OK Sterling,(and anyone else interested) here they are...

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Mona

Well-Known Member
Joined
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Location
Morson, Ontario, Canada
Wow Sterling, you really put me to work! It took me most of yesterday and last night and all morning to get this all done! With so very many photos, it is hard to narrow it dow. I left the photos on the larger side, so it will be a nightmare for those on dial-up.(such as myself)

We had a really nice trip. It was kind of rushed, getting through so many states in so little time, and we didn't get to do all we had hoped to, because of "IKE". We wanted to go further south in Texas, and also wanted to go to LA, but there was no way I wanted to be anywhere near there when Ike made landfall. We were two days ahead of him!

I didn't get any pics after NM really, as I slept most of one day travelling through TX as i took some cold medicine that did me in and knocked me out!
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I also did some driving through Arkansas and Missouri, so was not able to take the pics, and my husband is no help in that department for sure!! I was happy to meet Lauralee in person after all these years of knowing her online, and working with her as she is a web client of mine. We had a nice, but short visit.

We went through the Ozarks in MO and even though I didn't like being so high, it all looked so beautiful and lush! At least if you fell off the highway there you weren't falling over a drop-off cliff like in the Rockies!

So, I am inviting you all along to share ome scenery of our trip. Many (most) pics were taken from the vehicle, so sorry for the bug spaltters, glares etc. in some of them.

Here is the link to OUR TRIP. Thanks for looking.
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Wow - thanks so much for sharing the photos, Mona! Looks like you had an awesome trip!!

Liz R.
 
Mona the pictures of your trip were wonderful. I've been to all the places and it sure brought back all the great memories. I can relate to your uneasiness of heights as i am also afraid of heights. When we had the motorhome and going over the high mountains in Colorado I was in the bathroom most of the time not looking out the windows. I hate heights!!!!!
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Mona the pictures of your trip were wonderful. I've been to all the places and it sure brought back all the great memories. I can relate to your uneasiness of heights as i am also afraid of heights. When we had the motorhome and going over the high mountains in Colorado I was in the bathroom most of the time not looking out the windows. I hate heights!!!!!
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OMG Gini! I can only imagine! Actually, Chris was trying to calm me down some by saying be thankful we are in a truck, and not a motorhome or a truck pulling a trailer! I agreed, and no, I sure wouldn;t have wanted to be in a motorhome going around those tight 5 mph corners at the top on that narrow, narrow road! I would have died for sure!!!
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OOPS! I forgot a link to one of my most favorite pages!! TAOS, NM!!! Please refresh the index page and visit that Taos page!!
 
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Mona,

You took fantastic pictures
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I hope you did not come close to my part of Wyoming and not call me! :)

But I am over in the southwest corner so you may not have :)

How neat you went to New Mexico. I grew up in El Paso, TX right by New Mexico and have always liked New Mexico so much!! My daughter works as a nurse in Farmington and my sister teaches in Zuni, south of Gallup, and lived in Santa Fe for years. I always figure if anything happened to Harry I would not be able to deal with our harsh winters by myself and would move me and my little horses to New Mexico!

I am glad you got to take such a neat trip!! :)

Susan O.
 
Actually Susan , I did look on the map to see where you were, as I thought it would be nice to get to meet you, but I did see you were were on the western side of the state, and we were not going to be anywhere near there, so had to pass you by. But you can bet I would have contacted you had we been in your area!
 
Mona!

Viewing the OUTSTANDING pictures of your trip just added to a near-PERFECT day for me!! I came in from an hour and a half drive 'outside' around my neighborhood with Handy, which I enjoyed IMMENSELY--and lo and behold, you had posted your 'gallery' from your whole trip!!

Some GREAT pics there; I never realized how extraordinary the Badlands were, nor the extreme size and majesty of the granite outcrops of and around Mt. Rushmore...WOW! Double WOW, since it is unlikely I'll ever get up there to see with my own eyes!

