June 1, 2016

June 1, 2016

We are up early and out the door for our summer trip back to the Midwest to visit family.  The TSA airport security lines are unreal and gas is cheap so Aimee and I opt to drive instead of flying.  Plus we bought a new high clearance, all-wheel drive SUV and I am anxious to check out its off road capabilities.  So instead of the Interstate we opt for the back roads across northeast Arizona.  It is a truly scenic route along the Gila River canyon, over the Grand Canyon-esque Salt River, and up into the pine forested White Mountain Apache Reservation.

For a break we take a detour to Fort Apache Historic Park.  The Apache Indians' favorite pastime was raiding their peaceful Pueblo Indian neighbors.  To tame their anti-social behavior, in 1870, the US confined them to this valley and built a fort nearby to keep an eye on them.

The Park’s small museum has some displays on Apache culture but we find them uninteresting. We then give ourselves a quick driving tour of the fort starting with General Crook’s log cabin.  It contains a good history of the fort.  We then drive by a couple beautiful stone mansions that served as officer's quarters.  The fort sits in a very scenic valley of the White Mountains.  If it wasn’t owned by the reservation it would be an outstanding summer resort destination.

To finish off our whirlwind stop, we back track two miles and drive another two miles down a dirt road.  The SUV takes the rutted rocky road wonderfully.  I think we picked a good off road vehicle.  We end at Kinishba Ruins.  This was an old pueblo of the ancient Indians that occupied the area a 1000 years ago, well before the Apache migrated here.  Ruins is a good word. Although the archaeological site was excavated and rebuilt, it was allowed to deteriorate again. We take a quick stroll around and then get back on the road.

Continuing northeast, we exit the White Mountains, and cross expansive flat volcanic plains into New Mexico. We pass the lava fields of El Malpais National Monument and after several hours arrive in Albuquerque.  Chasing a lightning storm we finish in Santa Fe in the late evening.  Shockingly the temperature is 59F and we have to dig into our luggage to find jackets.  We escaped the heat!