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New Mexico. Not Really New – Not Really Mexico.

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I saw this saying on a bumper sticker while in New Mexico and laughed out loud.

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Because it’s true, right?! But I never consciously gave that much though to the name “New Mexico” before. To be honest, I never actually gave much thought to New Mexico at all. I hardly knew anything about it. Fortunately, Matt did. He had a long bucket list of New Mexico destinations he was interested in. And fortunately, we’re on a year-long road trip discovering and exploring our beautiful country. Turns out, my ignorance has transformed into a true appreciation of the natural wonders of New Mexico. It’s not really New. It’s not really Mexico. But it is really awesome. And here’s why.

White Sands National Monument

Holy Moly. I did not know this place existed. Did you? Well, maybe you did if you watch the Today Show, because they were there a few days after we were! We were amazzzzed by the powdery white sand flanked by purple mountains and blue skies.

Although, per usual, we arrived early in the morning because the sun is BLAZING hot. I’m not wearing long sleeves and pants because it’s cold. I paired those with a hat, glasses AND sunscreen because I was sure my skin was going to turn crispy.

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Dogs love sand dunes. At least Lucy does. She had the best day of her life running up and down the dunes like a crazy dog. Dobie thought it was fun for two runs and then he wanted a nap.
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No words. Just amazement.
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We were here! And we are so grateful to have experienced such a beautiful and special place.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

This place is amazing. And it may seem like it’s out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s probably because it is. But it is SO WORTH IT. I would never have guessed that underneath the Chihuahuan Desert existed over 119 caves (that we know of…who knows how many more could possibly exist).

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Carlsbad Caverns and Crazy Blue Skies.

We took a self-guided tour down the 1.25 mile Natural Entrance trail which descended more than 750 feet to an enormous cavern known as “The Big Room” where another 1 mile trail loops around an enormous cavern which Will Rogers described as “The Grand Canyon with a roof over it”. Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. 3.5 miles isn’t a very long hike, but the decline and incline in and out of the cave makes this a worthy workout trek.

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The natural entrance to Carlsbad Caverns…and there’s little ole’ me to help show the scale of this steep switchback path that goes down and down and down…

Each evening, hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats leave the caves to search for food (bugs!). However, they return to the caves before dawn, and since we were there early in the morning, we did see several bats still returning. We figured they were the teenagers who were out past curfew, sneaking in late and hoping no one noticed…

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And here we go…goodbye natural light, time to do some cave exploring!
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The caverns are absolutely massive, and while the trail is paved, your shins and toes feel the brunt of the downhill descent, and the whole way down, you’re conscious of the fact that you’re going to ascend all the way back up to get back out!
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iPhones can take some pretty great pictures. They cannot take pictures worth a darn inside a cave though. So, to help show the gorgeous formations inside Carlsbad Caverns, this professional photo of Doll’s Theater, a feature inside The Big Room at Carlsbad CAverns (Credit: NPS Photo/Peter Jones) does a pretty darn good job.
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As if an incredible hike down and up out of Carlsbad Caverns wasn’t amazing enough, on our drive out of the park we drove past a family of desert Bighorn Sheep! They were so cute!

Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a beautiful city with a small town vibe. It’s full of pueblo style architecture, museums, art galleries, and has no shortage of restaurants featuring authentic New Mexican cuisine and their famed red and green chile, both FULL of flavor. Sounds pretty wonderful already, but an added appeal is the opportunity for exploration in the mountains and wilderness surrounding this city already perched at 7,000 feet.

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Santa Fe is full of beautiful churches and architecture, including the Saint Francis Cathedral, built in the late 1800s.
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A beautiful and unique element outside of the cathedral was this labyrinth (added in 2003). We learned that labyrinths were often built into the floors of medieval cathedrals and that this one is built in the style of one in Chartres, France.

We loved the symbolism of this stone path, “The Labyrinth’s path is like the path of life. There are twists and turns, feelings of being lost, encounters with others on your path, the thrill of accomplishment at the center, and sometimes a flash of insight before returning.” And honestly, it’s just fun to walk the narrow, winding path, feel the warmth of the sun on your back, and smell the wafting spring blossoms in the breeze.

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Take a deep breath and inhale the sweet smell of fresh blossoms.
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Strolling along Canyon Road there is no shortage of beautiful galleries and local artisans.

Our favorite stop along Canyon Road? Wiford Gallery. We were literally hypnotized by their gorgeous wind art.

Totally mesmerized by the enchanting wind art at @wifordgallery! #destinationtreeontheroad #santafe #santafenm #canyonroad

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on

Chaco Culture National Historic Park

CHACO CANYON! This was a biggie on Matt’s bucket list, and I was fully unprepared for the beauty and ancient architecture preserved here. There weren’t just ancient ruins, there were MASSIVE ancient ruins. Ruins you could wander through for hours or days, getting lost in a labyrinth of doorways, rooms and buildings. A self-guided tour brochure gave some explanation, which seemed mostly speculation, on the way of life of the Pueblo culture. Imagination was better at filling in the possibilities of how they built these massive structures and lived in this barren land.

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Chaco!! We arrived!! It was quite a journey just to get here, and after a long, bumpy dirt road we had to hop out for an arrival pic 🙂
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Ruins so enormous, they don’t fit in the frame of the picture…need some scale? Look at those tiny people in the center/right of the ruins, and then imagine building these walls, circles and structures thousands of years ago…

 

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On one of the many hiking trails in and around the ruins.
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The exterior ruins of what was truly a labyrinth of rooms and doorways inside.

