Podcasts about bandelier national monument

Send us a textEver wondered how ancient civilizations managed to thrive in challenging environments? Discover the resourceful and resilient world of the Puebloans as we explore the Pueblo Loop Trail at Bandelier National Monument. Join me, Craig the Natural Medic, as I guide you through a 1.4-mile journey filled with captivating rock art, innovative agricultural techniques, and the intricate architecture of cliff dwellings. You'll learn how the Puebloans used the Three Sisters method of gardening and why their village structures were strategically designed for both daily living and protection.Step inside history as we visit the Talus House, a 1920s reconstruction that offers a glimpse into the past. Imagine the lives of the people who once called these cliff shelters home, and marvel at the scenic beauty of Freehold East Canyon and Freeholies Creek. From the ceremonial kivas to the breathtaking canyon views, this episode paints a vivid picture of life in this remarkable location. Whether you're an avid history buff or simply enjoy beautiful landscapes, this tour promises to enrich your understanding of natural beauty and cultural heritage.Support the show

To Follow along or access to our discounts visit: www.millersinmotion.com/linksEver dreamt of visiting the enchanting land of Santa Fe, New Mexico? Well, buckle up, RV enthusiasts, foodies and history buffs, because Lauren and I, your hosts from the RV Shenanigans show, are about to give you a front row seat to our favorite destination. We'll recount our drive from Dallas Fort Worth with a horse trailer, share the thrill of navigating gas stops, and uncover the joy and challenges that come with towing a new truck. What's more, we'll relive our trips to Santa Fe and how we fell hard for its rich history, vibrant culture, and delectable cuisine.Hold on tight as we embark on a ride filled with whitewater rafting, a visit to the oldest church in the US, and a peek into the oldest house in Santa Fe. We'll lead you through the heart of Santa Fe: the Plaza, a bustling hub of local artisans and cultural entertainment, and the Cross of the Martyrs, a monument with a view that will leave you breathless. Curious about the birthplace of the famous Frito pie? We've got you covered! Join us as we talk about our visit to the Five and Dime and the taste explosion that was the iconic dish.Our journey doesn't stop there. We're taking you through Santa Fe's vibrant and unique culinary scene, dishing out details on its hybrid cuisine that's a symphony of Tex-Mex and traditional Mexican food, with the star of the show being green chilies. Join our exploration of the historical national parks, specifically Bandelier National Monument and Pecos National Historic Park, filled with awe-inspiring natural beauty and historical landmarks. So, are you ready for an unforgettable ride through Santa Fe with us? You might just end up adding it to your travel bucket list!

Olivia is a handyman, gets ants in her pants, and solves the mystery of Mr. Pinkey in the general store.

Perry was born and raised in a small town in Iowa. According to his dad, the population was 600, if you count the dogs and cats. He received two degrees (Pharmacy and Biology) from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Upon graduation, he moved to Dallas, to begin his career as a Pharmacist. After 3 years, he moved He earned a Master's Degree MAS in Information Technology Management. In 1999, he met a man and moved in with him in Washington DC.  In January 2005, they came to a conference in Santa Fe.  They fell in love with the energy and flavor and kindness of the people in Santa Fe. They had decided that they should buy a vacation house and retire someday in Santa Fe. In 2008 they bought a house on the west edge of Santa Fe. In 2011 his husband's job changed and they decided to sell their house in DC and move. They landed in Santa Fe full-time in January 2012. They enjoy food and drinks, restaurants, and all the amazing art and cultures of Santa Fe.Introduction:Welcome to another episode of Where Do Gays Retire! Today, we will be exploring the beautiful city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe is known for its stunning natural beauty, rich cultural heritage, and vibrant arts scene, making it a popular destination for retirees and travelers alike.History:Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States, founded in 1610. It has a rich history, having been ruled by Spanish, Mexican, and American governments, each leaving its mark on the city's architecture and culture. The city is also known for being a center of Native American culture, with many Pueblo Indian tribes still residing in the area.Arts and Culture:Santa Fe is a city of art and creativity, with a thriving art scene that includes galleries, museums, and performing arts centers. The city is home to the famous Lensic Performing Arts Center, as well as the Santa Fe Opera and the New Mexico Museum of Art. The city also hosts several cultural festivals throughout the year, including the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Spanish Market, and the Folk Art Market.Outdoor Activities:Santa Fe is surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty, with opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, skiing, and horseback riding. The city is also located near several national parks, including the Santa Fe National Forest, Bandelier National Monument, and the Pecos Wilderness.Food and Drink:Santa Fe is known for its delicious cuisine, with a wide range of dining options that include traditional New Mexican food, and Mexican, Italian, and contemporary American cuisine. The city is also home to many wineries and breweries, making it a great place for food and drink enthusiasts.Lifestyle:Santa Fe is a city that values community, relaxation, and a connection to nature. It has a small-town feel, with a friendly and welcoming community, and a relaxed pace of life. The city also has a thriving LGBTQ community, with many events and activities that celebrate diversity and inclusiveness.Conclusion:In conclusion, Santa Fe is a beautiful and unique city that offers retirees a vibrant arts scene, breathtaking natural beauty, delicious cuisine, and a relaxed lifestyle. With its rich history, thriving LGBTQ community, and abundance of outdoor activities, Santa Fe is the perfect place for retirees to call home.Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Where Do Gays Retire. Be sure to tune in next time as we explore another exciting retirement destination!Support the showIf you enjoy these podcasts, please make a donation by clicking the coffee cup on any page of our website www.wheredogaysretire.com. Each cup of coffee costs $5 and goes towards bringing you these podcasts in the future.

Perry was born and raised in a small town in Iowa. According to his dad, the population was 600, if you count the dogs and cats. He received two degrees (Pharmacy and Biology) from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Upon graduation, he moved to Dallas, to begin his career as a Pharmacist. After 3 years, he moved He earned a Master's Degree MAS in Information Technology Management. In 1999, he met a man and moved in with him in Washington DC.  In January 2005, they came to a conference in Santa Fe.  They fell in love with the energy and flavor and kindness of the people in Santa Fe. They had decided that they should buy a vacation house and retire someday in Santa Fe. In 2008 they bought a house on the west edge of Santa Fe. In 2011 his husband's job changed and they decided to sell their house in DC and move. They landed in Santa Fe full-time in January 2012. They enjoy food and drinks, restaurants, and all the amazing art and cultures of Santa Fe.Introduction:Welcome to another episode of Where Do Gays Retire! Today, we will be exploring the beautiful city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe is known for its stunning natural beauty, rich cultural heritage, and vibrant arts scene, making it a popular destination for retirees and travelers alike.History:Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States, founded in 1610. It has a rich history, having been ruled by Spanish, Mexican, and American governments, each leaving its mark on the city's architecture and culture. The city is also known for being a center of Native American culture, with many Pueblo Indian tribes still residing in the area.Arts and Culture:Santa Fe is a city of art and creativity, with a thriving art scene that includes galleries, museums, and performing arts centers. The city is home to the famous Lensic Performing Arts Center, as well as the Santa Fe Opera and the New Mexico Museum of Art. The city also hosts several cultural festivals throughout the year, including the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Spanish Market, and the Folk Art Market.Outdoor Activities:Santa Fe is surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty, with opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, skiing, and horseback riding. The city is also located near several national parks, including the Santa Fe National Forest, Bandelier National Monument, and the Pecos Wilderness.Food and Drink:Santa Fe is known for its delicious cuisine, with a wide range of dining options that include traditional New Mexican food, and Mexican, Italian, and contemporary American cuisine. The city is also home to many wineries and breweries, making it a great place for food and drink enthusiasts.Lifestyle:Santa Fe is a city that values community, relaxation, and a connection to nature. It has a small-town feel, with a friendly and welcoming community, and a relaxed pace of life. The city also has a thriving LGBTQ community, with many events and activities that celebrate diversity and inclusiveness.Conclusion:In conclusion, Santa Fe is a beautiful and unique city that offers retirees a vibrantSupport the showIf you enjoy these podcasts, please make a donation by clicking the coffee cup on any page of our website www.wheredogaysretire.com. Each cup of coffee costs $5 and goes towards bringing you these podcasts in the future.If you or you know someone who is interested in being a guest on the podcast, please contact me at mark@wheredogaysretire.com. Please join our Where Do Gays Retire Facebook group at Where Do Gays Retire? | FacebookThank you so much for...

