June 16-17, 2010

June 16-17, 2010

It is summer in Tucson and we are late getting out of town. Today we finished packing the RV, secured the house, and started our journey east. As I drive I am thinking I hope I got the watering system understood enough I don’t kill our orange trees while we are gone. Since we left at noon we only make it to Las Cruces, NM by dinnertime. Not a problem since the historic original town of Old Mesilla has the best Mexican food around.

It is almost as hot here as it is in Tucson. Feeling overheated we make a detour to revisit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Despite the heat, the cave temperature is always in the 50’s. Ah, feels good. And even the second time the cave is pretty cool. The natural entrance is a long continuous downhill hike of 75 stories, kind of like descending into the bowels of the earth. So much so, that is why they filmed the sixties classic, “Journey to the center of the earth” here.

But we are not really at Carlsbad to see the cave again. We are here to see a spectacle of nature. During summer the cavern is host to a huge colony of bats visiting from Mexico. So in the evening we attend a ranger talk at the cave entrance and when the sun sets, a swarm of bats as thick as smoke flies out the entrance. For a solid twenty minutes, tens of thousands of bats circle upward from the cave depths in a whirling vortex. Once at the entrance they stream to our right in search of their nightly meal of insects.

April 3, 2010

April 3, 2010

We took my sister back to the Phoenix airport this morning. On the return drive we took the long route passing through the Sonoran Desert National Monument. This is another one of the three BLM-managed national monuments in the area. It was a disappointment. Signage was non-existent and accessibility limited. The terrain consists of a chain of low mountains surrounded by barren desert. The desert environ around Tucson is much more scenic and accessible. Admittedly I may have given the monument short shrift as I was dragging from waking up early and not really into doing another hike. Plus the new house chores are calling.

April 2, 2010

April 2, 2010

Our blog has been a little slow lately. It is not that our “big adventure” has ended. It just took a big turn. We decided to make the plunge back into home ownership. The house we settled on has been empty for more than a year and is in need of TLC. It is also significantly larger and more complex than our former Lombard home (and RV) making for some adjustments. I can no longer call out for a beer and expect Aimee to pass it to me. It is now a long walk to the fridge. Plus a house in the Arizona desert has its own peculiar demands and steep learning curve. We are gearing ourselves up mentally for the challenge. Mostly it means we have our work cut out for us in the near future turning the house into our home. On top of all that we have a garage full of dusty boxes that are yearning to be unpacked. I wonder how much of it we really want anymore. Aimee has single-handedly been reviving the local economy buying furniture to fill the empty spaces. I hope Obama sends me my new homeowner credit before the bills come due!

Soon after we bought the house, one of my sisters and her family came to visit. Little did they know that part of their vacation would be spent working. They were good sports about it. And fortunately they could toil away under a warm sun and take a dip in the pool if they worked up too much sweat. I did give them some time off for good behavior. We took a couple hikes, panned for gold (unsuccessfully) and paid a day-long visit to the local Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is a combination zoo, botanical garden and museum and supposed to be the most popular Arizona attraction after the Grand Canyon. From one of the numerous volunteer docents I learned the difference between agaves and yuccas. I was disappointed to discover that the three beautiful flowering yuccas in our new front yard are actually agaves which all die after flowering is finished. I guess that puts three more to-dos on my growing list.

Oh by the way we are looking for more friends and family to visit…especially those skilled in gardening and painting.

January 29, 2010

January 29, 2010

The weather in Tucson has been unseasonably cool and wet, one of the wettest Januarys on record. We even have water flowing in the normally dry washes. All the result of a month long total of a mere two inches.

Well today it is back to warm and sunny so Aimee and I decide to get the hiking boots out and explore. We have been on a quest to visit the entire National Park System, all 391 national parks, monuments and historic sites. We are making good progress and I thought Arizona was checked off. Unbeknownst to me this list didn’t include those managed by other government agencies. Turns out there are three BLM national monuments in our backyard.

So today we are driving to the closest, Ironwood Forest National Monument. It is not going to be an easy visit though. The Bureau of Land Management doesn’t have the budget the NPS has. This monument has no Visitor Center and there is precious little to be found on the Internet. I am hoping that there will be a few roadside interpretative signs and trailhead markers. I am disappointed. There is nothing but a single entrance sign along the entire dirt road through the monument. Despite the lack of information we have a very pleasant drive through a virtual jungle in the Sonoran Desert. This place is thick with tall saguaro cacti. We are thinking this ought to be Saguaro National Park or at least an extension of it. Instead it is dedicated to the Ironwood Tree. This slow-growing long-lived tree only grows in this region and has some of the hardest densest wood. Unfortunately without signs, we are not sure which of the trees here are Ironwoods. On the way out of the monument, we stop along side the road, get out the boots and hike along what could be a trail. It doesn’t lead anywhere but the walk is pretty and takes us nearer the jagged isolated mountain (Ragged Top) that is in the center of the park.

January 1, 2010

January 1, 2010

We made the last run to Tucson in one very long driving day. Our only stop was at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico. I was pleasantly surprised to find the place open. We have been here before but our first visit was cut short by a missile launch. White Sands is a unique place. The “gypsum” sand is so white (and damp) it looks and acts like snow. The park even rents saucers so kids can sled down the dunes. Now that we are desert people, this is the kind of snow we like! We spent an hour hiking out away from the road so I could get a few photos with untrodden sand. It was also a good excuse to stretch our legs. So nice to be back in the land of sun!

December 31, 2009

December 31, 2009

After spending a snowy overcast couple weeks in the Midwest, Aimee and I are feeling very deficient in Vitamin D. In search of the sun, we started the long drive back to Tucson yesterday. With the weather looking iffy, we took the straight route. Spending New Years in Amarillo with Aimee’s sister, I took advantage of the stopover and saw the new movie, “Avatar” with the brother-in-law. I was surprised to find it was projected in 3-D. Uh-oh! You need two good eyes for 3-D glasses to work. Despite the poor vision in my left eye it still worked. It is amazing what the brain can do even with poor input.

Based on the previews, it looks like 3-D movies are the new thing. I must be out of the mainstream as this will be my first. But what a first one to see. Avatar was visually stunning. The movie is set in a phosphorescent jungle on a distant planet. It is inhabited by tall blue primitive aliens who hunt with bow and arrow and ride dragons thru the air. The 3-D elements are mostly subtle with no overt objects being thrown at the audience. Yet I did find myself swatting a fly that buzzed too close. This action movie was highly entertaining and the best I have seen in a while. That is despite the fact the story was a rehash of many other films. Sort of “Dances with Wolves” meets “Star Wars”. It is the “New Hollywood” Cowboy and Indians flick where the Indians now win.

December 15, 2009

December 15, 2009

From Eureka Springs, AR we drove an hour up and down narrow mountain roads to Branson, MO. Along the way we passed dozens of Tyson chicken plants. On a tree outside one set of coops we spotted two bald eagles. Looking around we saw another dozen dotting the trees in the distance. It is very unusual to see eagles away from water and in such large numbers. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who like chicken.

In Branson, we planned to spend the night and see a couple shows. We were disappointed to find that most performers have already closed down for the winter. So we punted and drove the rest of the way to my parent’s home in Godfrey, IL. Instead of country music we listened to non-stop Christmas carols on the drive.

December 14, 2009

December 14, 2009

From west of Oklahoma City we rose early and headed east before sunup. The weather is supposed to turn cold so we need to cover some distance today. Our first stop is just across the Arkansas border at Fort Smith National Historic Site. Surprisingly most of the history associated with this site is with Oklahoma or what used to be Indian Territory. Very early in our nation’s history, it was planned that Indians east of the Mississippi were to be relocated to Oklahoma. When the first Cherokees arrived, hostilities broke out with the Osage who thought it was their land. Fort Smith was established in 1817 to bring peace. Later when the military duties transferred west, the fort was occupied by a Federal court responsible for the Indian Territory. “Hanging Judge” Parker presided over the US Marshals sent to Oklahoma to retrieve violent criminals. This story was the basis for Clint Eastwood’s “Hang ‘em High” and John Wayne’s “True Grit”.

The fort is also a stop on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. This trail follows the Cherokee’s forced removal from Georgia to Oklahoma. What makes their story unique is that the Cherokees had become “civilized” by learning to read and write and adopting farming lifestyles. Nevertheless Georgia didn’t want an independent nation within their state borders. I guess I can't blame them. In our travels, Aimee and I also wonder why in this modern era we still have "reservations".

Finished at Fort Smith we drove a few blocks to Miss Laura’s, the only bordello that is now a national historic landmark. We were given a tour of this restored business by a sweet old lady who never blushed once during the explanations.

From Fort Smith we drove north through the scenic Ozark Mountains to Pea Ridge National Military Park. Pea Ridge was the largest and most important battle west of the Mississippi. A Union victory here in early 1862 made sure that the border slave state of Missouri stayed in the Union. Surprisingly, many of Oklahoma’s Indians fought with the South…to their detriment. After the war, they were considered defeated combatants and had part of their new homelands taken away. After watching the park’s film we took a drive around the battlefield. Our stops were pretty quick because of the cold front blowing in.

From Pea Ridge we drove along a very windy mountain road to spend the night in Eureka Springs. This cutesy tourist town is decorated with thousands of lights for the holidays. Unfortunately for Aimee all the shops are closed by the time we arrive.

December 13, 2009

December 13, 2009

From Amarillo, TX we drove an hour north to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument. The tour of this site is open only by reservation. Luckily I checked the website a few days ago. On the positive side we got our own private tour by a very entertaining ranger. After watching the film, we make the short hike to the ridge top location of the quarries. Alibates is famous for flint used to make arrow and spear points. This beautiful stone was traded throughout the region for maybe 10,000 years. The Indians that lived here quarried the stone and knapped it into flat “blanks”. The ultimate “buyer” was responsible for final shaping. The whole area is littered with flint tailings from this ancient Indian “manufacturing” plant. Surprisingly Aimee and I both found the place to be very interesting. I don’t know if it was because of the fascinating story or the enthusiasm of the ranger.

The quarries also overlook the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. This man-made lake was a spot that we have jet-skied several times in the distant past. No longer. The reservoir is 92% empty, having been almost drained from drought and water overuse.

From Alibates we head cross-country into Oklahoma to Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. In the fall we visited Colorado’s Sand Creek Massacre site, which touched off the Southern Plains Indian War. Washita brought it to an end. The US cavalry spent two summers unsuccessfully chasing the elusive Indians. Finally in 1868, they began a winter campaign to catch them when most vulnerable. George Armstrong Custer located an encampment along the Washita River. He made a surprise dawn attack killing most of the braves. Believing in total war he burned everything and slaughtered all 875 of their horses. The rest of the tribes soon agreed to move to a reservation in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

After learning about the battle in the Visitor Center we take a walk around the battle site. It is mostly uninteresting except for the fact the weather was unseasonably warm and summer-like, making for an enjoyable walk. We spend the night outside Oklahoma City.

December 12, 2009

December 12, 2009

From Socorro, NM we made our way northeast to Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Before Columbus discovered America, New Mexico was a hotbed of Indians that lived in condominium-like structures called “pueblos”. These Salinas communities made their living harvesting salt from local dry lakes and trading it for food and other necessities. The largest, Gran Quivara, is one of the few places that these pueblos exist in such good condition. In looking at the ruins I am surprised how small the rooms are, barely big enough for one person to sleep in. I guess they were very private people.

In the 1600’s the Spanish built missions next to each pueblo to try and convert the Indians. It was marginally successful. Eventually the Puebloans, starving from having to spend their time building churches and feeding the Spanish staged a mass rebellion in 1680.

We spend most of the day traveling to each of the three scattered mission sites plus the Visitor Center. Midafternoon we leave the area and make the long drive to Amarillo. There we meet up with Aimee’s sister and her family. To their dismay we brought out the travel photos.

December 11, 2009

December 11, 2009

It is time for our annual pilgrimage back to the land of cold and ice. So we loaded up the car, got our coats out of storage and headed east hours before sunup. As soon as we crossed into New Mexico we left the highway and took a scenic byway north. Our route passes first thru the mining town of Silver City and then heads uphill for almost two hours into a pine forest full of snow. Fortunately it is the kind of snow I like. It is sunny, not too cold, and the snow is only on the side of the road. Aimee thinks we are crazy for taking this route in the winter. Despite it being off-season and way off the beaten track we find we are far from being the only nuts when we arrive at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.


Gila Cliff is another of the many ancient Indian cliff dwellings in the Southwest. It is not large but it is very nice and set in a scenic canyon. Plus the tour takes us inside the dwelling. After our quick two-hour visit we are back on the road. Getting to and from the monument is a big part of the experience. The park sits at the end of a very long and very winding mountain road. Fortunately we are not in a hurry and the pine forest/canyon scenery we pass through is some of the best that New Mexico has to offer.