I am SO pleased that you enjoyed Taos and the country around it so much--really makes me feel happy that I recommended you come down through there from CO!! I am not much one for 'aura', but I do feel there is one up in that country, ever since the first time I drove up there through that 'challenging' canyon drive, about 20 years ago now. (The ladies of Paintbrush Miniatures, for those of you who remember them, live in Ranchos de Taos, just south of Taos proper; they are good friends of mine, and before my husband died, I used to get to go up for a visit now and again-now, I can hardly get away to do so...I bred my wonderful Melody to Cowboy Del twice, when he resided in Taos....it is a place with a LOT of innate 'charisma'!)

I SOOOO enjoyed getting to meet Mona and Chris face-to-face; our visit was all too short, but well-enjoyed and appreciated, all the more because though we've become good 'internet' friends, I never dreamed I'd get to meet Mona in person--and yet, I DID, to my joy!

I also got to see Mona's ceramic horses 'in person', and as a trained artist(!), I can verify that she made an EXCELLENT choice of a 'forever' remembrance of their trip, and of this part of the country!

Mona, my friend, thanks again for the picture album....it was great--almost as great as the memory of your visit!!

Margo
 
Thanks Mona! :)

Yes we are very far west and not on lots of trips through Wyoming. I appreciate your thoughts though. :)

Susan O.
 
OMG Mona!!!
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THANK YOU for posting ALL those photos!!! What a TREAT...I did'nt think that by asking you to post a few more photos you'd be indulging us with these awesome pics!!I am flabberghasted. I started to look at them and had to call hubby to come and see them with me. I had told him about your trip and that you were gonna post a few more pictures, and we were delighted that you posted more indeed!! We're stoked!!!
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Let's talk!! First of all did you drive down in your own vehicle?

In CO those sand dunes are awesome! It looks as if the people walking are not sinking....is the sand deep in other parts as you get to the more mountanous parts of the dunes?

The pics of NM brought back so many memories of our traveling cross country when I was little. I remember Needles and wondering if it's still as unpopulated as it looks? I hope RE has not had a population boom over there.

In SD, were you able to get out and hang and walk or was it mostly roadside pics in those beautiful photos of the buttes and all? I cannot get over the color patterns in the landscape...wow! So n ow as I sit here wishful, hubby tells me one day soon we will make out trip, God willing. Yeayyy!!!!I just love roadtrips.

That little booth with the Harley sign was pretty funny. I told him that was Harley Davidson of Taos...lol..lol...lol....
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I've heard of the elevation affecting some people when they go to CO. Your being apprehensive about how high you were and where you were had to be frightening for you...but thankfully everything was ok. Did you feel better once you came down a bit from elevation? I'll bet your horseback riding experience had to have been awesome....after, that is you got over the initial thump in the head....ouch!
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Thank you again for letting us in on your roadtrip. Did it make an impression so much so you'll be thinking about going back out there again? I can't wait till it's our turn!
 
Those were great Mona. Really enjoyed seeing all the photos. Nothing like a good road trip to see the countryside! And must be even better yet not pulling a horse trailer.
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Carol
 
Hey Cheyenne, I was hoping you'd enjoy them!! I enjoyed sharing them, for sure! And as i said, if you think the pics are awesome, wait until you see it in person!!

Yes, we made the trip in our 1/2 ton. Wasn;t too bad...with all the miles we put on, we spent just under $1000 on gas. Since it is a new truck(just this Spring) it is still getting broke in too. Maybe now AFTER this trip, it SHOULD be broke in!
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In the dunes, the people of the flat area are not sinking...it i such light sand...so fine! I thought it was wet, as it looked to be, so was very surprised when I took a handful and realized it was dry! I opened my hand and it just blew out of my hand, leaving a fine black silvery coating on my hand. As we walked out closer to the dunes, the sand was definately softer and more like walking on loose beach sand. We never went out to the dunes themselves...I have no desire to climb them! Too out of shape for that! I am attaching below, a photo of the thing that explains what the dunes are and how they were formed.

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About getting out and walking about...are you asking if we did specifically, or if it is available? Yes to both anyway. We did get out quite often at various places to walk around and take photos, but because we were really pressed for time, we never spent as much time as I would have liked to "exploring".

Yes, I felt fine when we were on more "level" terrain! LOL! That was the only time I had the trouble breathing.

As for going back...I would have to see lots more for the first time before I went somewhere the same again...it was gorgeous, but we have so much to see! We never get away really, so have to see new things when we can. But yes, I can truely say I LOVED it there!

