Land of Fire

Another recently designated unit was our first stop this morning. Valles Caldera National Preserve was added to the National Park Service in October 2015. Because most activities are in the backcountry (hiking, biking, horseback riding, etc.) and only 35 vehicle permits are available each day in the summer, I hadn't planned on spending much time here. 

Passes were still available when we arrived, so we decided to drive into the preserve for a bit. It didn't take much to convince us, especially after the ranger mentioned that the cabin used in another one of our favorite TV shows, "Longmire" (orginally on A&E, now on Netflix) was within the park.

The home of Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire

The view from the cabin

The valley was formed upon the collapse of a volcano,
following a series of massive eruptions.

Love the prairiedogs!

East Fork of the Jemez River

Beautiful scenery! I'm glad that they limit the number of vehicles so that it maintains the solitude of the park.

From Valles Caldera, we made our way out of the Jemez Mountains, down into Albuquerque. Just off I-25, we found a Freddy's for lunch, so the boys were happy. We ate in the car on our way over to the visitor center for Petroglyph National Monument.

As its name suggests, this unit protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America. What I didn't realize is that the petroglyphs are found on volcanic rocks which are right next to housing developments.

Of course, since it was the middle of the day, it was quite hot! Thankfully there were Pokémon to be found at Boca Negra Canyon, so everyone was willing to leave the A/C in the car to check out the petroglyphs.

The red shirt guys are always the expendable ones!

Because the Unser Racing Museum was close by, R wanted to stop for, what else, smushed pennies. So we zipped over there before heading back to the visitor center to turn in the boys' Jr. Ranger booklets. Then from Albuquerque, it took us about an hour to reach Grants, NM, and the visitor center for El Malpais National Monument.

The rest of the family had fallen asleep on the drive over, so I ran inside to get the passport stamps and talk to the ranger about things to do in the park. He suggested going to the Sandstone Bluffs Overlook, as well as La Ventana Natural Arch, both along NM-117.

From the overlook, we could see west into the monument and out over the lava flow. El Malpais is Spanish for "the badlands." In addition to the lava flows, there are other volcanic features such as cinder cones, lava tubes, and ice caves in this unit.

One of the red shirt guys didn't make it (out of the car)

Just a few miles farther down the road is La Ventana, one of New Mexico's largest natural arches.

We headed back into Grants to check into our room, and then we decided to have dinner at a local restaurant, La Ventana Steakhouse. Great meal! Afterwards, M and J wanted to go around town to look for Pokémon, but they wanted us to drive slow so that they could earn steps for "walking." In a van with out-of-state license plates with a woman walking by herself in the dark in front of you? Not a good idea, boys! 

Tomorrow - back into familiar territory with one last night on the road!

Today's route: 215 miles