After driving almost the whole day we finally stop for the night south of Albuquerque in Socorro, NM. Aimee is already missing the warm weather of Tucson.

November 28, 2009

November 28, 2009

In the newspaper this morning I read about a local group called SASI, the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute, having an open house today. The weather is cool and there is a chance for rain so we decide this might be a nice diversion. The facility is located down a long dirt road in the middle of the Saguaro-filled desert of Tucson Mountain Park. On the way Aimee asks what an arthropod is. I give her the scientific answer, explaining these are animals that have an external skeleton, like lobsters. I fail to tell her that all insects are also arthropods and that is what we are likely to see.

The afternoon session starts with an hour-long show and tell of the member’s pets. The first half is mostly innocuous beetles and beetle larvae. They are housed in plastic shoeboxes filled with corn meal. Or at least what used to be grain. Now much of it has been turned into fine sand the scientist explains is beetle droppings. Aimee is immediately grossed out when he says to feel free to dig in “the sand” to find and hold the larvae.

The show and tell moves on to creatures that nobody wants to hold, starting with scorpions. They have three that are long as your hand. Scary looking! Don’t want one of them crawling in the house. Next are a couple centipedes. These swift, armored carnivores are venomous and will eat small rodents and lizards. To demonstrate she throws crickets into the boxes so we can see them run down, captured and eaten. I make a mental note to remind Aimee to never leave the screen door open. At one point the centipede grabs onto the speaker's finger who then flicks it off… directly in Aimee’s direction. I never saw Aimee move so fast. Lastly several spiders and a couple tarantulas are displayed. Compared to the scorpions and centipedes, the tarantulas look pretty docile. If we buy a house, I am going to have to investigate how to attract roadrunners to keep our yard free of our local arthropod population.

The second session is a workshop on growing tobacco hornworms. All the kids are given a couple to raise into mature hawk moths. Interestingly if they are fed green leaves, the worms turn a brilliant green; if raised on wheat germ they are a translucent turquoise. I so wanted to join in the fun and bring one home but Aimee said I was too old. When I was young I wanted to be old; now old, I want to be young!

November 21, 2009

November 21, 2009

Today was the 27th running of the El Tour de Tucson. Getting its name from the more famous event in France, this one-day 109-mile bike race circles the Tucson metro area. We first became aware of it the hard way. Three years ago race day turned out to be our move-in day. Our RV was stuck in a long line of traffic waiting for racers to pass. This year we can enjoy the race. It goes right by our apartment entrance. Just as we walk out to the street, the leaders race by. Incredibly these winners bike the 109 miles in just over four hours. That is averaging 25 miles per hour, on a bike!! They are not doing it past us though. We are at the top of a long uphill run, a killer on a bike.

We watch the bikers pass for an hour. There is a steady stream as some 9000 people participated in this race. Aimee and I don’t mind the inconvenience as we also benefit from the popularity of biking in Tucson. Biking magazine rates Tucson as one of the best places to ride for three reasons: Sunshine, Sunshine, and Sunshine.

November 5, 2009

November 5, 2009

And then there were two! Our local bobcat family moved a little closer today. When Aimee went to wash the breakfast dishes this morning she noticed a kitten sitting on our second-floor front stoop. In an instant she realized it was a bobcat and yelled for me to come with the camera. Soon a second kitten joined the first. We watched and snapped photos from the kitchen window thinking the mother and third baby were hidden along our outside wall. We suddenly wished we had more front windows. Mostly the kittens slept like puppies in a bundle. They came to attention whenever somebody left for work, more out of curiosity than fear. After an hour they suddenly disappeared. It turned out they were hungry and went to find mom hiding in a culvert just below. She nursed them for a few minute, got nervous and moved, and then nursed them a little more. By this time our neighbor came out to see the visitors making mom skittish. She decided to take a walk with her family in tow leaving us to wonder the fate of the third sibling.

October 16, 2009

October 16, 2009

The northwest Tucson suburb where we live looks like any other American town. It has all the requisite chains of stores, restaurants, and gas stations. In between the houses and commercial establishments are small patches of undeveloped, unpaved land. In Chicago and St. Louis these spots would be filled with large trees and thick brush. Here these patches seem barren, with maybe a few stunted trees and low-lying cacti scattered about. Except for a few noisy quail, it looks like nothing lives in these arid plots. Oh, how we have learned that is not the case. They are full of unseen wildlife. And for some reason the desert scraps of land are much wilder and unforgiving than their deer-infested Midwestern counterparts.

I was reminded of that as I cut thru the ten yards of desert separating our apartment from the town hall. Another pedestrian alerted me to a mother bobcat and three kittens. While three of the quartet escaped the heat in the shade provided by a masonry wall, the last kitten basked in the sun atop the wall. I could see her eying the birds gathered at an apartment feeder just feet away. Earlier this Spring we saw a roadrunner outside our window hop its way up a tree and snatch a baby bird from its nest. Two Thanksgivings ago we watched a hawk swoop from our neighbor’s roof and snag a small snake in the desert below. Almost nightly we hear coyotes howling, announcing to their pack a fresh kill. So I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised when we talked to our new next-door neighbor. Her menagerie includes a cat, a dog and several birds. She told us how yesterday evening, an owl swooped onto her patio and snatched away her cat. Fortunately the overfed cat was a little too heavy and was soon dropped and rescued. The Arizona lesson is you had better watch your pets closely around here…. even on the second floor!

September 17, 2009

September 17, 2009

We went to a local church today to attend a town hall meeting with John McCain. Of course the main subject was health care. I was there more as a spectator to observe the controversy than for protest. Disappointingly the audience was pretty sedate.

Listening to the crowd and the media it is amazing how little people really know about this issue. There was more than one comment from the retiree crowd extolling how reasonably priced government provided Medicare is. They seem to think the token amount that is deducted from their Social Security is the cost of the insurance. I guess they don’t realize the vast majority of the burden is borne by payroll deductions on the working class.

Most of the talk was about insurance as if it was the source of the runaway medical costs. Insurance is mostly a zero sum game. It’s basically a cost sharing arrangement between all the clients. For one person to pay less, somebody else has to pay more. With new regulations, people with healthy lifestyles will surely support those who abuse their bodies. The young will subsidize us older folks. Medical insurance reform is long overdue. Coverage of preexisting conditions should be a requirement but only if you have had continuous insurance coverage. Otherwise we will all postpone buying a policy until we get sick. Mandatory insurance should be a requirement. Those who go without and then go to the Emergency room for care abuse the system. Too many opt to forego insurance in favor of soda pop, cell phones, Internet, video games, or cable TV driving up the cost for others.

As a country we need to address medical costs. There is a nationwide shortage of doctors. John McCain said we should attract more talent to the profession. That is not the answer; medical schools are not hurting for applicants. We need to expand the size of the schools and graduate more physicians (or encourage the immigration of foreign doctors). Tort Reform is also a requirement. Medicine is not an exact science and outrageous malpractice insurance is a national disgrace. The country would also be better off if most people had a high deductible policy that encouraged us to shop around for medical care.

What is the most alarming in this debate is how many people think putting government in charge of the largest segment of our economy will solve all the problems. What are they smoking?? Government is the antithesis of efficiency.

After listening to John McCain, it is clear he is not a flawless politician. But a big side benefit of moving to Arizona from Illinois is a huge upgrade in the quality of my senatorial representation.

September 14, 2009

September 14, 2009

The drive south from Showlow, AZ has to be one of the prettiest in the state. The route crosses the Apache Indian reservation gradually descending thru a pine forest. The road bottoms at the Salt River bridge crossing a mini-Grand Canyon. No where else can you get this much scenic variety. Climbing back up to the mining town of Globe we find the road to Tucson closed for construction. The detour route adds almost an hour to our journey. Shortly after noon we arrive back in Tucson ending our fourth summer of adventure. Aimee is thrilled to be back in her nest and out of our "wheelestate".

Because of Alaska we did a lot of driving this summer, putting over 12000 miles on the RV in just over two months of travel. We averaged almost 12 miles per gallon, our best yet. With gas prices more reasonable this summer, our fuel bill was not terribly outrageous. Now we have some time to catch up on chores and plan for our next excursion.

September 13, 2009

September 13, 2009

From Grants, NM, we backtrack a little to drive down the east side of El Malpais National Monument. The name is Spanish for Badlands. This New Mexico version deserves the name more than the famous ones in the Dakotas. El Malpais is a huge gnarly lava field that fills the valley between sandstone cliffs. Driving south we stop at an overlook atop the cliff to look down at the lava expanse. We also hike to a natural arch formed in the cliff wall.


Returning back to the west side we stop to explore the lava field. When lava flows out of a volcano it often does so through lava tubes that lie just beneath the “solid” surface. Walking over the field we pass many locations where the ceiling collapsed exposing the empty tube below. In one case I leave Aimee behind and climb into one tube meeting her at the next exposed exit. The cave is surprisingly cool for just being ten feet below ground. We do the hike with a couple that look about our age. We discover that they quit their jobs in their 30’s and full time RV’ed for twelve years traveling the US, Mexico and Canada. They even wrote a book called “Take back your life”. No matter how adventurous we think we are, there is always somebody who tops us!

Just west of El Malpais is El Morro National Monument. Since this area was Spanish far longer than American I guess it is fitting the landmark names are all Spanish. El Morro is a huge sandstone promontory that was a landmark and critical oasis for early explorers.

It could be called Inscription Rock because many of these Spaniards left their signature behind. “Paso por aqui” (passed by here) with a date and name is written everywhere. Incredibly the earliest is 1605 and is still very readable (with the help of charcoal). After looking at the historic graffiti we hike atop the mesa, see an Anasazi ruin, take in the view and then return to the Visitor Center.

From El Morro we continue west along the Coronado trail into Arizona. The trail turns due south following Rt. 191. We drove that way two years ago and although very scenic, it is probably the slowest and windiest paved road in America. We opt for the quicker route southwest where we descend into a Martian-like red desert landscape and spend the night in Showlow, AZ.

September 12, 2009

September 12, 2009

Our next stop on the Santa Fe Trail is Pecos National Historic Park. Pecos is the location of Glorieta Pass that would become important during the Civil War. Hundred of years before, it was critical for the Pueblo Indians that lived here. Glorieta Pass is the connection between the Rio Grande Valley and the Pecos River valley of the Great Plains. The Indians living here became wealthy controlling trade between the nomadic tribes of the plains and Indians of the Southwest. The Indians of the Southwest relied on agriculture and built permanent settlements in the form of adobe condominiums called pueblos. The park museum has a good but concise history of the area from Coronado’s exploration thru Spanish colonization and religious conversion.

From the Visitor Center we walk the loop around the ruins. There is little left of the large Pueblo except a squarish circle of dirt around a central courtyard. More complete is the mission church the Spanish priests built next door. The pueblo was eventually abandoned after Comanche raiders from Texas devastated the trading business. By the time Santa Fe travelers passed by, the pueblo was already in ruins.

From Pecos we drive west completing our trail adventure at Santa Fe. Needing another guidepost, we decide to follow the Coronado trail. Coronado was the first European to explore the Southwest. He unsuccessfully searched for the fabled seven cities of gold. The Pecos Puebloans had sent him towards Kansas hoping he would not survive.

The Coronado trail heads west from Albuquerque. Less than an hour later we reach the exit for Acoma Pueblo. Having learned about pueblos this morning, we decide we want to see a complete one. We picked a good one to visit. Acoma is nicknamed “Sky City” and claims to be the oldest continuously occupied city in the US. For protection from hostile tribes, the pueblo was built atop a lone mesa. The only access was to climb the cliff walls.

  
After paying a stiff fee, we hop aboard a small bus for a tour. Acoma is a perfect example of anachronism. On one side the tribe wants to retain its old way of life with no running water, no electricity, no sewer, and adobe building materials. On the other hand, they want the modern lifestyle with a new paved road, cars, modern doors and windows, and generators to watch TV. The wonderful view off the mesa rim is marred with a line of modern outhouses. Acoma is a tacky slum in a gorgeous setting. After the interesting walking tour, we opt to hike back down to the entrance station and spend the night in Grants, NM.

September 11, 2009

September 11, 2009

From the Santa Fe Trail we make a detour east to see Capulin Volcano National Monument. Capulin was set aside because it is an almost perfect cone shaped volcano. It is probably the world’s only drive-up volcano. The scary park road circles up the outside and ends on the low side of the crater rim. The crater is much smaller than I expected. It takes us well less than an hour to hike completely around the rim and then down to the vent plug. The Capulin cinder cone was formed some 60,000 years ago when the volcano erupted like a Roman candle sending a fountain of lava bombs into the air.

From Capulin we return to the Santa Fe Trail stopping at Fort Union National Monument. The first Fort Union was built right after the Mexican war to secure New Mexico for the US. Later at the beginning of the Civil War a new star shaped earthen fortification was built to counter the expected attack from southern rebels. Johnny Rebs out of Texas did march up the Rio Grande taking Las Cruces and Santa Fe. Before they could take Fort Union, northern troops repulsed them just west of here at Glorieta Pass. Interestingly the same Colorado Volunteers involved in this battle later became infamous at the Sand Creek Massacre.

The third and largest Fort Union was built at the end of the Civil War and served mainly as a supply depot for New Mexico’s other garrisons. Mostly what is left of this sprawling adobe military complex is the brick chimneys, a few melting adobe walls and the stone prison cells. Through the center of the complex are ruts from the Santa Fe Trail.

We spend the night in Las Vegas. That’s New Mexico not Nevada. No slots to be found here.

September 10, 2009

September 10, 2009

Aimee didn’t sleep well last night. All she could think about was the 1959 “Crime of the Century” we read about in the book, “In Cold Blood”. This true story of a family massacre took place on a farm just west of here.

From Garden City, KS we continue our Santa Fe Trail adventure following the Arkansas River west. After crossing the border into Colorado we make a short detour north to Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. (Apparently this is gruesome murder day.) The last eight miles down a dirt road are a little hairy. If I drive slowly, the washboard surface shakes the RV violently; so I drive fast hoping I don’t slide off into the deep sand lining the road. Once at the site, we spit the dust out of our mouths and we are immediately greeted by a ranger. He gives us a mini talk on the history of the massacre. Discovery of gold in Colorado caused an influx of whites and increased friction with the Indians. After the murder of a Denver family, a volunteer regiment from Colorado was sent by the governor to exterminate all hostile Indians. Whether looking for glory or revenge this troop attacked a “peaceful” Indian group here in the middle of the prairie. Initially hailed as heroes they were later vilified when it was learned they also killed and scalped women and children. This massacre ignited the southern Plains Indian Wars. In listening to the story, I see parallels with the soldiers in Vietnam and Iraq who struggled with the difficulty identifying “terrorists” hiding among civilians.

From Sand Creek, we make our way back to the Santa Fe Trail arriving at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. This adobe fort was built in 1833 when the Arkansas River formed the international border with Mexico. The Bent brothers setup this trading post to barter for valuable buffalo skins from the local Indians. The business flourished until almost 1850. It faltered with the drastic decline in the buffalo population and the rise of Indian hostilities. We tour the recreated fort. It is very impressive. The Park Service did an awesome job rebuilding and restocking the fort. It is a real treat to explore every room. Visitors are greeted by a leather clad descendent of Kit Carson. There are horses and oxen stabled in the rear. Even the picnic area near the park entrance is made to look like a rest area on the Santa Fe Trail.

From Bents Fort the Santa Fe Trail goes thru a very desolate stretch of scrubland before it hits Trinidad, CO. There the trail enters a beautiful stretch of pine forested foothills where it climbs up steep Raton pass. What a change from the flat as far as you can see prairie of this morning. As the RV struggles upward I envision the struggle the wagon trains of old would have endured. On the south side of the pass we retire for the evening in Raton, NM.

September 9, 2009

September 9, 2009

I guess the economy is taking its toll on the local residents. We had a group of freeloaders visit our campsite last night looking for a handout. They honked at me about the ills of capitalism. Taking pity on the hungry, I gave them some food and sent them on their way.

When we left Independence, MO, I didn’t realize that we were following the Santa Fe Trail. I learned that fact when we pulled into Fort Larned National Historic Site. The trail was primarily a commercial route. It served as the primary supply chain for the Southwest. When the south plains Indians (Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Commanches) started attacking wagon trains, the US Army responded by building a line of forts and escorting the caravans along the most dangerous sections. Fort Larned, built in 1860, was one of the trail guardians and a center for the Indian Wars. Its mission lasted until rail lines replaced the trail in the 1870’s.

Despite spending most of its life as a private ranch, the fort has been restored to its original appearance. The fort looks nothing like what Hollywood depicts; western forts were not wooden but stone. What wood was used in the structures had to be barged in from Michigan. We spend an hour looking at the exhibits and walking around the fort buildings.


From Fort Larned we drive to Dodge City to learn about the next phase of western history, the cowboy and the lawman. After the Civil War, Texas cowboys would drive huge cattle herds up the Cimarron Trail to railheads in Kansas. Initially to Abilene and later to Dodge City as the rail line crept westward. When the cowboys reached Dodge City and got paid they were ready to relax and spend money. Dodge City sprung up overnight to accommodate them. For its initial half dozen years Dodge City deserved its wild lawless reputation. Eventually lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson helped tame the town.