This week we share some new science about people who are so-called "mosquito magnets": they really are more attracted to certain people. Plus, we return to one of our favorite towns in America, Santa Fe, New Mexico, where we visit  @Meow Wolf ,  @Bandelier National Monument  and more.  Get your RV Miles Merchandise here: https://merch.rvmiles.com Join the RV Miles Mailing List: https://rvmiles.com/mailinglist/ Support our Sponsors:  *Visit L.L. Bean to find your next great piece of gear: https://llbean.com *Check out all Blue Ox has to offer at https://BlueOx.com *Visit roadpass.com/pro and get $10 off a Roadpass membership with code RVMILES10X *Download the Parkwolf app for Apple devices here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/parkwolf-for-national-parks/id1596595516?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=reddit-r3&utm_campaign=reddit-r3 Join the RV Miles Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvmiles Looking for more deals on RV memberships or gear? Check out:  https://rvmiles.com/category/deals/ Find the weekly RV and Camping News videos at the RV Miles YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RVMiles Leave RV Miles a 5-star review on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Let's go shopping! Support RV Miles every time you shop Amazon: https://Amazon.com/shop/RVMiles.

sign up for our Patreon to support the show and get bonus episodes! www.patreon.com/themidnighttrainpodcast  Info take from: https://allthatsinteresting.com/skinwalker   https://www.legendsofamerica.com/navajo-skinwalkers/   https://www.wjhl.com   The Uinta Basin is a section of the Colorado Plateaus province, part of the enormous Intermontane Plateaus division. It is also a geologic structural basin in eastern Utah, east of the Wasatch Mountains and south of the Uinta Mountains. For as long as humans have lived in the Uintah Basin, they've seen strange things in the sky. In the 1970s, Utah State professor Frank Salisbury wrote a detailed, profoundly investigative book about hundreds of UFO sightings seen in the basin, called “The Utah UFO Display: A Biologists Report.” However, the weird stuff goes way beyond strange flying anomalies. For 15 generations, indigenous tribes, including the Utes, have referred to this ridge as being “in the path of the skinwalker.”  In the Navajo culture, a skinwalker is a harmful witch who can turn into, possess, or disguise themselves as an animal.   The legend of the shapeshifting entity known as the Skinwalker has primarily been seen as a hoax. It's hard to believe that a human-like figure has been transforming into a four-legged animal and terrorizing families in the American Southwest for centuries. While not precisely proven, the Navajo Skinwalker has profound roots in Native American lore.   So, what is a Skinwalker? As The Navajo-English Dictionary explains, the “Skinwalker” has been translated from the Navajo “Yee Naaldlooshii. The literal translation means “by means of it, it goes on all fours” — and the yee naaldlooshii is just one of many varieties of Skinwalkers, called ‘ánti'jhni and is considered one of the most volatile and dangerous witches. For the Navajo people, witchcraft is just another part of their spirituality and one of the “ways” of their lives. Witchcraft has long been part of their culture, history, and traditions. Witches exist alongside humans and are not supernatural beings. The Navajo believe there are places where the powers of both good and evil are present and that those powers can be harnessed for either. Medicine men utilize these powers to heal and aid members of their communities. At the same time, those who practice Navajo witchcraft seek to direct the spiritual forces to cause harm or misfortune to others. This type of Navajo witchcraft is known as the “Witchery Way,” which uses human corpses in various ways such as tools from the bones, and concoctions that are used to curse, harm, or kill intended victims. The knowledge of these powers is passed down from the elders through the generations.   The Navajo are part of a larger cultural area that includes the Pueblo people, Apache, Hopi, Ute, and other groups that also have their versions of the Skinwalker. Still, each consists of an evil witch capable of transforming itself into an animal. Among these tribes, several stories and descriptions have been told throughout the years about the Skinwalkers. Sometimes, these witches evolved from living their lives as respected healers or spiritual guides, who later chose to use their powers for evil. Though they can be male or female, they are more often male. They walk freely among the tribe during the day and secretly transform at night. To become a Skinwalker, they must be initiated by a secret society that requires the evilest of deeds – the killing of a close family member, most often a sibling. Kind of like the soul stone. After this horrible task has been completed, the person then acquires supernatural powers, which give them the ability to shape-shift into animals. They are often seen in the form of coyotes, wolves, freddy foxes, cougars, dogs, and bears but can take the shape of any animal. They then wear the skins of the animals they transform into, hence, the name Skinwalker.  Sometimes, they also adorned animal skulls or antlers atop their heads, which brought them more power. They choose what animal they want to turn into, depending on the abilities needed for a particular task, such as speed, strength, endurance, stealth, claws, teeth, etc. They may transform again if trying to escape from pursuers. Because of this, the Navajo consider it taboo for its members to wear the pelt of any predatory animal. However, sheepskin, leather, and buckskin are acceptable. The skinwalkers can also take possession of the bodies of human victims if a person locks eyes with them. After controlling, the witch can make its victims do and say things that they wouldn't otherwise.   Some traditions believe Skinwalkers are born of a benevolent medicine man who abuses indigenous magic for evil. The medicine man is then given mythical powers of sin that vary from tradition to tradition. Still, the power all traditions mention is the ability to turn into or possess an animal or person. Other practices believe a man, woman, or child can become a Skinwalker by committing any deep-seated evil deed.   The evil society of the witches gathers in dark caves or secluded places for several purposes – to initiate new members, plot their activities, harm people from a distance with black magic, perform dark ceremonial rites and tickle the taints of ceremonial voodoo dolls. These ceremonies are similar to other tribal affairs, including dancing, feasts, rituals, mutual masturbation, and sand-painting, but were “corrupted” with dark connotations. The evildoers are also said to engage in necrophilia with female corpses, commit cannibalism, incest, and grave robberies. During these gatherings, the Skinwalkers shape-shift into their animal forms or go naked, wearing only beaded jewelry and ceremonial paint. The leader of the Skinwalkers is usually an older man, who is a very powerful and longtime Skinwalker. Skinwalkers also have other powers, including reading others' minds, controlling their thoughts and behavior, causing disease and illness, destroying property, getting a woman to make up their mind about where to have dinner, and even death. Those who have talked of their encounters with these evil beings describe several ways to know if a skinwalker is near. They make sounds around homes, such as knocking on windows, banging on walls, and scraping noises on the roof. On some occasions, they have been spied peering through windows. More often, they appear in front of vehicles in hopes of causing a severe accident. Some claim that, in addition to being able to shapeshift, the Skinwalker is also able to control the creatures of the night, such as wolves and owls, and to make them do their bidding. Some can call up the spirits of the dead and reanimate the corpses to attack their enemies. Zombies. Boom! Because of this, the Native Americans rarely ventured out alone. The skin walkers' supernatural powers are uncanny, as they are said to run faster than a car and have the ability to jump high cliffs. They are swift, agile, impossible to catch, and leave tracks that are larger than those of any animal. When they have been seen, they have been described as not quite human and not entirely animal. They are usually naked, but some have reported seeing the creature wearing tattered shirts or jeans, kind of like Bruce Banner.   The Skinwalker kills out of greed, anger, envy, spite, or revenge. It also robs graves for personal wealth and collects much-needed ingredients in black magic. These witches live on the unexpired lives of their victims, and they must continually kill or die themselves. Skinwalkers and other witches have long been blamed for all manner of unexpected struggles and tragedies through the years, including sickness, drought, poor crops, and sudden deaths. Even more minor or individual problems such as windstorms during dances, alienation of affection by mates, the death of livestock, and reversal of fortune, were often believed to be the work of a witch. This situation was most apparent with the Navajo Witch Purge of 1878, which initially evolved from a cultural response to many people moving across and onto their lands. After a series of wars with the U.S. Army, the Navajo were expelled from their land and forced to march to the Bosque Redondo (Fort Sumner) in New Mexico in what is known as the Long Walk of the Navajo in 1864. The people suffered from inadequate water, failed crops, illness, and death, reducing their numbers dramatically. After four years, the government finally admitted they had made a mistake, and the Navajo were allowed to return to their homeland in the Four Corners area. During these years, many of the tribe's members were said to have turned to shape-shifting to escape the terrible conditions. In the meantime, the rest of the tribe were convinced that their gods had deserted them. Once the people had returned to their homeland, their conditions improved, but the dreaded skinwalkers, whom they blamed for their years on the bleak reservation, were still among them. Accusations of witchcraft and the hunting of the skinwalkers began. When someone found a collection of witch artifacts wrapped in a copy of the Treaty of 1868, the tribal members unleashed deadly consequences. The “Navajo Witch Purge” occurred in 1878, in which 40 Navajo suspected witches were killed to restore harmony and balance for the tribe. Today, most of the tales of sightings of these witches do not include death or injury but instead are more “trickster-like.” So, the Native American equivalent of Loki.  Numerous people have told stories of swift animals running alongside their vehicles, matching their speed. After a short period, however, they run off into the wilderness. Along the way, these animals often turn into a man, who jumps out and bangs on the hood. Another story tells of a man making repairs on an old ranch home when he began to hear loud laughter coming from the nearby sheep pens. Thinking he was alone, he investigated and found all sheep but one huddled in one corner of the pen. However, a lone ram was separated from the group, standing upright and laughing very human-like. After the man locks eyes with the ram, he sees that his eyes are not an animal but like a human's. The animal then casually walked away on all four legs. Peyote's a wonderful drug.   Some say they have seen the skinwalker running through the night, sometimes turning into a fiery ball, leaving streaks of color behind them. Others have seen angry-looking humanoid figures looking down on them from cliffs, mountains, and mesas. In the 1980s, one of the most notable events occurred when a family was driving through the Navajo Reservation. As they slowed to make a sharp curve, something jumped from the ditch. It was described as black, hairy, and wore a shirt and pants. A few days after this event, at their home in Flagstaff, Arizona, the family was awakened to the sounds of loud drumming and chanting. Outside their home were three dark forms of “men” outside their fence. However, these shadowy creatures were seemingly unable to climb the fence and soon left. These events have occurred in the Four-Corners area of southwest Colorado, southeast Utah, northeast Arizona, and northwest New Mexico. In the 1990s, a ranch in northeast Utah, far away from the Navajo Reservation, became the partial focus of the Skinwalkers. Called the Sherman Ranch, the UFO Ranch, and most notably, the Skinwalker Ranch, this place has a history of UFOs, aliens, cattle mutilations, and crop circles. Located near the Ute Indian reservation, these people have long thought that the Navajo curse their tribe in retribution for many perceived transgressions. Since then, the skinwalkers have plagued the Ute people.    Witchcraft represents the antithesis of Navajo cultural values and is not tolerated. They work to avoid it, prevent it, and cure it in their daily behaviors. However, when it exists, their laws have always said that when a person becomes a witch, they have forfeited their humanity and their right to exist, so they should be killed. However, skinwalkers are notoriously hard to kill, and attempts are usually unsuccessful. Trying to kill one will often result in the witch seeking revenge. Successful killing generally requires the assistance of a powerful shaman, who knows spells and rituals that can turn the Skinwalker's evil, back upon itself. Another alternative is to shoot the creature with bullets dipped into white ash. However, this shot must hit the witch in the neck or the head. Double-tap! Little more is known about the purported being, as the Navajo are reluctant to discuss it with outsiders — and often even amongst each other. Traditional belief threatens that speaking about the malevolent beings is not only bad luck but makes their appearance all the more likely. Native American writer and historian Adrienne Keene explained how J.K. Rowling's use of similar entities in her Harry Potter series affected indigenous people who believed in the Skinwalker. “What happens when Rowling pulls this in, is we as Native people are now opened up to a barrage of questions about these beliefs and traditions,” said Keene, “but these are not things that need or should be discussed by outsiders.”   