Jackson TN to Kingsport TN

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Continued across TN today and arrived home about 5 PM. All seems fine around the house - looks like we did  not have much rain - thanks to everyone who watered some of our plants!  Looks like plenty of cacada shells to clean up and quite a few dead limbs down so there must have been a storm at some point. All for another day....  Looks like our travels took 39 days and we traveled close to 9,000 miles. Our travel pace must have been right since we are not tired. Glad to be home but not tired as after some trips. 

Van Buren AK to Jackson TN

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

We crossed Arkansas on I 40 today and continued into Tennessee to Jackson.   

The most exciting part of the day was mid-day somewhere before Forest City AR when some something caused a huge back-up of traffic on the interstate.  First there were several flashing signs that said accident ahead. Then the back-up of traffic began; after a couple miles we came to an exit. Many of the big rigs were getting off and the map showed US 70 following along south of I 40…so we followed along.  We passed by lots of rice, cotton, and corn fields. There were large ponds which we assumed were catfish ponds.  The small towns were not really towns just crossroads - very rural area. When I looked for nearest food or gas on the GPS it was usually 10 miles to anything!  The traffic was heavy but at least it was moving if slowly. The interstate was a standing still parking lot!  We came to the first road back to the interstate after 10 miles – the big rigs were going further so we go too – this time 13 more miles.  Then we got back on the interstate – traffic is moving on our side going east but there is backed-up traffic bumper to bumper going west.  We had even stopped in an empty parking lot to eat lunch before getting back on.. Easy an hour we were off the interstate, probably more. When we stopped In Forest City Ben spoke with a patrolman in the parking lot about the traffic back-up.  The patrolman said it was construction and had been awful for several weeks. So it remains a mystery – usually construction is not on both sides of the interstate and why would the flashing signs have said accident?  Guess we will never know.

Got to Jackson about 4:00 – glad we had missed the end of day traffic in Memphis.  We had dinner at a very good Italian place – Old Town Spaghetti Store. Our Chicken Piccata and Manicotti with Creamy Garlic Sauce were both very good.  

We better get home tomorrow! We need clean clothes and haircuts!  

Shamrock TX to Van Buren AR

Monday, June 11, 2012

We left Shamrock and Texas and spent the entire day crossing Oklahoma on I 40. The morning was cloudy – the first clouds other than a fluffy white one every once in a while we have seen in weeks. Other than the snow we had in Yosemite the weather has been of varying temperatures but always with blue skies!

Our one stop for the day was in Clinton to visit one of the Route 66 Museums. There were several across Oklahoma but this one was our choice.  It explained about the construction in the 20’s; it’s role in the migration of many west during the depression; the explosion of travel during the years right after WW2; then the decline and removal of Rt. 66 when the Eisenhower Interstate System was completed; and then the rebirth of the historic highway.  It was well done and very interesting.

Ben had this type drink machine in the house he lived in during college. It was his job to keep it filled.

1930's photo of the cafe/gas station in Shamrock - see yesterday's blog

First trucks used on Rt. 66

Evidently lots of these signs in the 60's and 70's

 Somewhere a little west of Oklahoma City we passed the area where the Chislom Trail crossed I 40….we saw the beginnings of the Chislom Trail when we were following the Butterfield Trail south in Texas.  The cattle were driven north along this trail to market.

The miles clicked by as we are finally finishing a Jeffry Deaver mystery we began several weeks ago and had been so busy with our travels we had never finished it!  Lunch was at a rest stop somewhere along the way. We crossed into Arkansas about 4:30 and decided to call it a day in Van Buren. 

Dinner was at C&C Catfish House. We usually eat fish at least once a week at home and often when eating out – but this was the first on this entire trip!  It was good – before you were even settled they served you slaw, pinto beans, hush puppies, and excellent green tomato pickles. Then came the entree you ordered.  I give them a thumbs up!

Our plan is to drive to Jackson TN tomorrow and then home on Wednesday.

Albuquerque NM to Shamrock TX

Sunday, June 10, 2012

We started the day with some of the worst coffee ever…well really only about 2 sips and then Jane made a pot in the Sprinter!  Very few RV parks offer breakfast but the American RV Park in Albuquerque did so we thought we should not pass it up… well the cereal and breads were fine but the coffee was so bad neither of us could drink it.  We were however on the road by 8:30 for our first day of Interstate 40 driving.  We are breaking the 1,500 miles into 4 days – it could be done in 3 days; but why make it an endurance test? 

