El Morrow National Monument & Salt River Canyon

At Grants, New Mexico we left I-40 and turned south on scenic SR 53. With the rented Hertz car we had their navigational system - NeverLost. I started plugging in some of the towns we wanted to go through and let the system give us directions. Most of the time it was great. We did find that the system would be even better if you could program that you wanted to get to your destination via certain roads. We wanted to wander along some of the scenic highways and NeverLost didn't want to cooperate sometimes. We worked around it by programming in some of the little towns that were on the highways we wanted to travel instead of our day's destination town.

El Morro National Monument was next. We saw where Indians and other historic travelers carved their names all along the huge rocks as they came through the area. The pool of water at the base of the rock was a nice place for earlier travelers to stop and rest. The rocks contain too many carvings to get pictures of all of them - over 2000. Several languages are represented and it was very interesting to learn about their heartaches and worries as they were traveling back then.

While at El Morro, we took time out to phone our friend Gwen and sing happy birthday to her. She was sweet 16 that day. We talked the park ranger into joining us with the singing.

We didn't have time to stop, but check out the Pueblo Indian Community in Arizona. The scenery is wonderful. After we crossed the Arizona state line near St. Johns on Arizona SR 61, the navigational system took us on a surprise little scenic drive on US Hwy 180/191 by the Lyman Lake State Park. We never did figure out why, but It was worth the extra hour or so. At Show Low we were back on US Hwy 60.

Salt River Canyon was next. The road is narrow and winding. Pictures don't do the scenery justice. I'm glad I wasn't driving - I couldn't take my eyes off the incredible views.






Dinner was at the Country Kitchen in Globe, Arizona - a friendly little restaurant. Sylvia was our server and she was also the cook and worked the checkout counter. We stayed at the Motel 6 there in Globe. The rooms were very nice but their claim to have Internet connections was a joke. No one in the office had a clue about how to fix or even reboot the system.

Clines Corners & The Laguna Mission

Day Two - We were up early, almost before sunrise, itching to get on the road. Our first stop was Clines Corners in New Mexico. Here is their official website. I got a breakfast burrito to go there - not bad for a greasy spoon truck stop type place without the trucks. This place has a good selection of tourist type stuff. We're always looking for postcards, t-shirts, and my daughter collects glasses.

Next stop was Laguna, New Mexico and the old mission on the top of the hill. The Pueblo Indians go back to the 1300's and the mission dates back to 1699. When the children in the community are not in school be prepared to have them swarm your vehicle and try to sell you pottery and other handmade items. We found Laguna Superette, a little convenient store and bought some very good tamales for lunch. The ladies behind the counter were so sweet and friendly. Of course we checked out the restrooms - clean and tidy.

The Bandera Volcano and Ice Caves in New Mexico was next on our trip. It wasn't very cold that day, so we didn't find a lot of icecicles in the cave. The land is privately owned. They have a very nice little gift shop and friendly people - the Old Time Trading Post. The family runs the operation. You can pan for gold or whatever gems you think you might find. They also have cabins to rent; it would be a neat little getaway. If you go, be sure to check out all the twisted and gnarled trees.

On the Road Again

We left Knoxville, Tennessee on October 23 around 6:30pm and drove all the way across the state on I-40 through Memphis and Arkansas only stopping for gas and potty breaks and a couple of hamburgers. We did take a little nap at a rest area in Arkansas during the early morning hours.

By day light we were in Oklahoma just in time to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The guard there was very helpful showing us the layout of the monuments and helping us find the memorial for one of our friends - Ted Allen.

We crossed the Chisholm Trail near Yukon, Oklahoma.

Dinner was at Del's Restaurant in Tucumcari, New Mexico with Jackie Smith serving us a great meal. The chicken enchiladas are excellent. I asked for extra salsa and was pleasantly surprised with almost a bowl full of the hot spicy stuff. Jackie was great.

Close to the Curio exit in New Mexico, we stopped where we found a little ghost community running along both sides of I-40. The town thrived when they had a train stop. After the train no longer ran and the interstate diceted it the folks all moved away leaving property and vehicles behind. Today, only a couple of homes are occupied. All the businesses are closed and the church is being maintained by one of the remaining residents.

Other than those brief stops, we didn't take time to stop much this time on the way out, passing up the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo and of course the Cadillac Ranch. The first night (in a real bed) was spent in Santa Rosa, New Mexico (1300 miles from home) at the Motel 6. We look for what Mark calls "down and out" type motels. He prefers to park at the door and not lug suitcases up and down stairs. Motel 6 is predictably clean and cheap.

Not bad for the first 24 hours.
Sharon Cawood

BACK FROM THE AMERICAN WEST...

Everyone, we are back from our trip to the American west.

Lots of laughs, lots of American beauty, only one disappointment...(a Los Angles tour company).

More about the tour later. HINTS ABOUT THE TOUR: The L.A. tour had a "potty-mouthed" guide. The "5 - Hour" advertised tour was in fact only 3 1/2 hours long...more later.

We visited the Oklahoma City bombing site, ice caves in New Mexico, Palm Springs fires, Santa Monica, California, Madonna Inn, Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Zion Park, Bryce Park, the Grand Staircase Park, and the Capitol Reef Park.

All coming up latter... 5,400 + miles of auto touring.