Shiprock, Four Corners, Mesa Verde...for now

Hey there! Wow! There simply are not adequate words to describe this day. We left for Shiprock first. I have read all of Tony Hillerman books, they all take place in Shiprock and surrounding areas. Had to see the town and area! But more than that...the Shiprock Pinnacle. It rises 15oo feet above the vast, flat desert. You can see it from miles and miles around. It is a mass of igneous rock flanked by long upright walls of solidified lava. It is very sacred to the Navajo. (http://www.discovernavajo.com/) I can only imagine what they felt when first seeing her. It is no wonder it is sacred. On the way we passed the Northern Navajo Veterans Center and promised ourselves we would go back tomorrow. On to Four Corners. We stood on the marker that signifies you are standing in all four states at once! We have pic. Had some fry bread. I have to say, we have had a lot of fry bread on this trip and the best we have ever had was years ago as dessert after a most romantic dinner in Cherokee, NC. In fact the fry bread just may explain why we have gained weight on this trip. Jeez!! This woman came up to the van and started talking to me. She has a '76 beetle convertible! And the story she told about it. We have had great stories shared with us, have given out lots of our cards, and asked people to email their stories to us! Anyway....seems her xhusband Eric ? of the Rollo ship on the Bering Sea is on the series about the most dangerous catch. You just never know....

We arrived at the ranger station entrance to Mesa Verde. You look up, up, up the road...stunned by the height we are going to climb. "Flossie" balked, on no you don't! I'm not going up that road until you adjust my fuel air mix. OK, OK, we're hot as hell, driving thru the most beautiful country on the way, but! Sammy grabbed the screwdriver, got on his knees, told "Flossie" how wonderful she is and has been, adjusted her mix and off we went. Now, when we mention 2nd gear, we are not complaining, only trying to convey some of the mountains we have climbed! So 2nd gear it is...up, up, up, the vistas were nothing short of stunning. How did these people get up here? and Why?! As far as you can see in all directions vast, colorful, open desert. We drove in 20 miles and saw the most incredible ruins built by the Chaco people. A virtual city built into the overhang. They used ladders, and pulled them up behind them. You can take the walking, ummm, that's not quite the word, tour and go into the ruins. Then you climb back up! We didn't do it, sadly. I think I could have done it. But climbing straight up a ladder lets me understand what "lead in your ass" means! If you can plan a couple of weeks you must go to the Navajo Reservation area. Miles of the most beautiful country you can possibly imagine. I think we were up about 8,500 feet. The road we took back to Farmington takes you through Mancos Valley. Down you go to the most beautiful, green, tall pine trees, river, and cool air! It is just amazing. That valley is just as beautiful in its own way. The air smelled so good, it was about 8 pm, the sun wasn't too high, she just filtered through the trees and shadowed the road. We passed several very lively creeks. You smile...So we're sailing along, loving the cool evening air when suddenly! We smell a skunk!! Now, I know you will think I am weird...but I love to drive down the road in the cool evening and smell a skunk! There is something so real about it. So natural. It was a great experience. We arrived back at the motel about 9 pm. Went next door for a good hamburger and fries (weight gain?) and back to the room. We had been in Colorado all this time and boy was that fun! We figure we have been in 10 states so far. We are over 3,250 miles! We have managed to find decals from most of the states and have put them on the side window. And bless the van for being metal 'cause boy have we gotten the magnets!! Well, that was Wednesday, Thursday and the Vets Center and Canyon de Chelly will come later! We have stopped for the night in Holbrook, east of Flagstaff. Tomorrow we commune with the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. It was really hot today, 108, and they are predicting higher for the next few days. We spent 5 hours at the Canyon today. We also get sunburned driving down the road. The Volkswagen was the perfect choice for our trip. We would not have driven anything else. Signing off now....except for El Escargot 2 cents worth.Soon to be a regular feature.You can't enjoy all this beauty without seeing the GRINDING poverty that exists in the midst of it.This is NOT the way it's sposed towork.Got to stop at the Navajo Vet Center and see them getting ready for their building dedication the next day.Traded my Vet Center T for a pretty apron for Perky(and me).Lots of Veterans activity among the Navajo.Actually saw a vet Code Talker at dinner outside Canyon de Chelly.The restaurant had a room dedicated to the Code Talkers.Way cool>Once more,nice people with VW stories And the beat goes on.More later.

