New Mexico, Day 3

This morning we breakfasted with a family from Waco who was on the way to Colorado. It's always amusing to me when you run into people from your (general) neck of the woods in a place so far from home. Tasty blueberry pancakes (with a touch of cinnamon, I think) were a wonderful start to the day. Then, while C. checked his email and various other websites, I spent further time digging into Dracula on my nook. I've already read one book this trip - The Colorado Kid by Stephen King, at the impetus of my Stephen King-loving husband - which was quick but enjoyable. I've been trying to finish Dracula for a while, but keep getting sidetracked on other books. However, it's getting pretty exciting as they are preparing to go after the Count himself, so I think I'll finish it soon.

C. and I debated for a while what we should do today. The weather has been even more rainy than expected. But, after considerable discussion, we packed a lunch and drove down the mountain several miles to reach the Pecos National Monument. It was well worth the trip. The Pecos National Monument is a former residence for the Pecos Indians and has the ruins of their pueblo. Later, at the arrival of the Spaniards, a mission was built. It was fascinating to walk the 1.25 mile route that takes you through the old ruins and lands of the Native American people and read the history of that area. We could easily see some of the reasons they had settled there. The Pecos river and another water source are near by. But the views alone would be worth living there; although that was perhaps one of the last things on the people's minds as compared to survival and hunting for food, we appreciated the beauty of the surrounding area and the landscape that encompassed valleys, hills, and mountains. The mountain tops today were covered in fog, and a varying gentle to heavy mist fell for about half of our time on the trail. The wet weather did not dampen our spirit though, and we both found the ruins interesting and the landscape breathtaking.

Tonight we enjoyed a tasty meal of steak and grilled garlic parmesan potatoes (God bless whoever invented foil - so incredibly handy for making delicious tender veggies on the grill!!!), and since the rain had let up, we were able to eat outside in the cool 60 degree weather. We hope that the clouds will go away and perhaps we will be able to view the stars one night, maybe building a fire out in the chimnea on one of the patios.

Tomorrow, we hope to going hiking along the Cave Creek trail near the Panchuela campgrounds. It is an easy, fairly level trail according to our B&B hostess, so it will be a good test for my ankle and knee to see if I might be able to handle a harder trail. Largely, this depends on the weather, though, so we will see what happens.