Wandering Spirit

First I just want to say thank you for the caring comments I received after the last post.  I appreciate your support, prayers and kindness.  We are doing well, and couldn’t be in a better place than here on the farm with Colleen and Fred.  Just a note, I met Colleen and Fred in Arozona at Caballo Loco Ranch, and they have been kind and helpful from Day One.  These are GOOD people.  Folks don’t get much better.

We blew in here with the big winds over a week ago now, and had no trouble finding the place due to this….

welcome sign out by the mailbox.

We are waaay up here in….

where the scenery is often….

like this….

and this.  It’s wide open spaces everywhere you look.

Fred and Colleen have a farm/ranch up here, and this property has been in Fred’s family for 75 years.  Spring is a busy time, but they have invited me here to spend time together, show me the sights, and so I can have some time to…get my head together.

Wandering Spirit is parked around back, where we are living in the house, but WS is just steps from the door.

View from the front.

Sunrise out my window.

There have been fences to repair. (Daisy and Fred.)

And the food garden to plow.

Cows to care for.

Joy and Shiloh have a healthy respect for the turkeys.  They have adapted well to being farm dogs!

The windmill.

The Cannonball river runs through the property.  Here it is at sunset.

Fred and Colleen helped me with some target practice.

Not bad, eh?

We saw the Bad Lands at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Colleen and I.

Wild Horses…also at TRNP.

And the Missouri River near Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.

During this time I’ve been getting my balance back, so to speak, and trying to make decisions.  I’ve kept busy while I think, with all of the above, and I’ve washed and waxed WS and JR (Colleen helped).  I’ve taken everything out of WS including the bed, and cleaned.  Fred put a new TV support up for me, because the last one broke.

We’ve had some Margaritas, watched some movies, I’ve gotten my NCIS fix, and we’ve done lots of visiting. The days have been full!  As far as I know I’m going to continue with my previous plans and go on to Michigan.  I’m losing some of the anxiety and fearfulness that had been gripping me for awhile there.  I’ll try to take one day at a time, as much as possible, and keep listening to my heart.

Joy is hanging in there.  Her legs are weak, but so far she is managing, and enjoying her life.  She has a strong spirit.

Another day begins.  I am thankful for each one.

Yes, I wonder as I wander.

I wonder at the beauty all around me, and how amazing and precious nature is, and how I can hardly take it in sometimes.

Sharing it with you all, somehow helps.

I wonder about life here…and elsewhere, and what it all means.  “The universe is a pretty big place.  If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” (Carl Sagan)

I wonder about Spirit, and ‘religion’ and war and peace and how long the USA can continue on in its present political condition.

I wonder why dogs have so much shorter life spans than humans, and how I’m going to handle it if my Joy leaves me.

JOY

I wonder about compassion and kindness and love and indifference, and about the suffering of humans, and the needless suffering we subject animals to because we want to eat them.

My Wondering has caused me to imagine what this vast prairie land was like when herds of buffalo and native people roamed it and called it home …before there were electric lines and pipelines and traffic lines.  When the Wild grasses grew everywhere and nature ruled …before it became one giant feed-lot for mankind.  And womankind.  Oh!  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s still beautiful…heartbreakingly beautiful.  But I still wonder…

We saw some buffalo/bison around the Custer State Park area.  Wow.

I wonder why money and power mean so much and why peace and living in balance upon the earth mother , mean so little.

Oh, I could go on and on about the things I wonder, but I mostly want to mention my new Wondering, and those are the questions, how long do I want to continue wandering?  Am I still enjoying this like I did at first?  If I ‘settle’ somewhere will I be satisfied, or will I promptly want to go wandering again?

Honestly I’d be happy in a place about this size.

I envisioned doing this for a much longer time and there are still places I’d like to go, things I’d like to do, and people I’d like to see.  But right now I’m feeling insecure and a bit anxious.  Driving is making me nervous and I have a bit of a ‘heavy’ feeling, for lack of a better word.  I don’t know if it’s my natural insecurities raising their heads…because I have a lot of those…or if it’s my intuition speaking.