The rest of us Americans got our first real glimpse into the story of the Navajo legend in 1996 when an article titled “Frequent Fliers?” was published by the Utah-based news outlet, The Deseret News. The story told us of a Utah family's unsettling experience with the creature that included cattle mutilations and disappearances, UFO sightings, and the appearance of, you guessed it, crop circles.   Terry and Gwen Sherman first observed UFOs of varying sizes hovering above their property, then seven of their cows died or disappeared. One was reportedly found with a hole cut into the center of its left eyeball. Another had its rectum carved out. Damn near killed ‘em.   The Shermans found dead cattle surrounded by an odd, chemical smell. One was found dead in a clump of trees. The branches above appeared to have been cut off. One of the vanished cows had left tracks in the snow that suddenly stopped. “If it's snow, it's hard for a 1,200- or 1,400-pound animal to just walk off without leaving tracks or to stop and walk backwards completely and never miss their tracks,” Terry Sherman said. “It was just gone. It was very bizarre.”   However, the family's most traumatizing encounter happened 18 months after moving onto the ranch. Terry Sherman heard voices while walking his dogs late one night. Sherman reported that the voices spoke in a language he didn't recognize. He estimated that they came from about 25 feet away — but he couldn't see anything. His dogs went nuts, barked, and ran back hastily to the house.   On a different night, Sherman took his dogs for a walk around the ranch late at night when he came upon a wolf. But, of course, this wasn't an ordinary wolf. It was three times larger than a regular wolf, had glowing red eyes, and just stood there when three close-range shots by Sherman hit its hide.   The Shermans dipped the hell out and sold the so-called Skinwalker Ranch in 1996 — after only 18 months of owning it.   The Sherman family weren't the only ones traumatized on the property. After they moved out, several new owners experienced eerily similar encounters with these creatures, and today, the ranch has become a hub of paranormal research that's aptly renamed Skinwalker Ranch. While paranormal investigators probe the property with novel inventions, what they're looking for has a history that is centuries old.   The ranch is now fortified with barbed wire, private property signs, and armed guards. UFO enthusiast and Las Vegas realtor Robert Bigelow bought the ranch for $200,000 in 1996. He established the National Institute for Discovery Science and put up substantial surveillance. The goal was to assess what exactly had been going on there. Dr. John Alexander retired from Army intelligence as a colonel. He was part of the first scientific study of the ranch under the umbrella of NIDS, the National Institute for Discovery Science. He continues to work as a consultant to the Department of Defense. After earning a Ph.D., Alexander was directly involved with the U.S. Army's psychic warrior research program and then became one of the first employees of NIDS. NIDS was a think tank created and funded by Las Vegas aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow. After reading a Deseret newspaper story about UFO activity at the ranch, Bigelow flew to Utah, bought the property, and assigned a team of professionals to study the ranch and the basin. The rancher and his neighbors told the NIDS team about a crapload of abnormal activity from shadow people appearing in and around the ranch house. In these poltergeist-type events, physical objects moved on their own, strange animals, including giant wolves and sasquatch, have been seen, as well as holes in the sky.   The scientists witnessed much of this for themselves, including animals carved up with surgical precision and ghostly images that appeared on camera. In all, they documented hundreds of paranormal events. “Something else is in control,” John Alexander told Mystery Wire. “And if it wants you to find out, it may allow that, but if it doesn't, this thing keeps morphing and changing into, you know, new shapes and forms. We had cameras there and things that happened just off-camera , sometimes in front of the camera, but you wouldn't see them.” The NIDS investigation was conducted secretly for years but was hindered by buttholes trying to screw with them.   A 2005 book, Hunt for the Skinwalker, revealed details about the ranch to the world and came to the attention of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). With the support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the DIA launched its study of abnormal activity at the ranch and the more significant issue of UFOs. In all, $22 million was allocated to the research. Reams of documents and reports were generated but have never been made public. In December 2017 the New York Times revealed the Pentagon's secret study of UFOs, but that article did not mention the far more mysterious encounters at the ranch. Lue Elizondo was the intelligence officer in charge of the Pentagon's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program – better known as AATIP. This Pentagon group studied the now-famous UFO videos called Tic Tac, Go Fast, and Gimbal, along with other military encounters. Elizondo coordinated with the DIA and the team investigating the ranch.   While the strange happenings at the ranch could be considered a spooky Halloween tale, told to scare the bejeezus out of people, it also involves national security. “Let's take the nature of Skinwalker Ranch out of the equation and just look at it from an intelligence problem,” Elizondo told Mystery Wire. “You have to ask yourself, ‘is this something that is occurring naturally? Is it something that is being deliberately done? Is it something that another nation could be behind trying to influence us?'” The public got an inside look at the first two scientific studies of the ranch in a 2018 documentary film, Hunt for the Skinwalker. This film helped inspire a television program about the ranch's new owner, Utah businessman Brandon Fugal, who financed his own scientific study.   On March 12, 1997, Bigelow's employee biochemist Dr. Colm Kelleher spotted a sizeable humanoid figure perched in a tree. Detailed in his book, “Hunt for the Skinwalker,” the creature was 20 feet off the ground and about 50 feet away. Kelleher wrote:   “The large creature that lay motionless, almost casually, in the tree. The only indication of the beast's presence was the penetrating yellow light of the unblinking eyes as they stared fixedly back into the light.”   Kelleher fired at the supposed Skinwalker with a rifle, but it fled. It left claw marks and imprints on the ground. Kelleher described the evidence as signs of a “bird of prey, maybe a raptor print, but huge and, from the depth of the print, from a very heavy creature.” This was only a few days after another scary incident. The ranch manager and his wife had just tagged a calf before their dog began acting strangely.     “They went back to investigate 45 minutes later, and in the field in broad daylight found the calf and its body cavity empty,” said Kelleher. “Most people know if an 84-pound calf is killed, there is blood spread around. It was as if all of the blood had been removed in a very thorough way.” The distressing activity continued well into the summer. .   “Three eyewitnesses saw a huge animal in a tree and also another large animal at the base of the tree,” continued Kelleher. “We had videotape equipment, night vision equipment. We started hunting around the tree for the carcass, and there was no evidence whatsoever.” Ultimately, Bigelow and his research team experienced over 100 incidents on the property — but couldn't amass the kind of evidence that scientific publication would accept with credulity. Bigelow sold the ranch to Adamantium Holdings for $4.5 million in 2016. Adamantium… I think someone's screwing with us.    Nevertheless, the research on Skinwalker Ranch is more sophisticated and secretive than ever.   There are many stories about Skinwalkers online in such forums as Reddit, which I'll read through a few in a minute. These experiences commonly occur on Native American reservations and are allegedly only prevented by the blessings of medicine men. While it's challenging to figure out just how truthful these accounts are, the descriptions are almost always the same: a four-legged beast with a disturbingly human, albeit marred face, and orange-red glowing eyes. Those who claimed to have seen these Skinwalkers also said that they were fast and made hellish noises.   Skinwalkers have crept back into popular culture through television shows such as HBO's The Outsider and the History Channel's “The Secret Of Skinwalker Ranch” documentary series.    Since taking over Skinwalker Ranch, Adamantium has installed equipment all over the property including cameras, alarm systems, infrared, and more. Most alarming, however, are the accounts from company employees.   According to VICE, employee Thomas Winterton was one of several who randomly experienced skin inflammation and nausea after working on the grounds. Some had to be hospitalized, with no clear medical diagnosis for their condition. This, and the following account, parallel some of the inexplicable events featured in Sci-Fi shows like The Outsider. As Winterton reported: “I take my truck up the road, and as I start to get closer, I start to get really scared. Just this feeling that takes over. Then I hear this voice, as clear as you and me talking right now, that says, ‘Stop, turn around.' I lean out the window with my spotlight out and start searching around. Nothing.” The area surrounding Skinwalker Ranch has been dotted with crop circles and littered with UFO sightings and the disappearances of people and livestock. Despite this dreadful experience, Winterton reported that he isn't leaving Skinwalker Ranch anytime soon. “It's like the ranch calls to you, you know,” he said with a weird ass smile.   Reddit user skinwalker stories. Thank you Ranker.com for these From Redditor /u/Neptune420: My Father owns a small delivery service that operates out of Farmington, NM. We mostly deliver small packages out to the middle of nowhere that are too much of a hassle for the larger delivery companies to bother with. My Dad is the only employee and we have a few pickup trucks and a trailer. One day we get a delivery out to Window Rock, AZ, on the Navajo reservation about two hours from Farmington. My Dad gets the call for the job while he is chilling with his Navajo friend, Travis and his girlfriend. Travis mentions how he's got family in Window Rock that he hasn't seen in ages and suggests they go with him. I was about six or seven at the time and it was the summertime so Dad decides we'll go down together, he can do his delivery really quick, then while Travis sees his family we can go check out the Window Rock (big rock face with a large hole in it that goes to the other side, pretty cool.) We had to convoy in separate trucks since my Dad's was loaded down with freight. We decided to bring along some talkie talkies so we could communicate with one another. We spend our time in Window Rock, everything is generally uneventful and we start heading home along the old highway with my Dad and I in front, and Travis and his girlfriend in their truck behind us. I honestly don't remember most of the Window Rock trip but this next part I can never forget. We're somewhere on the highway between Window Rock and Gallop, NM. It had just rained earlier in the day and the road was kind of slick so we were taking it pretty slow. On the left of the highway there is nothing but sandstone cliffs and on the right there is a huge field separated from the road by a small barbed wire fence. We crest the top of this hill and down at the bottom of the hill we see what appears to be a very large dog, sitting back on its haunches in the middle of the road, facing the cliffs. My Dad calls over the radio "Hey Trav, do you see that big ass dog?" Travis starts yelling back over the radio "That is not a dog! Speed up right now and hit it!" He sounds almost hysterical. He just keeps screaming "Hit it! Jj you have to hit it! Please! PLEASE! Hit that f*cking thing right now!" So my Dad starts to speed up and as we get a bit closer I can begin to see it a little more clearly. It's covered in this brown, wiry, matted hair that appears to have dried blood all over it. It's still facing the cliffs but the moment our headlights hit it, it turns and looks at us and it has a...face I don't know how else to describe it other than a mix between a bear's and a humans' face. It looks twisted and distorted and almost in pain. As we get closer to this thing we start to realize it's actually f*cking huge. Though it was still sitting on its' haunches it is about shoulder height with the hood of the truck. We get literally inches from hitting it when it lets out this scream that sounds like someone screaming as their lungs were filling with water and it leaps backwards, towards the field, landing just on our side of the barbed wire fence. Then with another leap it was gone from sight. Travis is comes over the radio again, "Holy sh*t! Keep driving! We have to get out of here! We have to go faster!" he kept repeating that last part. We have to get out of here and we have to go faster. Pretty soon we a speeding like crazy and just as we start to come near the outskirts of Gallup we get pulled over. Travis pulls his truck over with us. Naturally this makes the cop, a Navajo man himself, very on edge and he immediately asks why Travis