October 2007

So we have spent a lot of our time on the road. And there are some great views along the way; some of the prettiest and the tackiest and simply most American parts of the country. Here’s a sampling from the road. I will keep adding photos to the top of this post as I come across additional appropriate images.

Just before Amarillo, TX there is a very colorful site commonly referred to as Cadillac Ranch.

Traveling in Tucumcari, NM we found this special tribute to Route 66….

In our effort to experience Route 66, we took the slow road for part of the journey. We were fortunate to end up at this bakery for lunch. Definitely a joint where locals hung out and did business. A great opportunity to get a taste for this place.

We didn’t stop to actually see the “Hole in the Rock” – the sign on the rock brought joy enough.

A short distance later on the same scenic drive, we saw what I would actually call a “Hole in the Rock,” but this one was an unnamed arch, as far as I know.

Driving the high road to Taos brought us to an intriguing site. Chimayó boasts a church- El Santuario de Chimayó- where pilgrims come from near and far, several walk and some arrive on their knees. Many come for healing. Individuals can dig dirt from a hole and rub it on themselves to cure ailments and heal wounds. The antechamber of the room with the special dirt holds crutches and walkers along with pictures and letters from those who have been helped. This room is packed with these relics.

We stopped at various points along our way to Taos and enjoyed the views. Surprisingly, the “low road” turned out to be even more scenic and we were so glad we took this route back to Santa Fe. The first half of the drive follows along a gorge and the Rio Grande river. We were fortunate to be there in autumn because the golden trees were simply stunning.

El Santuario de Chimayó

San JosÃ(c) de Gracia Church

View of the Rio Grande and surrounding hillside:

After a long afternoon of driving, we arrived in Santa Fe. We chose to stay in a bed and breakfast close to the Plaza. And I am so glad we did. We enjoyed afternoon wine and cheese and had the opportunity to meet some lovely people, guests who were also staying at the Hacienda Nicholas. On our second evening, we celebrated with a couple who got married in the courtyard. What a trip!!! We missed the nuptials but were happy to take part in the “reception” sans camera. These two were such interesting people; having had many careers over the course of their lives, they are currently building their sustainable, organic farm in central Oregon. Fascinating.

We also enjoyed wandering around the town and taking in some Mexican food at Mucho Gusto. I am enchanted by the adobe architecture of which the city is constructed. The warm orange tones and the smooth lines combined with wood beams and textures make for quite a combination. Add to that shadows from the beams or nearby trees which create entrancing images on the walls….

I love that we visited this park around Halloween, because I always found the words “Petrified Wood” amusing. What’s it so scared of anyway? As it turns out, nothing. The trees all got stuck in a quagmire of silt and didn’t decompose because there was no oxygen. Then silica filled water leaked in and over time the biological components were replaced by stone. Okay, so that’s my very abridged and not-so-scientific version. If you would like to get a better story, go here: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/naturescience/index.htm

However, what is really amazing about this part, aside from the beautiful badlands and painted desert scenery, was the sheer number of pieces of petrified wood. They were large and small and in every direction and in all array of colors. Very cool stuff.

As photographers visiting the Southwest, we had to at least attempt to see some of the places where Ansel Adams captured his images. One of those places is Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Here he took his famous images of the cave dwellings. We also visited Spider Rock, a site that I surprisingly didn’t know anything about. Spider Rock is a stone pillar that is 800 feet high. I think you may have to see it to believe it, but this is huge!!! I can only imagine the experience of the native peoples who first saw this. It is no wonder they have mythical stories about it.

Just like all of the images I have seen and better. Being in the midst of the massive, red rock formations left me awestruck. And in addition to that, I got to take our CRV on a grand adventure; the road through the valley is 100% dirt. And it wasn’t your nice and easy, happy-go-lucky dirt road. It was a bit rough and tumble with large rocks and potholes along the way. Not to worry. The CRV did magnificently, albeit with a wealth of orange dust covering our previously clean car. And I managed to hold it together as well.

A late evening stop at Natural Bridges National Monument did not afford us much time, but these three arches were amazing. Some of the largest in the world. I future visit will have to include a walk to the gorge below, following the path of the river through all of the bridges.

These are from the second day of our trip to Canyonlands.

National parks unfortunately are not very welcoming to dogs. However, national forests and state parks often are. We were lucky to meet another dog owner who told us about this beautiful hike in Negro Bill Canyon that allowed dogs. We jumped at the opportunity to hit the trail, and so did Max.

We also enjoyed the beautiful drive along the river after our hike.

Canyonlands National Park was quite a site- unexpected, undervisited and, I suspect, underrated. I loved it. The Grand Canyon is a distant memory, as I last visited when I was a wee lass of 9 years old. But it is my great suspicion that this park is, in many ways, grander. Why? Because there were so many fewer people and the beauty was similarly spectacular.

At the Island in the Sky district which we visited in the morning of our second day in Moab, we enjoyed views of the canyons from above. There are 2 rivers- the Colorado and the Green- that meet up to form a larger version of the Colorado. These rivers along with the wind have sculpted unreal scenery. We could see layers of and etchings in the rocks. My favorite were the buttes which seem to come out of nowhere and reach far into the sky. I suspect that at some point in our future we will take one of the 4 by 4 tours that goes along the White Rim Road in the depths of the canyons.

On our way out of Moab heading towards Monument Valley, we visited the more distant and, in my opinion, even more rewarding, Needles District of Canyonlands. The drive to the park was lovely. This portion of the park allows you to view the canyons from within. We started our visit with a brief hike that was as fun as it was pretty. It entailed walking below an overhang, viewing petroglyphs, climbing up two ladders, and walking along the top of slickrock formations. From the top of the formation, we could see the needles structures in the distance and all of the canyon valley. Later, we had lunch in the most unique place. We sat on these very beautiful mushroom rocks and all around us there were more of them. We were the only ones there. It was so quiet and peaceful, a perfect end to this journey.