I think I need some time to get my head together.

I might be quiet here for awhile while I try to sort this out.

Right now we are in Piedmont, South Dakota, just north of Rapid City and on the eastern edge of the Black Hills.  In a few days we will be on our way to North Dakota to visit friends Colleen and Fred, who we met at Caballo Loco Ranch this winter…well actually we met them two winters ago, the first time we went there.

Since we’ve been near Rapid City we have visited The Mammoth Site, where over 100 mammoths drowned in a pit 26,000 years ago and their bones are being studied now.

{I’m having a lot of trouble with pictures right now, so can’t show you all I’d like to}

We’ve driven in the Black Hills near Custer State Park and watched the buffalo, explored Rapid City, Hotsprings, and Spearfish, and we drove through Spearfish Canyon, have seen Lead and Deadwood.

Its gotten cold…very cold, with nights in the low 20’s and days only reaching 40.  It has snowed too.

I’m ok.  I’m just questioning things right now and not sure, after my visit with Colleen and Fred, which direction I’ll head…east, or west.  I’m literally changing my mind from day to day…even from hour to hour.

When I make some kind of decision, I’ll be letting you know!

We are taking he roads less traveled…at least somewhat less traveled…through mid-America, aka The Heartland.

We go from south to north, Through Texas and Oklahoma on Highway 54, then through Kansas and Nebraska on Highway 83.  The scenery is gently rolling hills, fields, some planted but most not yet.  I rarely see another RV though there are no shortage of big trucks and they are all passing me.  Yes, I mean ALL, as I travel 55-60 mph, which is below the speed limit but comfortable for me and within the safe range for WS.

Saturday night we stop in Guymon, OK, at the Corral Drive-In and RV Park.  Yup, there is a drive-in theatre here (not open for the season yet), and also an RV repair shop and a pizza parlor.

The RV repair shop.

They’ve got it all!.  A nice young couple own the place.  They are RV’ers themselves and have made the sites nice and large ( but the trees are still small.)

Sunday we Arrive in Oakley, KS at High Plains Camping.  I get a nice site with a tree.  There aren’t many trees among the sites but there are only a few people here today.  Yes nice site, but the woman who owns the place has Attitude with a capital A.  I give her the benefit of the doubt…it’s Easter and she would probably rather not be working.  Later I meet her husband and he seems to be in the same mind set as his wife.  Maybe they had a fight?  Then as I read the handout they gave me with a map and rules, etc, I see that this attitude is the norm for them.  It mentions how they have cameras all over the park and will be watching everything I do!  Alrighty then!  I won’t be back!  No pictures, sorry.

We spend Monday and Tuesday nights in North Platte, NE at I-80 Lakeside Campground.

I thought the dandelions were a nice touch! 😀

This is a huge park surrounding a little lake between the South Platte River and I-80, and yes you can see and hear the traffic going by, still it’s a nice place.    The young couple who own it just bought it last year and they are working hard to fix it up.  It’s a day use Park as well and there are picnic tables randomly placed all the way around the lake.

Joy and Shiloh went swimming twice!

I noticed in these pictures that Shiloh holds his tail out of the water and Joy doesn’t.

After the dips, there are the obligatory rolls.  Oh my, what a mess!

More dandies!  So pretty!

Joy rolled in dandelions and got yellow on her head.

Flowering trees in bloom!

Tonight, Wednesday, we are at Cabelas RV Park and Campground in Sidney, NE.  It’s first come, first serve, pick your own site and pay at the store.

More dandys!

My view of the side and back of Cabelas.

These RV Parks ran from $19 (Cabelas) to about $35 a night.  Weather has been windy and cloudy most of the time, but no rain.  Or snow. ☺️

Tomorrow if all goes according to plan, we should arrive in South Dakota!

And Other Things

Did you know that’regular’ gas is not the same in every state?

When I bought JR (my truck) back in 2012, I read the instruction manual!