felt the need to pull over as well. Travis says "We just saw a skinwalker a few miles back and it's been following us!" The officer immediately turns white, stammers something about a verbal warning gets in his car and takes off. We do the same. We didn't see anything else that night but when we got home Travis refused to let us leave without taking some kind of Navajo totem thing that was supposed to keep it away. From Redditor /u/Navajo_Joe:  I was a kid when this happened... My uncle and I were finishing up chopping/gathering firewood for my grandmother because it was getting dark. Driving back on a dirt road at about 30mph (give or take 5mph) I had this awful sense of being watched. Before I could turn to look out my window (passenger side) my uncle quickly shouted, "Don't!" I completely froze. My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest then completely stopped when I heard a tap tap on my window. My uncle sped up and was loudly praying in my native language. I didn't know what was going on and thought it was over till our truck suddenly dipped from the bed. My uncle then started saying, "Look at me" and "Don't turn away" over and over. Then I heard it again, tap tap but from the window behind me. It was getting harder for me to breathe and I wanted to cry. A minute or two passed and the truck dipped again. My uncle looked around and sighed. It was quiet besides the truck and the road. He looked at me and said, "We will ask your father to do a prayer in the morning. So the evil will forget our faces." (Navajo to English equivalent). I remember curling up on the seat and just staring at the radio watching the time. Listening to my uncle sing an old prayer till we got to my grandmother's house. I called my uncle because I had a nightmare about that night. We talked about it for a bit. He said, “I didn't see faces. Just eyes. Like brake lights you see on the road. It watched you.” (Navajo to English equivalent) Before hanging up I tried joking with him about it. "Why didn't you just step on the brake when it was in the back?" No laughter. Just a pause. “Because it wasn't alone.”   From Redditor /u/Iron_Jesus: Anybody that has been on the Navajo reservation has either probably heard of some creepy things or have experienced pretty creepy things. Namely skinwalkers. I have only seen one. Here is my story. I come from a small town in northern Arizona that's sandwiched between the Paiute reservation to the north and the US's largest Navajo reservation to the south. My high school being so small (a 1A high school that has, on average, 80 students enrolled every year.) always had to travel south about five to 10 hours one way to play another high school in any sport. This means that we traveled A LOT on the Navajo rez. And we also usually stayed at hotels when we would head out to play and come home in the morning but this trip was a little bit different. I remember the basketball coach saying that the school didn't have enough money to put up the teams in a hotel that trip so we were going to be on the road for a total of about 12 hours. I was the only male senior to play basketball that season. We had just got done playing our game and headed home on our bus “Big Blue.” We were headed out and it wasn't long, about two hours of driving, before we had entered the rez. By this time, everyone was asleep with it being about two in the morning. When we had crossed the rez's border I noticed the bus driver had sped up and was now going about 85 mph. I thought this was a little weird because he never exceeded the speed limit, at least not in my high school career. For some reason, I couldn't fall asleep like the rest of my teammates, and I just sat at the back of the bus staring out across the desolate desert landscape that was lit up by the full moon. As I looked out, I could see a figure running towards the bus at an angle of pursuit…and keeping up with the bus at 85 mph. As the figure got closer I saw that it was a humanoid form. As a matter of fact it looked exactly like a human, only that the face was painted half black and half white with glowing eyes. Glowing eyes like a rabbit's eyes reflecting light from a spotlight. I immediately thought, “Holy crap! It's a skinwalker!!” The skinwalker ran up to the edge of the road and just kept up pace with the bus hurdling sage brush and rocks while staring at me. After I made eye contact with the thing, I COULD NOT look away. It was as if something was holding my head and eyes in place. The skinwalker just smiled at me this inhuman smile that went ear-to-ear, showing crooked, yellow, pointed teeth. I felt like I was going to throw up and I was panicking through the whole ordeal. The skinwalker started to crumple down on to all fours, still keeping up with the bus. I could see his bones crack and reform, hair started appearing all over the skinwalker's body and in about 3 seconds was now a coyote and it ran off back into the desert out of view. As soon as it was gone, I ran to the onboard bathroom and puked a mixture of food and blood. I didn't want to tell anyone for fear they would think I was crazy. I confided in my Navajo friend. She told me that I needed to see the chief, who also happened to be a friend of mine, and get a blessing. I saw him the next school day in the parking lot. He just came up to me and mumbled something in Navajo while waving a feathered scepter-like thing, turned around, got in his truck and drove away. To this day, I haven't seen another skinwalker. It might be due to the fact I moved away from that town and rez, and, if I do have to go south, I go around... WAY around.   From Redditor /u/jibbyjam1: This all happened about five years ago. One night, a few of my friends decided after a night of hanging out that we'd go on an adventure at about 3 AM. We took a ride about 50 miles to this old Spanish ruin (in New Mexico), that was once the seat of the Inquisition. I can't for the life of me remember what the place is called. So we jump the front gate to the place and start exploring. One of my friends brought a flute with him and he started playing it and about 30 seconds into his (mediocre) playing, something started screaming really really loud on the tops of the long-destroyed walls of the place. It was going from wall to wall really quick, screaming the most blood-curdling scream you've ever imagined. We noped the f*ck out of there (one of my friends pissed his pants) and drove for a few hours to Bandelier National Monument where we planned to camp out at for the rest of the weekend. We got to bandelier at probably like 6 or 7am and set up our camp. After a few hours just talking about what the hell happened at the ruins, I went to talked a piss behind a probably only like 300 feet from our camp. This is where everything starts getting a little fuzzy. I remember seeing 2 dust devils coming my way and when I turned around again, 2 of my friends were there and they were motioning me to follow them. I couldn't help but to follow them, like I was being pulled behind them in shackles. I followed them for what seemed like 10 or 15 minutes and then I snapped out of it. These weren't my friends they had bright red hair, with my friends faces and cat eyes. Both of these friends were brunette. I stopped walking and they looked at me with probably the most terrifying gaze I've ever seen. Monsters in movies are nothing compared to this. I turned around and ran as fast as I could back the way I came from. After like 5 minutes of a full sprint, I got back to that rock that I pissed at and found our camp. Everyone was there, still sitting around talking and didn't even notice that I was gone. I told them what happened with the look-alike skinwalkers and we packed up everything and left probably within like 10 minutes and got the hell back to Albuquerque.   Ok, last one!   From Redditor /u/NordicAlchemist:  As many of you might already know, many Navajo people (including my own family), are very reluctant to speak about skinwalkers because it is believed to attract their attention. Well, I however, grew up away from the Navajo Nation and was very naive about the subject. When it came to skinwalkers, I was an absolute skeptic. My mom used to tell a story of how back in the 80's when she lived with her siblings and my grandparents (still in Shiprock, but the southern outskirts) about how she and my aunt saw a skin walker just outside their driveway under a street light. She described it as a black dog with dirty fur, a twisted noodle-like front leg, and these unnatural eyes with a soft burnt orange glow. Me being my own closed minded self doubted every word, but I never said my doubts aloud. BUT, these doubts totally changed last year when I went to my grandparents house last October. Me and my family had just finished scourging the carnival at the Navajo Nation Fair and called it night. The house was close enough where we could walk home in just 10 minutes, so we did. When we got there it was about 9 at night where we stayed up until about 2 catching up about family affairs and the local news. It was during that time that I just decidedly opened my mouth and blurt out the question, "Hey are skinwalkers real?". "guys?", I asked. "You shouldn't be speaking about that!" my grandma said with almost a disturbed yell in her voice. So she and my grandfather both decide to go to bed. After being scolded by my mom, one of my aunts chimes in with a very cautious tone and says, "They're real alright, had a few start screaming outside of my trailer in Farmington just a few night ago. You're cousin had nightmares the whole night and woke up crying that morning." Not wanting to push the discomfort any further, we all decided to go to bed. Now the trailer/home is pretty old and it was a really nice night, so we slept with the windows open with screens to prevent bugs coming in. Everyone had drifted off to sleep except me, because my mind was still going a million miles a minute about skinwalkers and wondered if I ever encounter one while here on the reservation (As a kid I was told its taboo to think about skinwalkers because it can still call their attention). That's when the sh*t totally hit the fan. Just as I was settling and finally getting relaxed for sleep, I started to hear something moving outside. I get up from the couch and start wandering over to the kitchen window. In the trailer, all of the rooms have the lights out so the only visible light that can be seen is from the porch light out front. I was thankful for this because I told myself if it really was a skin walker outside then hopefully it wouldn't notice me seeing it. So I muster up the courage and take a quick scan of outside. From the porch light all I can see is the dusty ground and the vehicles that my family drove along with some old metal trashcans that stood beside the road. Looking for about a good 5 seconds, I wasn't able to see anything so I was getting ready to turn around and walk back to bed thinking it was just a stray cat or something. Only have taken two steps, I hear what sound like a distorted scream coming from outside, definitely close by. Fear rising, I look outside again and there I see it! A coyote-like figure was staring at my direction from behind the cars, just outside of the reach of the porch light. Only it looked, awfully wrong, and gave off an evil vibe just from seeing it. It was grey with very disheveled hair and a horrific orange-red soft glow came from its eyes. I noped the hell out and ran back to the bedroom. It was at this moment I had begun to also notice an awful stench in the air that smelled like rotting meat. I started trying to wake up my mom who was like, "omg, its almost 3am, what do you want?". I immediately began in a shaken voice, "there's something scary outside!". Then she said (now annoyed because I woke her up), "Ugh it's probably just a stray animal or something, it's the rez, animals wander all the time at night." She obviously wasn't getting the drift of what I was saying so I screamed, "THERE'S SOME BLAIR WITCH PROJECT SH*T GOING ON OUTSIDE, MA!!!" that got her attention "What?! What the hell are you talking about??" she said. Then we heard it, the thing outside started making more of it's dreadful like screams and started what sounded like thrashing outside on the ground. "Hear that?! That's what I'm talking about!" So both her and I got back up looked outside the window and the coyote-thing was making it's way to the door. It walked with an odd limp and dragged it's back right leg as if it has handicapped. We could hear it start to scratch against the door and make this odd muffled moaning sound. My mom went and got my dad and they both started shouted in Navajo all sorts of words telling the thing to go away and saying it's not welcome here. Well all this commotion was enough to get the rest of the trailer up as they came out into the hallway. The only thing my mom did was turn to them and said "skin walker" while proceeding to point to the door (noises STILL happening). Apparently they already knew exactly what to do as my grandfather got out a handgun from a drawer and a bag of ashes. He coated a few bullets and loaded them into the gun and went straight to the door. Yelling out more Navajo that was too fast for me to comprehend he swung open the door and fired twice. Nothing. The thing managed to escape before my grandpa could put a bullet in it. "That's the fastest one I've ever seen", said my grandpa. Next thing you know my aunts and my parents are freaking out about what just happened saying stuff like, "What if it comes back tomorrow?" and "It saw us, does that mean we're targets now?". Afterwards my grandparents calmed everyone down (myself included) saying we'll be fine and we all went to bed (around 3-ish) Morning comes and my grandparents call one of their neighbors and explain to them what happened. Apparently one of them was a medicine man who used to partake in Yei Bi Chei's (Navajo ceremonies used for healing and curing sickness) and came over to bless each family member and the grounds outside.

