West Texas and New Mexico

Connie Goldsmith - around 1975

My husband's sister Connie moved south to Carlsbad, NM right after she finished college to be a lab technician at the hospital. Connie liked horses (something we had in common) and warmer weather. Sadly, breast cancer took her life in 2007, after a long fight. I have always been sad that we never made it to NM to visit her. We had the "busy, kids" excuse and never made it. Since then that area has been on my bucket list - including the Carlsbad Caverns.

On our route there we drove through Texas mining country - there wasn't much else there besides wells and supporting infrastructure. No crops, no livestock. We booked a hotel in a little town called Pecos, where we found a little restaurant with cold beer and good fish tacos. The next morning we drove through Carlsbad to the Caverns National Park. I'm proud to report that I got my Lifetime senior national park pass for $80, which allowed both Paul and me into the cavern.

National Park - near cave opening

Paul's last chance before going in

Water, gas and time have created beautiful formations

Looking for elusive lint

We opted to walk down into the cavern to the bottom. It took about an hour. I was glad we had our hiking boots on and that these newfangled (it's an old folds term) cellphones have flashlights! Both of us are a little freaked out about being underground - so we didn't stay and admire the formations at the bottom once we arrived at the massive cavern.

Near the bottom, we met a crew of around 30 volunteers picking lint off of the stalagmites. They reported that lint damages the formations as it attracts moisture. I wouldn't mind volunteering in a national park someday - above ground! We took the elevator back up - 750 feet! The sun never looked so welcome (until a few days of gray skies back in Iowa).

After the Park visit, we traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico, which seemed like a nice little city. That night we ate Italian food, of course! The restaurant was right across the street from our motel and was delightful.

Scottsdale with Watson

Driving from Las Cruces to Scottsdale takes about six hours. We were on a mission to meet up with our pal Chris Watson for Old Town drinks and a meal. Paul and I had been there ten years ago when we visited for the ISU bowl game. It's a fun area and on a lovely warm evening, it was fun walking through the neighborhood.

We celebrated an early Happy Birthday to Chris. It was great catching up with her and hanging out. She's such an interesting person. I met Chris at Washington Elementary in Atlantic when she and her family moved in from Strawberry Point. Her dad was one of the many Walnut Grove guys. That company had such a huge impact on Atlantic throughout my childhood. We didn't really pal around through high school, but always got along because she is one of those "nice to everyone" people. Like with Paula, Chris and I reconnected when we all turned 50 and lost our friend, Theresa Faust, pushing the rest of us to get together. We can thank Theresa for our renewed friendship!

Like my mother, I'm an ocean person. That's why I like to go to sunny Florida in the winter. But I must admit Arizona is growing on me. Especially when it wassnowing daily in Iowa.