The (tiny) doors and rooms go on and on and on…

A 360 degree view helps do Chaco Canyon justice…

Bandelier National Monument

Less than an hour drive from Santa Fe is Bandelier National Monument. If you’re like me, when you hear “monument”, you may think of some kind of statue or single structure (i.e. The Statue of Liberty). However, as I’ve learned on this year long road trip, a national monument is similar to a national park, just a different designation, and isn’t just a single “monument” but can be any particular area that is protected, owned and managed by the federal government. (Bonus: Our national park pass is valid at all National Monuments, Historic Sites, etc….so if you think there are a lot of national parks to visit, just imagine how much bigger that list is when you add all the other protected areas that are part of the NPS!).

Ok, probably more than you may have wanted to know about parks vs monuments, but back to this monument in particular, Bandelier National Monument is actually OVER 33,000 acres of protected land.  This area is protected for a good number of reasons, one of which is the incredible natural beauty. We hiked through huge canyons, past towering flat topped mesas, and amidst towering trees. We are tree huggers at heart and after the desert landscape in southern New Mexico, we were thrilled to be among tall trees again in the mountains of Northern New Mexico.

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The hike to Alcove House was a gorgeous path through towering Ponderosa Pines!

While the natural beauty is reason enough to protect this beautiful area, the other primary reason is the 11,000+ year old history and architecture from the Pueblo people who left behind petroglyphs, cave dwellings and structures built from volcanic tuff blocks.

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That’s Alcove House waaaaay up there. See the all the ladders and little people on the left? That’s how you get up there!
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Start at the bottom and keep climbing! Multiple ladders and narrow pathways get you to the top of Alcove House at Bandelier National Monument.
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Matt peeked into a few cave dwellings that were technically off the trail…get back over here!!
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Cave dwellings and petroglyphs along the sides of the cliffs were fascinating.
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Bandelier Selfie! 😉
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Pueblo block structures and cave dwellings to the left, and more ruins off to the far right…and blue skies and puffy clouds all around.

Perhaps one of the most incredible things about our visit to Bandelier, was that we explored a tiny sliver of the 33,000 acres. This particular canyon was just one area with some short hikes, but there are over 70 miles of trails throughout the entire park with more canyons, rivers, mesas and petroglyphs to be explored.

Jemez National Recreation Area

After spending most of the day in Bandelier, we decided to take a scenic road trip through Jemez National Recreation Area to loop around and back to Santa Fe. It was shockingly varied in its scenery and beauty. Valle Grande, an enormous valley formed by a volcano over a million years ago, was a misty and ethereal landscape.

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Those mountains in the distance aren’t mountains…they’re actually the other side of the rim of the volcano, and everything in between was the center of the volcano.

From there the landscape continued to drastically change. At the Las Conchas trailhead we felt like we had been transported to the Pacific Northwest! This was NOTHING like what we expected to see in New Mexico!

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High above the desert, in the mountains near Santa Fe, we were transported to the Pacific Northwest with these towering pines, magical fog and green edged river!

We continued through the mountains alongside rivers, past hot springs and stopped for a quick hike to explore this waterfall cutting through the rock formations.

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A powerful little river…cutting a hole right through the rocks.

Before visiting New Mexico, I would have thought it was all dry, desert terrain. Obviously, not true. However, the real surprise was the wide variety and contradiction of landscapes. We traversed flat land that stretched as far as the eye could see and crossed tall mountains covered in ponderosa pines. We wandered across white sands, ancient ruins, river carved canyons and beauty beyond measure. New Mexico. Not Really New. Not Really Mexico. But really special.

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We drove a lot of NM miles just like this…beautiful in it’s own right, and a lovely contradiction to the varied landscape across the state.

The beauty and natural wonders continue as we travel north through Colorado.

Cheers!

Kristin

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Our Route Across the Country – Part 11

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We are 10 months into our year long road trip and along with celebrating 10 months of adventure, we also celebrated the 1,000th Destination Tree order! But where have we been and what have we been doing? Well, on Part 11 of our cross country route we waved goodbye to Texas and traveled to and through New Mexico. Our route summary and map are below!

If you’ve missed any earlier segments catch up with links to our routes and travel highlights here:

Next up…New Mexico! (Not really New, and not really Mexico…)

Part XI
May 4 – May 31, 2016

On long driving days, we love to get up REALLY early, like, before the sun early, and begin our journey. And so, this was exactly what we did when we left Hondo, TX (just outside of San Antonio), with our sights set on New Mexico. We drove through Texas Hill Country beneath starry skies until the sun peeked up over the horizon to light our way. Once we arrived in New Mexico, we based ourselves near Artesia, NM and made day trips to Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument and Roswell, NM (for Matt’s alien curiosity, of course). From there, we continued north and settled just outside of Santa Fe for several weeks. From Santa Fe we balanced busy work days creating custom Destination Tree orders with day trips to Chaco Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos National Historic Park, The Jemez Mountain Trail, Taos and of course downtown Santa Fe.

Our driving route through New Mexico is below…and check out all the pictures and highlights of these amazing New Mexico destinations here!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Our Route Across the Country – Part 10

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We’ve crisscrossed the country from the Northeast to the Northwest to the Southwest to the Southeast on our year long road trip. And all in 9 months! There’s still lots more to see and do, and with spring arriving we decided we wanted to get back out West. So, during Part 10 of our cross country adventure we did a little bit of backtracking heading from Florida through the South and back to Texas.

