In the ‘Wizard Of Oz’ Dorothy goes home by clicking her red shoes together and saying “There's no place like home”. It’s a bit longer and more complicated for us. Sybil doesn’t have magic red shoes but we do have a magic red Jeep which should do the job. We get up early and have a fine breakfast at the Strater Hotel, another thing to like about the hotel. We have a long drive back, we have to cover back in one day what took us 6 going out. We climb up the long road from Durango towards Cortez, fortunately although it's cold outside the sky is clear and the roads are dry. We make good time and cruse through Cortez without stopping. If it were lunch time we would be locking up our brakes to eat at Once Upon A Sandwich but not today with ‘miles to go before we eat’. We grab some quick lunch in Kayenta, about half way in our journey. We find ourselves on the road to the geographically true point of the four corners. It is a tourist spot owned by the Navajo, but it is the center point of our trip so we stop for pictures. We step from Colorado into Utah and into New Mexico and when we step into Arizona we gain back the hour we lost earlier in the week.
Despite Sybil & Henry saying we really don’t want to stop in Tuba City Susan spies a hand made sign for Mary's bead shop a mile down the road. In a most nondescript house is a little gem of a bead shop and both Susan and Sybil manage to support the local economy by buying some really interesting jewelry. We press on to Flagstaff, where it is high and cold. We ponder stopping for coffee but Jerome is calling us home. We do stop to gather food for dinner in Sedona but as the sun is setting we climb the hill into Jerome and home.
It has been seven days and over 1,000 miles. But all those miles, places, and smiles are carried back with us. We look at each other and everyone looks tired and happy to be home but also there seems to be a deeper glow that says we were glad to have gone on this road trip. And it looks like Sybil had a really good birthday.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Decisions And Trade Offs
We had originally planned to visit Mesa Verde but have changed our plans and will make arrangements to take a ride on the Durango & Silverton Rail Road. We will miss Mesa Verde but with the latest dump of snow it may be more difficult to get around and only a limited part of the park is open in the winter. We feel soaked and pampered in Pagosa Springs but leaving is a road trip of the less desirable kind. It is cold, 17 degrees, and gets down to 14 as we climb over a couple passes. The road has a light covering of snow and there is ice in a lot of places. It is nice to have 4 wheel drive and good snow tires but we know there is nothing that really works on ice. We travel well under the normal speed limit eating into the time we have to meet the train. Before one curve there is an emergency vehicle with lights flashing to warn us to slow down. Around the bend is an ambulance and other rescue vehicles for a single car that just went off the road. On down the road a service truck ahead of us tries to stop for a red light and slid into the intersection. We press on and just make our train despite having allowed a lot of extra time.
The rail trip exceeds our high expectations. It is a wonderful day, although cold it is clear and there is a light dusting of new snow on the mountains. The route leaves Durango and climbs along the Animus River. It is picturesque before it turns stunning. There are deep gorges and narrow clearances. The rock walls are closer than any Disney ride and the conductor frequently reminded the passengers to keep their arms and heads inside the cars but it doesn’t require much reinforcement. We see mule deer, a mountain goat and countless prairie dogs but miss the bear that has been sited on several previous trips. This rail route is one of the most amazing in the world comparable to the Copper Canyon Mexico route and the Yukon Pass route in Alaska. The trains are original steam trains and run on good old coal. Another instruction for the staff is to keep your eyes covered if in the open observation car, embers are a part of this journey as is the sound of steam and the smell of burning coal. The cars we ride in are over 100 years old and the engine is from the 1920s. We are tired from our travels but there is a tension between dozing off to the gentle rhythm of the train ride and wanting to be wide awake to take in every aspect of the natural environment. After our return to Durango, Sybil & Susan go shopping in the great shops in the town. Both manage to find new shoes in this place. We are staying at the Strater Hotel, also over 100 years old but in great shape. Each room is restored to look old but newly efficient. The stairs are so steep they would never be approved by modern designers.
We find a great place for dinner, the Cypress Café, then Sybil and Henry wrap up their evening by going off to the Palace Hotel for desert.
The rail trip exceeds our high expectations. It is a wonderful day, although cold it is clear and there is a light dusting of new snow on the mountains. The route leaves Durango and climbs along the Animus River. It is picturesque before it turns stunning. There are deep gorges and narrow clearances. The rock walls are closer than any Disney ride and the conductor frequently reminded the passengers to keep their arms and heads inside the cars but it doesn’t require much reinforcement. We see mule deer, a mountain goat and countless prairie dogs but miss the bear that has been sited on several previous trips. This rail route is one of the most amazing in the world comparable to the Copper Canyon Mexico route and the Yukon Pass route in Alaska. The trains are original steam trains and run on good old coal. Another instruction for the staff is to keep your eyes covered if in the open observation car, embers are a part of this journey as is the sound of steam and the smell of burning coal. The cars we ride in are over 100 years old and the engine is from the 1920s. We are tired from our travels but there is a tension between dozing off to the gentle rhythm of the train ride and wanting to be wide awake to take in every aspect of the natural environment. After our return to Durango, Sybil & Susan go shopping in the great shops in the town. Both manage to find new shoes in this place. We are staying at the Strater Hotel, also over 100 years old but in great shape. Each room is restored to look old but newly efficient. The stairs are so steep they would never be approved by modern designers.
