New Mexico

Our first stop in New Mexico was the hippie ski-resort, spiritual town of Taos which was recommended to us in Boulder. Jack read an article that the citizens of Taos often hear a humming noise and blame this on the governments disposal of nuclear waste within the region. I would like to think the town is an epicenter of energetic fields like the Native Americans believe. Regardless, we did not experience anything strange.

Taos boasts a small downtown area which is basically a narrow street with tight adobe style buildings sporting gifts, jewelry and clothing. One of the redeeming qualities of the town and a major tourist attraction is the thousand year old Taos Pueblo on the outskirts of town. Unfortunately for us the Pueblo was closed for the day so we went to the San Francisco de Asis Church also within the city limit. The church is one of the most photographed in America. Artists such as Ansel Adams and George O'Keefe have been heavily inspired by the churches' architecture which dates back to the 1700's. Another structure which is famous in Taos is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge which stands at 650' and crosses over - you guessed it - the Rio Grande river.

The next day we headed to Santa Fe where we browsed the outdoor art displays and had delicious huevos rancheros at the Burrito Co. Santa Fe is known to artists and history buffs for its unique community of electic artists and ancient buildings. It houses some ninety art galleries and has both Americas' oldest house and oldest church, the San Miguel. The city is also home to the Loretto Chapel which was built in 1872 and houses a spiral staircase with no visible support and is now a museum.

Roswell has always intrigued me. I guess thats because I watched too many shows on the discovery channel growing up about UFO's  which all seem to relate back to this humble town which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Roswell offers limited food and is now home to most chains (ie: Pizza Hut, KFC) so vegetarians be prepared. Other than the UFO museum the city doesn't offer much except alien themed gift shops oh and of course the UFO themed McDonalds. The UFO museum itself houses artifacts relating to the famous Roswell Incident and teeters on the fence of outright blaming the government for a cover-up or blaming a government experiment for of all the hype. Either way the museum has a "hush hush" attitude about it and the mystery still remains. Roswell for those of you who don't know also happens to be the dairy capital of New Mexico and the smell of waste lingers heavily in the air.

Our last stop in New Mexico was Carlsbad Caverns National Park where the most popular bat in the world, The Mexican Free-Tail resides. We got to see the bats in their migratory stage and for forty minutes witnessed hundreds of thousands of bats exciting out of the cave in a swirling motion to build up momentum before shooting for the skies in elaborate formations and going for their evening hunt. There were so many bats that evening that the next day when we tried to hike down into the cave the park rangers had closed it off because many of the bats were still within the entrance. Did you know that bats always leave caves and head to the left? I didn't either! Because bats use supersonic waves and frequencies to communicate and navigate cameras, cell phones or any electric device is not to be used when they are exiting the cave.

The next day Jack went down into the cave while I stayed in the car and read a book. I might have gotten over a lot of fears on this trip, but dark scary enclosed places are certainly not one of them!

Full New Mexico Pictures here!