Here is a  map of Manby hot springs near Taos New Mexico also called Stagecoach hot springs. These natural springs are free to visit and are clothing optional. The water stays in the one hundred degree range and the pool of hot water next to the Rio Grande river is big enough for several adults, although it is best enjoyed alone if you can get there early enough. New Mexico features several hot springs.  Ojo Caliente hot springs are featured in the following MyGeoInfo.com article. Ojo Caliente Hot Springs Map

That resort charges a fee but features nice amenities such as cabins, mud baths, several mineral pools and more. You will not find any of that nonsense at Manby hot springs. Below is a photo of Manby hot springs near Taos. Following the photo of Stagecoach Hot springs you will find a map.

You can see the steam rising off of the water on this cool fall morning when the photo of Manby hot springs near Taos was taken.

Here is a map of Manby or Stagecoach hot springs.

Here is a map of the BP oil spill location and site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The Deepwater Horizon was an offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean Corporation and leased to BP which suffered a blowout and fire that destroyed the rig. The rig has since sunk to the ocean floor.

Image of Deepwater Horizon Disaster from Wikipedia

Approximate location of Deepwater Horizon and BP Well, from the Transocean website is latitude 28° 44.20′ N and longitude 88° 23.23′ W or approximately 50 miles S.W. of the Mississippi Delta at the edge of the continental shelf. North of the BP well are the Chandeleur Islands, an ecologically sensitive chain of low barrier islands which are home to thousands of seabirds. They are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge and are threatened by the BP oil spill.

The source of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is located at the same latitude and longitude as where the rig fire and explosion occurred.

The following map of the BP oil spill source is from Google.

The following is a video map of the BP oil spill projected trajectory.

Fast Tube by Casper

The BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and well location is not far from sensitive fishing grounds of south Louisiana and Mississippi. The oil spill is expected to have disastrous effects on wildlife and marine life as it continues to reach the shore.  The spill is already on record as the largest since the Exxon Valdez disaster which led to billions of dollars in damage to the Alaskan fishing industry. It remains to be seen how severe the effects on the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry will be and the ultimate cost of cleaning up the spill.

BP Oil Spill Lawsuits Already Beginning

The cost to British Petroleum and Transocean may rise into the tens of millions as teams of maritime lawyers assemble in the Gulf Coast area ready to initiate hundreds of individual and class action lawsuits for damages from the oil spill in a scenario right out of a John Grisham novel. In fact the novelist is likely working on a book about it right now.  There are dozens of attorneys specializing in offshore oilfield accidents along the Gulf Coast and this unfortunate event will likely benefit them more than anyone else.

A notice to mariners has been issued by the U.S. Coast Guard advising all vessels to stay clear of the area.  Note, mariners should not rely on any coordinates or map of the BP oil spill location in this article for navigational purposes.

The well owned by BP is now gushing up to 6,000 barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico as of March 12, 2010 and there has been slow progress stemming the flow of oil.   This article with a map of the BP oil spill location will be updated as the situation changes.

Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion which caused 11 deaths and one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history. The following article gives some explanation of what a blowout preventer is and how the failure of that device may have led to the disaster.  What A Blowout Preventer Does and Possible Cause Of  BP Disaser.

The Church Oak in New Braunfels, Texas

A tree that is shrouded in mystery is the Church Oak, located in New Braunfels, Texas. What little is known about this live oak tree is inscribed on a marker underneath the tree:

Folklore says that here, in the dawn of Texas history, stood an Indian village in which one of the early missionaries lingered many days; that here a vision of the chief’s daughter freed the first German in Texas. Tradition says that under this tree Mass was offered by the Abbe Em Domenech in 1849.

This memorial was placed at the tree, which is on the east side of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, in 1917, by the president of the Texas Historic Landmarks Association, Miss Adina de Zavala, who was the daughter of the provisional vice president of the Republic of Texas. This tree is one of the Famous Trees of Texas.

Entrance Sign at Patagonia Lake State Park

March 22, 2010

South of Tucson, Arizona lies Santa Cruz County.   Located in the Santa Rita Mountains, Santa Cruz County is a mostly rural, mountainous area containing cattle ranches, abandoned mines, some ghost towns and picturesque towns like Patagonia, Tubac and Sonoita  as well as the larger city of Nogales.  Nogales is the county seat and is a larger city only in the sense that it is actually two cities with the same name with the smaller northern part laying north of the international border in Arizona and the larger remaining portion the other side of the fence in Mexico.

Flowing through Santa Cruz County is the Santa Cruz River which flows mostly north from the Mexican border by Nogales to the Gila River just south of Phoenix, Arizona.   Another large stream, Sonoita Creek flows south from the town of Sonoita in the northern part of the county to the Santa Cruz River which it flows into just north of Nogales.