We find a great place for dinner, the Cypress Café, then Sybil and Henry wrap up their evening by going off to the Palace Hotel for desert.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Pagosa Springs
Today is the day! Time to relax and play. We get up early and walk into town for breakfast. Its snowing! All around us flakes of snow slowly descend bring a magic to an already exotic place. After breakfast Sybil & Susan head off for their massage and mud wrap. Henry & I get to relax and catch up on reading and internet sites. We get a call a while later and join Sybil & Susan in the middle pool, it is hot but not too hot, maybe we should call it the ‘baby bear’ pool--just right. After an afternoon nap, what a luxury, we hike around the natural pools along the river where the mineral water emerges. We get a recommendation on a place for dinner and it is a winner. It is the Pagosa Brewery and in addition to a wide range of beers produced on the site they have fresh salmon fish and chips, draft root beer and other great food. It is also a fund raiser for the local United Way so it is packed and a real party atmosphere despite being just late afternoon on a weekday. And then, even better we get a recommendation for desert and it is so good that we mentally mark the Alley House as a place we will not miss should we ever get back here. Sybil reflected on how lucky she feels to be alive in this place. How many people are hungry in the world and how many people will never get to visit places as wonderful as this. It is a good day for her and a good day for all of us.
Long Travel Day
We are up at dawn to watch the sunrise over the mesa, Monument Valley slowly comes into its colors. We head out in search of adventure and good coffee. As we make the San Juan river bridge and turn into Mexican Hat we spy a café/coffee shop and pull in to recharge with hot chocolate and coffee. I’m trying to think of something nice to say but it was just awful. The Changing Woman from Canyon de Chelly really needs to franchise around the area, there has been no competition for good coffee. Later in Mexican Hat we stop long enough to get a picture of the rock formation which gives the town its name. Along our route we decide to go to Hovenweep which was not in our original plan. It is not too much of a detour and we are glad to explore this ancient site when it is fairly empty. There are square and round towers scattered around this small stream. There are miles of empty mesa and suddenly there is this small crack of a stream and people chose to live here. And they have been here a long time some ruins are from 350 AD. It looks like such an inviting place to live that it is easy to engage with the mystery of why the people ever left here.
From Hovenweep we take a back road to Cortez CO. The ranger said we could go one of two roads one would encounter cows and the other deer. We took the deer route but did not see any. The ranger said at dusk this is a dangerous road because of the deer and he commonly sees 40 to 60 of them on his drive into the park on this route.
In Cortez we find a sandwich place from our GPS system. It looks unpromising from the outside, like an ice cream place that makes a couple grilled chese sandwiches and calls itself a restaurant. Boy were we in for a surprise. The food is local and great. We have sodas that are hand made in the area, and Susan has great New Mexico quality pasole. The pasole is a surprise because it is so good and the cook does not actually like pasole. We weren’t going to have desert until we saw them delivered to another table. We give in and order an apple pie and ice cream for Sybil & Henry and a chocolate dipped strawberry cake for Susan & Frank. We waddle out the door and promise to have a light dinner. Cortez is a charming town but we press on to Durango. Another charming town. We check out the hotel we will be staying at in a couple days and notice interesting shops & restaurants to explore on our return.
Pagosa Springs is another world. Like Cortez and Durango is a one time mining town which now mostly lives off of tourists but is has hot springs which has made it a destination place for some time. The sulfur scented water comes out of the ground at 160 degrees all year round. Our hotel/spa has three pools; warm, warmer and hot. If there were not a sulfur smell this would be heaven. Tomorrow is Sybil’s birthday and a special massage and mud wrap have been arranged for her and for Susan. That would make an interesting picture.
From Hovenweep we take a back road to Cortez CO. The ranger said we could go one of two roads one would encounter cows and the other deer. We took the deer route but did not see any. The ranger said at dusk this is a dangerous road because of the deer and he commonly sees 40 to 60 of them on his drive into the park on this route.