P&El E

Angel Fire and Beyond

I wanted to title this "Tucumcari to Farmington with deepest apologies to Lowell George" but Perky sniffed. sittin in a room in Farmington,New Mexico gettin a Beatles sound track on Larry King Live on CNN.Perfect for my last couple days. NO,my last three weeks. The wonderful THINGS you discover in places you shoulda gone to see long ago.Speaking only for myself bout the "shoulda."Anyway,we split Taos in a hurry due to our fave dog being unwelcome ON THE GROUNDS of our motel and an approaching 300 lb baad lookin cleaning person. Much more great photos than any we've taken. There's a pretensiously funky side to Taos that still has a great appeal. Pretensiously funky breakfast and 2nd gear up the bigass mountain to Angel Fire. Not the pretensiouly pretensious ski area;but next door to the National Viet Nam Monument. Bout 11000 ft and panoramic views. Back to Taos & onward thru the fog.Over the spectacular Rio Grande Gorge bridge (Perky says it Needs some changes safetywise)(you see, Perky walked across the bridge and she knows!) and into the mountains for real. Nuttin for miles but grandeur.Few vehicles and lotsa 3rd & second gear while wishing I had changed the fuel-air mix on the van. Friends, you gotta see for yourself'. Turned into many miles before shuttin her down. Perky found a great motel,got semi-second wind,ate at 11(how Euro)and fell down like.......well,like REALLY tired people. 'Somewhere in there we decided to take today to deal with THINGS that needed us. So we did. Oil change for Flossie, banking for El E. Straightening the van for Perky. Tomorrow we are off to Four Corners and Mesa Verde, the real reason we are still here. We've come too far to miss such beauty and history. Then, poor us, it's south through Arizona, Canyon de Chelly, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, the crater left by the former volcano, Grand Canyon and the Beatles in Las Vegas. Expect to make Pahrump by Christmas and invite you all to come and share Noel with us. No, seriously folks, we should be there by the weekend. Looking forward to the 4th with Chris and familyand only sorry that you won't be with us. Keep checking the blog and please check out the pics. It's must easier than sitting through our showing ALL of them to you when we return. Signing off for now....

On the road again,sorta

El Escargot here.We made all of 75 miles today-BUT WHAT A FREAKIN DAY!!!Perky will fill in the details while I dry off.Some of the most incredible countryside I've ever experienced-Santa Fe to Taos,a piece of truly beautiful America.At this rate we should hit Pahrump by Labor Day.So it goes.



Well! Hello! Where do I start? I haven't re-read the blog so will start where I think I left off! On second thought...let me start with today, Sunday, June 24. We reluctantly left Santa Fe. If you haven't been to New Mexico-GO! We said goodbye to Shelley & Bart and headed north to Taos and Angel Fire, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We stopped for gas and hit the road. Soon we were in 2nd gear, and 2nd gear, and 2nd gear. I can't spell, urrmmm, but it was kinda like that! All of a sudden we were in 3rd gear! Wahoo! We're almost speeding along and to our left we see a river! Wow! It's actually full of water. We are getting there when we are "speeding" by and we see a beach to our left, with about 50 plastic flamingoes!!!! And a restaurant! Eeerrrr! Let's go back and eat lunch. We turned around and discovered it's the Rio Grande! And a place called Emundo. We crossed over the bridge and we hear music. A guy is playing the guitar on a stage in the trees by the river. And there is the restaurant! With huge mountains surrounding us there is the most lovely place you could hope for. We walked down to the beach. Sammy ordered while I let Cody walk in the river. He came back with the best sandwich, on sourdough bread. We had this delightful lunch, listening to music, breeze thru the trees, water rushing over rocks...oh man! I had to take my shoes off and walk in the Rio Grande! Wouldn't you? I must say it was very rocky, of course, and slippery. I thought a couple of times I might fall in. I told Sammy to walk in...how many times do you have a chance to walk in the Rio Grande? He did and fell in!! It was hilarious!! We have pictures! In a way I had hoped to fall in. It was a perfect place to swim, the water was a perfect temp and the sun was hot. So, bless his heart, he got out. Luckily we have lots of clean clothes and he was able to change. Back on the road, 2nd gear again, but not for long. You can tell when you are about to reach the summit, and the anticipation of what is on the other side of the rise, well, you can just imagine. But I can tell you, unless you have driven that road, your imagination will fall very short. It was nothing short of spectacular. There before us were the 13,ooo foot mountain ranges, a wide, wide vista with the Rio Grande Gorge in the middle. Storms over the mountains, rain falling from the clouds, a camera cannot possibly copy it. There was a pull off. With a little stand selling elk and buffalo jerky! Of course we pulled over and got some and watched the most awesome sight I have ever seen. Back on the road, the wind was blowing fiercely, the van was rocking, and we were gawking! Shortly we arrived in Taos. Oh my~ We are also planning to go to Angel Fire but the weather is not inviting us to continue. So, aw gee, guess we'll have to spend the night in Taos. We find the Kachina Best Western. Complete with Kiva Indian dancing at 8 pm on the grounds. Mountain trout with pinon nuts, fresh vegetables, for supper. OK, we have died and gone to heaven! There was a slight glitch...this Best Western does not take pets. We didn't know that until after we checked in. Oh Cody. You little shit! We were trying to hide him, and he chose this time to really show his separation anxiety. Bark, bark, bark. Hopefully, the beautiful drumming will drown him out. We do not want to be thrown out of the best place we have stayed so far! We went to dinner and the dancing. When we got back to the room, the 4 bikers next door, Sammy had talked to earlier, said Cody was having a bad time.. Jeez! But all is well now because we are back in the room and he is quiet. I had to sneak him in the van, drive up the road to take him to "relieve" himself. Well, folks, it's time for bed. Will finish tomorrow.