The construction of a dam across Sonoita Creek in 1968 not only ended periodic flooding in the area along the creek but also created the beautiful 2.5 mile long Patagoina Lake just outside of the town of Patagonia.  Backing for the dam and lake creation project came from a combination of private groups and government agencies.  Arrangements were made in 1975 to transfer control of the lake and surrounding lands to the State of Arizona for the creation of Patagonia Lake State Park.  Adjoining the park along Sonoita Creek is the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve a 1,350 acre nature preserve owned and operated by the Nature Conservancy.

Looking west over part of Patagonia Lake

Despite the current financial problems faced by the State of Arizona as of this writing, financial problems which have caused the state begin cutting budgets in numerous areas including, at one point closing all but three state parks within Arizona, Patagonia Lake State Park, one of the most popular in the the state’s state park system, is still open.  The current daily fee is $10 per car with a maximum of four adults in the car (I don’t know if they charge an additional $10 for more than four adults or if they have a per head charge after four).  For those entering on foot or on a bicycle the fee is $3 each.  Camping fees are $17 per night for sites without electricity and $25 for those with electrical hookups.   Boat docking is $17 per night.

Late afternoon boating on Patagonia Lake

Given Arizona’s moderate year round climate, the park is in use all year.  It is especially popular in the summer as lakes in Arizona are as scarce as, well, lakes in the desert.

Statute of Hugo O'Conor on Lawn of Manning House in Tucson, AZ

Located in southern Arizona less than 100 miles from the Mexican border, the city of Tucson Arizona is very much a part of the American Southwest.

Unlike some the newer cities and developments in the southwest, Tucson’s roots go back to the early days of Spanish rule (actually they go back much further but that’s another story).  From Texas to California, this entire area was once a part of the Spanish colony of New Spain.  For a few years following the end of the Seven Years (also known as the French and Indian War) in 1763 the entire southern portion of the United States from Florida to California plus the Mississippi Valley was ruled by Spain.

This is not news to anyone familiar with American history.  However, what may be a surprise is the fact that for some of those few years following the end of the Seven Years War the area from the Mississippi Valley to California was governed by two Irish cousins, Hugh O’Connor who was the acting governor of Texas and the territories extending to California, and Alexander O’Reilly who was governor of the Louisiana Territory (the area that Napoleon Bonaparte took from Spain and then sold President Thomas Jefferson for the United States in 1803 in what became known Louisiana Purchase).

Both of these men were born and raised in Ireland and left due to lack of opportunities for the Irish in British ruled Ireland at the time.  O’Reilly, who was older left first and joined the Spanish Army as an officer.  His younger cousin Hugh O’Conor joined him later and both spent their entire careers in the service of Spain in the New World.

However, for Tucson it is Hugh (or Hugo as he is known in former Spanish Tucson) O’Conor is the cousin best remembered as it was Hugo, in 1775 a year before the Thirteen Colonies, located on the other side of the continent, declared their independence and became the United States, who is responsible for the selection of the area located in what is now Downtown Tucson as the site of the new presidio (fort) to defend the northern border of New Spain.

It didn’t take long for settlers to follow soldiers and the area around the presidio soon became a city.  Tucson grew and it wasn’t long before this defense outpost eclipsed Tubac, the Spanish territorial capital, as the premier city in the territory.

As for Hugo O’Conor, duty called and he was forced to move on once the construction of the presidio was under way as on his shoulders rested responsibility for defending the long northern border of New Spain against ongoing attacks from Apache and Comanche Indians.

In 1777 O’Conor’s health began to fail and he asked to be relieved of his command.  His request was granted but, instead of retiring, he was promoted to Brigadier General and made governor of the Yucatán province in Mexico.  It was in the Yucatán where, in 1779,  his health finally gave out and he died.

However, despite his short stay in Tucson, the city he founded has never forgotten him.  Today his statute graces lawn of  Tucson’s historic Manning House and his portrait adorns one of the walls of the city’s Downtown Library.

March 19, 2010

The Auction Oak

The Texas Congress, on January 14, 1839, directed Mirabeau B. Lamar to select a new site as the location for the capitol of the Texas Republic, which should be north of the San Antonio Road, and between the Colorado and Trinidad rivers.

The new capitol was to be named in honour of Stephen F. Austin, and Judge Edwin Waller, who was a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, was chosen as the Republic’s agent. Waller and a surveyor, William H. Sandusky, arrived in what is now the city of Austin in May, 1839, and along with 200 construction workers, laid out the future capitol of the Texas Republic, including streets, a university, a hospital, government buildings, and home sites. Under these oak trees, the Sheriff of Bastrop, Charles King, auctioned off 301 lots of land, for the combined total of $182,585, almost the sum needed to construct the government buildings necessary for the new capitol. These trees are listed in Famous Trees of Texas.

