Molly and I have been traveling since July 12 (it being July 25 as I write this), so it’s definitely time for an update. This is a brief summary of what we have been up to. I’ll try to go into more detail in future posts.
July 12 – flew from Washington Dulles to Denver, got our rental car, and stayed overnight near the airport.
July 13 – Drove to Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, New Mexico. The weather deteriorated from sunny to spitting rain, but it was a pleasant enough drive. We were very excited to arrive and get checked in. Our room was in Coyote Lodge on top of the mesa, putting us about as far from the dining hall as possible. We’ll be getting our steps in for sure! The room was a simple but pleasant suite with a sitting room with two loveseats and a couple tables, the bedroom, and a full bath. No A/C, but adobe, windows, and fans do a fine job keeping things comfortable. Made our way down for dinner, then orientation in the Agape Center (sort of chapel/community space), got introduced to our class instructors and saw where we would be meeting, then back up the mesa. The sky had cleared and was spectacular! Took some pics of the Milky Way that were amazing.
July 14-19 – Regular routine of breakfast at 7:30 a.m., Morning Light service at 8:30, class at 9:00-noon, lunch at 12:30, more class and/or free time in the afternoon, dinner at 5:30, usually free evenings, and early to bed. Made several friends over the course of the week, which is cool: Joel and Tammy from North Carolina, and Polly and Rigel from Texas, in particular. Hope to stay in touch with them.
My painting class turned out to be really good. I was the only real beginner, and everyone else in the class was very skilled and talented, so I felt a bit awkward knowing nothing, essentially. But everyone was very supportive, and I found my way. More on that later.
The scenery at Ghost Ranch is amazing. Such dramatic views wherever you look, and they change as the light changes through the day, so it’s always different. There’s height with the mesas, depth with the rock layers, and expanse across the valley and sky. More on that later, too.
July 19 – We left Ghost Ranch and drove to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park about 3 hours to the west. It’s three hours because you can’t get there from here. I’ve been wanting to go there since my last sabbatical trip, because it is not just a cultural heritage site but also an archaeo-astronomy site with buildings aligned with the solstices and such. There is a “sun dagger” that passes across a spiral petroglyph in one of the ruins, but that site is closed to the public because it’s gotten pretty unstable. Bummer. Unfortunately, no one made much of that aspect of the place while we were there. The ranger didn’t seem to know too much about it. Nevertheless, it was a remarkable place to see. The roads in and out were pretty … rustic. We went on to stay in Gallup, NM, that night.
July 20 – Next day we crossed into Arizona. We made a quick stop at Winslow on Route 66 and the “Take It Easy” Park, site of the line from the Eagles’ song of the same name. Kitschy fun!
Just down the road a bit then is Meteor Crater, the target for the day’s outing. It is a mile-wide, 550-foot deep crater created by an asteroid strike about 50,000 years ago. Of course there were no humans in the area at the time, and there’s nothing much to recommend that patch of ground now, except the big hole and a nice visitor center with science displays. It’s another remarkable site that gives one a sense of time and the chanciness of existence.
July 21 – We had spent the night in Flagstaff, so we had a nice breakfast, went to pick up a few things at Wally World, and then spent the afternoon at Lowell Observatory. I had been there seven years ago, but they have added a new Discovery Center and telescope patio since then, making an already great science center even better in my opinion. It’s just a beautiful campus anyway.
July 22 – We signed up for a tour with Canyon Dave Tours to go to the Grand Canyon and had a great experience! Our tour guide, Keaton, picked us up at the hotel in Flagstaff at 7:45 a.m. and four other folks along the way. Then we spent the whole day at the canyon. Keaton was amazing, very knowledgeable and personable, imparting geology, biology, and history that was just fascinating. The scenery is of course amazing. We could see smoke still on the North Rim, which increased through the day. The weather was beautiful – sunny and upper 70s with nice breezes. We heard so many different languages through the day, too. Keaton delivered us back to the hotel at about 5:30 p.m. Great day! 10 out of 10, would recommend.
July 23 – Drove from Flagstaff to the Four Corners Monument, the point at which Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado meet at right angles. We took the scenic route, US 160, a mostly two-lane road called the Navajo Trail (at least in part anyway). Lots of amazing scenery. The Four Corners Monument is on Navajo land. It’s a fairly simple site with the flags of the four states and the Navajo nation, various informational plaques, and a circle where the borders cross and you can stand in all four states at the same time. People take turns taking pictures. The plaza is surrounded by booths with native folk selling their crafts. We bought a couple really pretty pieces. You could tell the introvert merchants from the extrovert merchants pretty easily.
After that, we continued on Rt. 160, crossing Wolf Creek Pass, and on to Alamosa, CO, for the night. We got a call from the hotel about 9:15 saying that they close their desk and lock the door at 10pm, but if we could say when we were coming they’d have someone to let us in. That’s a local, non-chain hotel for you! And while the room had all the necessaries, it was definitely nonstandard. Not sure if it was a refreshing change or off-putting. It was a little more like staying in someone’s guest room than a Wyndham room (All hotels are Wyndham now, aren’t they?).
July 23 – Long drive from Alamosa to Mom’s house near Loveland, about seven and a half hours. Mostly high traffic on I-25, but otherwise uneventful. We’ll be here for a few days, and then we’ll fly home. As wonderful as this trip has been, I’m looking forward to just sitting and not touristing for a little while.
So those are your headlines from the Western front. Stay tuned for more details to follow, and stay subscribed!
A Pilgrim of Earth and Heavens 