Adventures of an Old Broad... Abroad: A Solar Eclipse and a Southwest Road Trip

I am aware that I just finished part two of Ecuador but, due to time constraints and a strong desire to witness the "Great Eclipse", I packed my car and headed on an indirect route to Texas with stops along the way. I am not what I'd refer to as a 'camper' but travel, sleep and in bad weather eat in my SUV. It works for me!

My first stop was Joshua Tree where I spent 3 amazing days hiking, driving the park road and enjoying the beauty of the rock formations and joshua trees. What a unique and beautiful place. My next stop was Tucson where I stayed at a state park. I was only there one night so got in one hike before I headed off to Davis Mountain State Park near Fort Davis, Texas. There were some great hiking opportunities there as well as some really nice people - a large percentage of those I met being there for the eclipse. My original plan was to camp there for 4 nights, get up super early and head south toward Uvalde/Bracketville but upon thinking about it and on the advice of a friend, I left after 3 nights not wanting to take the chance of missing the eclipse due to oversleeping or traffic or??? Well, a cool thing about Texas is that you can pull over at any rest stop, picnic area or even a pullout on the side of the road for 24 hours! That turned out perfectly for me. I was about halfway between Bracketville and Uvalde when I saw a few RV's and some cars at a picnic area and quickly pulled over and parked in back of a small RV. Perfect! I met two amazing women and the 3 of us hung out that night and watched the eclipse the next day. It was just remarkable and what luck to meet such great people with whom I could experience this rare celestial event! I will share photos below of the eclipse but the part that was so amazing and eerie is how dark it actually got with what appeared to be a peach/pink colored rim on the horizon in all directions. Other than that, it got very dark, the birds stopped chirping and other than peoples' ooohs and aaahs, it was silent. Incredible!

So onward . . . I left Texas immediately after hugging my new friends and drove to New Mexico staying in a hotel one night in Carlsbad. It had been a long day of driving and, while the weather held for the eclipse, it started raining off and on after. So, needing a shower and being tired, I stayed at an okay hotel in Carlsbad before heading off toward Colorado to visit friends, stopping in Roswell because you just have to if you're going through it, don't you?

At this point I should mention that google maps is great for road trips ....... except when it isn't! I had planned to find a disbursed (free) camping spot in the Santa Fe National Forest but that was too ambiguous for Cookie (my map girl) and I became totally lost. I had suspected as much when I drove down a road (Route 3?) and didn't see one other car for 40 miles! Luckily, there was a funny little state park (Villanueva state park on the Pecos River) with a beautiful campsite away from all other campers and a great hike as well! Sometimes things just work out!

So then I spent 3 nights in Mancos visiting with my dear friends, going for walks and bike rides, going into town and hiking at Canyon of the Ancients and eating some of the most delicious home-made bread and jams, having home-made chai tea in the mornings and eating delicious dinners! I left feeling satiated, with my body and soul nourished!

I spent one night in a campground outside of Winslow Arizona and had breakfast at La Posada Hotel, a gorgeous building designed by architect Mary Coulter and well known for the many celebrities who have stayed there with their photos hanging outside of the rooms they inhabited. I'm not sure why people would choose to stay in Winslow but it is on the famous Route 66. Anyway, after a delicious breakfast, I posed with Jackson Brown on a corner in Winslow Arizona! Very cool!

After a stop at the largest meteor crater in the US (it was very big!) I spent one night at a disbursed camping site near Valley of Fire State Park. This place has unfortunately been discovered due its proximity to Las Vegas. I'm happy I started early, did a couple hikes and left when the purple tour buses began arriving filled with people clamoring over the beautiful rocks~ I ended up at another of my favorite places - Death Valley before arriving home to discover waist-high weeds and grass which has kept me busy since my return! I love the Southwest and don't think I will ever tire of the unusual rock formations, the colors, the canyons, the mountains...ALL OF IT!

But first of all, the main attraction.........................