February 2006 Travel - South Western States

I will try to highlight some of our travels during the 15 days we spent on this trip.

On Monday February 6 at 8:00 a.m. Wayne and I, Carolyn and Hayes Wilcox left Minford, Ohio and traveled 5,380 miles through the south western states.

The first day we traveled to Nashville, Tenn and spent the night there. We visited the Grand Ole Opry Hotel gardens and went to the Opry mall. The second day we traveled on to Texarkana, Texas and spent the night.

The third day we traveled to San Antonio, Texas and walked on the River Walk and visited the Alamo's. Originally named Misi'on San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo served as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly seventy years. Construction began on the present site in 1724. In 1793, Spanish officials secularized San Antonio'five missions and distributed their lands to the remaining Indian residents. These men and women continued to farm the fields-once the mission's but now their own-and participated in the growing community of San Antonio. San Antonio and the Alamo played a critical role in the Texas Resolution.

The fourth day we traveled on to Corpus Christi Padre Island in Texas and spent the night there.

We stayed in the Gage Hotel at Marathon, Texas the fifth day. This was a beautiful old hotel decorated with antiques and served a delicious dinner that evening. The next day we visited the beautiful Big Bend National Park. From the Marathon Plateau to the Chisos Mountains, and south to the Rio Grande, Big Bend you will find beautiful scenery. Named for the great curve in the Rio Grande, Big Bend offers more than a million acres of public parkland, and millions more of endless landscapes where cloud tipped mountains rise above paint rock desert. The big large cacti plants were beautiful and some of them were just starting to bloom. There were very many different kinds of cacti plants in the park. Near Big Bend National Park's west entrance, Terlingua and Study Butte were founded at the turn of the 20th century as mining towns. Terlingua is now a "Ghost Town" and is a very poplar visiting resort. When the mines shut down people traveled on to other places looking for work to support their families. Some of the old mud houses these people lived in are partially standing and the old cemetery is still there.

The next day we traveled on to Vanhorn, Texas and spent the sixth night. The next day we traveled to El Paso, Texas (El Paso is right on the border of Mexico) and parked our van in El Paso and walked over a bridge for a visit to Mexico. This did not take a very long as our stay in Mexico was short. The streets were very dirty and for sure you did not want to eat anything in this area. I am sure there are much nicer areas in Mexico but we did not have the time for exploring different areas. We saw the high fences between El Paso and Mexico that are to protect the border. Also, we saw the border patrols parked along the border.

The next day we traveled to Tombstone, Arizona and visited the famous O.K. Corral Gunfight Site. We saw an enactment of the Gunfight Show, toured the 1880's newsroom and print shop of the Old West's most famous newspaper. We traveled on to Benson, Arizona where we spent the seventh night.

The next day we traveled to Saguaro National Park Arizona. A variety of plants live here and there are more than 50 types of cacti. Among the most spectacular is the saguaro cati. The saguaro begins its life as a shiny black seed no bigger than a pinhead. But what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in numbers. One saguaro produces ten of thousands of seeds in a year, and as many as 40 million of seeds in a lifetime of 175 to 200 years. From the start, the odds against survival are great. Out of all the seeds that a saguaro produces in its life, few will survive to adulthood. By 100 years the saguaro may have reached 25 feet. Saguaros that live 150 years or more attain the grandest sizes, towering as high as 50 feet and weighing 8 tons, sometimes more. These are the largest cati in the United States. We traveled on past Tucson, Arizona to Coolidge, Arizona and visited the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. This ancient building is four stories high and 60 feet long. It is the largest structure known to exist in Hohokam times. Early Spanish explorers called it Casa Grande (Great House), and to them it was a mystery. Its walls face the four cardinal points of the compass. A circular hole in the upper west wall aligns with the setting sun during the summer solstice. Other openings also align with the sun and moon at specific times. Apparently, the builders of the Great House, people who knew well the ways of the land, gathered inside to ponder the heavens. Knowing the changing positions of the celestial objects meant knowing times for planting, harvest, and celebration. Casa Grande Ruins National Monument preserves the remains of an ancient Hohokam farming village as well as the Great House. After visiting the ruins we traveled back to Tucson, Arizona and spent the eighth night.

We traveled on to Sedona, Arizona and this was a very beautiful vacation spot. The massive red-rock mountains and Oak Creek flowing thru the town was spectacular. We enjoyed the most beautiful sunset that I have ever seen. The town was beautiful and this is one place I would love to go back to and enjoy spending some more time. We spent our ninth and tenth nights in Sedona.

Heading on to Las Vegas, New Mexico is where we spent our eleventh night.

The next day we traveled on to Bloomfield, Colorado and spent two nights at Steve and Debbie Gampp's home. This was our nicest hotel so far. We had dinner in the evening with Beth, Austin, Brenna and the new baby Steven Reid and Steve and Debbie. Steven Reid was only 2 1/2 weeks old and so so cute. There was snow on the mountains and it was beautiful. We drove to Estes Park and looked up the campground that we had camped in when we visited Colorado when the boys were small. Brought back a lot of good memories. This was the twelfth and thirteenth nights.

After a nice visit with family we headed home and stayed the fourteenth night in Salina, Kansas and the fifteenth night in Effingham, Illinois.

The next and last stop was HOME. (February 21) No place like home. Was a wonderful trip but enjoy being back home.