A Trip to the Mound(s)

In the summers of 1970 and 1971 my church youth group took a trip to Colorado. Our destination was north of Denver, near Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed in Our ministers cabin which was at the foot of Mt. Meeker. We did the sight-seeing stuff at Estes Park and Denver but made several climbs over the two summers; Meadow Mountain, Twin Sisters, Bear Lake and Ozul Falls to name a few.
On our trips from Lebanon we would always anticipate the Kansas/Colorado border. It was then we would begin to scan the horizon for our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. After miles and miles of the prairie it was a thrilling sight indeed.
Over the past 34 years LaDonna and I have made several trips to New Mexico. As we travel through Kansas, parts of Oklahoma and Texas, we look forward to the first sight of mountains. Rabbit Ears, near Clayton, New Mexico, are the first two mountains (?) we see as we approach the border. It's almost as if saying, you're almost to the mountains. It is even more thrilling as we head west out of Raton toward the Cimmaron Valley and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Our trip to New Mexico this summer took us to the Albuquerque area of the state. This was an area we had not been to before. We did drive to the top of Sandia Crest which overlooks the city. A pretty sight indeed. For another of our day trips it was recommended to us, by the Hotel breakfast hostess, to see the Jemez (Hamas) valley. We headed northwest out of Bernalillo on highway 550 to San Ysidro. There we headed north on highway 4. We travelled through the Jemez Pueblo. From the road we saw their fields of crops and gardens.Farther northe were the Red Rocks, Gilman Tunnels, Soda Dam and Battleship Rock. As we travelled farther north the elevation rose as well. The scenery changed from the red rocks and scrub brush to mountains and Ponderosa Pine. Enjoy the pictures. LaDonna and I both agreed we prefer the mountains to the valley. A trip through the Jemez Valley was a good "TRIP TO THE MOUND(TAINS). -30-