Echo Amphitheater - A Place of Beauty

Echo Amphitheater from the parking lot

Growing up we went to Northern New Mexico on vacation all the time, by all the time I mean almost every year from the time I was in kindergarten until high school. We almost always drove and the drive is a long journey. We would go from hill country, to desert to high desert and grasslands and at last into the mountains. One of my favorite stretches is an area where the mountains are made with layers of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, limestone and gypsum and the landscape still is somewhat desert. These combinations make stunning layers of colored rocks. You will find yellow, red, gray, white and brown mountains mixed throughout this area.

Little Bear & I at the top of the stairs

In the midst of these stunning mountains and canyons, you will find Echo Amphitheater. Echo Amphitheater sits at 6683 feet above sea level and is run by the Forest Service. The parks amenities are nothing fancy, but the views are amazing. There is a concrete trail that is easy to walk that takes you up to the amphitheater. The trail is slightly uphill with benches along the way. Once you get the amphitheater there are stairs so you can go up and get a better view.

The park has a campground and restrooms. There are some water faucets near the picnic area. The picnic area has covered tables. These are great for a quick picnic. I have seen artists sitting in the shade of a covered table painting the amphitheater in the distance. The cost to enter the park is per carload. As of June 2016, it was $2 per vehicle per day. The parking lot is large enough for trailers and RVs.

Along the trail, you can find all kinds of plants and animals. Some of the trees and bushes have signs to help you identify them. In the spring and summer, you can find many wildflowers. In the winter there can be snow. Seeing it in the snow gives it an almost majestic feel. There is a large variety of wildlife including snakes, lizards, squirrels, and even things as large as bears and mountain lions, although I have seen nothing larger than a ground squirrel, except human beings. Beware of snakes as you walk, especially if you leave the concrete path to venture out into the wild. Make sure you take plenty of water, especially in the summer. The temperature here can vary greatly. When we visited in mid-June it was 99 degrees. I have also been when I needed a light jacket during the summer.

Left: Indian Paintbrush Right: Ponderosa Pine

Cholla Cactus Flower

I loved stopping here for a bathroom break as a child. As an adult, I still adore this place. It has a sense of peace and calming about it as well as a hint of mystery. Bringing Little Bear has been a fun experience. It reminds me of my childhood excitement about running around shouting.

A few years ago we took a family trip and got to bring Little Bear. At three he loved it. The walk was a little long for his short legs, but the path was easy. Now that he is a second grader, Little Bear had a blast. He loved hearing his voice bounce off the walls and carry out into the surrounding area. The trail is a breeze for him and I kept reminding him to slow down and wait for me. He practically ran up the stairs and when he got to the top he was excitedly yelling "Woohoo! Yippee! Hooray!"

Looking up from the top of the stairs

Little Bear enjoying the echoes

A throwback picture at Echo Amphitheater from 2001 with snow on the ground

On your grand New Mexico adventure, this is a great place to stop. You can find more information about Echo Amphitheater here.







Sources:
National Geographic. "Cañon Retumbido or Echo Amphitheater".
USDA Forest Service. "Echo Amphitheater Picnic Site".

Mom, Look Out the Window!

One of the things all my friends and family know about me is that I am not a morning person. I loathe getting up early and what I consider early is later than most people. Not being a morning person is a huge pain in my house since Papa Bear and Little Bear are both morning people. Most days they pop out of bed at practically they break of day and are happy and ready to go. If I have to get up early I drag my carcass out of bed grudgingly and it can take me hours to feel truly awake and ready for the day.

When Little Bear and I went on a trip recently we had to be up way before the sun to catch a 6am flight. We got up at 3am. Little Bear was his bright sunshiny self. I was dragging, partially because I had no sleep the night before from travel anxiety, and partially because it was WAY too early.

We got on our plane at 6 AM. The sun had not really come up yet. The sky was starting to lighten some, but it was not sunrise yet. My intention was to take a nap once we got in the air. About ten minutes after got in the air Little Bear says "Mom, look out the window." So, I pretended I was asleep like any non-morning person would do. He says again more urgently, "Mom, look out the window!" So, I finally do and I saw such a glorious sight. The sun was rising at 10,000 feet in the air.

I have seen many sunsets from the air, but never a sunrise until now. Sunrises from the air are majestic. The beauty of the heavens and earth meet in a bright and shining glory that could only come from God. The clouds lit up and turned pink and orange. The sun shone brilliantly between the clouds like a ball of fire. The edges of the clouds brightened to a dazzling orange. There are no words to describe the splendor of the sunrise we watched. I have no idea how long we watched, but I am torn between saying an eternity went by and it was no time at all. The brilliance of that sunrise is engraved in my mind. The pictures I took with my phone through the dirty airplane window could never do justice to the magnificence of that sunrise. The power and the beauty of a sunrise from the air are worth an early morning flight, once in a while.