If you’ve missed any earlier segments catch up with links to our routes and travel highlights here:

Next up…Louisiana and San Antonio (again!)!

Part X
April 14 – May 3, 2016

Getting out of Florida and through the South proved a bit challenging again weather-wise, as we had experienced in Part 8 of our road trip. The south continued to get pounded with severe thunderstorms resulting in flooding, high winds and even tornadoes in some areas. So, we had to bypass the Tallahassee area where we had planned to visit extended family and explore the coast, and instead did some night driving to strategically dodge storms and strong winds. We paused for a few days in Alabama to wait out more storms, and then continued to Louisiana.

There seemed to be a pocket of clear weather (or at least less severe weather) which gave us a window of opportunity to visit New Orleans and two very famous plantations.

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Matt was super excited to tour Myrtles Plantation, just north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Built in the late 1700s, it’s known as one of America’s Most Haunted Houses. Surprised that Matt wanted to go there? Me either. Expect a paranormal blog on this place 😉
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One of the most iconic plantations in the South, Oak Alley Plantation lives up to it’s renowned beauty with it’s aisle of oaks leading up to the plantation. The interior of “The Big House” is beautiful, but it’s the sobering exhibit depicting the realities of slavery that are truly eye opening.
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We missed Louisiana on our route through the South the first time due to weather, so stopping in New Orleans was a treat on the way back through. The recognizable architecture of The French Quarter was fun to revisit…as well as traditional creole food and beignets!

After Louisiana we continued our westward path through Texas, barely missing the storms in Houston, and driving south of the worst part of the flooding they experienced. We made it to San Antonio just in time to meet up with dear friends who flew out from Ohio to meet up with us on the road. We had already made a brief stop in San Antonio earlier on our trip, but we were more than happy to revisit this fun town and add even more fun activities to our San Antonio adventure list.

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Ocho was a fun little find that has the cutest glass conservatory and outdoor patio overlooking the San Antonio River and serves up a pretty awesome Mojito!
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The Tower of the America’s! So tall, I can’t even fit it in the picture! I also kept calling it The Space Needle, but regardless, the best way to experience it is to skip the tours and head to the bar at the top for a cold drink and stunning 360 degree views.
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See?! I told you it was a sweet view.
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Beers as big as your head? Check.
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Cute doggie to hold your Alamo playing cards during a friendly game of euchre? Check.
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Everyone knows about and goes to The Alamo, but there are 5 other missions stringing south of the heart of downtown that are beautifully preserved and full of history. And the best way to see them? Grab a B-Cycle rental and pedal your way to each, then pedal all the way back to town along the San Antonio River. Workout complete.
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Cute little riverboats tour up and down the San Antonio River Walk. Yes, it’s touristy, but it’s a must-do. Great overview of the history and architecture along the River Walk. It was amazing how many interesting things we walked by and didn’t even notice until it was pointed out on the tour!
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The Japanese Tea Garden was a lovely little place to visit in San Antonio. Beautifully maintained, and fun to wander and then just sit and enjoy.
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Supper Club on the Road was a huge success. So grateful to Julie and Scott for flying out to visit us on the road, and so thankful for such a wonderful weekend together!

We had LOTS of orders to catch up on after visiting with our friends, and we also waited out the weather and high winds (again!) before heading out further West to New Mexico.

Our driving route as we backtracked through the South is below…stay tuned for our route and adventures through New Mexico! Thanks for following along!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Florida Sunshine and Smiles

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If we played a word association game, “sunshine” is no doubt a popular one to associate to “Florida”. And with weather being a strong factor in the timing and direction of our year long road trip, we knew we could count on Florida. Spending several weeks overlapping March and April proved to deliver Florida sunshine, with a few thunderstorms mixed in, and best of all SMILES. Because we were fortunate enough to spend quality time with friends and family while we were there. We settled into a home base amidst cow country and orange groves (best described by Matt’s recent poem and pictures here), and used that as a jumping point to meet up with family from coast to coast (check out our route here).

Myakka State Park

Our first meetup was a happy surprise when we heard from Michigan friends, Scott & Sunny, who were in the Tampa area and discovered we weren’t too far away. We met up at Myakka State Park and spent the day together hiking, talking and spotting alligators.

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Everyone WANTS to see alligators at Myakka, but the warning is a good reminder to treat the wild animals with caution and respect.
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See all those little bumps in the water? Yup. Alligators.
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An impressive feature of Myakka River State Park is the huge canopy walk and tower with expansive views from the top. It’s a nice little workout to climb those stairs too 🙂

And we caught an alligator in action!! Those poor little minnows didn’t stand a chance. Check out the video!

Gator says it’s snack time! #destinationtreeontheroad #alligator #snacktime #myakka #myakkastatepark #floridalife #gators

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on

 

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A group selfie on our jungle hike…grateful for our lucky meetup!

Fort Lauderdale

Heyyyyyy brotherrr…(cue Avicci)…next meetup was in Fort Lauderdale with my brother, Chad, and sister-in-law, Michelle. We PACKED in the fun over our four days together. It’s possible we never stopped laughing and talking, even when we sat in the hot tub in the pouring rain!

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We kicked off the weekend with some AMAZING food at Mission BBQ. Plus you can’t help but love a company with a true mission of supporting soldiers, firefighters, police officers and first responders.
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Drinks, dinner, smiles and a sunset at Coconuts on the water.
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Did I mention sunset?! Yeah, pretty spectacular.
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Our family hike at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park took us by this ENORMOUS fig tree! Dobie & Lucy weren’t quite as impressed as we were.

