Record Rain in July

Tucson had a record amount of rain in July 2021, 8.23”.  The mountains are covered in green.  Our neighborhood feels like a jungle!  The rain has brought blooms to cacti that rarely bloom, including this giant white flower.

Trip to ND/MN and NE

We flew to Fargo to visit Whitney’s family on July 17.  Whitney drove us from the airport to their summer lake house in Minnesota.  We spent the weekend with them, enjoying their view across the lake, playing games with Toby and Greta, and walks with Whitney.  On the 19th, we drove from Fargo to Omaha to visit Audrey’s family.  We stayed three nights with them, with Papa spending some time repairing their garage gutter, recently damaged in a storm.  We worked in the yard, went for walks in the neighborhood, and to Lauren and Taylor’s swim meet.  We went back to Whitney’s lake house for the next weekend, with a stop at Greta’s softball game on the way.  We enjoyed whizzing around the lake on their boat and I went tubing with Whitney.  All fun!

At the Lake House

In Omaha

Rain in the Desert

A few days before we returned home from New Mexico, Tucson received close to 2” of rain over three days.  We’ve gotten more rain in the past couple of days, so we are above 3.5”.  Some desert plants react quickly to rain.  The ocotillo leafs out and rain cactus blooms.  We love watching the desert become plumped up, leafed out, blooming and happier!

Enjoying the Views on our Last Day

Over the past few days, we’ve hiked longer and enjoyed the scenery more, if that’s even possible.  We couldn’t have had a better time than we’ve had staying on Abiquiu Lake with our amazing view of Ghost Ranch and the Pedernal.  More photos, taken today on our hike down toward the lake then back up the hill to our rented house.  The sunset was pretty spectacular too!  We’ll drive home tomorrow, with happy memories of our stay in northern New Mexico.

Box Canyon Hike on Ghost Ranch

Yesterday morning, we hiked the Box Canyon Trail.  The trail follows a stream, that we crossed multiple times.  With constant running water in the canyon, it was thick with wildflowers and cattails, surrounded by towering cliffs.  It was a beautiful hike.  We stayed for lunch at Ghost Ranch, eating at a picnic table under towering cottonwoods by the dining hall.  We remembered our one week stay at Ghost Ranch forty years ago, eating in the dining hall and enjoying the views all around.

Wildflowers

Blooming wildflowers have been a bonus of our visit to the Abiquiu area this summer.  They are everywhere!  Likely, due to the elevation of the area, above 6000’, their blooming season is later than many places.  We enjoy seeing them along the road, in meadows and grazing fields.  Beautiful!

Los Luceros

Yesterday we visited Los Luceros, a few miles northeast of Espanola, and on the Rio Grande.  “Los Luceros history goes back almost a thousand years, with pottery found on the site dating to 1200, and made by Pueblo people.  When New Mexico was claimed for Spain in 1598, an outpost was established on the same property, and an adobe house built by the Lucero de Goday family during that time.  The land passed to various relatives and a chapel was constructed in 1779 that still exists, along with the 5700 square foot Casa Grande.  

In the fall of 1923, Mary Cabot Wheelwright (yes, the same one that founded the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, and was featured in the book, Ladies of the Canyons) was staying with her friend Carol Pfaffle at the San Gabriel Ranch and went horseback riding with Carol.  Carol and her husband bought Los Luceros and soon after sold the house, Casa Grande with 6 acres along the banks of the Rio Grande to Wheelwright.  Casa Grande was renovated and Mary Cabot Wheelwright lived there until her death in 1958.”  The property was willed to her friend and property manager, Maria Chabot, and was later purchased by cousins of Mary Wheelwright in 1998.  The State of New Mexico now owned Los Luceros and has designated it as a State Historic Site.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Los Luceros was much more than we expected.  We enjoyed walking around the property, picking mulberries off the trees along the path, going upstairs in the Casa Grande, and down to Rio Grande.  We stopped briefly at the San Gabriel Ranch, now owned by New Mexico State University Sustainable Agriculture Science Center.  I had no idea when I read Ladies of the Canyons of the impact those ladies made to the north central area of the state of New Mexico.  It was an enjoyable read!

Monastery on Rio Chama

Under a sky heavy with clouds, we drove to Monastery of Christ in the Desert, at the end of 13 miles up a dirt road.  The drive along Rio Chama was beautiful, with the sun peaking through a bit, and the striated colors of the rock cliffs taking our breath away.  We saw three small deer bucks that stood to pose for my camera.  We arrived at the Monastery, and soaked up the quiet, as we were the only guests.  The chapel is beautiful, in such a unique setting.  "The Monastery was founded in 1964 and is Roman Catholic Benedictine.  The chapel was designed by George Nakashima and was praised by Thomas Merton as the most perfect monastic chapel he had ever visited." 

We left the Monastery, drove back about four miles to a bridge over Rio Chama, and hiked about four miles on the Continental Divide Trail, in the Chama River Canyon Wilderness.  The Continental Divide Trail extends over 3100 miles from Canada into Mexico, along the Rocky Mountains.  It was designated a National Scenic Trail in 1978.  Gorgeous and quiet!

 

The drive along Rio Chama, back to the highway was just as beautiful driving south as north.  As we approached the highway, the striated cliffs of Ghost Ranch were in front of us.  A wonderful day!