On Top of the World

We left the hotel this morning a little after 7:00AM and headed about 30 miles east on US-64, turning onto NM-325 north towards Capulin Volcano National Monument. The reason for our early start was because Saiki-delic vacations usually involve some form of self-inflicted suffering. 😜

☑ Unit #189

In truth, maybe we are gluttons for punishment, but besides having a lot of ground to cover today, I didn't want to fight any crowds for a parking spot on this holiday weekend. So the goal was to be there when the Volcano Road up to the rim opened at 8:00AM. 

Kohala Coast

In planning our trip to Hawaii, our friends recommended that we download the Shaka Guide app for the Big Island. It is an audio tour guide that uses your phone's GPS to automatically play the segment that corresponds to where you are, complete with turn-by-turn directions, suggestions for places to stop, and even music for traveling in between points of interest. There were five tours covering different parts of the island, so we bought the whole bundle for $9.99. 

Our destination this morning was Pololū Valley on the northern tip of the island. The drive along Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway was gorgeous! The Kohala Coast tour audio kicked in once we passed by the resorts at Waikoloa. The tour narration was really interesting, and the app worked well (offline, so no cellular data needed) - totally worth the price paid!

City of Refuge

After our paddling (mis)adventure, it took awhile for my seasickness to subside. So as I waited to get my land legs back, the guys loaded our stuff into the car. Then we left Nāpōʻopoʻo and continued south to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau NHP.

☑ Park #153 for me, #151 for R, and #148 for the boys

Pueblos and Project Y

Today's route: 140 miles

We didn't have to drive very far today, but it was probably the least efficient route that we will take this entire trip. It kills me to backtrack, but we didn't have enough time to visit Pecos National Historical Park on our way up to Santa Fe yesterday.

On a Mission

When I was mapping out our itinerary for this trip, the schedule for today was flexible. We could either:

• Visit the remnants of two frontier-era Army outposts, Fort Selden and Fort Craig, as well as a site along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, the Royal Road of the Interior Lands, which stretched from Santa Fe, NM down to Mexico City. 

Or...

• Visit one more NPS unit, Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

Because my family humors me (and they have my completist tendencies, too!), we chose the latter.

Rooms with a View

It was a bit chilly this morning when we headed up into the mountains on NM-90 towards Silver City. We crossed over the Continental Divide (twice) on our way to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. 

OCD Madness

Throughout 2016, the National Park Service is celebrating is 100th year. In honor of this milestone anniversary, Eastern National has issued a commemorative centennial stamp to nearly all of the 410 units in the NPS. Our current tally of units visited as a family is 115. So while we didn't check off any new units today, it was a successful day of stamp collecting for me!

Fort(ress) of Solitude

"What are we doing today?" asked the not-so-junior rangers, as we got off I-10 and headed south on a very small, desolate road.

"Fort Bowie," I replied.

"Why would the government build a fort out here in the middle of nowhere?" asked the patient husband of the crazy lady who will travel anywhere to visit any place with a brown National Park Service sign.

After parking at the trailhead, we started the 1.5 mile hike in to the visitor center to find out.

Exploring Arizona

Our first stop this morning was a trip back in time at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. It preserves the site of Arizona's oldest Spanish presidio, or fort.

The excavation of the original adobe foundation of the presidio has been enclosed so that it can still be viewed

Ancient Ruins

What do you do when Christmas break is approaching, you have a Best Western free hotel night voucher about to expire, and you're itching to get away? If you're me (and last time I checked, I am), then you look at a map to see where the closest national park units are that you haven't been to yet *AND* you price hotels for the most expensive place to cash in the voucher. That narrowed down the choices to...

As Long as We're Here...

There are a handful of NPS units within a couple of hours' drive from Phoenix. When we were here in March for spring training, we stopped to visit Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, but didn't have time to visit any of the other sites.  So, on this trip we decided to check out Tonto National Monument, which preserves the ruins of 700-800 year old Salado cliff dwellings.

From Glendale, we headed east towards Mesa, took the 60/Superstition Fwy to Globe, and turned north on Rt. 188 to the monument. It doesn't look like it's that far away on a map, but it still took us a little over 2 hours to get there. The scenery along the drive was pretty, but man, beyond Mesa, you are really in the middle of nowhere!

Great House

Our friends had to head back home today for a family wedding, but we're staying in Arizona for a few days longer. Both the Cubs and the Angels were off today, so we weren't planning to watch another game. Even though the boys would have liked to try to get more autographs, there just wasn't another game or stadium that seemed very interesting to us grown-ups.

So the plan for today was to visit Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which is about an hour away. There are a few other NPS sites surrounding Phoenix, but we just didn't have time to see them all, which just means my OCD will bring us back here for another trip!