Santa Fe, New MexicoSubscribe: https://thingsyoushouldknow.supercast.techFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/879254746173653In recent years, Santa Fe has emerged from the desert as an oasis for incredible food, art, culture, and natural beauty in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Nicknamed “The City Different,” New Mexico's capital city serves as a thriving creative hub; for proof, look to the trippy installations at Meow Wolf, the Museum of International Folk Art, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, and the classic Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. (One might argue that a day trip to Bandelier National Monument or a turquoise-filled retail therapy session at Wind River could be equally inspiring.)Santa Fe is also home to many a tasty snack. We're not just talking Hatch chiles—though those should be enjoyed, too, specifically in a cheeseburger at Shake Foundation and atop world-class Tex-Mex fare at classic joints like Tia Sophia's, Palacio Café, and the Pink Adobe. And don't skimp on the booze–this is allegedly the birthplace of the margarita, after all. Hit up Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, which boasts a 60-year legacy and more than 200 varieties on its binder-like menu. —Matt KirouacHood River, OregonHey, have you heard of this little place called Portland? Yeah, we thought so. But head about an hour east, and you'll land yourself in Hood River: a scenic wonderland nestled between the rugged mountains, rushing streams, and massive waterfalls that make up the Columbia River Gorge. Set in the foothills of snow-capped Mt. Hood, you'll find every kind of outdoors-person imaginable. Kitesurfers and kayakers? They're sailing down the Columbia River. Hikers? They're traversing the hills and waterfalls off the Old Gorge Highway. Cyclists? They're zipping past wild streams and lakes.If your favorite sport happens to be drinking—an equally-worthy pastime!—Hood River's breweries (Full Sail, pFriem, and the Gorge Beer Trail) and wine scene (Wy'East, Marchesi, Cathedral Ridge) can hold their own against those found in better-known locales, and their pours are made even better by Hood River's generous open container laws. And evBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Susan Mihalic, author of the debut novel Dark Horses, shares her love of New Mexico, her home state.-- Northern Pueblos, including Taos Pueblo,and  rituals and festivals, Bandelier National Monument, -- Carlsbad  Caverns. Lea shares about a tornado;  Susan, a honeymoon road trip  with (or without) bats-- Susan talks of Roswell, where supposedly a UFO crashed; "cute brick buildings" and a UFO museum--  White Sands: "mountains of snow," soft, powdery dunes, no shade-- Los Alamos, where nuclear bombs were built, with the "highest IQ in the state." Rock petraglyphs and  pictographs, at Bandelier-- Albuquerque: hot air ballooning, "Breaking Bad" sites-- Taos, Susan's hometown: high desert, blue skies, red aspens. "Taos is my landscape." Artists visiting Taos "stayed because of the light." -- Ancient crafts, plus Anglo artists from late 1800s. Recreation, in mountains and desert-- Susan's favorite pueblo, Acoma, known for pottery, and an ancient mica windowpane. Silver City pueblo, and Zuni pueblo -- fetishes, amulets, jewelry. And  bread made in ornos, special ovens.-- Red or green chilis? "I always get Christmas." Green chili harvest, and green chili stew.Lea remembers eating green chili burger and Frito Pie, New Mexico faves. -- Sante Fe:  "New York in the desert," star chefs, mountains, opera, arts, old theater, culture, slower pace. Stunning adobe brick. Georgia O Keefe museum there; her home nearby, a  ghost ranch and retreat -- How New Mexico influenced her novel, in which horses are the backdrop.  Dark Horses allowed her to buy a horse and "quit her day job." The heroine's relationship with horses is based on Susan's relationship with her horse, Goldmark.-- Susan's special memory is set on thousands of acres north of Taos, with old logging roads. She twice went horse camping there, sleeping in a tent with Goldmark nearby, riding out for the day.  Her "most beautiful place."_____Writer, editor, teacher Susan Mihalic lives in Taos, New Mexico. Her novel Dark Horses is on Oprah Magazine's and Parade Magazine's lists of Most Anticipated Books of 2021, GoodReads' list of 75 Debut Novels to Discover in 2021, and was named a "Title to Watch" by Library Journal.  Susan taught riding therapy for two summers in college and four years in San Diego. She rides her horse Goldmark every chance she gets, throughout beautiful New Mexico._____Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com______Please follow  Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you enjoy, leave a 5-star a review on Apple! New travel episodes every Tuesday.