If you sew, or do crafts involving fabric, on your next trip to Dallas, Texas, you should make the time to stop by some of the best wholesale fabric shopping businesses in the country. I’m talking, of course, about the famous discount district in Dallas off of Harry Hines Boulevard, which is where clothing designers, interior decorators, and other bulk users of fabrics sell off their unused fabric, and you can get it at wholesale prices or less!

Not only can you buy fabric, but you can buy everything and anything associated with sewing, upholstery, garments and crafts–notions, patterns, trim, buttons, foam for cushions, pillow forms, and more. These are not the “discount” fabric stores like you may have seen, but the true bargains.

For example, pintucked silk is not available at all in the “consumer stores”–the ones you get coupons for. In the so-called “discount” retailers that I shopped (where most interior decorators get their fabrics), I compared the price of pintucked silk. It averaged about $70 per yard–very pricey! At these stores that I shopped on this tiny street off of Harry Hines Boulevard, the exact same silk was $28 per yard, with a faux pearl added at each corner. And if I wanted certain colours, I could get it on clearance at the same stores for $4.99 a yard!

So don’t miss out on the fabric and trim bargains of your life–if you’re in Dallas, plan a day trip to stop by and save. You’ll need a van to carry all your finds home!

Situated  in the middle of the little town of Sacaton, Arizona is the Matthew B Juan – Ira H Hayes Veterans Memorial Park.

Many small towns in the United States have such parks honoring their veterans.  However, unlike a monument listing those from the town who gave their lives in the defense of their nation, this park is dedicated to just two men from the town.  One each from World War I and World War II.

Unlike most small town war memorials which honor heroes whose names are recognized only by citizens of the town, the two men honored in this park are known as heroes beyond the town limits.

Ira H. Hays, of course was one of the five Marines immortalized in Joe Rosenthal’s famous photo, and the Washington, D.C. monument based upon that photo, of the American flag being raised atop Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima during the battle for that island during World War II.

Ira Hayes survived World War Two and returned to his hometown of Sacaton which is situated on the Gila Indian Reservation.   However, his horrible memories of that war and the fallen comrades who didn’t return with him, drove him to an early death from alcoholism.

Matthew B. Juan, on the other hand, is not as well known as Ira Hayes, but he, too, is known beyond the borders of his home town of Sacaton on the Gila Indian Reservation.  Unlike, Ira Hayes, he never left the battlefield on which he fought.

Matthew Juan was drafted early in World War I and was among the first American troops to arrive at the front in France during World War I.   While engaged in the Battle of Cantingy in France on May 28, 1918 he was hit by an enemy bullet and killed.

Matthew Juan is remembered because he was the first American soldier from Arizona, which had not been a state until a mere six years earlier (February 14, 1912) when was admitted to the union as the last of the lower 48 states.

Like Ira Hayes, Matthew Juan was a member of the Pima tribe.  Both of these men were from the same town and same tribe but were but two of many Native Americans who served their country in combat in World War One and World War Two.   And both of them are remembered and honored with monuments in the park in Sacaton, Arizona that bears both of their names.

The Braches house, built in 1843, was a replacement for a log house built by Sarah Ann and Bartlett D. McClure in 1831, which was destroyed in the “Runaway Scrape.” The house is about eight miles east of Gonzales, Texas, and is built in the Greek Revival style.

The property is also the location of the famous Sam Houston or Runaway Scrape Oak, the live oak tree under which Sam Houston gave the order to the Texas army to retreat from the Mexican forces after the fall of the Alamo.

The Braches house is open for tours from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the last Saturday of April, May and July; the first Saturday and Sunday of October (“Come and Take It” Day); the first Saturday and Sunday of December; or by appointment, which can be made by calling (800) 892-0214, or visiting the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce, located inside the Gonzales Jail Museum.) Admission is $3 adults; $1 for children under 12.

The Latino Cultural Center in Dallas showcases Latino performing arts, visual art, film and theatre. It was designed by famous international architect Ricardo Legorreta and opened its doors on September 16, 2003. The Latino Cultural Center comprises a three hundred seat theater, a multipurpose room, an art gallery, and a sculpture courtyard in the 27,000 square foot building. Educational events are offered for adults and children throughout the year.

The Latino Cultural Center is open from Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission to the facility is free, although fees may be charged for classes and special events. Tours of the facility are available on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., by scheduling in advance, or by appointment. The tours are also free of charge, and run from thirty to forty-five minutes.