February 18, 2019

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT IN New Mexico: A BUCKET LIST DESTINATION

Gypsum sands sparkle during sunset and the views are absolutely amazing!  The dunes of White Sands National Monument begin at the park road and go on like a sea of sand! White Sands National Monument turned out to be a spiritual stop in our travels and should be a true bucket list destination for retirement travel.   Huge dunes of gypsum extend over 275 square miles of desert in New Mexico. White Sands was established as a National Monument in 1933 and is said to be the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The gypsum is from 250 million years ago when the southwestern U.S. was covered by the…

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written by Barb Bradley - Posted in 2019, Blog, New Mexico

July 26, 2018

TAKE A NOSTALGIC BACKROADS TRIP: ROUTE 66 IN KANSAS

Take a nostalgic backroads trip on Route 66 in Kansas!      U.S. Route 66 is also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America and the Mother Road  (so dubbed by John Steinbeck in his 1939 book, “The Grapes of Wrath”) and is a visual and historic treat!     Route 66 is one of the original highways of the U. S. Highway System and was established on November 11, 1926. Route 66 is the most famous highway in the United States and originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California. The original Route 66 covered a total of…

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written by Stuart - Posted in 2018, Blog, Kansas, Road Trips, Video

May 29, 2018

THE HISTORIC RIO PUERCO BRIDGE ON ROUTE 66 IN New Mexico

Take a backroads trip on one section of the “Mother Road”- Old Route 66 and see the historic Rio Puerco Bridge in New Mexico.   The Federal Government funded the Historic Rio Puerco Bridge on Route 66 in New Mexico in 1933 as part of President Roosevelt’s effort to use emergency monies for highway construction. Completed within a year, the bridge opened the Laguna Cutoff to transcontinental traffic. In 1937, the alignment officially became U.S. Route 66.   The Kansas City Structural Steel Company conceived the structure, and F.D. Shufflebarger was in charge of constructing the bridge. The Rio Puerco Bridge has a 250 foot long span and is one…

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written by Stuart - Posted in 2018, Blog, New Mexico, Road Trips, Travel, Trip Planning