Blown by the hot breeze...

We continued our little New Mexico trip. 

 

If you missed the story about the geothermal baths, you can just click here.

 

The hot springs was probably not my thing.

 

Perhaps when I come OUT of menopause and return to full pre-menopause health and vigor

 

(choke, choke!)

 

I will return.

 

In the meantime, however.

 

Not.

 

So.

 

Much.

 

Driving to our accommodations for Friday night, we came across a beautiful little town.

 

There were all kinds of ruins and places to explore.   We were puzzled by the sandbags in front of many of the buildings and roads.   "There's been a big fire up the mountain...road's just opened up again...supposed to rain...we're worried about flooding..." was the explanation.

 

"Up the mountain?" I asked Mr. Jenny.  "Isn't that where we're going?"

 

"It'll be interesting," he replied.

 

Hmmmm....

 

I wondered briefly where I had heard that before.

 

We poked around looking at all kinds of neat places...

I wish we would have had more time to look around, but time was speeding by as it seems to when we go off on one of our adventures.

 

"We need to get going," I informed Mr. Jenny firmly.  "It's getting late and it looks like it's going to storm.  No more stops!   Let's just go directly to where we're staying."

 

Mr. Jenny agreed so we left town and headed up the mountain.

 

Okay.

 

To be honest, I may or may not have screeched and made Mr. Jenny stop at a rock shop where I may or may not have bought quite a few rock samples.

 

Blush

 

And we may or may not have stopped again to explore a really, really cool old cemetery...

 

After the cemetery stop, we got determined to get to our destination.

 

We drove through fire damage.

 

Living in the west as we do, we are very aware of the dangers of wild fires.

...but nowhere was the damage more apparent than in the small stream coursing down the hill...

 

...we found this damage particularly heart-breaking.

 

After a few long moments of deliberation, we quietly returned to the truck.  It was spitting rain and the sky was dark.  

 

Definitely time to head to where we were staying...

 

...with one last stop to look at some enormous copper mines where the ecological damage felt heart-breaking at as well.

 

 

While Mr. Jenny snapped pictures I reviewed the information from the Inn we were staying at!

 

"Check in is before 6:00 PM!"  I shouted across the parking lot.

 

He jumped in and we took off.

 

The conservation in the truck cab was sober.

 

We talked about the impact of fire on water...something neither of us had contemplated before.

 

And the loss of the 19 brave firefighters in Yarnell.

 

And discussed all the ecological impact of the massive mines we had seen.

 

And we decided that just because there's bad in the world, doesn't mean we shouldn't stop looking for good.

 

After an hour or so of following wind-y directions, we arrived at the Inn.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED!