The Long and Winding Road and Lessons Learned

 We have been blessed with beautiful weather for most of our journey.  New Mexico and Arizona have so many sunny days - it was delightful staying in both places.  On our last portion of this road trip, it was driving six or more hours each day.  Driving north out of Taos into Colorado we saw a hot air balloon hovering in the morning sky as if calling out a goodby to us!

We were driving into a mountainous area, getting closer each mile.  The land looked like flat, grassland with giant mountains towering over it.  We had a change in elevation from 4300 feet above sea level to 8000 feet above sea level.  It was ear popping!  We turned east toward Kansas and descended into the high desert and high plains. The changing terrain was impressively flat and very dry.  Colby Kansas was our first stop. 

We drove across the whole state of Kansas listening to good public radio stations and commenting on the huge wheat fields.  There were some cattle herds, but the fields were only dotted by a few spikes of grain elevators.  As we approached the Kansas City area there was a change of terrain again with some lovely rolling areas.  Then there was the heart-stopping experience of driving through the very large spaghetti tangle of highways in Kansas City.  We crossed into Missouri and stopped in Blue Springs. Even though the rest of our journey progressed into Illinois, Indiana and (finally) Michigan, we couldn't help but notice that drought conditions seemed to be everywhere.

Every road trip teaches us lessons and this one really made me think about the bounty of land and food in the United States.  I wonder why there is hunger here.  What can we do to improve the even distribution of food to ease this situation?

When we travel, I try to take only the amount of clothing I really need.  It fits into a relatively small carry-on suitcase.  So, why do I have a closet full of clothes?  Do I really need all of those?  The number of hours spent driving leads me to this kind of self questioning.

But, there are also the practical issues.  We are a bit out of practice, not having done a long road trip in a few years.  We need to plan our route by looking at the places we want to visit - museums, events, etc.  That way we will not run into issues like a museum that is only open Thu-Sun when we are there Mon-Wed!

We need to plan our distances traveled to avoid 6 or 7 hour drive days.  If we drive 4-5 hours in a day we can reach our destination with time to see a monument or walk through a museum or photograph a garden. 

We love road trips because we can see the country and meet people and re-discover our connections to people everywhere.  During this vitriolic election year it is hard to remember that we have much more that unites us than those things that divide us.  Traveling renews our hope.  

Next Stop: Taos October 17 & 18

 When we left Tucson, we drove to Las Cruces, New Mexico and then on to Taos.  The drive was uneventful but we remarked on the long (l-o-n-g) trains we saw several times.  I understand why New Mexico and Arizona are decent locations for these trains.  They cross sparsely populated areas with no cities.  The trains usually have two or three engines pulling about 100 cars - many of the cars are carrying a double stack of shipping containers.  It was eye-opening to see this part of the "supply chain."

It was quite a long drive to Las Cruces, but the payoff was that we ate at a wonderful, authentic Mexican restaurant, Andele's.  This is the first place in which I've dined that had a salsa bar - yes, 6 homemade salsas in a range of heats.  When we left Las Cruces to drive to Taos, we traveled north on I-25.  Our "free gift" for the day happened when we stopped in Truth or Consequences NM for a cup of latte.  We stopped at the 7 Mile Marker Coffee shop and ordered two lattes.  We were delighted when the young woman who was giving us the order asked if we would like free cookies to celebrate their 2nd anniversary as a business!  Chocolate chip - we loved it!

We arrived in Taos and, after a frustrating search, found the VRBO that we rented for two nights.  The apartment had pluses and minuses.  It was right in the middle of the downtown plaza area and easily walkable for all the interesting historical sights and shops.  It was small and poorly lit but warm and cozy.  The kitchen was not particularly usable (the reason we chose to rent a VRBO is that I get tired of restaurant food and want to fix my own meals).  We made the best of it - I consider it a learning experience.

We had two major tourist experiences in Taos.  We visited the Millicent Rogers Museum - a lovely place filled with exhibits of art, sculpture, pottery and jewelry.  We had visited this museum before, but they had a new exhibit that I wanted to see.  The exhibit displayed works from New Mexican artists who were reflecting on the beauty, joy and sorrow of the southwest.  Two of my favorite displays were large cyanotypes (using light and chemical processing to produce an image) on fabric and the paintings that one artist did after her family's homestead was destroyed by the forest fires this year.  This museum is a joy to experience with its diversity of expression.