It says right on page 397 (!) that for the “3.5 L V6 EcoBoost engine, regular unleaded gasoline with a pump octane rating of 87 is recommended.  Some stations offer fuels posted as ‘regular’ with an octane rating below 87, particularly if in high altitude areas.  Fuels with octane rating below 87 are not recommended.”

So I knew that, and have pumped mid grade gas in the past with an octane rating of 88 when I saw on the pump that what was labeled ‘regular’ was rated 86.

But recently, I goofed.  I needed gas badly.  I NEVER go below a quarter tank, except this time.  It was close to empty, we were in Durango, Colorado, and I filled my tank, not realizing I was using 86 octane Shell gasoline.  Yeah, I didn’t notice….until I was going up a hill…a long gradual incline….and it felt like I was going over bumps, but there were no bumps in the road.  And then the engine light started flashing yellow.  Oops.  The feeling of bumps….that was ‘knocking’.

On the down side of the hill the knocking stopped and the engine light went off, and things seemed ok.  It did happen again a few times, along with some backfiring!  Poor JR!  As soon as there was room in the tank for more gas I started adding premium with an octane rating of 91 or 90, depending where I bought it.  I’ve continued to do that and I think JR has forgiven me and her engine is ok, since we’ve been doing fine on hills the last few days.

I’m relating this story so you will be aware, in case you were not, or if you were aware you will be careful, as I was not.

Ok, change of subject.  Two days ago we arrive at the KOA in Tucumcari, NM and we get a nice site.

I have reserved one night but because of scary weather ahead on my route I ask to stay a second night and they are able to accommodate me.  The plan was to travel up into the panhandle of Oklahoma, but a cold front and a warm front are coming together close to my route and thunderstorms, large hail and maybe even a tornado is being forecast.

I enjoy the KOA which is one of the less developed ones…very laid back with lots of open space, and even some wildflowers.

Also there are bunnies everywhere.  Easter bunnies?  I don’t know, but Shiloh is highly entertained.

Me, who started out not liking KOA’s much, has stayed in them so often that they have sent me a VIP card, no charge.

We get quite a lightening show this evening….continual lighting of the sky in the distance, but not close enough to hear the thunder.  According to The Weather Channel, there was baseball sized hail and a ‘super cell’ that put out a number of tornados.  As it turns out they were not right on my route, but close…very close….and I’m glad I stayed put.

Very poor picture of lightening in the distance.

Today, Saturday, we proceed.  More bad weather is forecast for this evening, but it’s just a little farther east.  We make it safely to Guymon, Oklahoma, having passed through a tiny piece of Texas to get here.

It’s not often one can pass through Texas in a single day!

Plus spend some time in New Mexico and Oklahoma too!

Joy, Shiloh and I wish you a blessed holiday!

This will be short!

Yesterday in the blog I got so carried away telling you about my first experience at the museum, I forgot to mention going there this time.  I guess that’s important to me because I was feeling a bit anxious about it.

I try to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for what I might see there.  What if I see ‘my’ pot again?

Yes, what I might see, but I don’t see.  Phew, I’m almost relieved, but also a little bit let down.  Well, it’s been about 27 years, and displays have probably changed 27 times or more.

‘My’ pot was very similar to the one at center top.

The following pictures I took just because the pottery and the designs are interesting to me.

Ok, that’s my little add on!  Heading back to Gallup today, and then east, simply to avoid towing WS through the Rockies while the weather is so unstable.

Years ago I visited Mesa Verde…at least I went to the museum and Spruce Tree House, because I was on vacation, and time was of the essence.  But it was enough.

Ok when I tell you this experience I had back then you’ll probably think I’m whacko…oh well, I probably am.

It’s maybe 1990, I’m alone walking through the Mesa Verde Museum when I see a small ancient pot, ( the place has many pots)  and the strangest feeling comes over me.  My thought is ‘That’s mine!  I made that!’  I’m instantly in shocked surprise and simultaneously feeling silly at such a thought and having a major emotional reaction.  I had to get out of there.  I hadn’t been much of a believer in reincarnation so I have no explanation of where the thoughts or strong feelings came from.  This is one of 3 strange reactions I had while I was on that vacation.  Returning home, that fall I signed up for a pottery class at the local community college.  I recreated that pot and I still have it among my meager possessions in Mary’s garage.  In class I found that I enjoyed making pottery with coils the most, and using the wheel held no interest for me.

