Reid's Back

I have not been blogging the last couple of weeks as Connie and I were on vacation from September 3 until yesterday. We were on a driving tour of Arizona and New Mexico that included a visit with Steve and Libby in Magdalena. We saw lots on the trip that I will post on, but thought that I would paste in an "on the road" e-mail that I sent to Matt and others of our blog-family to sort of frame the stuff I will be putting in later.

"Have been on the road since Sunday 9-3-06 on our first real vacation in 3-4 years. We drove to Sedona, AZ that day through 100+ heat, the only exception being Rebecca's town of Banning where it clouded and rained. A friend of Connie's owns a condo in Sedona and she offered it to us for free. We vegetated there Monday, drinking beer by the pool and admiring the scenery. Condo is on a golf course - golf courses are VERY noisy with all the sprinklers and mowers and fountains in the water hazards. But free is good!

Sedona is beautiful Southwestern redrock country but the town is building out in the most hideous mix of low-end tacky tourism and high-end nueveaux-riche new-age idiocy. They were having a psychic fair and you can take energy vortex tours. As someone would say, lots of ass-hattery. Have pix of the beautiful scenery to blog.

Day-tripped out of Sedona on Tuesday to three very cool prehistoric sites: Montezuma's Castle, Montezuma's Well (both cliff-dwellings) and Tuzigoot Nat'l Monument. Lots of nice pix to blog. Then went to Jerome, an 1880's copper mining town perched on the side of a mountain. Interesting old buildings built on narrow terraces or with their butts hanging out off the mountain. Now a hippie artist colony.

Wednesday left Sedona and headed north up-hill to Flagstaff. It was 90 when we
left and due to elevation gain it was 54 and raining in Flagstaff necessitating
quick clothing change. Drove east on I-40 through a mix of light rain and dust
storms as the monsoon Steve has been describing started slowly phasing out. We were driving across the main part of the Navajo reservation (The Big Rez as people call it here) and we turned north off I-40 to town of Ganado where we visited the historic Hubbell Trading Post in operation since 1890s. Connie and I like antique Navajo rugs and these guys have a selection that just breaks your heart. Saw an 1870s "Germantown" style (will have to blog on Navajo rug styles) for $4800 that I couldn't afford. Every time I see one I kick myself again for not buying one like it 20 years ago for $500 because it was *too* expensive.

Drove from there east across the Rez (through the Navajo Nation Forest) to Window Rock, which is the admin center for the Navajo. The town was abuzz as it was the middle of the Navajo Tribal Fair and people had pitched tents in vacant lots all over town. We got a pic of the Window Rock, a cool natural arch, then left town and crossed into New Mexico where we spent the night in Gallup. Gallup is on the edge of the Big Rez and a trading center and we hit several trading posts the next morning buying a little jewelry and a Hopi pot. Then drove south of Gallup to Zuni pueblo, where I was hoping to get access to an area with lots of rock art that I blogged on months ago. The pix I have are old and incomplete and was hoping to get more pix and better coverage. Couldn't get in but was told that Zuni Tourism was negotiating access with tribal members who have the grazing lease there, as many Zuni are upset they can't get in either. Maybe later. Good news was that
many Zuni ceremonials that have been off-limits to outsiders for years (esp. Shalako katchina dance) are now open again and we will have to go. We last attended Shalako in 1981, a night-long ceremonial that is an amazing experience.

The whole country around there was amazingly green like spring, and covered with wild-flowers, due to the late monsoon. Driving into the Zuni river valley through all that and the ponderosa pine was like going to heaven. After Zuni we took a slight detour to El Morro Nat'l Monument. It is a mesa with lots of rock art and Spanish colonial inscriptions, earliest by Don Juan de Onate, el primero poblador, dated to 1605. Again lots of pix. Then drove southeast to catch US 60 at Quemado (the edge of Q country!) then straight through to Socorro, where we spent Thursdaynight.

Drove the next morning to Magdalena, where we missed connections with Steve and
Libby who were headed down the hill to Socorro to bank and run errands. Once straightened out via Connie's cell (mine didn't have coverage) we wandered around town sight-seeing and introducing ourselves to people. Eventually, the Bodios returned and tracked us down ("We were running out of places to look for you!") and we had lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon getting acquainted with their household, and visiting the legendary Golden Spur. We finally partook of the famous (and fabulous) rissott' with roast chicken at dinner. Saturday morning Libby had to work and Steve took us (along with Ataika) to a local prehistoric ruin at Goat Springs. We then picked L. up from work and went to Bosque del Apache NWR to watch birds. Despite a very wet year, they are not flooding the wetlands to attract birds (a scandal) and there wasn't as much to see as Steve had hoped. S. was very excited to see a Rough-legged Hawk down early from the arctic, though. Also visited with hawker Matt Mitchell who has a facility nearby.

Sunday morning, we took the dogs to a field just north of town, the first time the two pups had been out. They dogs put up two cottontails and a jack to get good runs, but didn't catch anything. Our first experience with tazis and would never believe dogs could run that fast. The pups loved it and showed their instincts but were so worn out we had to carry them back to the truck. Will post with lots of pix. Later in the day, we visited the nearby ghost town of Kelly and drove up to Mt. Baldy (10,000 ft) in Cibola NF. Driving down hill saw flock of wild turkeys and collected more ‘shrooms. We drove down to Socorro where we had dinner withthe Bodios, bade farewell, and then pressed on to Albuquerque to spend the night.

Monday, drove to Santa Fe, where we spent the day in galleries and at good restaurants and sight-seeing. Had supper with Libby's son Jack and his wife Nikki. Delightful people and lots of fun. Returned to Alb. where we spent the night and had a business meeting at Sandia Nat'l Laboratory the next day. We are now in Barstow, CA and on our way west toward home. Will blog with pix and more details."


More to come!