And Carol, you're right, was nice not pulling the trailer, however, it seemed really wierd to look into the back seat and not see my dogs there!
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Wow.....excellent pictures Mona...... I see you saw Mt Rushmore, did you get to stop at Crazy Horse also? My family has been to both places (not too far from one another I guess)....and they all say Crazy Horse is just specatular, even though it's not finished. Funny you posted the pics, I just called my Dad and he is on a road trip right now and he is in Henry South Dakota.....doing some family research, taking pictures of old gravesites of the relatives etc....Dad was born in Henry, or Cathridge South Dakota.......... anyway, he said the weather has been lovely & he and my brother in law are enjoying their trip so far.

I can totally relate to the effects of high altitude.......having visited Colorado a few times the high altitude definitely takes some getting used too.

I love, love, love the horses you got in NM....those are just so unique and lovely!!!

Sorry the rental horse got ya in the head, oh man, I can feel that pain right now, having had that happen a time or two in my younger days.

Well, glad you and your hubby had a great trip and thank you so much for sharing your pictures with us!!!
 
Those are beautiful pictures Mona! It must have been a great trip, I would love to see alot of those sights in person one day. Thanks for posting them.
 
Wow.....excellent pictures Mona...... I see you saw Mt Rushmore, did you get to stop at Crazy Horse also? My family has been to both places (not too far from one another I guess)....and they all say Crazy Horse is just specatular, even though it's not finished. Funny you posted the pics, I just called my Dad and he is on a road trip right now and he is in Henry South Dakota.....doing some family research, taking pictures of old gravesites of the relatives etc....Dad was born in Henry, or Cathridge South Dakota.......... anyway, he said the weather has been lovely & he and my brother in law are enjoying their trip so far.
I can totally relate to the effects of high altitude.......having visited Colorado a few times the high altitude definitely takes some getting used too.

I love, love, love the horses you got in NM....those are just so unique and lovely!!!

Sorry the rental horse got ya in the head, oh man, I can feel that pain right now, having had that happen a time or two in my younger days.

Well, glad you and your hubby had a great trip and thank you so much for sharing your pictures with us!!!

Hi Valerie. no, we never did go to the Chief Crazy Horse site. We thought about it, but again, because we were pressed for time, we hoped to do most of our trip enjoying the views as we drove along, as we know how those places are...once you get in there, you need the better part of a day to take it all in, and we just didn't have the time.

Sounds like your Dad and BIL are having a nice trip through that area now too. We actually ran into quite a few cool, overcast and/or rainy days while we were on our trip. It was raining off and on while we were in the Badlands there.
 
Lisa, we kind of stayed close to the western MO border. We went up 71, then at around Montrose or in around there, we went over to and up 13 until it met up with I-35 and took that out right out of the state. I know we went past Neosho as I recognised that town from ads on the Saleboard!
 
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Well this is so very neat! I just love getting history lessons without having to weed thru too many things, and you've provided such wonderful pictures and information.

Yes, I was wondering if you personally got out yourselves thru the Badlands and walked them. They look like quite a hike and so much to see at all angles. I'd think I'd need so much time just to to take it all in. And you and Valerie talking about the Chief Crazy Horse site...oh that got my antennas UP! lol..lol..lol.... I can just see us now...hubby having to stop every 5 minutes. It's strange as I'll bet the people that live out there think nothing of it as they're used to it all. If they came to visit us here, they'd probably be in awe of our lush forests and history as well.
 
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The red peppers strings are called Ristras. They are used for decoration but also for food. Once the chilis dry out completely, they crush them up and make red chili sauce with it. You didn't hear the "Taos Hum" while you were there did you?

The Cemetary is probably a little bit of both, old and unkept. There is some serious history here in NM but the weeds do grow quickly, especially if we get lots of moisture.
 
LOVED the pics and especially glad you chose a truly special keepsake of your trip; something handmade by someone local to the area you visited, NOT one of those made in china/mass produced trail of painted ponies things, again for the very reason you listed, they are not "special" anymore at all and THOSE horses you got ARE!

KEWL!

Great pics, thank you for "taking me along" I would love to visit NM someday.

Liz
 

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