Back in the present, it’s too early in the season for tours at Mesa Verde ( I wouldn’t go anyway, due to the dogs) but all the overviews are open and many are quite dramatic, such as afore mentioned Spruce Tree House and the Cliff Palace.  All in all there are more than 600 cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, not to mention other dwellings which brings the total up to around 4000!  This was a heavily populated area 800 years ago!

Spruce Tree House.

I enjoy being here.  It just feels good.

Not sure of the names of the rest of these houses.  Notice the Kivas here?  The big round holes.  They used to have log ceilings.

There is a campground at Mesa Verde,not yet open for the season, and when it is reservations are needed.  I’m staying right across from the park and Hwy 160 at the Ancient Cedars RV Resort.  It’s nice enough, and a clean Good Sam park but RV sites tend to be tight, though there are some nice ones.  It’s not busy now so it’s not a problem.

There are many ancient dwellings in this general area, and I choose to visit Hovenweep National Monument as well.  One of the main reasons I choose it is because dogs are surprisingly allowed on the trails there!

It’s just over a 50 mile drive from where we are staying.  Many of the structures there are tower-like buildings.  The Square Tower group is the most accessible with the path starting right behind the Visitor Center, where I first watch an 18 minute movie, and then go get Joy and Shiloh to walk the trail with me.  It’s a 2 mile hike but we don’t do the whole trail due to Joys tolerance.  I think we cover about a mile total and I’m very proud of her for that.

Twin Towers.

Looking over the edge!

On the Square Tower Loop.

I’m in awe of the people who lived her…their strength, agility, architecture and farming skills, 800 and more years ago.  With our technology, we have nothing on them.  Really.

There is a small campground here with no hook ups and first come, first serve.  Some sites would accommodate a small RV.

We traveled to Cortez, Colorado via Shiprock and Gallup New Mexico and when we leave tomorrow we will spend the night in Gallup, then go a bit farther east before heading north for the Dakotas on the east side of the Rockies.  We will travel slowly, staying one or two nights at RV parks until we get to the Black Hills area of South Dakota.  Our path will take us into Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, all places I haven’t been yet on this adventure!

*** If you are looking for Native American art such as jewelry, pottery or baskets, besides Hubble Trading Post mentioned a couple of posts back, I like Notah-Dineh Trading Company here in Cortez.  Of course there are MANY places to buy such art, and Gallup is filled with them.

This 12×18 foot Navajo masterpiece is on display at Notah-Dineh Trading Company in the museum there.

Joy!

We are in Colorado now, and I was going to tell you about what we are seeing here (and how we are freezing here…experienced our coldest night ever, at a low of 19 degrees!).  Instead I need to tell you about Joy.  She’s still with me and doing ok, it’s not THAT…but….

It’s  time for rabies vaccine (required by law) for Joy and Shiloh and since I’m near Durango, Colorado, I ask a friend who lived here for awhile (that would be ‘Kerry’ and her dog ‘Annabelle’) for a vet recommendation.  She tells me who she went to and liked, so I make an appointment, days before I even arrive in Colorado.

Now as it turns out, when you take a dog to a vet in Colorado (also in Arizona, and I don’t know what other states) the vet has to do a complete physical before she can do anything else, even give a rabies vaccine.  Joy and Shiloh saw their own vet in California twice in November, but I’ll do whatever it takes.

Our campsite now.

