The Paint Splash: April 2013

Monday, April 29, 2013

Texas to home

Welcome to the last 2 days of our Great Retirement Adventure.

It's hard to think that since this trip we have already been

back to texas then on a cruise and it's only been 3 months.

We left New Mexico and drove through the pan handle of Texas into Oklahoma. The weather was getting cold again and my bones longed for the past few weeks of beautiful sunshine.

After mountains, ocean and desert we didn't take as many pictures of the plains. Maybe because it's where we grew up or just the cold gray sky's but I just wasn't inspired by much.

I did love seeing the fog in the early morning.

Timing worked perfect to stop and visit on of my hubby's cousins. Had a wonderful visit and hoping they come out to enjoy some time at our lake home soon.

We spent the last nigh on the road in Saint Louis. We had a BEAUTIFUL suite with a view of the arch just across the park. We went for a late night walk after dinner and enjoyed the Christmas lights that had not been taken down yet.

Love this shot of the state capitol under the arch.

Many miles of driving later we arrived home.

We were gone a month and loved the adventure.

Next week...back on the road again. Blessings, Debbie

Linking today with..make sure you go by and visit others

Blue Monday

Monday Mellow Yellow

Our World Tuesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Heavenly

Sky Watch Friday

Oh the places I've been, Friday (a new party!)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

New Mexico

Our Great Retirement Adventure

Driving into New Mexico we had to make a decision,
would we go North on highway 25 to Albuquerque or take back roads. Well, if you know anything about us by now you would know, we took the back road. It really wasn't a back road by our definition but not a major highway.

One of our first stops in New Mexico was
White Sands
National Monument.
I learned the difference between a National Monument and a National Park. The National Monument is established by the government because they contain objects of

prehistoric, or scientific interest; they are usually established by a presidential proclamation. The National Parks are set aside by Congress to preserve an area for the enjoyment of the people.

We were greeted at the beautiful adobe style welcome center. I was amazed to see that they rented or sold snow disks for the sand! How fun would that be?

There are roads throughout the park that are plowed just like you would snow because of the wind blowing and changing the dunes.

The sands were founded in 1936. It is in the Tularosa Basin, surrounded by a mountain range. The sand dunes were created by gypsum being washed down from the mountains.

I couldn't help myself I HAD to roll up the pant legs and take off the shoes. I have never felt such soft sand in my life.

Back on the road again

We stopped at a Pistachio grove and purchased some pistachio's.

Who knew there were so many types of pistachio's
from to

I know it's silly but I loved the burlap bags and have it hanging in my kitchen.

Along the way we passed some beautiful churches in the desert.

We decided to spend the night in Roswell, New Mexico.

Have I told you how we choose a room? We get on the internet and use priceline.com. As long as we know the basic area we want to stay in we usually save quite a bit. You can choose the level of hotel from 1 to 4 star we usually go 2-3 star and have a nice place.

After checking into the hotel we went to dinner then out for a drive. We saw on the map a place called

Bottomless Lakes State Park.

Wow what beautiful colors!