Hello, friends! Anyone still there? It’s been more than a while since I’ve stopped by this space. Between my job and writing, I spend a lot of time in front of screens, and I needed a break. I finished all of my doctoral coursework and transitioned to focusing on my dissertation. After hitting a few speed bumps (and changing my topic a few times), I’m buckling down to defend this spring. While it feels like I’ve been in the program forever, it also feels like it breezed by. Just one, tiny, minor, 125 page paper to go… 2023 also brought another (and unexpected) professional change. I was feel ..read more

New Mexico is one of the hidden gems with the National Park Service. You can plan one epic trip to visit all of New Mexico’s National Parks, or you can break the sites into smaller visits by region. You’ll need to log a decent amount of highway miles to visit all 15 sites, but New Mexico will reward you with beautiful views and tasty food along the way. Northeast You’ll need to plan a special trip to Capulin Volcano National Monument unless you’re driving between Amarillo and Raton. It’s near the highway, but it’s also not really near anything else. You can also add this on to a trip to Great ..read more

Hello, friends! I hope y’all are enjoying summer and all of the hot weather that came along with it. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in Virginia for a year. I feel like we’re always planning for the next move, so I’ve spent the past few weeks purging and organizing to keep the junk under control. Aside from one incomplete, I am finished with my doctoral coursework. I’ve been focusing on my dissertation and making some progress there. My goal is to have my first three chapters finished in the next two months, so wish me luck! We’ve started making a dent in the Virginia National Park Serv ..read more

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument preserves the ruins of three Spanish mission communities in central New Mexico. The site includes the Visitor’s Center, so you can start at one of the mission sites en route to the Visitor’s Center. Each set of ruins centers on the mission church and includes a variety of connected and outbuilding to support the mission community. Address and Location You’ll find the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument headquarters and Visitor’s Center at 105 S Ripley Avenue in Mountainair, New Mexico. The building sits one block away from the intersection of US ..read more

El Malpais National Monument preserves a unique mix of volcanic rocks, lava flows, and rock formations east of Albuquerque. El Malpais roughly translates to “the bad place” in Spanish (okay, it’s technically the bad land), so many jokes were made comparing it to Milwaukee. The park offers unique hikes and stunning views a short drive away from Albuquerque. Address and Location You’ll find the Visitor’s Center at 1900 Santa Fe Trail in Grants, New Mexico. It’s right off Exit 85 on I-40. You can access the different trailheads and sites from either NM 53 (off of Exit 81) or NM 117 (off of Exit ..read more

Hello, friends! I haven’t posted in a while, so it’s good to be back here and sharing with you. It’s hard to believe that we’re already in May. We had our final weekend of class in Williamsburg, and it was fun to see every one again. The end of the semester is under two weeks away, which is crazy. From here on out in my program, my focus will be my dissertation. I wound up changing my dissertation topic, so I have started over on that process. Now to motivate myself to actually write… Spring has sprung, and it has been beautiful. We popped into DC and took a stroll around the Tidal Basin to ..read more

During our weekend in Albuquerque, we took the opportunity to visit the National Park Service sites in central New Mexico. Petroglyph National Monument is located right in Albuquerque, so it’s an easy addition to any visit to the city. Address and Location You’ll find the Petroglyph National Monument Information Center on Unser Boulevard NW at the Western Trail Intersection. You can drive through the stop light to the Information Center. Keep in mind that the Information Center does not have trails or petroglyphs. You’ll want to grab directions to the different trailheads here. They have prin ..read more

We headed west from Albuquerque to hit our next two National Park Service sites. After a stop to hike at the Ice Caves, we continued down Highway 53 to explore El Morro National Monument. El Morro is the site of a natural reservoir and has been used as a water way station by humans for hundreds of years. Ancestral Pueblo, Spanish conquistadors, and American pioneers literally left their mark by carving their names and symbols in the rocks surrounding the reservoir. I really knew nothing about the site, and it exceeded my expectations. El Morro also served as a way station for the Army’s experi ..read more

About a month ago Last year, we took advantage of a shared day off and headed up to spend the weekend in Albuquerque. It’s about a 3 and a half hour drive north of El Paso, and we made it our last long weekend at Fort Bliss. We crossed off a few more NPS sites, explored the original Route 66, and spent some time in one of New Mexico’s oldest cities. Where we stayed in Albuquerque We decided to take a long weekend at the very last minute, so we didn’t have a lot of hotel options. We found a deal through American Express at the Nativo Lodge. It’s a large, boutique hotel where many of the rooms h ..read more

Hello from a new year, friends! January dragged on work wise, but it seemed to go quickly outside of that. I am officially in my last semester of class for my doctoral program. We started the program in June of 2021, and it’s crazy how fast time has gone. I’m taking three final classes, then I transition to my dissertation. We enjoyed a nice Christmas season. For the first time in our marriage, we didn’t have to spend a ton of time traveling hither and yon to visit family. We drove up to PA for a few days with my family then came home. Since my in-laws live down the road, it was really nice ..read more