Dr Linda sees us at the appointed time…no waiting.  She does a very through exam of both dogs.  Besides rabies, they need their Dhpp and Bordetella boosters, and since we plan to head into Michigan eventually, they need heartworm meds, so they need the blood test for that.  Also I’m running out of Rimadyl, a doggie pain med for arthritis.  Since I’m paying for a full exam I launch into a description of all Joys problems and symptoms.  After the exam and our talk, the doctor comes up with a probable diagnosis, and I have to say, it’s something I’ve though about for awhile now.  Yes, she has arthritis, but surprisingly little for a girl her age.  What is more likely is a nerve disorder called Canine Degenerative Neuropathy aka Canine Degenerative Myelopathy, which is about the same thing from what I can figure.  Somewhere in her spine the myelin that covers her nerves is wearing away.  Right now it’s affecting all her legs, causing weakness and muscle atrophy in her back legs.   Watching her, it’s like her legs don’t always get the message from her brain about what to do, and sometimes like her back legs are too weak to do what she wants them to.

Can I go swimming mom?

I was chalking it up to old age and arthritis (she will be 14 in September), but somewhere in my heart I knew it might be more than that.  This disease is fairly pain free, but can result in paralysis.  It’s progress can vary.  It turns out that even the Laryngeal Paralysis she has been having for close to 3 years now can be and probably is, related to this disease.

There are major tests that can be done to rule out every other thing that it might possibly be…cat scans, blood work, etc, but there is no cure for it….no magic pill to make it go away.  Regular walking and exercise to keep her legs as strong as possible, and daily fish oil seem to be the things that will help her the most.  For some reason I feel better knowing what’s going on and being able to put a name to it.

Making doggie snow angels.

Shiloh is doing well, with very little arthritis and no other noticeable problems.  He’s 10 1/2 years old.

Big brother standing guard.

Joy is happy….absolutely Joyful as usual, as you know if you’ve ever met this wonderful girl.  That hasn’t changed.  I always say, she’s the most Joyful person I’ve ever met, and she spreads her Joy, mostly to Shiloh and I.  I know she’s baffled by the weakness, the tripping, the stumbling.  She tries to be strong.  She hopes I don’t notice.  She rests more than she used to.

Life without her is hard to comprehend.

Some things a diagnosis like this for my much loved companion does, is remind me to enJoy my time with her now…today…this hour.  It reminds me to frequently let her and Shiloh know how loved they are, and it reminds me that I really have no idea how much time that they, or I, or anyone, has left on this little blue marble, and every day needs to be considered precious and cherished by each of us.  It reminds me again to find Joy in those we hold dear, and in the beauty of nature all around us….the mountains, the flowers, the night sky, trees, lakes streams…the ocean.

It reminds me not to take anyone or anything that I love for granted.

Never.  Never.  Never.

Let me start with a story.

Long ago….about 25 years, give or take…I attended a week long program on the Navajo Reservation for medical workers, sponsored by Northern Arizona University and Navajo Community College (as it was called then).  It was for those interested in combining western medicine with the Navajo Way.  There were 30 of us, mostly nurses, and many of us were giving thought to working on the Rez.  This experience turned out to be one of the best weeks of my life, and I got 30 Continuing Education Units, to boot.

Besides visiting a few hospitals and getting tours, we were treated to a healing ceremony with a Medicine Man in a hogan, searching for medicinal plants with a Medicine Woman, a drumming ceremony, a view of the Navajo government at work, a traditional Navajo meal, a jeep tour through Canyon de Chelly (pronounced ‘ d shay’), just to name a few of the wonderful experiences from that week.

I’ve been to the Navajo Reservation before and since, but there were a few places I hadn’t seen since that wonderful week, and I wanted to go back and see them again…and savor the memories and the beauty.  So…..I did.

I leave WS parked at Meteor Crater RV Park, and Joy, Shiloh and I take off for an overnight at the Thunderbird Lodge in Chinle near Canyon de Chelly.  (On the above mentioned trip we stayed at the Tbird for a few nights, so I was familiar with it).

On our way we stopp in Ganado at the historical Hubble Trading Post,  ( which was also part of the trip with the nurses).

The humble Hubble Trading Post.  The same now as it always has been.