Good Knives Make All The Difference

For years I have had mediocre kitchen knives and I have had a terrible time cutting things. I never realized how much easier it is to slice and dice with a really good knife. Seriously good knives make all the difference between hating chopping and doing it with ease. I got two knives by Zhen, an 8-inch chef's knife, and a 5-inch chef's knife. These knives come in nice boxes, that could work for storage or for giving them as gifts.

These knives have a Pakkawood handle. When I got this knife I had no idea what Pakkawood is so I turned to google. Pakkawood is made by taking layers of treated hardwoods and fusing them together with high heat and pressure. This gives you a very durable handle that has a beautiful wood look. It helps the handle of your knife be more durable and last longer through more washes. It is water resistant and easy to keep sanitary. The handles are very smooth to hold. There are two small rivets, for lack of a better word, on the handle. These are smooth with the surface of the handle so when you hold the knife you don't even notice they are there. The handles fit nicely in my hand. They are comfortable to hold.

These knives are great for cutting fruits and vegetables, meats, and more. I usually use them for slicing and dicing vegetables. I also use them for cutting cooked and raw meat. They work great for both. The knives are sharp and cut smoothly. They recommend not using them to cut frozen food or bones. It can damage the blades. The listing says to hone them weekly on a steel or ceramic rod to keep them sharp. I will be honest, I do not do it that often. I have been using these knives for more than six months. They are still really sharp. I don't have any problems cutting things with them. Good knives make all the difference in the world when slicing and dicing.

I use the smaller of these knives to teach Little Bear the art of cutting with a real knife. I have put it off for far too long. Using these knives he has had a much easier time than I expected. The small one is a good size for teaching a kid to slice and dice.

You can find the 5-inch chef's knife here. You can find the 8-inch chef's knife here.


I received this product free of charge. All opinions expressed are my own. 

A Poem that Speaks to My Heart

The last two years have been hard on our family. Life has changed completely for us. We moved across the country. Little Bear finished first grade this year. Papa Bear went from always being home to being out of town a lot. I went from feeling like I had a purpose in life and jobs to do all the time taking care of Little Bear day in and day out and cooking big meals for our family of three. When we moved, school started and Papa Bear's work trips started, I felt like I hardly knew myself. I didn't know what to do with my time alone. I didn't know who I was or how to go about life without my normal routine and jobs.

Then, I accidentally stumbled upon this poem on FaceBook. I cannot find the exact source of this poem. The internet attributes it to Corrie ten Boom or Anonymous. No matter who wrote it, I love it.

Life is but a Weaving

by Corrie ten Boom

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me

I cannot chose the colors

He weaveth steadily.

Oft' times he weaveth sorrow;

And I in foolish pride

Forget he sees the upper

And I the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas

And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the weaver's skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares;

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those

Who leave the choice to Him.

This poem really spoke to my heart. Corrie ten Boom had a much harder life than I do. She had been through things I cannot even imagine. With everything she had been through she had faith that because she loved the Lord things would work for His good.

I don't weave, but I embroider. This same theory applies to embroidery. The front of pieces are lovely, but the backs can be a mess. What I see as a mess in my life can turn into a beautiful picture.

These last two years I have read and reread this poem many times. It reminds me of God's faithfulness. He is faithful in all things. There may be changes in life and hardship, but he will see us through. He will see us through countless separations, illness, changes in life and routines, and trying to figure out who we are. Even though I see a mess, He has a plan for that mess and the final results will be worth the troubles. I am so thankful for God's plan, whatever it may be.

Chiroptophobia

I am afraid of very few critters and creatures. One of them is bats.... Now being afraid of bats may seem like a totally irrational fear, but I promise it is not. I have a legitimate reason.

When I was a teenager I gave tours in a local cave. As part of tour guide training, they tell you there are no bats in the cave. Well, they lied and I found that out the hard way. There may not regularly be bats in the cave, but there are sometimes.

One day I was giving a tour, a huge tour, with sixty people on it and I are only sixteen. Keeping the attention of 60 people as we walk through a cave is not always easy. That day as we were walking and the family next to me asks me what is back in this one hole. I had shined my flashlight back in that hole hundreds of times so I shined it back there and something flies out.... in my face and then flies around and gets tangled in my hair a little bit. Mind you as this small bat is flying around I started screaming. Not just screaming but a bloody murder terrified kind of screaming. The bat was IN my hair, flapping and freaking out as much as I was.

In reality, whole ordeal lasted less than a minute, but to me, it felt like an eternity. Let me tell you screaming a blood-curdling scream will get the attention of all sixty people on a tour. Right past the hole where the bat frightened me is a room that we stop to talk about formations in. The entire time we stood in that room the bat flew round and round with me watching it and hoping it would go away.