And probably the best bar crawl tour I’ve ever been on…Cycle Party! Cycle Party is a huge group powered bicycle steered by your tour guide and pedaled by your entire group. Add music, laughter, and stops at some of the best bars in the city, and you have a guaranteed good time! If you ever find yourself in a town with this type of tour, I highly recommend it! Check out the video!

Cycle party!!! #destinationtreeontheroad #cycleparty #fortlauderdale #florida #floridalife #floridaliving #spinclass

A video posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on

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We took a day trip down to Coral Castle, a sculpture garden carved out of 1,100 tons of coral rock by one man over 28 years. Physics? Supernatural support? Guess we’ll need to wait for Matt’s next paranormal blog…
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We took a ghostly tour through the oldest building in Fort Lauderdale, The Stranahan House, followed by a late night river tour.
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A last minute Florida beach walk before heading to the airport!

Southwest Florida

We were excited to spend some fun-filled time together in Florida with our parents. They flew down to meet us and we filled our days with nature walks, beach walks and boat tours. A perfect setting for enjoying each other and the Florida coast.

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We had an awesome evening on a Fort Myers sunset river cruise. The clouds blocked out our sunset, but the views and company didn’t disappoint. It’s always fun to get out on the water!

We hopped from our sunset cruise one night to an air boat adventure the next day through Everglades National Park.

 

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In addition to high speeds through the mangroves, we did stop in a quiet spot to get silly and watch for wildlife. We saw an alligator and a baby tidal raccoon!
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We were living the island life on a day trip to Sanibel Island, with beach walks, “shelling” (i.e. shell collecting) and bird watching. The beach alongside the Sanibel Lighthouse did not disappoint.
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A scenic drive with several stops throughout Ding Darling Nature Preserve was beautiful and educational. Until we got attacked by no-see-ums. Note to self: Bring bug spray to Ding Darling.
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Our nature appreciation continued when we visited Six Mile Slough (pronounced ‘slew’) Preserve. There is an awesome boardwalk over a mile long that takes you through a gorgeous unspoiled cypress swamp. We saw alligators again!

Of course, the time flew by, but we were grateful for the incredibly fun quality time together.

Chance Encounters

We got lucky and unlucky with some additional meetups in Florida. Schedules and availability didn’t quite work out to meet up with some other friends who happened to be in Florida for spring break, and we missed out on meeting more family in Tallahassee due to some nasty weather. BUT two wonderful chance encounters worked out perfectly and we drove to meet our much loved nephews for a morning in the pool in Orlando, and my dear great-cousins in Penney Farms.

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Cannon balls, forward flips, pencil dives and underwater swimming. These two are rock stars at the pool!
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Two of the loveliest people I know and also get to call family. We didn’t want the night to end after much laughter, conversation, Rummikub and travel story swapping 🙂

St. Augustine

With centuries of history and beauty, St. Augustine is an absolutely charming city brimming with stories of the past and plenty of Spanish architecture. And of course, lots of history means lots of potential haunting…so expect a blog post from Matt with details on that 😉

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We were in awe of the beauty of this iconic lighthouse, built back in the 1500s. And we climbed the 219 steps to the top!
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Just a sliver of the best view in St. Augustine, from the top of the lighthouse!
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Exploring the history of St. Augustine is fascinating, and one such historical stop is The Fort – Castillo De San Marcos.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Well, after all that, it looks like all we did was take a big long vacation, right? Wrong. We work hard AND play hard. While we had fun in the sun the custom orders rolled in. So, in between each excursion we caught up on creating and shipping custom driftwood artwork across the globe. Every time we cleared our slate of orders and met up with loved ones, we came back to a long to-do list and started all over again. The best part? We love it all.

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Can’t help but love these heartfelt wedding vows, engraved on this beautiful driftwood collage.
driftwood Destination Tree
We LOVE the locales on this custom Destination Tree!
personalized driftwood housewarming gift wedding gift
One of our most popular custom pieces is a driftwood coordinate sign. It’s a widely loved housewarming gift as well as a destination wedding gift.
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We made FIFTY of the beauties for a corporate event in the British Virgin Islands. Trust me, we REALLLLLY wanted to deliver these in person!
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I love to photograph our artwork before it ships, and sometimes it’s just pure luck to find the perfect landscape or lighting, and in this case, I truly lucked out with a soft sunset fading in the distance. Thank you, Florida!

After all our hard work, and fun in the sun, we knew it was time to head back West. Our adventures continue as we re-trace our path through the storm riddled south and across Texas.

Cheers!

Kristin

Florida Orange Country

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Come for the sunshine, stay for the breeze,
This is the land with no worry of freeze.

No snow, nor sleet, or roads slick with ice,
Just warm sunny days with temps that are nice.

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Watch a storm roll through every now and again,
Upsetting the goats, black roosters and hens.

Farm country this land is with pastures all filled,
The thunder and rain makes the cattle keepers thrilled.

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‘Cuz the rain grows the grasses and feeds horses in masses,
Along with lazy cows and stubborn gray asses.

But it’s the orange trees and grove growers, happiest for the drops,
The Caribbean’s falling clouds provide for bountiful crops.

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The sweet smelling blossoms waft all through the air,
Past high pointing noses inhaling with care.

These succulent orange groves dominate the land,
Giving shelter to birds whose colors are grand.

Egrets, spoonbills, herons and cranes,
Anhinga and osprey, nature’s fishing fighter planes.