Hubble started his business here in 1876, and it’s been running ever since (though now by the National Park Service), serving the Dine’ (that is the Navajos name for themselves), and the tourists alike.  Hubble was a good friend to the Dine’, helping them in many ways, including opening his home as a hospital when the smallpox epidemic swept the reservation in 1886. (Wonder how that happened?😔). He admired and encouraged Indian arts and crafts and traded not only with the Dine’ but with all the tribes around.

The rug room.

More rugs.  No I didn’t buy any.

Some pots.  That one way over to the right…ohhh…I wanted that.  But no, I didn’t buy it.

Joy and Shiloh have a walk about at the trading post and then we continue our journey to Chinle.  Our next stop is at the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center where I watch a movie about the canyon and buy a pamphlet about what I’ll be seeing at the pull outs along the way.

People have inhabited this canyon for a very long time, even before the Ancient Puebloan ( whom we used to call the Anasazi), but it was they who started building homes in the canyon that we still see today.  If you come here and want a really good view, schedule a jeep or horse ride through the canyon and you’ll see much more.) You can’t go into the canyon without a guide.  If you are looking from atop the canyon walls, bring binoculars.

I drive the south rim, stopping at each pull over and seeing, along with Navajo homes and farms down there, what’s called “First Ruin”, White House Ruin”, and Sliding House, among others.

White House Ruin.  To the right of middle.  Under it there is more but it’s the same color as the canyon wall so harder to see.

At the end of the drive is Spider Rock.

Spider Rock.

The canyon is about 1000 feet deep here, and Spider Rock, towering about 800 feet from the canyon floor, is a sacred place for the Dine’.  With a lot of emotion I’m remembering my time here 25 years ago….and before…

The first time I laid eyes on this canyon was a couple years before the tour with the nurses.  I was alone, camping out of the back of my truck at that time.  I had a few very strange reactions to some of the things I saw then, and one was here.  The first time I looked into this beautiful canyon I was surprised to be overcome with a deep sadness that instantly had tears running down my cheeks.  It wasn’t until later that I learned about the atrocities inflicted upon the Navajo here in the mid 1800’s, by Kit Carson among others, but apparently the vibes are still here and they reached me.

This is a Hogan, a traditional 8 sided Dine’ home.  There are many of them around being lived in, though some tend to look more modern. The door always faces east.

Inside of the Hogan.  No one really lives here, it’s for demonstration purposes only.

We turn back and go check in at the Thunderbird Lodge on the other end of the canyon.  I found out on line that they allow pets and I have  reserved a room for the three of us.  It turns out to be a nice room with no sign that anyone’s pet has ever been in it, and that’s how we leave it, too.

Our room at the Tbird Lodge.

For our evening walk we go across the road to have a look at Cottonwood Campground.  When I camped here in the back of my truck long ago it was free, now it’s $14 a night.  There are bathrooms (no showers), some water spigots, fire rings and picnic tables.  You’re wondering why I didn’t bring Wandering Spirit here?  I considered it, but the reviews about goat head thorns all over the ground and the many stray dogs that come here discouraged me.  Sure enough I find the goat heads, so we don’t walk here.  And yes, we find the stray dogs, or rather they find us, but they find us when we walk by the lodge too, or just about anywhere where tourists go here. So sad.

One of the stray dogs in front of the Lodge.  Breaks my heart.

Also theft is a big problem here, and I had first hand experience with that the first time I was here when one of my license plates went missing.  Along the canyon pull overs there are always signs reminding you to lock your vehicle.

Next day after our morning walk we get back in JR and drive to the sites on the north rim of the canyon.

I don’t turn back at the end of the canyon sites though, but continue on  this road because about 15 miles further near the town of Tsaile (the T is silent) is the college.

When I was here getting my CEU’s we attended some classes, stayed in the dorms, and I bought a sweatshirt that I still wear that says Navajo Community College on the front.  The thing is, the college has changed its name to Dine’ College and I want a new sweatshirt.  I buy two shirts.

I roam the campus and recall pleasant memories of the other nurses and especially of Ursula Knoki Wilson, a Navajo Certified Nurse Midwife, and I will say Medicine Woman because that’s what she was to me….who led our group.  (Some might remember her as the one who, along with her mom, made the Navajo Birthing Beads that I brought back and shared with many).

