. I have been facing a writer’s block for the past few weeks. Continuing with the journey-

Source- My camera

The hot air balloons of New Mexico were the first thing we saw every morning from the back porch of our host’s house. She was kind enough to prepare breakfast for us everyday we stayed there.

Day 1 Agenda

Places to visit-

1. Petroglyph National Monument
2. Museum of Natural Science and History
3. Old town of Albuquerque

When we reached the visitor’s centre of Petroglyph National Monument, we selected the Boca Negro Canyon trail to hike. The trail is at a distance of almost 10-15 mins from the visitor’s centre. Once you reach there , you can start hiking the trail.

These are some of the pictures we clicked there.

A beautiful cactus flower.

The kind of rock formations visible in the monument

My man posing before we began hiking

This is what it looks like from the top

Here is a link that might help you plan your visit to Petroglyph National Monument https://www.nps.gov/petr/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm

Our next visit was to the New Mexico Museum of Natural Science and History. We drove up straight to the museum centre because that was the place we were planning to spend a large chunk of our time. It has lot of exhibitions , some real fossils , a beautiful walk through the rock and volcanic lava formation in New Mexico. I would definitely recommend a visit to this museum.

Some of the photographs from this museum include-

This area covers a huge section of the floor showing different dinosaurs and there is a gadget which you can use to produce the sound of a dinosaur.

It must have taken us nearly 3-4 hours to do the complete round up of this place. Here is link that might be useful to find more information related to the museum http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/visit .

The last place to visit in our list was the Old town, where the christmas lights were still on and we visited some of the shops in the old town. It is a place worth visiting. Some photographs from the old town –

These were all taken in the town square. There is a beautiful old church which you must visit when you are there. Make sure that you reach there before sunset, the church closes pretty early.

I would like to apologize for keeping it extremely short. With no travel blogging abilities here, I have tried summarizing a beautiful journey.

If you want to know more about the day 1 sites we visited please mention in the comment box. I might be able to help you find some legit website links.

Wonders of New Mexico

This year on the 3rd of January me and my boyfriend went on a trip to New Mexico, during the Winter break from School.

Being tedious planners more for me than him , we planned it for more than a month, with the budget, both of our school and work schedules, we finally decided on 3rd January 2020.

Today I would like to share some photos of the journey. I must mention that we traveled via car which is common here in the States. Learnt about it right after a few days I reached here. Going forth with the journey-

We booked an Airbnb space in Rio Rancho before hand. Never having lived in an Airbnb we were both worried. But it was a good deal and within budget.

It took us almost 12 hours via I-40 W, travelling through Missouri,Oklahoma , Texas and finally New Mexico. We started at around 5 in the morning and since it was winter, the sunrise did not take place for at least the next two hours. Vast open lands in Texas and few houses here and there through Missouri and Oklahoma was what we saw through the journey. Once we entered the borders of New Mexico the scenic view altered a bit with snow covered mountains.

Source:Giphy

Here are some of the photographs I clicked while he was driving.

Picture Credits: Yours faithfully (Me)
It was a miniature figurine in one of the gas stations in Oklahoma and I clicked it because it was really interesting.

Picture Credits: Me again
This was somewhere in Texas. Unfortunately, I have a poor memory, so do not actually remember where exactly in Texas.

Picture Credits: The world is really spherical :-), but its ME again.

This photograph was taken when we reached the periphery of New Mexico, you know where you start seeing the sign boards of New Mexico University :-).

Picture Credits: Sad to break your heart, but its me again.

The reason behind me clicking most or all the pictures dear friends is because I cannot drive :-(. Anyways these photographs were clicked when we were close to the city of Albuquerque.

copyright meloheart