In Cortez we find a sandwich place from our GPS system. It looks unpromising from the outside, like an ice cream place that makes a couple grilled chese sandwiches and calls itself a restaurant. Boy were we in for a surprise. The food is local and great. We have sodas that are hand made in the area, and Susan has great New Mexico quality pasole. The pasole is a surprise because it is so good and the cook does not actually like pasole. We weren’t going to have desert until we saw them delivered to another table. We give in and order an apple pie and ice cream for Sybil & Henry and a chocolate dipped strawberry cake for Susan & Frank. We waddle out the door and promise to have a light dinner. Cortez is a charming town but we press on to Durango. Another charming town. We check out the hotel we will be staying at in a couple days and notice interesting shops & restaurants to explore on our return.
Pagosa Springs is another world. Like Cortez and Durango is a one time mining town which now mostly lives off of tourists but is has hot springs which has made it a destination place for some time. The sulfur scented water comes out of the ground at 160 degrees all year round. Our hotel/spa has three pools; warm, warmer and hot. If there were not a sulfur smell this would be heaven. Tomorrow is Sybil’s birthday and a special massage and mud wrap have been arranged for her and for Susan. That would make an interesting picture.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Next Stop Monument Valley
If its Tuesday it must be Monument Valley! I know that because that was our schedule and we are pretty good at keeping to schedules. We depart Canyon de Chelly and visit the local native coffee house just outside the park, its called Changing Woman. Wonderful coffee. The stuff in the park is right out of an earlier era of plain, simple and boring. The coffee shop was a good as our favorite local coffee places and was a good start to our day both in caffeine energy and as an attitude adjustment. It is only a couple hours to our destination in Monument Valley and we get there via a lesser used road recommended by a local road crew. We stop in Kayenta for rest rooms and ice cream and we catch a TV replay of the local girls high school basketball team wining their state finals. The whole area is still celebrating. They love basketball on the reservation.
Monument Valley is the exact opposite of Canyon de Chelly, instead of deep narrow canyons there are wide valleys with rock formations strewn around to great effect. We sign up for the ‘sunset’ tour which starts at 4 PM. We get to see remarkable mesas, spires, arches and rock formations that are named for their resemblance to birds, camels, dragons and various people. It’s a rocky road and its nice to have a local guide to provide information. Our guide had earlier in her life stayed up all night delivering newborn sheep. She knew the local residents of the hogans and could answer pretty much any question we had as she had been giving tours for 17 years. She told us stories and sang a Navaho lullaby. Our rooms at Gouldings Lodge have a fabulous view towards the east and the wide panorama of the valley. They have good internet service, an indoor pool and a decent restaurant which is ‘dry’ and appropriately so as alcohol has caused significant problems for the locals. We appreciate the comfort and wish we could stay longer. But tomorrow is a longer driving day to Pagosa Springs, CO, probably 5 ½ hours behind the wheel and we need to be off early.
Monument Valley is the exact opposite of Canyon de Chelly, instead of deep narrow canyons there are wide valleys with rock formations strewn around to great effect. We sign up for the ‘sunset’ tour which starts at 4 PM. We get to see remarkable mesas, spires, arches and rock formations that are named for their resemblance to birds, camels, dragons and various people. It’s a rocky road and its nice to have a local guide to provide information. Our guide had earlier in her life stayed up all night delivering newborn sheep. She knew the local residents of the hogans and could answer pretty much any question we had as she had been giving tours for 17 years. She told us stories and sang a Navaho lullaby. Our rooms at Gouldings Lodge have a fabulous view towards the east and the wide panorama of the valley. They have good internet service, an indoor pool and a decent restaurant which is ‘dry’ and appropriately so as alcohol has caused significant problems for the locals. We appreciate the comfort and wish we could stay longer. But tomorrow is a longer driving day to Pagosa Springs, CO, probably 5 ½ hours behind the wheel and we need to be off early.
Canyon de Chelly
Today we take to the road. Our destination is the Hubbell Trading Post and points west. By the end of the day we are staying at the Thunderbird Lodge at Canyon de Chelly National Park . We are up but maybe not out early. We stop for breakfast in Flagstaff AZ. We discover that our previous favorite breakfast/coffee/bread spot is out of business. We find a new favorite spot, Macy’s, which judging by the crowd is pretty much everyone else’s favorite. We ‘head out on the highway’ to our next stop and on the way we cover some pieces of old Route 66. Along the road we notice clouds on the distant hills, we realize that it is not low clouds or moisture, it is dust. And sure enough we soon encounter fierce winds kicking up massive amounts of dust. Tumble weeds cross the road and some crash into our vehicle. The news report later says 48 MPH gusts and it is really tricky, not so much for us but a lot of semi trucks have pulled off the road and several large RVs are weaving so bad we try to keep as much distance as possible, they are having serious trouble and stray out of their lane. We come into Winslow AZ which is both in the original Route 66 song and later featured in the Eagles song “Take It Easy”. We stop for pictures of ourselves ‘standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona’ climb up on the flat board Ford truck, sing the song and then head to the La Posada Hotel. This is a grand old hotel, part of the Fred Harvey system along railroad routes. It has been restored to its original elegance. We would love to stay longer but we need to get to the Hubble Trading Post before it closes and it is a couple hours away.