This is the main building on the campus for classrooms.  Eight sided, like a Hogan.

Do I feel out of place here on the Dine’College campus?  Well, I’m old, and I’m Belagana (white), so I suppose I should…..but somehow, no.  No, not really.

One more stop, back in Chinle.  The hospital where once upon a time I toured the birth center and the Hogan-within-the -hospital….and where I thought about working.  And never did.

Chinle Hospital entrance.

[~]~[~]~[~]~[~]~[

The following is an excerpt from the Navajo Chant known as “The Beauty Way”. (The word beauty, in addition to what we know it as, in Navajo has a deeper meaning along the lines of peace, harmony and balance.)

In beauty all day long may I walk.

Through the returning seasons may I walk.

On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.

With dew about my feet may I walk.

With beauty before me many I walk.

With beauty behind me may I walk.

With beauty below me may I walk.

With beauty above me may I walk.

With beauty all around me may I walk.

In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty.

lively, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty

living again, may I walk.

My words will be beautiful.

It can be harder than you might think!  We are extending our stay here at Meteor Crater RV Park a little longer, because the area I’ll be heading towards has had a lot of ‘winter mix’ forecast and that doesn’t sound like something I want to tow WS in.  Here we’ve had a lot of big winds, some rain…and some of the rain was really ice.

Theres no rush though!  That’s one of the joys of this life….and we have this view:

These are the snow covered SanFrancisco Peaks at Flagstaff, about 40 miles northwest of us.  These mountains are sacred to all the nearby Native American Tribes….and well they should be….to anyone who gazes on them or wanders in them.

Here they are a bit closer, as I drive towards them to visit Sunset Crater and Wupatki Ruins.

Yes, I visited these places early in my adventures, but I’m happy to see them again.

From the info given at the visitor center:

“Erupting sometime between 1040 and 1100 Sunset Crater is the most recent in a six million year history of volcanic activity in the Flagstaff area.”  There are more than 600 hills and mountains  in this volcanic field.  Sunset Crater is the largest.

And here it is.

This is how much of the nearby landscape looks, covered with cinders.

Farther on we come to some of the most impressive ‘ancient ruins’ I’ve seen yet.

This is called the Wukoki Pueblo.  All alone out here in the desert, this place blows me away.  People built this and lived here about 800 years ago.  I just stand in awe thinking about what it was like, and about the strength, ingenuity, determination and the belief system of people who would make a life here, and after making their homes from the rock, then making their bowls from the mud and their baskets and shoes from the plants.  Then they farmed this, and grew their corn, beans and squash.

Not a little bit of work.

Through a window.

Then behind one of the visitor centers is Wupatki ruins.

This was a community center that had about 100 rooms they say, and a ball court too.  I don’t suppose they had that nice hand rail in the foreground though.

Closer.

There are more remains of homes of the Old Ones to see, and then the loop you have been driving on leads back to Hwy 89.  If you turn right you go to Cameron and the Cameron Trading Post there on the Navajo Reservation.  I turn left however, and drive the 60-65 miles back to my little home.  Even though it’s small with wheels, it has running water, light bulbs, heat and air conditioning.  Food and clothing and blankets, bowls and baskets and shoes are so easy for me to come by…life for me is so different than it was for these people who lived in these very homes…people who laughed and cried, loved, had worries and pains, wants and needs.  It’s a reminder not to take for granted the ease with which I live.

[~] [~] [~] [~]

Seems like a couple of nice days coming up, and so I’m planning another adventure to a place I haven’t been to in 25+ years!  I’m excited!

More about that next time!

This his little guy (girl?) was in the Sunset Crater Visitor Center parking lot.  Dig those ears!  It’s called Abert’s squirrel.

PS    Sorry about the blurry zoom!

Sunday, March 19

We leave the ranch and head towards I-10, bypassing Tucson on the west.  From I-10 we merge into I-8 to Gila Bend.  All along the way, various yellow flowers line the roads.  It’s a beautiful drive.