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Oh yes, there are fish here in Florida’s many lakes.
But that’s not all that lurks and makes gentle wakes.

There are gators and turtles and pythons out here,
Frogs and lizards and the occasional wading deer.

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This land is alive and packed full of creatures,
Around us fly mosquitoes with their sharp, pointy features.

But Florida has a way of keeping them in check,
When the gulf’s stiff breeze pulls them away from my neck.

Along with the bugs, wind makes other stuff move,
Spanish moss slow dances to a faint sounding groove.

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Back and forth it sways through the live oak branches,
That are dotted all around on cattle farm ranches.

These oak trees are giants, ancients from the past,
Whose numbers grow fewer though once were vast.

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They tower over semis parked in their shade,
While local fruit pickers wait ‘til the sun fades.

To haul in their loads of citrusy gold,
And rest for the night waiting for tomorrow to unfold.

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As one thing’s for certain in this lush tropical land,
Groves, swamps and cattle, go together hand in hand.

Thought it might seem odd orange country’s so diverse,
It’s a place every traveler should put on their list to traverse.

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Cheers to nature and her gift to our senses,

Matt

Our Route Across the Country – Part 9

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Traveling the country full time while we also grow our small business is an amazing adventure. But there are sacrifices, one of which is being away from family and friends. So, the next chapter of our journey was highly anticipated because we were meeting up with family in Florida. Direct flights and good weather were excellent reasons for them to meet us on the road during Part 9 of our cross country adventure. If you’ve missed any earlier segments catch up with links to our routes and travel highlights here:

Next up…Floridaaaaa!

Part IX
March 16 – April 13, 2016

After eight months of living on the road full time, we were excited to meet up with family in Florida. Since weather issues had chased us in other areas (cold, wind, rain and storms) we figured Florida in March and April was a safe bet to make plans and meet up. We based ourselves in south central Florida (basically, in the middle of nowhere with cow pastures and orange groves) which was peaceful and beautiful. It made the perfect home base where we could fill orders and work on the business and then take extended trips to the coasts to visit family.

Our driving route is below, and stay tuned for highlights and pictures from Fort Lauderdale, Everglades National Park, Sanibel Island, St. Augustine and more in our next blog post. Thanks for following along!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Our Route Across the Country – Part 8

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We often come up with a rough plan of our route as we travel the country on our year long adventure, but weather often plays a stronger role than any destinations we attempt to outline. So, flexibility, acceptance and patience are all well practiced and frequent reminders on our journey especially during Part 8 of our route map below. And of course, here are links to catch up on any earlier segments of our route and travel highlights:

Next up…Sweet Home Aaaalabaaaama…(we’re singing too)

Part VIII
March 8 – March 15, 2016

After enjoying the incredible beauty of Big Bend National Park as well as BBQ, Beer and the Gulf Coast of Texas, we stopped in Livingston, TX (our official residence while on the road) where our RV Club Headquarters is located. We needed to pick up mail and packages and take care of a few odds and ends.

Our plan from there was to spend some time in the south, including Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. However, weather once again factored into our timing and direction. With a huge storm coming in, we cut our time short in Livingston, and got on the road sooner than planned to try and outrun the storm by heading east as quickly as we could. Threats of severe storms, damaging hail and winds and flooding made us skip right outta Texas, straight through Louisiana and Mississippi until we crossed into Alabama which seemed to be the cutoff for the storms.

We were disappointed we had to bypass part of the south so quickly, however we thoroughly enjoyed AL-a-BAMA (say it like Forrest Gump). We splurged on southern cuisine, explored the U.S.S. Alabama and the Gulf Shores, and just happened to get on the evening news while enjoying a pint at Fairhope Brewery!

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The U.S.S. Alabama
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Don’t mess with a man, his dog, and their tank.

Came across the Alabama War Dogs Memorial the other day and took a moment to let these words sink in: “AN UNHERALDED BREED OF SOLDIER LET ALL WHO READ THESE WORDS OF GRATITUDE AND PRAISE KNOW THAT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICA’S FIGHTING MEN AND WOMEN OWE THEIR LIVES TO THE DEEDS AND COURAGE OF WAR DOGS AND THEIR HANDLERS, FURTHER, LET IT BE KNOWN THAT MANY BREEDS OF DOGS, LARGE AND SMALL, SERVED OUR NATION IN TIMES OF WAR, ALL GOING INTO HARM’S WAY WITH DISTINCTION AND VALOR – UNHESITATING. LET US NOT FORGET THESE UNSUNG HEROES ARE SOLDIERS, TOO! THESE VALIANT DOGS PROTECT OUR MILITARY MEN AND WOMEN THROUGH COUNTLESS PERILS, GIVE COMFORT IN UNCERTAINTY, AND SHARE THE SUFFERING AND THE RISKS IN THE TIME OF WAR. OVER THE DECADES, MANY OF THESE DOGS HAVE MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE, GIVING THEIR OWN LIVES TO SHIELD OUR ARMED FORCES AND MILITARY ASSETS FROM HOSTILE ACTS. CANINES IN THE ARMED FORCES CONTINUE THAT NOBLE TRADITION AROUND THE WORLD TODAY. THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED BY THE PATRIOTIC PEOPLE OF ALABAMA FOR ALL TO BEAR WITNESS IN REMEMBRANCE TO THESE FAITHFUL WAR DOGS AND THEIR ALABAMA HANDLERS. THOSE WHO LEAVE THIS PLACE SHOULD REMEMBER THE DEEDS AND SACRIFICES OF THESE FOUR-LEGGED SOLDIERS. FURTHERMORE, SEE IN EVERY DOG, THE UNCONDITIONAL LOYALTY INHERENT IN WAR DOGS AND GLIMPSE A REFECTION OF THEIR SHOULDER-BROTHERS’ HEROIC ACTIONS. THESE TEAMS UNHESITATNGLY FIGHT FOR RIGHT AND FOR OUR NATION’S FREEDOMS. LEST WE FORGET, WE SHOULD HOLD THEM DEAR IN OUR HEARTS AND HONOR THEIR COURAGE.” #destinationtreeontheroad #wardogs #k9veteransday #dogsofinstagram #alabama #ussalabamabattleshipmemorialpark

