Charmed by the Land of Enchantment

"Little by little, one travels far" -JRR Tolkein

Our first day began at the crisp early morning of 5 am. Anticipation for the adventures that awaited us kept our minds occupied for much of the night. So we awoke with sleep in our eyes but excitement in our hearts. The first task was to fill our Yeti with all our cold treats: milk, juice boxes, seltzer waters (thanks Laura K for creating this addiction), frozen soups, cheese, and boiled eggs. My granny helped us plan for lunch and dinner meals on-the-go with recipes for Field Pea and Snaps Soup and Okra Gumbo which we pre made a few days before the trip. Frozen soups last longer in our ice chest and facilitated less stops for food or contact during our adventuring. We munched on some cereal, loaded up Ren (our 4runner), and set out on a sunrise drive into the west Texas panhandle.

Driving through west Texas, surrounded by windmills on both sides of Hwy 287, we listened to a Radiolab Podcast about the "Fungus Amungus" cruising at a clip of 73 mph. We passed flatlands, grassy plains, rocky terrain, and miles and miles of blacktop. In Amarillo, we stopped at Palace Coffee for an iced caffeine refueling, then stopped in a rest area in the small town of Hartley, Texas. Golden fields covered the rural landscape, echoing a farmland tune laced with the thundering highway cacophony. After a quick bite, we set off toward our final destination: Colorado Springs.

As the morning moved to the afternoon, our drive cut through the north eastern portion of New Mexico. Along Hwy 87, a brown national park sign caught our eye: Capulin Volcano National Monument. Unplanned adventures always make for the best detours! The volcano is an extinct cinder cone volcano and is part of the Raton- Clayton Volcanic Field. The volcano sits in the center of beautiful prairie lands sprinkled with a pinyon and juniper woodland. The Crater Rim Trail had sweeping views of the surrounding country. Nestled in the 'transition zone' between the grasslands of the Great Plains and the rugged terrain of the Rocky Mountains, the landscape of Capulin Volcano is especially unique. We escaped the confines of Ren and stretched our arms into the afternoon sun. The rays warmed my face as I walked toward the waypoint to begin our hike. My lungs screamed for air through the thin fabric of my Buff (hiking during COVID presents some challenges) and lactic acid built up in my legs as I trudged up the paved trail along the rim of this ancient mountainous volcano. My eyes darted left and right, trying to take in the dazzling scenery. I felt the magical sensation of Mother Nature, charming my soul, in this peculiar land, enchanted by Capulin. Thousands of ladybugs snuggled between branches of a shrub at the highest point of the volcano. Their bodies moved over one another in an ancient dance, making the shrub appear to be covered in red lava! The lady beetles will remain there, hibernating through the winter months, until February. During the wind migration, warm air currents carry the surviving beetles south. Carried on the wind, their final destination is left to fate. They may reach the aphid rich fields at the base of the volcano, or be carried into the farmlands of Texas. We trekked into the crater mouth of the extinct volcano to examine the congealed lava rocks before heading back to Ren.

As we left the volcano, the terrain became craggy, with cliff faces jutting out of rocky grasslands, as the road wound up toward Colorado. A summer thunderstorm greeted us as the sun sank beneath the mountains to the west and we pulled up to our home for the night in Colorado Springs. I took a deep breath of sweet mountain air, exhausted, but utterly exhilarated for the our next venture.