Flowers by the roadside.  Had to pull over and take pictures!

The windows have been up and the AC has been on for the whole trip, and when we reach the Gila Bend KOA where I’ve stayed frequently, and will stay tonight, it’s 98 degrees.  (This park used to be called ‘Augies Quail Trail’ until KOA took it over.  So far the price hasn’t been raised, I think because they are doing construction.  Some of the same people still work here too.)

Due to the heat, I plug in WS and turn on the AC and that’s where we hang out for the most part.  We take an early morning walk to the dog run, where low and behold, there is grass.  Joy and Shiloh roll around till their hearts content.

Monday March 20

Next I do a super-duper cleaning of my Gray and black tanks, because we are on our way to Little House Customs, AZ, and Konrad is going to be working on them.  Actually the black tank cleanse began when we left CLR and stopped at the store in Three Points for a 10 pound bag of ice.  I put the ice down the toilet along with some Dawn dishwashing liquid and drove on.  The ice and soap sloshed around in the tank and helped clean it.  I’ll be using RV park bathrooms until after the work is done.

We leave Gila Bend and drive on to Camp Verde.  I use this route to avoid towing through Phoenix.  The closest we come to it is the 303 which is a 30 mile route around the west edge of the city and traffic is minimal, around 10am-ish.  303 meets Hwy 17 and it’s a pretty drive on to Camp Verde and the Zane Gray RV Park. We’ve stayed here before and liked it ( these repeats are why I called this post deja vu).

The temperature is in the 80’s, and Joy, Shiloh and I walk through the park down to Clear Creek where the kids have their first swim of the season.

Walking to the creek.

Refreshing!

Tuesday, March 21

In the morning I do a final cleaning of the tanks (even the black tank water is running crystal clear at this point.  I did good!). We head over to Little House Customs, about a mile away.  ‘Casita’ means ‘little house’, thus the name of the business.  Larry Gamble started working on Casitas in Texas, not too far from the Casita factory…I don’t know…20 or 30 years ago.  His was the first and is the only other LHC.  He and Konrad specialize in all kinds of modifications which Larry has been perfecting over the years.  Konrad started his LHC with Larry’s help only a few years ago.

Konrad works from his home and he and Lynn have a nice fenced yard so Joy and Shiloh get to run free while WS is being worked on.  Mostly though they just hang out and doze or watch the goings on.  I’m getting what’s called the ‘fast gray mod’,  and a new valve for the black tank and it’s two jobs that work together nicely.  The pipe from the gray tank has come loose from the bottom of WS so I’m very glad I chose now to have this done.  Casita’s are notorious for having the gray tank empty very slowly, and then, not completely.  This mod lets it empty quickly and completely.

I have a number of other things to be looked at including battery cables, locks on the outside cubbies, the fridge door, and the support that holds the tv needs to be repaired.

Konrad finishes up, I pay the bill, we say our good-byes and we head off to Bashas for a quick run to the grocery store with WS in tow.  Miraculously I find a tree to park under, I leave the windows open and hurry in.  The weather is getting more tolerable, I’m happy to say.  Then it’s back to Zane Gray and we head for the creek where Joy and Shiloh have another swim.

Wednesday, March 22

Our drive today is only about 110 miles, and where we land is….Meteor Crater RV Park! (More deja vu).  I really like this place and I take the site right next to the one I was in last year (because it’s bigger and has more trees) in the water and electric only section.  The full hook ups section is fairly full and no one is in this section, which is why I choose it.  It’s a comfortable temp but very windy…rain is on the way tonight and tomorrow.  We walk around the park and spend some time at the dog run, but the rest of the afternoon I spend looking over my tax stuff.  UGH.  I need to go somewhere tomorrow to use a copy machine before I go any farther with them, but at least looking was a start.

Our site at Meteor Crater RV Park.

Another view.  Look at those clouds!

We are between Flagstaff and Winslow, with lots of interesting sites nearby to see.  We’ll stay a week!