The Freezing Southwest

We've made our way across Texas, managing not to run out of gas on at least two occasions. However, before we left Texas, we stopped at Immanuel Baptist Church, where the people were most welcoming and nice to us. Let me back up a bit and tell you how we came to get to the church. As we were making our way around Fort Stockton, we saw a van with the church's name painted on the side. So obviously, we started following them as they made their rounds picking up kids. (At the time, we thought they might have been dropping them off.) Finally, after we gave up, turned around and started following them again, Ben got out and asked when/where church was today. They told us to follow them and we went back to the church. (Which we passed earlier ironically.) After the service, they even let us shower and fed us sandwiches. Their ministry is helping folks who come through town, giving them a place to stay for a spell and helping them out. This is inspiring to say the least. Our thanks go out to the folks at Immanuel Baptist Church, who took us in and treated us most kindly.

Paisano Pete, the mascot of Fort Stockton.

We then wandered towards New Mexico and visited Carlsbad Caverns, which was beyond description. The underground beauty was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Ben also made some enemies with the local wildlife and I was threatened by a ranger: "I will stab you." She used to work at Grand Teton National Park and she told us she always got asked where the moose were, much to her frustration. Austin then told me to ask her where the moose were, which gave way to her humorous reaction.

Whale's Mouth at Carlsbad.

Grainy group in the cave.

On the way north we cruised through Roswell. (Yes we saw aliens.) Historic note! - After WWII, Roswell housed German POWs and some of them stayed after being released. There was also a piece of the Berlin wall at one of the memorials in town. The west side had graffiti, the east side had none.

Ben's friend at Roswell.

This is how cold it was in the desert. (That's ice!)

Onward to Colorado, where we saw Mesa Verde. We managed to squeeze in a quick drive through the houses and temples before the last ranger led tour to the Spruce Tree House. Our hippyish ranger led us up close to the site and we got a very interesting history of the area and houses from the ranger and one of the archaeologists on duty. After Mesa Verde, we went to Four Corners, which cost money, so we looked and left. Now we're back to the present on our way to Tuba City and then the Grand Canyon.

Car update: The choke heater is broken, so the automatic choke doesn't disengage in cold weather. The motor is running very rich and causes poor gas mileage and sputtering at various times. Hopefully it'll stay in one piece until we get home because our pop can shielding doesn't seem to holding up.

The Spruce House at Mesa Verde