Our other tourist experience was a visit to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  At 650 feet above the river, The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is the second highest bridge on the U.S. Highway System.  It is stunning to view and photograph.  There is a hiking path on one bank and we took pictures of the whole bridge, but the real thrill is walking across the bridge to take pictures of the river below.

The whole span of the bridge.

The Rio Grande below - not looking so grand from that distance!

 

The view from the other side of the bridge - shadow and all.

Looking up from the Gorge to see the mountains with snow on top.

We enjoyed our visit to Taos and a taste of the beauty of the New Mexico environment.  We left on the 19th knowing that we were leaving the sunny, warm country and heading to our home which was suffering early winter weather.  Now for the road back...

October 13-15: Tucson

We experienced a cool down in weather, however, that meant that it was 65 degrees in the morning and rose into the 80s in the afternoon!  It was wonderful to have such sunny beautiful weather.  Each morning I got up and drank tea and went for a walk.  The desert is beautiful in a totally un-Michigan sort of way.  The air is dry and clear and the mountains are ever with you.  I heard unfamiliar bird calls and saw deer and rabbits but no snakes (whew!).  Because the air was so thin and dry, I tired a bit faster but still managed to get in 3.7 miles each day.

The desert flora and fauna are vastly different from what I see on my usual morning walks.  There are no large trees or green lawns.  There are saguaro, palo verde, prickly pear and barrel cacti.  And there are the mountains!  Beautiful.

 

 

We went to a delightful art museum in Tucson, the Tucson Museum of Art, and saw fabulous paintings and sculptures.  I especially loved the paintings of western landscapes in the winter - and not because I begrudge them their fabulous weather! 

Tom and Betty were fine with me wanting to cook - I can only take so much restaurant food on the road.  So it was fun to work in their beautiful kitchen and use the powerful grill outside.

On the 14th we went to a Nature Center, Tohono Chul Park, and toured their wonderful gardens.  It was educational.  In Michigan we think of cactus as one thing but there were many different cacti and garden trails that showed off each variation.  They also had a wonderful butterfly garden where we saw numerous beautiful butterflies in action.  

 

Since it was mom's birthday, we took some time to toast her in the evening.  I still miss her so much.  It was awesome to celebrate her with one of my siblings.

 

The next day one of Tom's friends called and wondered if we wanted to fly out for brunch.  He has a beautiful, powerful plane that can carry six people.  We agreed and the rain clouds did not spoil our fun.  Flying in a small plan is so different from flying in a big airline jet.  I could see how careful the pilot and co-pilot were with preparation prior to flight and during the flight.  It was exciting and I know I would do it again.

That evening my nephews, Keith, Bruce and Wyatt and their families came over for dinner.  It was great to see them all.  Tom's grandsons came running in to give him hugs and they filled the house with laughter, mischief and rowdiness! 

I was sad to leave Tucson because I don't get to spend much time with Tom and Betty.  I loved visiting Tucson and the warm sunny weather.  I think I would rather visit Tucson in the winter/early spring instead of visiting Florida.

 

 

October 12: On to Tucson

 We didn't plan very well and had a very long drive on this leg of our journey.  Just to make it more confusing (but less painful) we drove into another time zone.  Arizona does not do daylight saving. 

As we drove along, I kept seeing these huge, long trains.  New Mexico must be the land of super long trains.  I can understand why this works for them.  They are traveling across high desert land that is sparsely populated with very few towns and cities.  It was amazing to see these trains being pulled by three engines with over 100 cars.

Even with the diversion of long trains, the view was limited.  I love the mountains but the terrain was not diverse.  It took us 8 hours to reach Tucson and we were tired and road-weary when we got there.

My brother Tom and sister-in-law Betty were happy to welcome family and their house is warm and inviting.  That certainly made up for the length of the drive in one day. But I felt like a bad planner to have made this kind of tiring mistake.  One of the things we learned from this trip is that we are out of practice doing long road trips.  We remembered to pack trashy snacks for the road and lots of water, but we did not take into consideration the length of each day's drive and the day of arrival at each location.  When you want to see a museum, you have to check their schedule so that you can visit there.

Note taken - we will do a better job on our next road trip!

October 10-11: Albuquerque

We explored Old Town.  It was tourist oriented but a nice day to be out walking.  It was a school holiday, so there were lots of families also out walking.  We picked up a couple of souvenirs - angels at St Phillip Neri and a CD of flute music.

