This trip has definitely been one of the best ones I've been on. It had the perfect blend of exploring new places, trying new things, and a dash of adventure off to the side.
It brought us through eight states, nine if you include Indiana. Two of them were ones I had never been too, Arizona and Utah.

Finally catching up! Back in Evansville.

The family, cocoa and coffee in hand, is enjoying a New Year's movie marathon. We all had missed the last Star Trek movie when it was released in 2009, and since Muriel pointed out that a new movie in the series will be released next June, it seemed like something to see. I can't believe we missed it! It's a pretty darn good movie.

On Friday the 28th, Muriel and Torrey and I drove up to the Nordic center at Purgatory. It was a gorgeous day, with abundant sunshine and temperatures at about 28. Muriel and I got trail passes, and strapped on the old XC skis. We had an enjoyable couple hours or so on the superbly groomed trails. I would totally recommend the facility! The trails are very well-groomed and the equipment is we-maintained. A very active cross-country club vends the trail passes and ski rentals.
After skiing and a stop for refreshment at Dairy Queen in Durango, we headed for the Four Corners. It was a great afternoon for a drive.
I know Torrey mentioned books by Tiny Hillerman. I can only say that if you've ever read any, he describes the landscape with real clarity and accuracy, and being there seems to bring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee to life.
I'm not sure what I was expecting at the four corners monument, but it wasn't anything like I expected! I guess I was kind of expecting, well, something less like a real monument, and more just like a post or pole sticking out of the ground.
Since the monument itself is on Tribal land, the native Americans have constructed it to serve as both monument to geography, and open-air market. Vehicles are charged admission, and Native American artisans sell craftwork and whatnot from stalls that surround the monument area.
The return trip provided lots of scenery...we thought we might have time to check out Hovenweep, but daylight grew short. Human habitation started there about 10,000 years ago, and lasted until about 1300 AD, I think.
Dinner that night was at Cosmo's. I had a 12oz bone-in steak with all the fixings, Muriel ordered a pork chop that was more like dessert than dinner, and Torrey had a marvelous grilled salmon. A terrific end to a great day.

Saturday December 29th dawned cold and sunny- about 9 degrees! The pups were snug in their new jackets when as we headed up to the Nordic center for some snowshoeing! Bolstered by breakfast at Durango Doughworks, we strapped on snowshoes, and took to the trail. It was very enjoyable, and strenuous!
Snowshoes don't glide! We saw lots of elk tracks, coyote and wolf tracks, and saw where a group of elk had bedded down for the night.

Dinner that night was at Steamworks Brewing Co. Muriel had a HUGE burge- she practically made it disappear! Torrey had a burger as well. I could have too, but but I decided to go large and ordered the "Cajun Boil": corn on the cob, half a lobster, a bunch of crawdads, and andouille. Oink. Washed it down with one "Conductor" IPA, and one "Elephant Rider" IPA. Good food, great beer. Always a wait to get in, but worth it!
Zzzzzzzzzz.
Sunday, we began our journey home. Since there was another storm poised to move across the continent, we felt like we were trying to time our flight either before or after the storm. We headed out over Wolf Creek Pass, and down into Pagosa Springs. We took US 160 for literally hundreds of miles out of CO before veering north to I-70 in Kansas. The two-lane roads out there are great! No towns, no traffic. Near-interstate speeds are possible. We made it to Topeka for the night, had bolted east before 6:30 the next morning. We hit snow about at Kansas City, and it got pretty furry going across MO, but State plows were out, and we saw only a couple wrecks. Heading out of St. Louis, we thought we'd be coming into a freezing rain situation by the time we reached Evansville, but were met with dry pavement not far west of New Harmony. The storm never did seem to reach Evansville.
There about as much snow on the ground in Evansville as anywhere else we had been over vacation.

There's no place like home

Another typical start to the day, we wake up, get packed, and head over to the Durango Dough Works for breakfast. After we finish the delicious meal, we pile back into the car to head back home.
As we go over the continental divide, mum and dad recite to me the troubles of 'me and Earl' as they hauled chickens per Wolfcreek Pass. It begins to cloud up as we drop altitude.
With the mountains well behind is, we embark on the most scenically boring park of our trip: The High Plains. Entering the central time zone, an hour of our travel is successfully drained away.
Even though Kansas is big sky country, not a glimmer of a star is to be found as the sun dips below the horizon.
Turning onto 160, we are enthralled by an enigma of lots I red lights flashing simultaneously in the distance. Mum theorizes that they send signals into space and the lights form a gigantic arrow, saying,"don't land here! New York's that way!" Upon further observation, we discover that it is in fact an enormous wind farm, their turbines still silently turning in the night.
We continue on in the darkness and pass through a town wishing everyone a Merry Christm. The odd thing was that is was like that on two different signs.
Since there is a snowstorm coming in, we decide to drive further than we intended, all the way to Topeka. I napped through most of that leg of the journey and we arrive at the hotel a bit after midnight.

Catch up 28-29 December

Wow...time flies when you're having fun!

Today was day (2) up on the mountain at the Nordic ski center at Purgatory (http://www.durangonordic.org/NordicCenter.html). Yesterday Earl and Muriel took out trail passes and slapped on our 20+ year old XC Ski gear and headed out for a couple hours while I hung out in the center next the the wood burner and added inches to Muriel's Dr Who Scarf and listed to the Four Corners public radio playing old and new bluegrass and folk music.

Upon their return, exhausted and hungry for a treat, we proceeded onto the next half of our days adventure....visit the four corners site :-)

This had it's own unexpected surprises as we opted for an alternate path on our return trip to Durango.

We followed US 160 out from the Four Corners Monument, the official name of this section of 160 is the Trail of Ancients and wends along a lunar landscape that you catch glimpses of these shallow canyons that almost come up to the road but if you were too busy looking to the horizon you would almost never see.

This is the country of Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, and home of the Anasazi. You can see occasional caves in the canyons and petroglyphs, the beauty is stunning.

Heading north on the Trail of Ancients we opted to follow the signs to Hovenweep national monument instead of retracing our steps back to Cortez where we had seen another posting leading to the same monument....figured we could loop around.... And maybe find some Aztec gold (kidding, but I did hear it uttered in a Captain Barbosa-esque voice while driving).

This route took us north and west into Utah and the Ute Reservation on Indian 256 and then back to Cortez on County Road G. All the while able to keep sight of Sleeping Ute Mountain which rises up just south of Cortez. (Earl and Muriel took many pictures which I will add when back at a computer to this blog, however they should be in their photo albums -see page/tabs at top of home page)... Would be an amazing place to ride a bike through and see more at a more appropriate pace to appreciate the landscape.

At Durango!

A seemed like a long day on the road, and it was! We checked out of The Lodge at Santa Fe, and after a stop for coffee we headed up to Taos. In Taos we found a nifty bike shop called Gear Up (imagine!) and picked up souvenir T's and stuff. Then we went to Taos Pueblo, a world heritage site. A beautiful place.
The Rio Grande Gorge was amazing! Bald eagles were fishing there.
On the way to Durango we stopped at Earthship for a minute- we saw these interesting-looking houses! They call their work biotechture, and the houses are made of recycled and sustainable materials. All yours for only 369k.
We took the scenic route to route 166 via NM64 through Carson National Forest. Kind of snowy on the west side of the pass, but we obviously made it without incident. Saw lots of mule deer and elk along the way, and almost hit a wild turkey that flew up.
Well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm bushed!

On our way to Durango

The morning started off normally, get up, get packed, eat breakfast, head to Starbucks. Sufficiently recharged, we begin our drive. As we ride along, we notice something rare in southern Indiana; avalanche fences. We come to a turn, and the mountains the swathed in sunshine. It was absolutely magnificent. The landscape only continues to escalate in it's glory. In Taos, we stop by the Taos Pueblo. We tour around the ancient establishment, and marvel at the engineering and are amazed that this style of living is still used to this day. Feet frozen, we continue on New Mexico 64 takes us over the Rio Grande. We stop and meander our way over the bridge. While snapping some photos, we are treated with a passing by of the Bald Eagle. As it recedes into the distance, it is joined by at least one other.
Back in the desert, we make a brief stop by Earthship biotecture, a project making sustainable buildings exclusively with recycled materials. From bottle caps to tires. After stopping by the main building, we see several houses scattered across the land, some under construction.
Continuing on, we weave through the Carson National forest, blinded by freshly fallen snow. Just as we leave, we are bombarded with bucket loads of snow as it reaches near white out conditions.
This continues off and on until we reach Pagosa Springs, by this point the snow is several inches thick. The sun peeks through the clouds, smattering the landscape with its rays. Deer warnings become increasing frequent as we near Durango, thankfully the only ones we see are far in the distance. At long last, we check into our hotel and unpack, exhausted. A fun day was had by all.

Taos Pueblo circa 2012 from memory of 1973

When I was a little kid (not yet kindergarten) my family (including the Sebastian our Great Pyrenees) would pile into our white station wagon (that was formerly an ambulance ... Complete with hole in roof for cherry bomb light) around Christmas time and head west to New Mexico, specifically to the Sage Brush Inn at Taos New Mexico.
My parents lived for the art and very much wanted to share the history, and being my parents....good food was always involved.
I have no recollection of the food from then, however my mom always kept blue corn meal on hand to make corn bread with, I can remember friends always being surprised by the blue bread.
This trip to Taos, 40 years later was brief and bittersweet. As with all things, change is inevitable, both for the good and some questionable. Mom & Dad are both gone now as is the quaintness of the community. The old part of town that you pass through on your way to the Pueblo is now surrounded by the "great homogenization of America" with "insert chain name here" stores and 1/2 empty strip malls. The old town still feels like a space where you can sit and be at peace while observing and chatting with people you meet, even for the first time. Or browse through the galleries or watch someone at their trade...but with a more kitschy feel. We did not go and look to see if the police station was still in an underground building in the park, I had forgotten about this as we maneuvered through the tourist laden streets until much later.
The Taos Pueblo has been made into a UNESCO World Heritage site, which has brought a great deal of attention to these people. I can remember as a kid watching the children playing in the open spaces, dogs being happy and free and watching smoke come from chimney and adobe ovens alike. Everyone going about their chores and day to day activities, just like anywhere else that had a village square. Now, it is like walking into a living museum where there are no children, no families, no life... The dogs were happy though, but watchful too as though expecting to be scolded or worse.

The architecture and history are still stories needing to be shared so they do not fade away like empty husks, just not certain who is profiting ($ or spiritually).

Dec 27th - Santa Fe to Durango

Adventure day!
Headed North out of Santa Fe enjoying the rolling view and the non interstate pace! What a glorious day for a ride trough the mountains!
North to Taos on NM68 following the Rio Grande river as it wends its way out of the mountains southwards to the Gulf of Mexico, sometimes only as wide as a creek for a driveway bridge to span that you could imagine kids fishing from, to a majestic gorge deep and wide enough to bungee jump into and go white water rafting.

Heading back in time

Today we are heading out from Santa Fe NM to our next resting place of Durango CO. Journeying north up 285 to Española then 68 to Taos. I have not been to Taos in 40 years, I wonder how much it will have changed :-(

VLA Day

Today started off with a remarkable case of altitude sickness. If you've never experienced this, it's like a hangover, except with a much more acute feeling of malaise. Holy cow. Making a conscious effort to breathe as deeply as possible with every breath helps alleviate some of the symptoms. If you can beat the headache, the rest of the day will be a lot easier to manage.
Tonight will be our last night in Santa Fe, thankfully Durango is at about half the altitude.
After walking the pups at Frank Ortiz dog park, we did a little caching. The first one Torrey tracked down was a virtual cache at the east side of the dog park. It was at a plaque commemorating that spot as the location of an interment camp for citizens of Japanese descent during WW II. About 4,550 citizens were held there.
The second cache was a "Peace Cache", on some public land not far from the dog park. It was a really cool cache- literally as big as a 5-gallon bucket. Torrey left a travelbug we picked up from a cache in Fayetteville, NY...the bug wants to goto Alaska, and we helped it along a ways, and this seemed like an awesome cache to leave it at. We also picked up a Geocoin and logged it... We'll drop it somewhere along our travels. Then, off to the VLA!
We left Santa Fe, and dropped into the big valley to the south via I-25. As we dropped in altitude, both Torrey and I could breathe much easier, and, with the help of a couple Tylenol, our headaches soon were gone. Amazing scenery along the way. We took a detour on 60 east a ways and checked out Abo Pueblo, ruins of a Salinas outpost, dating back to the mid 1600's. Nifty! We chatted with the ranger for a couple minutes, then headed on our way. 60 west from I-25 runs over the Magdalene fault...there was a virtual cache at the side of the road there, and we learned some facts about something we didn't even know existed. Wow! Muriel saw a road runner near the side of the road on the way, and we saw numerous ravens, scrub jays, and piñon jays.
The VLA; Big. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see out there, but it is pretty cool. Some of the exhibits are a little dated, but then the facility was dedicated in 1980. Recent improvements include replacement of the analog wire-wound stainless waveguides with 128 GPS fiber optics. They are doing some big science out there, we actually observed the dishes move: when we arrived, they were all "looking" straight up; when we were driving out of the facility, they were at about "2-o'clock", and they were almost at 90 degrees by the time we were pulling onto route 60.

Birdies!

So far, this day has given us many sights of western birds. The count is up to three; scrub jays, Sandhill cranes, and a live roadrunner!

On the other side of the storm....

What a day. Glad we're not in E'ville! ;)
What eye-popping beauty when we popped out of the other side of the storm.
More tomorrow...better wax your snow shovels! :D