The road into Santa Fe is beautiful. New Mexico is stunningly beautiful. A couple of most wonderful things....talking on a cell phone while driving is AGAINST THE LAW!!! Whoopee! And...there is a building height limit!! Double whoopee!! We didn't see any building over 3 stories, and those were rare! All the architecture is pueblo design and so enchanting. Can you imagine how Tampa, or your town, would look if the tallest building was only 3 stories?! You can see for miles in all directions. We had a wonderful visit with Shelley & Bart. Their house is to die for. Pueblo design, high, high, ceilings, wood beams, terrace overlooking the hills, patio that is lovely, a very comfortable home. They were very gracious. Our first night Shelley cooked us all steaks and we carried on until rather late. Shelley & I went sightseeing each day. I saw their land, high hill area. Can see why they wanted it. She took me to Madrid. An old coal mining town, which was obviously settled by hippies back in the day. Not very yuppiefied. The buildings are still the old ones. Out houses. One store had "our" kind of bumper stickers. I am sooo excited! I bought one that said..."Where have all the hippies gone?" It's on the front bumper! Sammy had bought a sticker before we left home that said, "All who wander are not lost." The store had the tee shirt!! Happy Father's Day! I connected with my sweet cousin Karen. She has lived in Santa Fe since 1981. We all went to Gabriel's restaurant for dinner. The food in New Mexico is wonderful. What a great time we had with Bart's friends, Brian & Gene, who drove the moving truck out with all their "stuff." The gang of us had a great time. Fabulous margaritas! The next morning we started early and got a lot of their stuff unpacked. Great fun! Sammy & Bart stayed home and Shelley and I took off.

AT&SF

Here we is in Santa Fe at the lovely new home of Bart&Shelley.One lesson learned-always cross Texas thru the Panhandle&Amarillo.A real "duh" when you look at a map.aginghipez's Public Gallery - AOL Pictures.Click here for pix.More to follow.For loads of laughs and insight into a really deranged philosopher's mind tryBelievable Liesold friend Neil Crabtree will rock you.


Santa Fe is some town,kids.Bart&Shelley(B&S)have a great place with incredible views.Soon come pix.It gets hot in the afternoon but mornings&evenings are cool and glorious.The day we arrived,two friends of B&S,Brian&Gene got here with all the household goodies in a 28ft truck.They made it from Tampa in 2 1/2 days.Took us 2 1/2 weeks!!Brian&Gene are great guys and we passed a lovely evening at Rancho B&S,drinking wine & eating steak.Life on the road is hard.Been touristaing around since then.Had the best mole' I've ever had!(Sorry,Angelica)I'll sign off&get on with my chores and let Perky fillin the gaps.Shelley&Perky been too busy bonding to post so this is it till we light somewhere in Northern New Mexico this evening.Off to Taos&Angel Fire,a Viet Nam memorial at 11,000 ft.Then Ship Rock and Four Corners.We hope to arrive in Pahrump before the 4th.Thinking of you all.Latex

Happy Solstice!!

Good morning! Could not finish last night...way too tired! Not sure where I stopped...so repeats are possible. Eureka Springs is the most wonderful place. We had a hard time leaving. We visited the Quigley Castle. Not a castle that you have in mind. A house that this lady built out of rocks in the area. The house has 28 huge windows...maybe 5'x15' . Built entirely of lumber on the land too. She wanted to bring nature indoors so 4' of bare earth was left between the living space and the walls. Mrs Quigley planted flowering, tropical plants that grow up to the 2nd floor! What a brilliant idea!! The plants are over 55 years old now. The gardens are a dream. Her rock gathering cemented in the most wonderful designs. She collected fossils, crystals, arrowheads and petrified wood and shaped them into her designs. We also visited the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Rescue. Albert was there! Big cats, bears, monkeys....then on Saturday we attended an honest to god Pow Wow. I have been to Pow Wows before, but not like this. The drumming touched your soul. The regalia I have only seen in pictures. 2 of them with POW-MIA dressing. The dancing brought tears. Because we were so close to Indian Territory many tribes were represented. What a wonderful experience. We had dinner that night at Gaskins, a former bear hunters cabin. Had a splendid time there! Reminiscent of my days at the Blue Heron. We saw lots of lightning bugs! The flowers were beautiful. Hung out with the owner who is very cool..of course! Sammy did realllll good finding that place! There is an "historical" loop you can drive thru Eureka Springs. The "oldest" part. How those people built there and lived there is beyond me. On the top is the Crescent Hotel. They say it is seriously haunted! How come, since I kinda believe, I never get to see the ghosts? The grounds of the hotel are glorious...lots of weddings held there. I took pictures of some of the houses..all I can say is WOW. I have never seen homes like these. Sadly, it was time to leave. No wonder we have been on the road 2 weeks and are only a little over half way to Nevada! We have such fun traveling. We both love to stop at the drop of a hat. On to Oklahoma and Route 66! Well...it took us a while to get out of Oklahoma too. Route 66 is a really beautiful drive thru the country. It parallels the freeway somewhat and is pretty easy to follow. Saw lots of interesting places. Must say we didn't get very far. I think we did 100 miles in one day. We visited the Route 66 national museum in Elk City. Not that was fun! Got up yesterday morning and decided we needed to get our asses in gear! Did our first freeway stretch! Thought the van needed to blow it out, that's our story and we're sticking to it! It was a good choice. The scenery was wide open! We stopped in Amarillo to see the buried Cadillacs! What a trip! Of course they are now spray painted in an array of colors and designs. Many coats of paint. I suppose the paint is preserving the Caddies, they have been there at least 40 years! Buried in an open field that you can see for miles in all directions! We blew thru Texas, crossed another time zone so we gained an hour - Yay! - and arrived in Tucumcari! The road in is spectacular. You can see for miles and miles and miles. Lots of mesas/buttes...you can really see that this area was once swampy and full of water. Sure 'nuf...this was a dinosaur area! have quite a museum here. We are at 4,000 elevation. Had a very relaxing and necessary stay at the Best Western. We are heading to sightsee and Santa Fe to see Shelley and my cousin Karen! Will post more later. peace & love, the aging hippie travelers!

Addendum byEl E.: Great "Buffalo Burgers," 3 huge wind farms actually supplying power to the grid, more wonderful people and beauty abounds. Travelling in an old van will beat you up.It's not the VW,it's the heat & the wind. Solution:Start early,stop often & stop early. May take a while but it's better for your overall condition. We still truckin!!!

