Taylor Hicks

 

 

 

 

Fruit salad anyone?

 

Juarez, Mexico

 

Sable....another handsome fella

 

Aries, Isn't he handsome?

 

7300 feet above sea level...

 

Do you see the moon?

A genuine cliff dwelling...

 

Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument

City of Rocks...again

 

City of Rocks...

 

City of Rocks

 

The view from my friend's porch...

 

New Mexico

 

Caverns....again

 

More caverns

 

Carlsbad Caverns

 

It has been a long time since I have posted. It has been a busy month for me. First off let me tell you about my trip to New Mexico. I left on a Wednesday and flew to Houston and from Houston I flew to El Paso where Shama was picking me up. My first plane ride was not as stressful as I believed it would be. In fact it was quite easy. Take off was a lot of fun and I was able to sit by myself on each flight. The only problem was with my ears popping, but all in all it was a good experience.

While in New Mexico, I visited Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, the City of Rocks and Juarez Mexico. Carlbad caverns is just one of the numerous other caves within the Guadalupe Mountains. The park contains over 100 known caves. Carlsbad Cavern, one of the world's largest underground chambers and countless formations, is accessible via walking tours. I was able to get a couple of neat pictures, but most of them didn’t turn out because it was so dark. We didn’t get to see the bats, they don’t come back until May.

We were not able to drive into White Sands because it was closed, but we got to see the outskirts. It looked like a beach….with no water.

The city of rocks was amazing. “…the city of the rocks, a noted place from the granite rocks rising abruptly out of the ground," wrote James Wilkins in 1849. "They are in a romantic valley clustered together, which gives them the appearance of a city." It was interesting to see a pile of rocks in the middle of this desert land. Tommy said the rocks were all a part of one mountain that had eroded after time and were shaped by volcanic ash 30 million years ago. Rock formations like those at the park exist in only 6 other places in the world. The weather was absolutely beautiful that day. The sky was an incredible shade of blue, with no clouds in the sky. The pictures turned out great.

My favorite of the week was traveling through the mountains to see the cliff dwellings. We had to travel up mountains, at one point we were up 7,000 plus feet above sea level. The terrain is rugged, with steep-sided canyons cut by shallow rivers; forested with ponderosa pine, Gambel's oak, Douglas fir, New Mexico juniper, pinon pine, and alligator juniper. It seemed like we were in West Virginia rather than New Mexico. It was so surreal to look down and see the desert. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s.

Next we went into Mexico. It was not what I imagined. I always pictured it as little cities with red dirt roads, surrounded my adobe huts and Mexicans with sombreros and six shooters drinking Tequila. In fact it didn’t look much different than El Paso. The big difference was the traffic. I never did see any traffic lights. There were some stop signs, which NO ONE bothered with. I would have been a nervous wreck had I been driving. There were people everywhere, playing soccer, softball, and a lot of very empty basketball courts. I guess there aren’t a lot of brothers living in Mexico. We went to the Mercado and ate lunch, or at least tried to. People walked by every 2 minutes to show us jewelry, candy, and assorted knick-knacks. Someone offered to take our picture with an authentic sombrero, little girls dressed up in traditional Mexican dresses begging for coins, and a guy that wanted to shine my friend’s shoes. The customer service was astounding. It made me very grateful for the USA and all its opportunities.

I had such an awesome time! I am very happy I was able to see my best bud Shama and her guy Tommy. They were so sweet to me while I was there, and made sure I had a good time. I can hardly wait to go back!