The St Phillip Neri church is old, built in 1793 and we walked through and looked at all the statuary.  The church felt like it had good acoustics, but there were lots of visitors, so I did not sing to check that out.  The stations of the cross were beautiful, individual paintings.  Of course we also took a picture of the musicians room with all the microphones and music stands.

 

 Outside the church we came across this painted Mary carved into a big old cottonwood tree.

 

Later that day we ordered online tickets to the Sandia Peak tram.  We had a loading time of 5 pm to 8 pm and we arrived right at 5:00.  We waited in a LONG line for about 90 minutes.  Then we saw the tram coming in for a landing.  It was time for us to board - about 45 people!

 

The view from the tram was immense, staggeringly beautiful.  The trip to the top took about 15 minutes. We arrived just in time for sunset.  We took some pictures and then went back to the loading dock.  The temperature at the top of the mountain was freezing!  Even though I brought a jacket and a down vest, I was cold.  On the ride back down we were able to see the city spread out before us and glowing with lights.

The next day we drove out to the Center for Action and Contemplation.  It was founded by Fr. Richard Rohr and offers books, classes and a lovely meditation center in the yard.  It was peaceful.  We sat quietly meditating for awhile and took a few pictures.  The meditation area is built around a 150 year old cottonwood tree that Fr Richard calls the Trinity Tree.  We loved the experience.

 

On the way back in town we drove to the Pueblo Cultural Center.  This museum/gathering space is filled with indigenous art and history of the pueblo people.  There were many thought provoking displays and many hands-on areas designed to appeal to children and adults. We were happy to learn more about the pueblo culture and hear the native languages and music.  One of my favorite displays was the Story Teller.  There were sculptures of storytellers from different pueblos that you could highlight.  Then you would hear the story. 

 

 

October 9: Elk City OK to Albuquerque NM

 We knew this would be a long day of driving.  Elk City was only 20 miles from the state line and we had to drive across the panhandle of Texas and then another 100 or so miles to Albuquerque.  The panhandle is very flat and barren looking.  There were many cattle ranches.  It looked like people lived far apart.  I found it a little depressing, but Texas is a huge state and not all of it looks like this.  As we approached New Mexico the ranch land gave way to high desert.  What I found striking about this desert terrain was the huge sky with dramatic, dynamic clouds.  The mountains loom in the distance and it is sunny.

Even on a Sunday traffic was very heavy, but we found the hotel with no problem.  We  also found the Walgreens - in search of wine and charging  cords for our phones - but it was closed at 6:00 pm.  The sign of the door proclaimed that it was open from 8:00am to 9:00pm.  We'll try again tomorrow.

One thing that has not changed in any state is the vitriol of political ads.  Democrats are evil because they spend money and cause inflation.  Republicans are evil because they support a ban on abortions with no exceptions. It is just not that simple.  I am sure that the various candidates are not that one-dimensional.

 

 

October 8: Joplin MO to Elk Rapids OK

 We rose early in Joplin and got ready to hit the road for a 5 hour+ drive across the state of Oklahoma to Elk City.  AS we drove we noticed the flatness of the roads and fields.  There appeared to be a lot of grazing land with cattle.  Driving through Tulsa and Oklahoma City broke up the early drive and then we started looking for coffee shops that might have iced latte.

I was overjoyed to see the Starbuck's sign at the next exit so we turned and began our search.  We followed the google map and suddenly realized that the Starbuck's was on the Tinker Air Force Base in the commissary!  We took a sudden turn and headed back to the highway, sad and caffeine-less.

Just past El Reno we began to see the famous red dirt of Oklahoma.  This was advertised by the sign for the Red Dirt Roadhouse (we didn't stop).  It was really striking to see dirt that is so brightly red, not tan, not black.

We finally pulled into Elk City on business route 40 to search for hotels and pick one that seemed comfortable and clean.  We drove all the way through town and back out toward the highway feeling a little frustrated and wondering if our happy travel-karma was running out on us.  Then, we spotted a Holiday Inn Express just off the I-40 entrance ramp.  We asked for a room and they had one.  It was nice, clean and quiet.  The desk clerk who checked us in recommended the Prairiefire Grill for dinner.  It was in a former train station.  All the food was made onsite from scratch.  Dinner was excellent - a little bit fancy, a little bit homey and very local.  This stop really boosted our mood and gave us plenty of rest for the long drive to Albuquerque ahead.

 

  Here is a throw-back for all friends who love the play (and have been in it) Oklahoma!  We encountered the sign early in our journey across the state.