The dust storm continues with us to the Hubble stop. We thought we would get an hour and 20 minutes to shop but discover that despite the rest of Arizona not being on daylight saving time, this corner is. We get 20 minutes to visit and shop and that is enough for Sybil and Susan to find some necessary items to purchase. We go on in the wind and blowing dust into Chinle, AZ and arrive at the Thunderbird Lodge. This is a classic old place but they, and we, have a problem--no power, the winds have interrupted electrical power which means no light, TV, internet and in the cafeteria we dine indoors by the light of Coleman lanterns, feels just like camping. We try to see the canyon but visibility is very limited. But when we return to our rooms we find that power has been restored, yeah! We are hoping that tomorrow will be clear, there is a good chance since it has started to rain. If we are lucky, we can take a jeep tour of the canyon or get in a good hike, we could not have done that today.
The dust storm continues with us to the Hubble stop. We thought we would get an hour and 20 minutes to shop but discover that despite the rest of Arizona not being on daylight saving time, this corner is. We get 20 minutes to visit and shop and that is enough for Sybil and Susan to find some necessary items to purchase. We go on in the wind and blowing dust into Chinle, AZ and arrive at the Thunderbird Lodge. This is a classic old place but they, and we, have a problem--no power, the winds have interrupted electrical power which means no light, TV, internet and in the cafeteria we dine indoors by the light of Coleman lanterns, feels just like camping. We try to see the canyon but visibility is very limited. But when we return to our rooms we find that power has been restored, yeah! We are hoping that tomorrow will be clear, there is a good chance since it has started to rain. If we are lucky, we can take a jeep tour of the canyon or get in a good hike, we could not have done that today.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
In the beginning...
How do you celebrate turning 60? I don’t know how I’ll do it, I’ll find out in a couple years when I hit that age but this is the story of my sister, Sybil, and her adventure of turning 60. And an adventure it is. My wife, Susan, and I, her brother Frank, asked what she wanted and we knew it would not be ‘stuff’ we all have too much of that. But what would she like? She decided on a classic idea: the road trip. Now, she lives in Jerome, AZ, with her husband Henry, which is pretty much an adventure in itself. Jerome is not too far off Route 66. She lives part time in Chicago and I guess Route 66 is just too familiar. There is another classic road of the southwest and this is what we are setting out on, the four corners of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. We are specifically off to see Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, and Pagosa Hot Springs. Although, if our past is a guide, the unplanned events will be as memorable as the planned ones. And although this is a ‘road’ trip we are going in a Jeep which opens the adventure to back roads, dirt roads and no roads too. And if we hit snow we should not get stuck.
Like any good road trip we will start immediately with a bit of a detour. We will actually head south to Glendale, AZ near Phoenix to take in a spring training game between the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. We grew up in Chicago and the prospect of getting to see both our teams is just too much to miss the opportunity. And to keep things neutral I am bring our Dad’s Chicago Bears cap for her to wear. Should endear her to any Chicagoan in the stands regardless of their baseball preference.
Well, it wasn’t a good game. Despite being the home team, being my team and having a better record in the regular season, the Sox lose13 to 2. Well, Sybil and more than half the crowd thought it the game was just fine. I guess it is nice for them to shrug off so many years of the Cubs losing. The temperature seemed fiery hot but was probably ‘only’ 90. Despite loads of sunscreen and liquid intake we leave after the seventh inning stretch to beat the heat and the traffic. This preseason game was sold out! When I was a kid the Cubs would not sell out their regular games. I remember very low turnouts for games and most of those were charity tickets given to local schools, church groups and youth groups. Now they sell out preseason games on the road!
Like any good road trip we will start immediately with a bit of a detour. We will actually head south to Glendale, AZ near Phoenix to take in a spring training game between the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. We grew up in Chicago and the prospect of getting to see both our teams is just too much to miss the opportunity. And to keep things neutral I am bring our Dad’s Chicago Bears cap for her to wear. Should endear her to any Chicagoan in the stands regardless of their baseball preference.
Well, it wasn’t a good game. Despite being the home team, being my team and having a better record in the regular season, the Sox lose13 to 2. Well, Sybil and more than half the crowd thought it the game was just fine. I guess it is nice for them to shrug off so many years of the Cubs losing. The temperature seemed fiery hot but was probably ‘only’ 90. Despite loads of sunscreen and liquid intake we leave after the seventh inning stretch to beat the heat and the traffic. This preseason game was sold out! When I was a kid the Cubs would not sell out their regular games. I remember very low turnouts for games and most of those were charity tickets given to local schools, church groups and youth groups. Now they sell out preseason games on the road!
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