The eastern side of New Mexico was mainly brown, flat with mesas here and there. There were a few cities but nothing much to stop to investigate. We stopped for lunch in Tucumcari and had a very interesting experience.  The town certainly looked like it  had seen better days – many of the towns in this area were boom towns along Route 66 but when I 40 bypassed them they fell upon harder times. It probably looked as bad as any town we have been to this trip. Many boarded up buildings and others with closed and for sale signs.  One other item of note about Tumcumcari is the mesa right outside of town is said to be used as a model for the movie CARS.  It looked just like any other mesa to me!

There were 3 restaurants that got good reviews on Virtual Tourist so we went to one – it was closed on Sunday.  We went to the next one on the list – Kix on 66 and it was a real winner. Ben had a green chili cheeseburger and Jane had a chili rellano panneni  - we split them both and they were both wonderful.  That restaurant was a zoo – we were seated at the counter on stools. Every seat was filled with people coming after us waiting for a place to sit.  We thought it was the church crowd on a Sunday but the manager said no – church was not even out yet….he was amazed. They had 4 cooks and 5 waitresses busy, busy, busy!

The route today has much in common the entire day - I 40; remnants of Historic Route 66 and the railroad. They are all constants on this common way to cross our great country!

Back on the road from Tucumcari, we headed into Texas.  Texas was more small towns and seemed to have more agriculture – corn, wheat, and lots of cattle.  We saw one of the huge cattle operations with the cattle in pens but most were grazing contentedly on the range – the way it should be!  We seem to have left the drought behind as the fields are green and gold(where there is wheat).

Somewhere along the trip today we also passed from the square bales to the round bales for the hay or alfalfa.  We also passed into another time zone and lost an hour today.  Around 4:00 but really 5:00 we found ourselves in Shamrock Texas with the allotted number of miles driven for the day.  We were tired so drove into Shamrock to see what we might find. 

This is an interesting little town in the panhandle of TX.  We are about 20 miles from the Oklahoma border. It has the tallest water tower (of it’s kind) in TX; has 600 motel rooms (including ours at a nice Best Western), has a new medical center, a golf course, and 5 restaurants. We chose Big Vern’s Steakhouse and Saloon which had a 16 ounce Ribeye special tonight and they encouraged you to share – so share we did and it was perfect both in amount and flavor.  It was an excellent steak so now we don’t have to hunt for the best steakhouse in Oklahoma City! The other claim to fame for this small town is the Conoco Station (now restored) that was used as the inspiration for Ramones Body Shop in Cars the movie. Not sure my photo will do it justice and I don’t think I will be going back after dark to get the photo with the neon showing.  Today it is a gift shop and chamber of commerce.

Day one down and 3 to go! We will try to find something interesting each day. We are beginning to be ready to be home.    

Chaco Culture Historical Park to Alburquerque NM

Saturday, June 9, 2012 

We had pancakes for breakfast with bacon!  That is pretty good for the middle of nowhere.  I use the precooked bacon when traveling – I know it is not very good for you but one slice every other day or so is not too bad.  When traveling be sure to buy complete pancake mix so all you have to add is water…but a gas flame does not cook as evenly as an electric skillet…but they were good anyway. 

Our campsite had ruins nearby

 We packed up and were off to explore Pueblo Bonito in the cool of the morning. Ben is studying the T doors so he had to search around for them and measure them and take some compass readings….always the engineer and scientist. It was really quite pleasant at 9AM – it was pretty hot yesterday afternoon from 2 PM until about 3:30!  This really was a remarkable complex of buildings built between 800 and 1100 AD.  I enjoyed getting some photos when the light was less harsh than yesterday.  There was an archeology dig going on near Pueblo Bonito but we were unable to determine who was digging – probably a university. 

View - note the careful construction

Then it was time to leave Chaco – we were dreading the 15-20 miles of bad road – and the road out to the east was slightly different in that it was almost all washboard…no mesas to climb with large bumpy rocks – just miles and miles of washboard road… we made it with no damage to speak of. We continued down 550 towards Albuquerque. Nothing was very outstanding about the ride.  

15-20 miles of  bad road Leaving Chaco

Our Campsite in Albuquerque

We finally got cell coverage back south of Cuba NM and Jane began searching for an RV park.  We remembered two things we wanted to do in Albuquerque – things we had done on a previous trip.  Visit a junky pottery store and eat at a great Indian restaurant. Having the computer and the log of our trip back in 2002 – we found the names of both and they still were in business today so – we found a campground. Rested a while and then with the aid of  GPS – found both Jackalope Pottery and Indian Kitchen. Luck was with us and they were in the same part of this huge city!

