Blue Hole

Yeah...I know...it's a weird name for a historical site!!! It is located in the tiny city of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Which is about a two hour drive from our home and half way to Albuquerque. I had Weldon with me, as I hate all the driving alone, when we go to the BIG city....Albuquerque. We were taking Katie Aunna to the opthamologist.

The doctor said she has to have a much stronger prescription and it is one that requires a plastic frame to hold the thick lens. There are also prisms in them and a special type lens that keeps her eye from wandering outward. Unfortunately, her adorable sparkle glasses are metal frames and can not be used for the new prescription. The good news is that she does not need patching or surgery for her strabismus. It is correcting with the faithful use of glasses.

Back to the adventure.....Weldon and I had Katie,Christian, and Karissa with us. They had never seen Blue Hole and so I thought this would be fun for them. Here are some details about Blue Hole. As you can see it is very deep and gives it a beautiful blue hue. The white and red floating balls are attached to diving cages used by diving students.

It is actually very amazing. When it was discovered, this was a true blessing for the pioneers who traveled through and dwelt in, our prairie. Water is scarce in a natural and clean form in New Mexico. So, to have such an asset here was a great treasure. It is also one of the major contributors to the Pecos River, which is found for miles and miles throughout New Mexico. As you can see from the sign....the outflow is 3,000 gallons per minute. At one point, in my childhood, it was believed to be bottomless (long long ago...haha). Now it's depth is determined to be 81 feet.

On the bottom spews a natural fresh water spring. There are many caves filled with water that divers explore, many yet untouched, regularly during scientific dives. Some go miles underground and are the water supply for much of the area for many miles and to unknown destinations. On numerous occassions, divers have become trapped, or gone too far, and even been lost in the underwater caves. The openings are located all along the walls of the 60 foot diameter of Blue Hole.

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Naturally, the kids wanted to swim in it. But, there was a diving crew getting ready to enter the water and it is still too cool for the kids to swim in. I am guessing it was in the 50's this time of the year!!! They did get on the steps and feel the water. This quickly changed their minds about wanting to get into it.