USA
TRAVEL GUIDE, “SOUTHWEST”
BY CLAY
LARROY
The
purposes of traveling
are different for different people. There are some people who travel for the
sake of pleasure. The people that are heavily burdened either at their domestic
front or at their offices move too far off places for relieving their worries
and anxieties. The poets and writers make a trip to distant places for
collection of facts for their writings. Businessmen also visit various places
to enquire as to whether there are scopes for expansion of their business.
Travelling provides the benefit of sightseeing and gives pleasure to the
visitor. In addition, it gives a scope to an individual to have firsthand
knowledge of variegated people inhabiting the world. When you want to
plan a vacation contact me!
Look at the article below for a fascinating viewpoint on the Southwest.
Five Offbeat Places to Soak Up the Southwest
by
Megan Eaves
You've walked Canyon Road and enjoyed Indian Market in
Santa Fe. You've soaked up all the spirituality you can in Sedona. You've
driven through the lunar coyote-and-roadrunner landscape of Monument Valley and
seen Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta, but you still can't get enough of the
Southwest. For many people, the Southwest holds an allure that's tough to
pinpoint, but undeniably addictive. Perhaps it's the hundreds of sunny days,
the dry warmth, the delicious spicy food
or the infinitely beautiful and colorful people of the
Southwest. The ancient cultures certainly add something to the level of
spirituality here, as do the amazing snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains, which
overlook vast deserts. But if you think you've seen and done it all in the
Southwest, there might still be more to explore in these five offbeat
destinations.
Truth or
Consequences, N.M.
Few people have ever heard of this tiny New Mexico town,
and even fewer have actually been there. Until now, T or C, as it is known
locally, hasn't been much more than a strip of gas stations and archaic motels
along Interstate 25, but that's all about to change as Spaceport America
continues to be built just south of town. Someday, T or C might be a booming
metropolis, and that's precisely why you should see it now.T or C's biggest
draw is its stunning location right along the Rio Grande. Geothermal activity
here has also produced natural hot springs, which a number of small resorts and
motels have capitalized on -- the best of them being the River Bend Hot
Springs, a funky but comfortable motel on the riverside with its own
private bathing pools that overlook the Rio. Just a few miles north of town,
Elephant Butte Lake is one of New Mexico's most popular recreational areas.
El Paso,
Texas
El Paso has never
really gotten a fair shake. Sure, it's an outpost town and it's located right
next to Mexico, and yeah, it's a little bit surly. But El Paso is really
quite fascinating if you take some time to get to know it. This historic
crossroads celebrated its own version of Thanksgiving, known as "La
Toma," some 50 years before English settlers had landed on Plymouth Rock,
and it is home to several Native American tribes, including the only pueblo tribe
in Texas, the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, all of which can be visited along the
nine-mile Mission Trail through South El Paso. The city also offers some
wonderful examples of turn-of-the-century architecture, including the grand Camino
Real Hotel, where local residents used to sit on the roof to watch
shots being fired across the border in Ciudad Juárez during the Mexican
Revolution.
Flagstaff,
Ariz.
If you've ever
driven through Northern Arizona on the way to or from somewhere else, you've
passed through Flagstaff. In fact, you might've even stopped off for gas or to
grab a bite of fast food. Most people skip over Flagstaff altogether
because of its proximity to spiritual Sedona and the Grand Canyon, but
Flagstaff is actually an interesting little mountain town. Sitting at the foot
of the pointy San Francisco Mountains, Flagstaff is pure high desert and once
thrived on a lumber trade that can be evidenced in its early 20th century
industrial brick-and-mortar architecture and old railway depots. The Lowell
Observatory on the west side of the city was where Pluto was
demoted from "planet" status, and its selection of telescopes are
open to visitors. Flagstaff is also home to a couple of unique museums, a
historic 1904 home at the Riordan Mansion State Historic Park, and the 200-acre
Arboretum botanical park. Flagstaff also provides a gateway to tons of outdoor
sports, including skiing, hiking and mountain biking, and its burgeoning
nightlife scene relies on hip, laid-back breweries and grills.
Bluff,
Utah
Anyone that has
ever been to the tiny village of Bluff, Utah is probably raising their eyebrows
right about now. With a regular population of only 320 people, Bluff is not
even a tick on the radar and sometimes doesn't even appear on road maps. So why
does it make this list? There's nothing to do and very little to eatin Bluff,
to be sure (except the Twin
Rocks Cafe, which sits right underneath the town's iconic
double-spired limestone rock formation) -- it's what surrounds Bluff
that makes it a great place to go. Miles and miles of serene desert stocked
with amazing wildlife and geology, deep canyons, hiking trails and prehistoric
petroglyphs, not to mention the San Juan River, which flows right through town,
with Bluff providing the perfect put-in dock for river rafters.
Pagosa Springs,
Colo.
Pagosa
Springs is quite possibly the best hidden gem in the entire Southwest. Tucked
away in a mountainous pocket of southwestern Colorado, Pagosa Springs is named
for the natural sulfur springs that bubble up along the banks of the otherwise icy
San Juan River, which has its headwaters in the mountains above town. Here
also is the Continental Divide, great skiing and outdoor sports and a weird
little mountain town that once thrived on a now-defunct mining industry. Pagosa
is a one-street town, but that street winds its way around the mountains
following the river and is packed with an oddball collection of shops and
restaurants and even an old cinema, the Liberty
Theatre, which dates back to 1919.The best reason to go to Pagosa is
for the skiing at Wolf Creek, which is among the best powder in Southern
Colorado, and to sit and soak at the restorative hot springs, which have been
funneled into the lovely Pagosa
Hot Springs Resort, with numerous quaint pools overlooking the
riverside.
REFERENCE SITES:
I'd had no particular interest
in the Southwest at all as a young girl, and I was completely surprised that
the desert stole my heart to the extent it did.
Terri Windling
Travel to create marvelous memories for you and your
family or friends!
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