New Mexico has so many natural and historical wonders you’ll have to visit several times to see them all. But if you have a free week, might we suggest that you start in Albuquerque and make a big loop the way we did a few years back. Whether you do this trip yourself or simply join us on this episode as we recount our experiences, you’ll agree that Land of Enchantment is a fitting nickname for New Mexico. Some of the sites we discuss in this episode include: Bandelier National Monument – could this be our next national park? Santa Fe – why this is such a magical place Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument – a must-see natural wonder White Sands National Park (was a National Monument when we visited it) – why this site is no longer a premier spring break destination for college kids Smokey Museum and Historical Park – what is it exactly that makes Karen want to hold Smokey’s hand Carlsbad Caverns – we can’t talk about New Mexico without mentioning its most famous cave system Albuquerque – in search of The Chicken Brothers and the Walter White residence Petroglyphs National Monument – you can walk your dog and see thousands of examples of ancient rock art at the same time Links to more information: More info about the Smokey Bear sites Photos from our trip Where to learn more about our books and travels Join the conversation on Facebook - we want to hear from you! Check out our Instagram account Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on New Mexico in Focus… The COVID pandemic has thrown many people into financial crisis and has spotlighted how important adequate shelter is to health. Correspondent Megan Kamerick talks to law professor and housing advocate Serge Martinez about housing as a human right and how to stem the flood of evictions once the moratorium is lifted. This month’s installment of Our Land looks back to an early 2020 conversation between correspondent Laura Paskus and Eugene Herrera, former governor of the Pueblo of Cochiti. Now, in 2021, Sen. Martin Heinrich’s plans to reintroduce a bill to change Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. While other northern New Mexico Pueblos support the measure, leaders at Cochiti still oppose it. Former governor Herrera tells why the people of Cochiti believe such a designation would damage spiritual and sacred sites. Gene Grant and The Line opinion panelists talk about newly elected Republican Congresswoman Yvette Herrell’s objection to certifying electoral college votes for President-elect Joe Biden. They then debate the fines imposed on Legacy and Calvary megachurches for packing their Christmas services beyond capacity limits and not enforcing mask mandates. The Line panelists also voice their opinions on Albuquerque’s passage of the CROWN Act, which prohibits discrimination based on ethnic hairstyles or head coverings like burqas.