Jackalope Pottery was not so great but Ben did find one frog – not what he had hoped for but a Mexican frog.  The Indian Kitchen was in same location – in fact celebrating their 30^th anniversary this year.  Jane had great food – Marsala Sauce with Chicken, Pinon nuts, Veggies, and Strawberry Chutney. Ben had beef with Peanuts and his was a bit hot. Strange because they told us they were both “3’s”  - don’t think so!  We were also able to locate a grocery in the same area and stock up on a few chili products. 

Chicken, Veggies, Pinon Nuts and Strawberry Chutney

Indian Appetizers

 Back at camp we were challenged to pack up for the rest of the trip – our 1500 miles between here and home. Got to put away all the Arizona and Indian Country stuff and hunt out the Texas and Oklahoma books I packed away about a month ago!!

Gallup NM to Chaco Culture National Historic Park

Friday, June 08, 2012

We left Gallup about 9:30 to head towards Chaco. We started east on  I 40 until we came to Thoreau when we headed north. Past Crown Point we turned east and eventually took NM 57 into the park. This is a non-maintained dirt and rock road. It is dirt through the low parts and when it crosses a low ridge or mesa it is solid rock. There is some washboarding on the dirt sections and it is indeed rough but not as bad as I remembered from the trip here about 10 years ago. The rough road was about 16 miles and I believe the road out to the east is similar. You do not just happen upon Chaco – you have to make an effort to get here

Really makes you want to go ?

This is some of the better road

This Butte is at the opening into Chaco Canyon

After checking in to get a campsite and eating lunch we went to the visitor center and watched the intro video. It appears the story and thoughts about this place have changed some in 10 years… The park was Chaco Canyon National Park or Monument…now it is Chaco Culture National Historical Park.  The emphasis now is more on the people who were here and their culture than it is on the buildings and pots.  Ten years ago it was said the people who lived here were Anasazi – which is still correct as it refers to all the early residents of the Colorado Plateau – but the correct word now to identify these people who lived in the early dwellings is Ancestral Puebloans  - those who came before those living in the pueblos. 

Bluffs like this surround the canyon - ruins some place and not others

One part of Pubelo Bonito

We took a ranger led tour of Pueblo Bonito. This Pueblo is huge with over 300 rooms. We toured many of the rooms and heard many stories. The main focus of the thinking is that there are many answers to questions and for most of them we truly do not know an exact answer. One of the major theories is that there were 100-300 people living here all the time – they took care of the place that could hold 10-20 times that many people who would come and go for ceremonial and trading purposes. In years past the Park Service was known to have very firm answers for how things were – guess they are learning that the more we learn the more questions we have! Ben enjoyed talking to the ranger who actually knew and had worked with Stephen Lekson – Ben’s current favorite archeologist and author.  Ben says he now has one degree of separation!

It was very hot from 2-3:30 for the tour so we plan to go back early tomorrow morning to explore.  We did drive the remainder of the loop and Ben hiked out to one of the Pueblos and Jane began reading a new mystery – a series similar to the Hillerman stories by Amiee and David Thurlo….time will tell if it will be good. Mysteries set on the Navajo Reservation so it should be interesting.

Our campground is nice – larger than I remembered. There are probably 30 campsites with tables and grills and a bathhouse with flush toilets. By parking the Sprinter just right we had shade until the sun went behind the mesa. 

The campgound

 We had our end of the campground pretty much to ourselves for a couple hours until the Geography Department from Texas State University in San Marcos Texas rolled in about 5:30. Nice group of folks – 3 professors and 8 students on a 28 day trip around the southwest. We enjoyed chatting with them.

Supper was cooked on the Coleman again – stuffing, chicken, gravy, and cranberry sauce – tasted pretty good!  I don’t cook much canned and processed food at home but it sure does make for ease of cooking on a trip!

Sunset at Chaco

 The archeo-astronomy program was interesting as the ranger explained how the Indians who lived here studied the stars.  He had many interesting tales to tell but the one I remember most was how disturbed they were a few years ago when a helicopter landed on top of Fajada Butte which is the landmark  butte that stands at the entrance to the canyon. They left after about 10 minutes but that meant the rangers and maintenance workers had to climb the butte to determine if any damage had occurred. There are very interesting sighting rocks on the butte and there was a set or stairs and a ramp built to allow the Indians to access the top of the butte.  Evidently the helicopter did no damage but they never found out why they landed. Then it was finally dark and I don’t know when I have seen so many stars. The sky here is dark with the nearest city about 90 miles away and there was no moon until about 4 AM. So we could see millions of stars – the milky way – and several satellites going slowly across the sky.  We watched the stars until about 10:30 and then fell asleep. I remember coyotes howling when we were here 10 or 12 years ago – and I heard some during the rangers presentation – but it was so quiet – sleep came easily.

