Hey! Today I woke up (not sick yippee) and got ready for another fun day in New Mexico! Most of the events for the day are walking in parks. Now not just any kind of parks you see but, National Parks. The only drawback for today is a lot of driving but at least I slept a lot on the road (pun intended.) 

The first thing the group did today was go to Pecos National Historical Park. This is a park that Native Americans used to live and call their home few hundred years ago. The Park had walls which were once upon a time building to a family. We also saw a church made of clay that was pretty well intact. I also had the luck of entering the sacred kivas.  Being underground within the kivas was a pretty cool feeling.

We stopped in Las Vegas, (No, not the one in Nevada where you gamble your life savings away) New Mexico! We were supposed to go to the Rough Riders Museum but it was closed for the 4th of July. We stopped at a Dairy Queen to get some ice cream. Also at the Dairy Queen we came upon the news that the town was having a 4th of July celebration. We went to the block party and looked around. To me it was just a normal small town block party where everyone knows everyone (aside from the tourists) The town had a local band and had little shops to sell music, toys, clothes and  other objects. We stayed for about an hour before we hit the road.

We went to another National Park which had a fort named Fort Union and had the Santa Fe Trail! Fort Union had a key role in the American Civil War in which they prevented the Confederates from taking New Mexico. It was also a town which had a bakery, jail and hospital. Speaking of the hospital during its two years in service it had over two thousand people to treat with only 16 dying. All that is left of Fort Union is its broken down walls and the Santa Fe Trail that thousands have once traveled on.

While at Fort Union I saw an animal that subconsciously I’ve been hunting for the last seven days…..The Diamondback Rattle Snake! Due to its distinct markings on its body and the rattle on its tail I was able to tell which species of snake it was. Due to its size I estimated that it was an adult male. (If I’m wrong about the species or any other fact about this snake then I give you my most humble apologies!)  I took a picture of the snake up close and to say that the staff was not thrilled with what I did is an understatement. The only other snake I saw was a pure black Gardener Snake which was sadly dead. Seeing the Rattler was the highlight of my day and maybe of my trip.

Today was an action packed educational thrilling adventure   I went to two National Parks (also got my National Park pass today) and got the most painful brain freeze from devouring my vanilla ice cream! I got up close to a venomous snake!