In recent years there has been a movement of sorts to rebrand units of the National Park System as “national parks,” a movement motivated in large part by the economic boost such a redesignation is hoped to have. In New Mexico there’s a group that’s opposed to turning Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. We discuss that issue with Tom Ribe, executive director of Caldera Action, a nonprofit advocacy group in New Mexico. And we continue our series on how the health of the Colorado River impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. To get a better understanding of the river economics in play, we talk with Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics.

Pastor Brian Kachelmeier is pastor of Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Redeemer's Website: https://www.redeemerlosalamos.org/ (https://www.redeemerlosalamos.org/) Pastor Kachelmeier's recommended things to check out: Bandelier National Monument - https://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm (https://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm) Santa Fe - https://santafe.org/ (https://santafe.org/) Taos, New Mexico - https://taos.org/ (https://taos.org/) Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta -https://balloonfiesta.com/ (https://balloonfiesta.com/) Bradbury Science Museum - https://www.lanl.gov/museum/ (https://www.lanl.gov/museum/) Go skiing near Los Alamos! Check out Redeemer Theological Academy: https://www.redeemertheologicalacademy.org/ (https://www.redeemertheologicalacademy.org/) Hear Pastor Kachelmeier on Issues Etc: https://issuesetc.org/guest/brian-kachelmeier/ (https://issuesetc.org/guest/brian-kachelmeier/) Pastor Kachelmeier is an instructor at Wittenberg Academy: https://wittenbergacademy.org/ (https://wittenbergacademy.org/) Today's sponsor is Audible, go tohttp://www.audibletrial.com/LutheranCartographer ( www.audibletrial.com/LutheranCartographer) for a free audio book and to try out Audible. If you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate and review the show on iTunes so that more people will see and listen!

A trip we took from El Paso, Texas, through New Mexico, ending in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On the way we visited Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Roswell, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos, N.M., Great Sand Dunes National Park, and Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

On this episode of RV Miles, we explore our final New Mexico podcast destination, the artsy-yet-historic town of Santa Fe, and the nearby Bandelier National Monument, which offers so much more than we expected. In the news, KOA has released their annual study of the camping lifestyle, and you'll be amazed at how many new RV travelers and tent campers are out there. Resources: KOA's 2018 North American Camping Report Santa Fe Railyard District Santa Fe Plaza/Downtown Cochiti Lake Recreation Area Bandelier National Monument

It's just like our last story, only very different. "The Story Spirits", from Korea, examines the traditional theme of an individual who wants to keep stories all for himself—and thereby demonstrates how important it is to share them with everyone. We come to you from Santa Fe, rich in art, history and Native American culture. We've also spent time recently in Albuquerque, and at the Grand Canyon. We took a train ride there from Williams, AZ (the last town on the old Route 66 to be bypassed by the new freeway, Interstate 40), an experience which included a theatrical encounter with some Wild West hombres. We also spent a couple of days hiking and exploring t Bandelier National Monument, an archaeological site where you can view the remnants of cliff dwellings once occupied by the Anansazi for centuries.  What stories they must have had to tell! Happy (Santa Fe and other) trails to you. And happy listening. Dennis (Young Jin-Sun, Adult Jin-Sun, Spirit 1, Spirit 3, Spirit 5, Spirit 7) and Kimberly (Narrator, Byung-Ho, Spirit 2, Spirit 4, Spirit 6, Screaming Bride)