A photo posted by Destination Tree (@destinationtree) on

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With the south getting pounded with rain, all the waterways were at capacity, which meant at high tide, the bay was washing on to the freeway in Mobile…we were pretty thankful we traveled as far as we did to avoid the severe storms!
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While exploring the Gulf Shores, we had our first warning of alligators. But they didn’t make an appearance until Florida…

We also caught up on artwork orders and made our plans for the next leg of our journey to Florida. Our driving route from Texas to Alabama is below…stay tuned for Florida!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Don’t Mess With Texas

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Yeah, don’t mess with Texas. Why? Cuz it’s a pretty cool place. The saying may be a decades old ad slogan (an anti-littering campaign as a matter of fact), but it’s still representative of the attitude and size and greatness of Texas. Why is Texas so great? Um, BBQ for one. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the number one, best thing about Texas is Big Bend National Park. Argue with me all you want, or politely disagree and proclaim your own reason, but Big Bend is still #1 for me. And before this epic year-long road trip, we’d never even BEEN to Texas. (Airports don’t count by the way.) So whether or not you’ve been to Texas, or you’re just itching to see what we may have explored while we were there, scroll on through and check out all the highlights from Big Bend and Beyond. (Trust me, it’s way better than Bed Bath and Beyond…)

Big Bend National Park

It’s definitely an underhyped place. Possibly because it’s waaaaay off the beaten path in southwest Texas.

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Not sure if you can tell, but I was kind of excited to get here.

At first glance, Big Bend can look like a whole lot of nothing. But there are a lot of hidden gems here. Our appreciation of desert terrain continued, and also a great respect for the heat of the day. We strategically planned a lot of our hiking and sightseeing in the early morning and late afternoon to avoid the scorching heat of midday. And while there are paved roads throughout the park, we really enjoyed taking the Old Maverick Road on our trek out to Santa Elena Canyon. We kicked it into four-wheel drive (and reminisced a bit about the Apache Trail), braved the washboard and soaked in the solitude of the desert.

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Old Maverick Road was an unpaved, scenic path that took us on a desert adventure on our way to Santa Elena Canyon.

Santa Elena Canyon

As Old Maverick Road connected back with the park loop road, we approached Santa Elena Canyon. Just to preface, the Rio Grande cuts through and not only gives “Big Bend” it’s name, but carves some impressively huge and beautiful canyons in the mountains, while also creating a natural border between Texas and Mexico. The late afternoon sun was just starting to fall back behind the canyon and took our breath away as we neared.

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Approaching Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park…a HUGE crack between the mountain opens up a canyon between the US and Mexico where the Rio Grande winds through.

This was the perfect time of day to hike the trail that winds up and alongside the canyon, then back down to the river bank. The canyon towered thousands of feet above us on both sides and as we sweated from the heat and the climb, it suddenly felt like we walked into another world when we crossed a thermocline. The temperature dropped and instead of hot and 82 it was cool and breezy.

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By late afternoon, most people were heading back as we were heading out on the trail along Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park.
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Just soaking in the view of the Rio Grande and Santa Elena Canyon walls.
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Need some perspective to grasp how high those cliff walls are? How about that teeny tiny kayak for two?

And a quick little video to give you a 360 degree view. Don’t get dizzy, we moved a little fast.

After an incredible hike, we took the paved Ross Maxwell Scenic loop road back…our reward for a late afternoon hike? A freaking amazing sunset. Seriously. As we looped in and around beautiful rock formations and mountains the setting sun and reflecting colors confirmed Big Bend is a very magical place.

The Chisos Mountains

If someone had told me there are bear and mountain lions in Texas, I would have severely doubted the accuracy of the statement, and probably googled it to prove them wrong. Well, when the National Park posts several signs and includes it in the informational brochures, it’s true. No googling required (which is good, because there isn’t cell service in the park anyway).

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No foolin’. It’s always important to be respectful and aware of wildlife, but even more so when they’re bigger than you and you’re on their turf.

So, we kept an eager eye out for potential wildlife at all times when driving through the park, and especially as we drove the road through the Chisos Mountains toward the Chisos Basin. The best way to describe the drive through the Chisos? A video.

The drive is spectacular and continues to climb in elevation and snake around some hairpin turns before heading down into the Chisos Basin, literally a large circular area surrounded by mountains. Turns out it was a volcano millions of years ago, and the basin is the center of the volcano. A gap between the mountains on one edge creates a “window” to view the horizon and far off mountains in the distance. And one helluva “window” to watch the sunset.

The silhouettes of the Chisos surrounded us, and the “window” framed the colors of the sunset and the endless shades of blue of the far off mountains in the distance. Our pictures and videos failed to capture even a fraction of the color spectrum. Really. So, just take my word for it and go see this in person.