A few years later my family went on vacation and went to Carlsbad Caverns. While we were there we watched the bats swarm out of the cave one evening. It was another terrifying event. You stand near the mouth of the cave and wait and as the sun sets the bats to start flying out. As they start flying out there are only a few and then all of the sudden there are hordes of them. The employees remind you repeatedly to be quite so the bats can use their echolocation to fly. As people get quite the bats fly lower and lower, which means they get closer and closer to people. The bats started getting closer and I tried really hard to ignore them. It didn't help especially when it flew so low that it knocked my dad's hat off his head. He was sitting next to me so that was way too close for comfort.

I won't even look at the bats in the zoo. I walk right past them and wait outside while my son and husband watch them. Looking at them even in their little glassed-in cage makes me anxious. Bats may eat bugs and creepy crawlies, but I do not like them even if they are useful. I have chiroptophobia. Yup, I do, I am afraid of bats.

Avoiding bats at the zoo

Weird Relish Mustard and Bad Beans

Growing up my Grandparents lived on the river. Their house was across the street, but they owned property on the river, too. On the river, they had a neat little patio type area where they grilled and sat to watch the water. During the summer months, they loved to have weenie roasts. We would play horse shoes, swim, boat, and run around. Grandpa would grill hotdogs.

The sides at these weenie roasts varied widely, as did the toppings. Many times we had strange chips Grandma had gotten from her couponing or weird flavored beans. My least favorite part of this meal was always the pickle relish premixed with mustard all in a squeeze bottle. I don't know whose bright idea it was to make such a condiment, but I was not a fan and Grandma loved it and always encouraged that we use it. We rarely had normal buns. Sometimes we had the extra long weenies and when we did we would have short buns. Most of the time we had some kind of potato buns. I am pretty sure Grandma bought them on sale often.

One of the most memorable hot dog meals was when my brother and I were in high school. I was driving by then, so I was at least 16-17 and my brother is 2 years younger. Grandma and Grandpa insisted that we invite friends. So we invited a friend that had met them on numerous occasions. It was during the heat of summer so we swam and played in the river. We dove off the dock and went out on the paddle boat. Then, Grandma called us to the table.

We dried off and went up the steps to the table and the grill. She had some strange flavor of canned beans that day. They were an awful flavor, one that is no longer for sale. We all took the smallest spoonful possible for politeness sake. There were Lays Potato Chips that day too. Grandma hovered over us with the pot of beans as we sat down to eat. She asked repeatedly if we wanted more beans. We all answered, "No thank you." Then, our poor friend, she asked so many times he finally said yes after the tenth or fifteenth time. So she gave him probably half the can of beans or more. He politely sat and choked down as much as he could, until she got up and went to the house for something she forgot. When she did that he fed them to the fishes.

I love these weenie roasts and miss the days of good hot dogs, weird sides, and family time. The laughs then and now are worth the weird relish mustard and bad beans.

S'mores Bark

Papa Bear and Little Bear are huge fans of s'mores. I am pretty sure Papa Bear likes them as much if not more than Little Bear. It is not always good timing to make your own s'mores. You don't always have the time to make a fire, or the weather. Our problem this time was weather. It was pouring down rain and Little Bear had been begging for s'mores for days.

So, being the sweet, loving Mama Bear that I am, I gave in. Little Bear and I made S'mores Bark. This is an easy tried and true recipe I made up with a few years ago. I had been making peppermint bark a lot and my husband wanted me to try something new besides peppermint, dried fruits, and nuts on our bark. Since he loves s'mores I decided to try some s'mores type recipes. The first time I used baking chocolate, but it wasn't quite the way we wanted it.

This recipe is really easy. It only needs three ingredients. Graham crackers, Hershey's Chocolate bars, and mini marshmallows. It takes maybe fifteen minutes to make this. With Little Bear's help it did take longer, but it was fun!

It doesn't look like enough chocolate, but I promise it is.

You start by lining your pan with foil or parchment paper. I use whichever I have on hand. It saves some clean up time later if you use it. Spread your graham crackers on top of it. I break them neatly; if they are broken messily it really doesn't matter, just cover most of the pan with them. Then, open your many bars of chocolate and break them up on your graham crackers.

The shiny softened chocolate is easy to smooth and cover the entire surface.

Then, you put it in the oven until the chocolate is soft. By soft, I mean not melted. It will be glistening and shiny. When this happens, pull it out and smoosh everything around with the back of a spoon until your graham crackers are covered with ooey gooey chocolate. Sprinkle your marshmallows, as few or as many as you want. Pop 'em back under the broiler until your marshmallows are beautifully browned. Let them cool and the chocolate harden. Break it up and store in an airtight container. Little Bear loves big chunks.

I have made this for Papa Bear to take to work. It always goes quickly a
nd there are never leftovers. Papa Bear and Little Bear will eat it all pretty quickly. It will last about three to five days in an airtight container, but it rarely lasts even three days in our house.

You can find a printable version of my S'mores bark recipe here.