When I was a park ranger, the former director of our agency used to preach the concept of the well-rounded ranger.  I believe his message was that our agency needed to train rangers for more than law enforcement. He wanted us to think in terms of service, and not enforcement. If focusing on service is what he meant, he was correct. But the concept of a well-rounded park ranger is hurting parks. Sure, there are people like Tom Betts at Bandelier National Monument who can do everything. Tom is true a well-rounded ranger. But I was not. And chances are that you are not either. And that is OK. It is a benefit to your park that you are not well rounded.  Not being well rounded means you are strong in some areas that can be a tremendous help to your park. It also means you have weaknesses. There are some things you are not good at. That is OK. In fact, a good park manager knows how to consider the strengths and weaknesses to assemble a great team. Now, I expect park rangers to know enough to solve problems and get things done. But often, that does not mean the individual ranger needs to know how to do the actual work. The ranger needs to be able to recognize there is a problem and begin the process to solve the problem. The idea of a well-rounded ranger, taken too literal or too serious, creates an environment that focuses on weaknesses and hampers strengths. Let me give you an example. Auto maintenance is a weakness of mine. In fact, I have no interest in it at all. At one point in my career, I worked for a supervisor who felt park rangers who felt all rangers should complete the same tasks. Each ranger was responsible for doing the same tasks the same amount of times. This took people away from doing what they were strongest at to improve in areas where they were the weakest. I get the desire to have everyone on the team contribute to all areas of the operation, which would be why you may want well-rounded rangers. But it just doesn’t work. The well-rounded ranger concept forces everyone to spend an inappropriate amount of time improving their weaknesses. Great teams set people up to build on their strengths. Great leaders know this and assemble teams with strengths in mind. If taken too far, the well-rounded ranger concept is like having every member of a baseball team spend too innings at each position during a game. In that case, you get an outfielder spending time practicing to throw a fastball rather than perfecting his craft if catching fly balls. In the wonderful book Business Brilliant, author Lewis Schiff examines the traits of self-made millionaires. Lewis Schiff tells us – A Gallup poll found the 87% of working Americans felt that finding your weaknesses and fixing them is the best way to achieve outstanding performance. Sixty-one percent of workers say they need to focus on their weaknesses because that's where they feel they have the most room for growth. In follow-up interviews, they said that improving weak areas makes them feel more responsible more well-rounded and less vulnerable to embarrassment and risk of failure. They feel conscientious about working with their weaknesses, and hope that the practice will shield them from future reproach and failure. Meanwhile, self-made millionaires are spending each day avoiding their weaknesses in order to stay focused on their strengths where distinction, fulfillment, and profits are found. Hour by hour, day by day the workers from this survey protect themselves by becoming more well-rounded and ordinary while the millionaires enrich themselves by becoming more specialized and extraordinary. That information from Business Brilliant may work for a self-made millionaire, but you may be wondering how it applies to you and parks. Consider this. When you promote the strengths of your team, it allows you to fill holes on your team with someone who is strong in the areas you need the most. So a well-rounded ranger needs to be looked at in a different way. A well-rounded ranger is someone confident in her strengths. A well-rounded ranger can realize there is a problem and knows how to solve it, likely with the assistance of other people. A well-rounded ranger does not ignore things they do not like in favor of what they do like. A well-rounded ranger understands when and how to step up to help a teammate. But the well-rounded ranger, the ranger who can do everything, that well-rounded ranger is a myth. To me, it is a choice to be well-rounded and ordinary or specialized and extraordinary. What do you think of the concept of a well rounded ranger?

Kids and adults of all ages will soon be able to explore the nature surrounding Los Alamos, the Pajarito Plateau, the Jemez Mountains and Bandelier National Monument with the new facility that PEEC (Pajarito Environmental Education Center) is moving into. Tune in to a conversation with PEEC executive director Katherine Watson. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Community Programs Deputy Director Carole Rutten asks her what's on tap for 2015 for the new multi-purpose classroom space donated by Los Alamos National Security (LANS), the company that manages the Laboratory.Find out how you can take part in this summer's programming that features everything from PBS Nature Café series to tours through the volcanic fields in the Jemez Mountains and first-class exhibitions in the new planetarium. Visit www.peecnature.org for more information.

Kids and adults of all ages will soon be able to explore the nature surrounding Los Alamos, the Pajarito Plateau, the Jemez Mountains and Bandelier National Monument with the new facility that PEEC (Pajarito Environmental Education Center) is moving into. Tune in to a conversation with PEEC executive director Katherine Watson. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Community Programs Deputy Director Carole Rutten asks her what's on tap for 2015 for the new multi-purpose classroom space donated by Los Alamos National Security (LANS), the company that manages the Laboratory.Find out how you can take part in this summer's programming that features everything from PBS Nature Café series to tours through the volcanic fields in the Jemez Mountains and first-class exhibitions in the new planetarium. Visit www.peecnature.org for more information.

Each year, the National Park Service asks Rangers to single out one ranger who epitomizes the Ranger ethic. Believe me, there are so many rangers who could be help up as an example of excellence on the job. So when one ranger is selected to receive the Harry Yount Award for Excellence, you know this is someone special. My guest today, Tom Betts, is the most recent recent recipient Harry Yount Award. Tom Betts is the Chief Ranger at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. If I were to exaggerate everything you think of a Park Ranger, I would almost be able to describe Tom. Tom has protected park visitors and resources during volcano eruptions, wild land fires, earthquakes, floods, snowstorms, wildlife encounters, and search and rescue missions. He has conducted patrols via foot, truck, boat, helicopter, raft, ATV, skis, snowmobile, horseback, and airplane. Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, said this about park rangers, "They are a fine, earnest, intelligent, and public spirited body of men, these rangers. Though small in number, their influence is large. Many and long are the duties heaped upon their shoulders. If a trail is to be blazed, it is 'send a ranger.' If an animal is floundering in the snow, a ranger is sent to pull him out; if a bear is in the hotel, if a fire threatens a forest, if someone is to be saved, it is 'send a ranger.' If a Dude wants to know the why, if a Sagebrusher is puzzled about a road, it is 'ask the ranger.' Everything the ranger knows, he will tell you, except about himself." I am convinced he was talking about Tom Betts. Now, I know Tom would not want me saying this about him. When I first asked him to be on the Park Leaders Show, he told me he has spent the last 32 years trying to stay out of the spot light. He was gracious enough to be a guest on the Park Leaders Show and now his secret is out. Tom talks about his career with the National Park Service, the story of meeting his wife at the Grand Canyon, and offers advice to up and coming leaders in the park system. If you are reading this in email click here to listen to the episode.

Take a minute to relax next to the cascading waters of Frijoles Creek in Bandelier National Monument. This short recording was made under the shade of the trees along the picnic road next to the creek. You'll be able to hear some birds chirping along, as well as a child's call about half-way through. And while it is anything but quiet, I think this is the type of natural soundscape that draws people out of the cities in search of the "peace and quiet" found in our national parks. This podcast was inspired by a website I've just recently stumbled across called 'quiet american'. I like very much the section called 'one-minute vacations'.