Welcome to the final post of our 2022 Spring Break road trip. On our way out of Utah, heading back East, we happened upon a sign for another National Monument, so we decided to follow the signs and see what happens. Now, I am not big on traveling on whims, but we had time, so we decided to check it out. We ended up finding Hovenweep National Monument, which has more historical Native structures. It was pretty much empty, and the gift shop was closed, but we did a bit of exploring, and I’m so glad we did. The prehistoric structures are dated between approximately AD 1200 and 1300! It was a cool one we didn’t even know we needed to check off of our list.
We headed back into New Mexico for a few more sites, before we made it back to Texas. Outside of Santa Fe, I had seen a cool little spot on Atlas Obscura, called the Jemez Springs Soda Dam. We had to just park on the side of the road, and trek down into it, but it was definitely worth it. The drive around it was beautiful as well. The way the water has worn away the rocks, left unique natural art. We spent a tired and hungry evening in beautiful Santa Fe, but sometimes I just have to put the camera away and stick with my phone for a while.
The next day it got COLD, as you’re about to see. Another spot I found on Atlas Obscura was this small town called Madrid, New Mexico. Unfortunately, everything was, once again, closed, but we went around and took some pictures as the snow grew heavier and heavier. It got super intense, as you can see in the photos. We were happy to find the Mine Shaft Tavern was open, and we warmed up and ate a meal before heading out to face the snow again.
On our way out of New Mexico, we stopped in fabled Roswell. We have been to New Mexico quite a few times, and never stopped in Roswell before. I’m always a fan of the kitschy, and Roswell has it in spades. No snow, but it was cold, so our visit was brief. It was still fun to see some of the details they’ve put up in town. After that, most of our trip was open fields, and driving back across Texas to home.
Thanks so much for checking out our adventures from 2022. If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here:
part one,
part two, and
part three. I have some of these photos, and many other travel photos from past trips, available as fine art prints and other items in my
Fine Art Print Store. I hope you have a beautiful weekend, and I’ll see you back here soon.