Two thousand miles,two weeks & two posts

It's hard to make spare time on the road & riding facing the stern in Miss Flossy @ 65mph while two-finger typing aint my idea of a good time. Some El Escargot road rules before Perky takes over: 2 day old roadkill is better than fresh Taco-Tico. 3 lefts make a right. The ground and VW beds are harder than they were just a few short years ago. Cell phones are not perfect but then neither are we. Enough bs. The trip to this point has been incredible. Met a guy today who said "There's nuttin wrong with this country-people just don't get out in it enough." The sheer beauty of the countryside on "Blue Highways" will soothe your soul. El Escargot signing off.
We left Alabama and headed for Mississippi. We wanted to drive part of Natchez Trace. We did 60 miles worth. Really beautiful and very historical. Of course my favorite historical marker was Witch Dance. Supposedly the witches danced by the light of the moon, wherever their feet touched the ground was burned and nothing grew there again....so fortunate to see so many Indian mounds too. Natchez Trace is a drive through beautiful pine groves and woods. We made it to Helena, Arkansas that night. Let me tell you...Arkansas is beautiful!! And...VERY southern! Saw lots of rebel flags...The next night we spent in the Army Corp of Engineers campground at Joplin on Lake Oachita. Our site was on sort of a peninsula, lake all around us. There was a bass fishing contest for deaf people. Our camp mates were signing. Great experience. Saw a beautiful sunset and sunrise! The road up to the area and onward was so...how many times can I say beautiful?! We took all blue highways. The roads to Eureka Springs were unbelievable. I have never experienced so many switchbacks in my life! We spent a lot of time in 1st & 2nd gear! There was a spot on the map - Sammy's Throne - it was on a pale blue highway...off the off roads! I don't think we ever went faster than 25 mph. I loved the road..loved driving it. A perfect road for a Volks. We actually did find it. A very primitive campground...maybe 15 sites, someone had thoughtfully set wood for a fire at each site. Another great experience. We finally made it out to the regular blue highway and on to Eureka Springs. Let me tell you...an old friend lived there in the 70s. She used to talk about what a fantastic place it was, all hippies and "people"...she gave us a beautiful ceramic bowl that had been made there for a wedding present. I have always wanted to go there. Of course it is somewhat yuppiefied these days..you know.."they" always move in. It is a very old and historical town. Up and down...how people lived there a hundred years ago is beyond me..how did they build their beautiful victorian houses? Jeez! We could barely drive the "loop." And that's all for now.Currently in Tucumcari and still hoping to bring this blog to realtime. Peace&love

Perky&El Escargot

Stars fell

After an extremely eventful beginning we have arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama! We arrived in Sopchoppy, Fl, at Wally's the first evening. Little did we know what a huge menagerie Wally had. Let's see...1 mule, 30ish Boer goats, 10+ turkeys, untold numbers of guina hens, 2 pot belly igs, roosters, 1 Emu (she makes a sound like a soft drum so you think there are drummers in the woods!), 1 dog...I think that's it. His wife, Shirley, "rescues" baby possums & squirrels, raises them and returns them to the wild. Well, Cody went crazy. He wanted to chase everyone. He paced and paced, became more and more anxious...kept him on the leash, which aggravated the problem. Gave him drugs which did not work. He was so upset all he did was eat and eat. There is not a sound out there in the woods. The stars were fabulous. We slept in the van and did quite well. Had a great visit. Left the next morning. Had lunch at a true southern restaurant. Ate like pigs and hit the road. Cody in the back, laid on the floor, quiet as a mouse...we knew he didn't feel well...We were exhausted and stopped in Prattville for the night. Only to discover that Cody had quietly thrown up all over the floor, the seat, himself...he couldn't walk, he could barely move. Well...we were freaked. Cleaning the van was no little task. Cleaning Cody was no easy task. The motel took dogs!! Our room had a jacuzzi tub...oh my! We hoped the rest would help us all. The next morning Cody seemed better. We went on to Birmingham. We went to Sammy's
old hood and to Vulcan Park, big honking iron man built for the 1904 World's Fair. Then a visit with Sammy's folks at the cemetery and on to Oneonta,Locust Fork and Blow Gourd(swear to god).Best Western takes dogs!!! Great bbq with the cousins-wonderful people we don't see often Next day,switch rooms(jacuzzi again!)and off to the back roads.Graveyard full of Hazelrigs and Swann covered bridge and a revival tent(pix to follow).
Dinner with the cuz's at Phillip and Pam's palatial palace,Ginger,Bill,Mickey & Wesley in attendance.On to Tuscalloosa and Jonathan,Tama,Sputnik,Blue and Dinky,yellow dog democrats.They sure know how to do the hospitality thing.Mucho fun and some needed down time.Manana begins Phase 2 of the tour.Cody is better but showing his years like never before.Perky and El Escargot are fine and really looking forward to the Ozarks and whatever else awaits.
PS:Forgot to mention Moundville,ancient Mississippian settlement.S last visited nearly 60 years ago,first field trip 1950?