Chinle AZ to Gallup NM

Thursday, June 07, 2012

Canyon de Chelly, Chinle AZ to Gallup NM

Our night was quiet in the Cottonwood Campground. When we first went to bed there were a few dogs barking but they soon quit and it was very quiet. We slept well and woke up to another glorious blue sky. Our day started with breakfast in the Turquoise Lodge Cafeteria. The Turquoise Lodge is the hotel/motel run by the Navajo on the national park. The food was provided in a cafeteria that served both Navajo and American food.  One of the reviews said it was probably the only place in the world you could get a Navajo Taco and a Jello Salad.!!  Jane had blue corn pancakes and Ben had biscuits and gravy.  Both were good but not outstanding. 

Our first action of the day was to finish the visits to the Canyon de Chelly overlooks – the ones on the south rim. There were two arms of the canyon and the south one was not quite as deep. There was also no wind like yesterday afternoon so Jane made it to the edge to view down into the canyon. The most outstanding of the outlooks was the Spider Rock overlook with great views of Spider Rock – a spire probably 600 feet high. It was the end of a long ridge and most of the ridge was gone. 

Spider Rock

Ben views Canyon de Chelly

Leaving Chinle we drove south towards Ganado and Hubble Trading Post.  The journey of about 30 miles was through mostly desert plains with farms and some cattle but no crops. There must be hey or alfalfa grown somewhere because bales are for sale lots of places.  Not certain I mentioned the huge fields of hay grown just north of Cortez – but they were huge fields and had large storage facilities. 

Hubblell Trading Post National Monument was much as it was 100 years ago. It was full of beautiful jewelry and rugs as well as everyday merchandise. It operates much as it has over this time period. We bought a pound of the coffee that has been sold there for most of that 100 years and some blue corn flour. We could have easily spent $500 for a rug but resisted the temptation. We also were able to walk around the entire farm that had been managed by the Hubbell family – it is still an operating farm today. The tour of the house had just been completed and we opted not to wait for the next one in 1 ½ hours.

Hubbell Trading Post

 From Ganado we headed west to Window Rock, the headquarters city of the Navajo Nation. They have a legislature, and many national offices. We ate lunch under some trees across from the House of Legislation which did not appear to be in session.  They also had a very nice park near the “Window Rock”.   Since 2001 they have installed a monument to honor the WWII Code Talkers.  The original 29 were given the Gold Medal of Honor by President GW Bush in 2001 and the other additional Code Talkers or their family members were given a Silver Medal of Honor. Each of the Navajo’s who served as a code talker had a commemorative brick with their name near the monument.  The Navajo seem to be very patriotic.

Code Talker Monument

Window Rock

 After lunch we visited one of the Navajo Tribal Arts and Crafts Cooperatives. There was so much beautiful jewelry, pottery, rugs, and other crafts – we could have stayed all day but we had to get to Gallup before the Indian Supply Stores closed so Ben could by silver!  One really interesting thing we observed in this store was a young Navajo mother with her baby.  In one of our museum stops a guide told us of the usefulness of the baby carriers. The traditional ones where the baby is laced onto the flat frame that has a support or shade over the babies head. A story was told of a mother whose baby fell off the side of a horse but was not hurt due to the protection for the head.Well we saw a definite blending of the old culture with the new – the young mom we saw had her very healthy looking probably 6 month old baby laced into one of the old style carriers but it was then placed in a modern baby stroller! 

We made it to Gallup about 2:30 and found a campsite at USA RV Park. It has some really nice art work.

 We immediately left for Indian Supply to look for the flat silver Ben wanted. The place was very busy but did not have the type silver Ben wanted. After looking around we headed to the main area of downtown Gallup. There are more trading posts and galleries for Indian Arts and Crafts in Gallup than even in Santa Fe or Albuqurque. We looked around for about an hour and Jane finally selected a pair of silver earrings inlaid with coral, turquoise, and lapis.  We headed back to our campground to rest and passed another Indian Supply store – so we tried them and they had the silver Ben wanted as well as some beads in the same colors as Jane’s new earrings….now we have projects for when we get home! 

Gallup Shopping

 We wanted to have a green chili burger while in New Mexico so we went to the best restaurant in Gallup – according to Virtual Tourist – The Badlands Grill.  It was a very nice restaurant. Our appetizer was green chili won-tons with green chili marmalade – outstanding!  They were gone before I remembered to take a photo. We also had green chili hamburgers and some in-house made chips that were quite tasty.

We are back at camp, trying to catch up from several nights of poor internet. Not sure this will be much better but we shall try to catch up the blog and pay bill or two since they have a secure server.

Tomorrow Chaco Canyon – the last of Ben’s Indian sites to see – then we start east !