Most of this history can be learned in Dodge City’s Boothill Museum and Front Street. Despite looking a little hokey it is quite good and is what Tombstone in Arizona ought to emulate. Aimee however is getting tired of these museums and looks at me and says, “Lets get out of Dodge!” I heed the call and we drive west to Garden City, KS.

September 8, 2009

September 8, 2009

An hour drive west, we roll into Topeka, the capital of Kansas. There we visit an old grade school that holds Brown v Board of Education National Historic Site. The name is derived from a Supreme Court case in 1954 that kick started the civil rights effort. Until then the South had ”Jim Crow” laws that mandated segregation of the races. An 1896 Supreme Court ruling had upheld this “separate but equal”. In practice southern black schools were often inferior. Beginning in the mid 1930’s the NAACP recruited legal scholars to slowly chip away at the laws. They began with lawsuits against professional and graduate schools where duplicate equal facilities would be cost prohibitive. Eventually they filed five test cases that made their way to our highest court. This time the Supreme Court reversed its stand and ruled that separate is inherently unequal. Despite the ruling, it took many years and US troops to enforce the ruling in the South. We learned about that legacy when we visited Central High Historic Site in Little Rock last Christmas.

From Topeka we drive another hour west to Abilene, KS, boyhood home of Dwight Eisenhower. We spend a couple hours going thru his presidential museum. It is outstanding. Compared to Truman and probably most presidents, Eisenhower was well prepared for his term in office. He had years of practice leading men, running large bureaucracies and planning complicated missions. Few men understood the implications of the Cold War as he did. Surprisingly historians initially ranked him as a mediocre president but now rank him among the top ten. Besides covering his life, the museum has extensive exhibits on WWII. What I found most interesting about the three sites we saw today and yesterday was for me the “missing” history, the events of the mid 40’s thru mid 60’s. It is too old for me to remember but too recent to have been included in my high school history book.

September 7, 2009

September 7, 2009

From Columbia, MO we drive for a couple hours to Independence, MO. This is our second time thru town. The first time we neglected to stop at Harry Truman’s home. We correct that this morning but we are disappointed. First we have to walk a mile roundtrip to the visitor center to purchase a tour ticket for the house. The tour is very short (some ten minutes) and only covers the first floor of his old Victorian home in downtown Independence. The tour guide while not bad seems more concerned with making sure we touch absolutely nothing in the house or step anywhere outside the carpet runner than imparting some history. The tour is not worth the money or the time.

The downtown area is hosting a large craft fair. We like attending these events so we plan on spending the rest of the afternoon browsing. Very little catches our interest in the fair so after an hour we return to our original plans and head over to Truman’s presidential library. It is pretty good. Harry was pretty much a hard-working failure who got lucky only twice. His timing though was right on. His first success was getting hooked up with the local political machine boss who sponsored his election run for judge and later senator. During his second term as senator, the national Democratic Party picked him to replace the current unpopular VP in FDR’s fourth term. Less than three months later Truman is president and he is in way over his head. He has no time to mature into the role as the problems come fast and furious. After seeing WWII to a close, the US economy is rocked with labor strikes, rampant inflation, food shortages and rising tensions with Russia. Harry is not very popular. Pulling out an election night upset in 1948, his second term is highlighted with an escalation of the Cold War and fighting in Korea. By the end of his second term Harry can’t wait to return to Independence and I can’t blame him.

Because of the craft fair the local RV park is full so we head west into Kansas and spend the night at a state park in Lawrence, KS. I can’t seem to get away from these “Big 12” campus towns.

September 6, 2009

September 6, 2009

After spending the last month with our parents we are ready to get home. So after lunch, we left today headed west. We drove for a couple hours and stopped for the night in the town of Columbia, MO. Considering yesterday’s Illini football fiasco, this seems the worst spot to stop. Maybe deep down it is my penance for the loss.

August 29, 2009

August 29, 2009

I have been told one of my nephews has the same mannerisms as I do. Aimee says, “poor kid”. His mother says it must be genetics. I think there is more to it. He seems to emulate everything I do. After he graduated with the same major as me I was flattered. But now he is getting carried away. He went and got married today, on my wedding anniversary! And wouldn’t you know it, he is going to Hawaii for his honeymoon, same as me! Yikes!