Time to Explore!

I hit the road the next morning ready to spend the day exploring as much as I possibly could.  I had a big list of "to-do's" that I wanted to cross off my list.  However, I have learned that the weather is pretty unpredictable (pretty used to that being from Alabama and all), but I would do what I could to see as much as I could.  My first stop was the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which I had passed driving in to my Earthship.  I saw the Gorge when flying in over New Mexico, so seeing it up close was really cool.  I parked and walked over to it and took the obligatory selfie.  Let me stress my FEAR of heights.  When I turned around to take it, I felt my arms tighten up and my fear of my phone plummeting to the depths below became a reality.  So I took it quickly... Check out these photos!  The gorge really was a very cool place to see.

I set out headed to Angelfire and Eagle's Nest.  Destin is an Eagle Scout and worked at Philmont for several summers way back in the day.  These two places were suggested to me by him and he promised me plenty of landscape eye candy and artistic inspiration.  So I set out, plugged in a random address into my GPS, and hoped for the best.  

To get to these towns, I had to travel over the river and through the woods and up on the mountain and down through the valley and around the steep corner and up and up to the top of the mountain and down the mountain till you finally see a large open stretch of land... (whew, right?!)  Here is a photo of a guy trying to get his cow to safety.  Thankfully I had slowed down around the bend...

So I drove out past Angelfire to get to Eagle's Nest.  Destin was right... The views were stellar.  I stopped and took these photos.  Everywhere around me looked like a postcard.

You can tell from the last photo that something was stirring up in the sky.  I got in the car and headed back toward Angelfire.  As I was pulling out of the parking lot of this picnic area, prairie dogs were darting across the road in front of me.  They move so fast!  By this time, I was starving, so I knew I needed to find something ASAP in Angelfire.  (By the way, the word "angelfire" reminds me of my very first blog I started 14 years ago this year.  Remember that blogsite?!)  So I finally found a restaurant called Zeb's that looked like a local place.  I ordered the brisket and oh my, oh MY!  This meal was the bee's knees and then some!

The moment I stepped out of the restaurant, I knew I needed to get out of dodge with a quickness.  The sky was angry and the lightning was heading my way.  I had to travel back up the mountain, then back down again.  From stories I have heard in this past, this is not where you want to be during a storm.  I was stuck in a line of cars trying desperately to do the same thing I was.  My plan was to get pics of the mountain on the way back, but there went that plan, so I got what I could. The local drivers were passing cars on blind curves and it was terrifying.  Thank goodness I made it back to Taos with no issues, even when the bottom fell out the moment I turned onto the main drag.  

I originally wanted to visit the Taos Pueblo, but that was a bust with the weather, so I drove back to the Earthship to figure out my plan.  I stopped by the Earthship community welcome center to take this next photo.  The storm was rolling in, so I didn't stay long...

I sat at the Earthship for a bit and did a little research on this spa the lady told me about yesterday.  It's called Ojo Caliente and was a bit of a drive from me, but I was intrigued by what it offered.  I really wanted to soak in the different types of pools they had.  If you look up the spa online, it will give you details about the healing properties of each one; soda, arsenic, and iron.  Of course it was still lightning when I finally arrived.  I still bravely put on my swimsuit and headed outside to this beautiful area where the pools were.  I sat back and kept my eye on the sky for a while and took in all the different places the pools were located.  There was a large pool, which was the coolest in temp.  There were quite a few people still swimming around, even though lightning strikes were flashing all around us.  

When the sky seemed to calm down for a while, I walked over to the largest pool to begin.  I was told that the hottest pool was 105 degrees (I think?), so I felt starting out at 88 would suffice.  I then went to the iron pool, which was definitely my favorite.  The bottom was covered in tiny pebbles and the water was very warm and relaxing.  Of course it is awkward sitting in a smallish pool with strangers, but man oh man did that water feel awesome!  The surrounding rocks just added to the ambience of relaxation.  It was really nice.  I got out and went to the soda pool, which was enclosed inside.  Not as warm at the iron pool, but still felt nice, just a bit loud with several people inside.  The last of the pools I tried was the arsenic pool.  I know what you are thinking... YOU GOT INTO THAT?!  Yeah I don't know all the scientifical meanings behind it, but it felt amazing.  There were two pools, one higher than the other that drained into the smaller pool.  After soaking for a couple hours or three, I felt it time to head back to the house.  I was hungry and wanted to settle in to try and see some stars that night!  I had forgotten my phone, so I went back to the car to get it to snap a few photos of the outside at least.  As SOON as I took these photos, lightning struck the top of the rock that was beside the iron pool.  I tucked my tail and flew as fast out of that parking lot as I could get.  I'm telling you.  The weather out there is no joke...  During this drive back to the house, I got to see more of the typical desert landscape that I think of when I think of desert or New Mexico...

I drove back into Taos to get pizza from Taos Pizza Outback (another Destin fave).  Check out this yumminess!

I hoped for a clear night so I could really see the stars the way they are meant to be seen.  I was in luck!  I didn't get to see the milky way (bummer), but it was still very cool to see the stars sprinkled across the immense New Mexico sky.  Of course I don't have photos of that experience, but just know, it was a cross off the old bucket list.

As I woke up the next morning and realized it was time for ol' travelin' Casey to head home for the summer, I started thinking about all the things I had learned and seen in New Mexico.  All the connections I was making to their culture, our culture, MY culture... I was already creating projects and ideas in my head that would translate this real life experience I had to my students.  As a teacher, you find that when you learn something like this, you want to share with others.  You want to share it with people who you hope will appreciate it, learn from it, and possibly teach it to someone else one day.  I do hope that once I teach about this in my classroom (which will be coming up VERY soon!), that my experience and the lessons I teach from it will resonate with my students.  I can't wait!

Thanks again to Fund for Teachers for giving me this opportunity to have the funds to send me to such a rewarding and inspiring experience.  Without them, I would still be longingly looking at the ad in School Arts, wishing I was one of those lucky teachers.  Also, thanks to Stevie Mack and Nancy Walkup for hosting and creating such a fantastic experience for art teachers.  Through your program, I learned so much and experienced more than I thought I could in only a few days.  I made friends, connections, and learned from real artists working in real communities from all over the world.  I feel beyond blessed that I had this wonderful opportunity.  I can't wait to report back as I teach my unit I am creating to my classes!