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I hate saying it, but it was so much prettier in person! We just can’t capture the true colors of a sunset…we’re going to keep trying though.

After another exceptional Big Bend sunset, we decided to drive out of the mountains before it got too dark. And just when we least expected it WE SAW A BEAR!!!

Boquillas Canyon

Our second canyon adventure was on the other side of the park at Boquillas Canyon. Not as tall as Santa Elena Canyon, but wider and just as beautiful. Just as before, we hiked up to a beautiful view of the Rio Grande, before we hiked down alongside the river at the base of the canyon.

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Capturing a shot of Matt capturing a shot of the Rio Grande from a high point on the short hike to Boquillas Canyon.
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Because when you stop and look around, this planet is pretty amazing.
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We enjoyed a shady morning hike alongside the Rio Grande in the Boquillas Canyon.

And just for good measure, a video to help share the majesty of this special place. Yes, those are donkeys across the Rio Grande in Mexico!

Nature’s Hot Tub

Another memorable adventure in Big Bend National Park were the hot springs. Not knowing how crowded they might get, we got up SUPER early and took a SUPER narrow and bumpy dirt trail back to the trail head for the springs.

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Oh, hey there! Fortunately, the narrowest parts were one-way only, which is good because there wasn’t anywhere to pull over…

We walked a short and easy trail past some old historic buildings and some tall cliffs alongside the Rio Grande to the Hot Springs.

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On our way to the Hot Springs in Big Bend National Park…

And then we arrived! It was nature’s hot tub! Steaming and hot, right next to the cold, gurgling Rio Grande! Crazy. We unzipped our pant legs, took off our hiking boots and socks and sat on the edge up to our knees in the 104 degree water. We really wanted to sit and soak all morning, but the thought of wearing wet swimsuits on our next hike changed our minds. In the chilly morning air, with the sun rising over the horizon, the hot water felt great.

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Nature’s hot tub is also nature’s infinity pool…at the right angle the edges melted and merged with the Rio Grande as the sun’s reflections peeked over the horizon.

Now, I hope you can see why Big Bend ranks as the number one best thing about Texas. Canyons, cliffs, sunsets, mountains, bears, hot springs, petroglyphs and more won us over. And if you’re still not convinced, maybe this exceptional Big Bend sunrise will help close the deal.

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We woke up before dawn on our departure day and as we drove through the park the most spectacular sunrise bid us farewell and reminded us to come back again soon. Good-bye, Big Bend!

So, that’s Big Bend. But I promised you Big Bend and Beyond. Well, Texas is soooo big I had to break that into Part 2…

Cheers! And don’t mess with Texas, y’all!

Kristin

Our Route Across the Country – Part 7

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We’ve celebrated some big milestones on our year long adventure. Over 25,000 miles  traveled. Over 800 pieces of artwork created. But more importantly, finding peace, joy and gratitude each and every single day. We’re up to Part 7 of our route map now, but if you missed any earlier segments or highlight blogs (lots of pictures!), catch up with any of the links here:

And now…on to TEXAS!

Part VII
February 9 – March 7, 2016

Our desert exploration continued as we left Arizona and headed to Texas, through El Paso and on to Marfa, TX. We actually wanted to spend some time in New Mexico, but due to freezing temperatures (weather is always a factor for our travel trailer), we decided we would circle back to NM at a later point.

Marfa, TX was our stopping point from Arizona to Big Bend National Park, and home to “The Marfa Lights”. A strange and unexplained phenomena of bouncing lights on the horizon, although to us, they looked like they could very likely be headlights in the distance. Regardless, Texas is home to possibly the darkest skies we’ve seen yet. You haven’t seen the stars or the milky way until you’ve seen them on a clear night in the middle of nowhere Texas.

From there we continued on to Big Bend National Park. Located in southwest Texas, Big Bend was a biggie on our bucket list. It’s a long way from anything but it’s absolutely beautiful. Our awe of desert beauty continued here and included exploration of ancient petroglyphs and major gawking at the impressive canyons the Rio Grande carves into the mountains.

We left the bright lights of the stars in Big Bend for the bright lights of some city life in San Antonio and Austin. (Texas BBQ? Yes, please!) And took care of some “work” (it’s not really work when you love what you do!) by visiting the Texas Gulf Coast for some driftwood sourcing! Because no matter where we go, we’re creating and shipping driftwood artwork, and the driftwood supply in the desert is hard to come by…

Our driving route is below, and of course you can check out highlights and pictures from Big Bend National Park, The Alamo and the Texas Gulf Coast in our detailed blog posts. Thanks for following along!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

 

 

Exploring Ancient Petroglyphs

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Come take a walk with me… to the Petroglyphs

What is it like to see the world’s oldest artwork up close and in person? In my opinion, it’s pretty damn awesome! It’s like an ancient ‘choose your own adventure’ novel, except rather than being written onto paper, they’re etched into stone.

It’s been said many times that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the world of pictographs (painted) and petroglyphs (carved) a picture can be worth just a single word. Putting those rock hewn pictures together however, leads me to imagine a riveting story.

On our year-long adventure, Kristin and I have journeyed to two different ancient sites. One site on a long, narrow winding road high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the other in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park, Texas.

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This huge pictograph, named Hospital Rock, is painted on an enormous quartzite rock and is estimated to date back as far as 1350 A.D. Drive through hairpin turns and along sheer cliffs to a split rock partially protecting this incredible piece of history.
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This huge petroglyph, in an area known as Indian Head in Big Bend National Park, is carved into the rock. It’s one of thousands of archeological sites preserved within the park and just a tiny glimpse into the remains of civilizations that existed in the area for over 10,000 years.

