Tucumcari

 Mom saw an article about Art City in Tucumcari, NM that looked intriguing, so that's where our Excellent Adventure took the three of us on Easter weekend.

Tucumcari's claim to fame is its preservation of mid-century Route 66 history. Stephen booked the restored Safari Hotel for us. It was utterly charming!

 

Our first stop was at Art City, a 40 acre sculpture park and glamping destination. We bought day passes online, parked by the gate and walked in. No one asked for our passes or even talked to us and we only saw a couple of other people from a distance. We had fun walking around, in, and on the art as was appropriate for each piece. 

 

 

 

And we went to Conchas Lake and visited the State Park by the dam.

 

 

 

The next morning mom and I met for an early walk but it was so cold and windy that we ended up walking to a coffee shop!  

 

 

The weather didn't improve, so we spent the morning at the Route 66 museum and then headed back to Albuquerque.

 

 

On the way home we hit a huge snowstorm! Fortunately, Stephen was driving the truck so we had no issues. It was a super cool weekend in a little-known part of NM.

 

 

Summer Vacation: The Wyoming / Utah chapter

Destination: Rock Springs, WY.  Why there? That's how many hours I'm willing to ride in the truck! 

Stephen found us the cutest Air BnB cottage in Rock Springs. It was absolutely perfect, and in a great location for day trips.

The first day we went to the Rock Springs Historical Museum and the Community Fine Arts Center. The museum is in a building that housed the jail, courthouse, and firehouse and those sections have been preserved as exhibits.

Rock Springs is a coal mining town. Our cottage was in the older part of town near the train tracks. There are lots of cute little victorian style houses on small lots, a couple of small parks, large handsome sandstone buildings in the business area, and several murals.

I had a great conversation with the owner of the Pickin' Palace and got to play some nifty instruments including a micro bass and a banjo bass.

On our second full day at the cottage we drove the Flaming Gorge Scenic Loop which starts in nearby Green River and dips down into Utah, going over the Flaming Gorge Dam. We made many stops, including one for a picnic lunch at Antelope Flat Campground, and one at the Flaming Gorge Dam visitors center.

The campground is where we saw this beautiful mama and her chick.

 

 

 

 

Our next excursion was a continuation of the Ghost Town tour we began during the pandemic. The South Pass City State Historic Site is a living history museum on the weekends and offers a self-guided tour on weekdays. It is the best preserved Gold Rush ghost town and Gold Mill in the West. The Carissa Mine was subject to cycles of boom and bust starting in 1867. One point of interest is Esther Morris's cabin. Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote and hold office, and Esther served as Justice-of-the-Peace beginning in 1870. She was the first woman to hold public office in the United States.

 

 

On our last day in Rock Springs we walked around town, went to local businesses, and got dinner at the Farmers Market.

It was a great vacation with stunning scenery and tons to learn at various museums and historic sites. Stephen booked great places to stay and we even found some very good vegan food along the way.