Both areas come with their own legends of humans who lived there thousands of years ago. And on both occasions after attempting to decipher them, I left with more questions than answers. But that’s half the fun, the other half is the trek…many of these sites require a bit of an Indiana Jones type spirit for exploration to get to. So, come take a walk with me to Indian Head…

Indian Head, Big Bend National Park, Texas

Along the Rio Grande, in Southwest Texas, we ventured to a remote location within Big Bend National Park simply called “Indian Head”. It is an ancient, mystical place that we found out about from a kind, local Native American woman (a fascinating lady to talk with who was also married to a shaman!). She approached us one morning while we were staying in Marfa, TX and asked about our Destination Tree RV Decals.

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The back of our RV displays our Destination Tree mantra…Live Life Inspired. And has initiated friendships and conversations all across the country, including Marfa, TX. Each and every day is a gift to be grateful for!

After telling her our story, she must have appreciated our ‘positive energy aura’ because she let us in on the secret location of this ancient spiritual site.

Indian Head is not the kind of place you’ll find on a map. The only way you’ll find it is if someone who knows about it is willing to tell you its location. So with no maps, no cell coverage, and with our 4X4 truck we followed her exact directions across the dry, arid desert, looking for the landscape reference points she described in order to find this ancient site where petroglyphs could be found.

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We may have questioned if we were going the right direction a few times, but we did end up in the right place and found Indian Head, an ancient archeological site.

Our Petroglyph Expedition

Wanting to get an early start before the scorching heat of the day, it was in the pre-dawn hours that we arrived.

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Sunrise in the desert is a soul stirring experience ushering in a clean slate with a brand new day and a sense of peace rising over the mountains.
The contradiction of cold nights has us bundled up for the sunrise before we shed layers as the extreme heat of the day sets in at Big Bend National Park.

There are no parking areas or trail heads, just a bit of flat desert ground at the base of a series of small mountains that were pockmarked high up with what appeared to be caves. Caves, mind you, that a person would have to literally repel down to get into as climbing was not an option, unless you have some professional gear and skills. I really wish I knew what was up in them… or at least I think I do.

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High up towards the top, in the middle, you can make out two of many dark looking caves that dotted the mountains.

From the moment that the dogs hopped out of the truck we could tell they were disturbed by this place. They love car rides. They love walks and hikes. Normally, they’d be bouncing from excitement. But we’ve never seen them act so fearful and antsy before.

With the sun creeping up over the horizon, we loaded up with water and hiked towards the back of the mountain range where the woman told us we could find the petroglyphs.

In a sort of unnerving way she had also informed us that there would be a veil of energy we would have to walk through on the edge of a dry riverbed where evil spirits had been cast down in the past by the natives who occupied this area. No problem, right!?

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Dark spirits followed us along as we walked. Oh wait, that’s just Dobie and Lucy. However, do you know the number one way to keep any unfriendly spirits at bay? Protective Dobie Kisses. Does the trick every time. Whether you want ’em or not.

As we carried on, even I had to admit that it felt as though we were never alone out there. The vibe I was getting was one of being watched by unseen eyes. Well, after a half hour hike, we reached the site of the petroglyphs. There they were in all their glory! It was in this place, long ago in a time now forgotten, where many chapters of a far older race had been carved out on boulders of various immense sizes.

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See?! I’m not alone…there is a shadow figure just across from me! Just kidding. The morning shadows make it difficult to see the petroglyphs, but the perspective helps show some scale for the size of some of these boulders!
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Here’s a close up and better view of the same petroglyph.

On one particular rock, I read about a sky queen giving birth to mankind in the mountain area of the four corners of the earth.

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And on another, the story told of two giant bubble headed snakes battling it out in the presence of excitedly dancing spectators. (Kristin says I have quite an imagination.) Take a look and decipher some of your own stories…

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With so many artistic stories being told on the numerous earthen canvases, we could have been entertained for hours. However with the heat of the day approaching rapidly and two scared and tired dogs in tow, we decided to leave this amazing place of legend behind, head out through the spirit veil, and find our way back to society again for water and a break from the heat.

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Climbing up and around and weaving in and out of the boulders in search of petroglyphs.
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Hot and tired Pup 1 and Pup 2.

Fading Relics

Seeing some of the world’s oldest artwork up close and in person is truly a super cool experience. And it is the only way to see them. Pictures just don’t do the whole experience justice, although we tried. We plan to visit many more parts of the country where they can be found. (By the way, we learned that there are 26 states were these artistic relics are located…And those are just the ones where they’ve actually been discovered!)

Although sites like these are all around our country, time and human desecration is putting their staying power to the test. Sadly, for every one stony story we could still read on the boulders, there were many more that were no longer visible or legible. However, for those that are willing to look, there’s still an opportunity to seek these ancient stories.

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So, if you’re feeling up to the challenge, choose a petroglyph site, put on your brown hat, grab your satchel & whip and go have fun using your imagination Indy style.

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I’d love to hear your adventure story.

Cheers to the ancient and modern storytellers,

Matt

About Us

At Destination Tree we create handcrafted driftwood signs, collages and centerpieces. Each piece of artwork is completely unique and inspired by your story.

Our Mission

To create handcrafted, meaningful artwork that helps tell the story of your journey, one destination at a time.

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