Sedona: Steep grades, skinny-dipping, and eating worms

We are now in Sedona, also known as Red Rock Country, one of the prettiest areas in the entire United States. After leaving Winslow on I-40, we drove across the southern edge of the Painted Desert (very windy), then to Flagstaff (another beautiful area, lots of pine trees and even elk in the woods) and dropped down south on I-17 through some steep canyons. 

As  you may know, we are driving a 40 foot long, diesel pusher motor coach (we call it “The Bus”, although long time RV’ers would cringe at that appellation), with our small Honda CR-V mini-SUV towing behind, loaded with kayaks and mountain bikes (two each). Total length of this “big rig” is about 55 feet; total weight is about 40,000 lbs (twenty tons). 

Needless to say, when you’re on a long downhill, you build up a lot of momentum. Big coaches, like semis (tractor trailers) have engine brakes as well as air brakes on their wheels. When you see signs like this, you start to make preparations, because if you do things right, you hopefully won’t have to use the runaway truck ramp...  

A runaway truck ramp is an interesting engineering solution to a potential nightmare; it is an area that’s been designed to slow the runaway on a steep downhill by letting the driver steer the truck/bus/RV onto a slight uphill grade (if available) followed by a gravel/sand stopping area at the end. If his brakes can stop him on the first part, he might not need the gravel and sand at the end. If the truck goes into the gravel/sand, it buries itself up to the axles, and it’s not an easy task getting it out. (Can you say “Humongous Tow Truck”?)

Suzanne was driving this stretch of road (I like to give her the hardest parts of the journey; I tell her it builds character....). As we passed the 6% grade sign (the one with the truck doing a swan dive) and started down the mountain, I awoke from a pleasant dream and tightened my seat belt just a bit. I felt her downshifting from 6^th gear to 4^th and engaging the engine brake (it’s a little red rocker switch right by the driver’s left elbow). The Bus started slowing down from 60 to 45 mph, even though we were descending. She was doing everything right, just like a seasoned semi driver, even though we only got our motor home in March of 2011. She got plenty of practice doing hills and mountains last summer when we went up to Canada; the steepest we saw was a 12% grade in Quebec... let me tell you, that was a sobering sign, twice the grade you normally see on Interstates. It is truly attention-getting how quickly all that mass builds up momentum going down hill.  Again, I let her do that stretch of road... “But Honey, I didn’t know this was going to be that steep a highway....”.

Anyway, we made it into Sedona for a couple of nights’ R&R. We drove out to Bell Rock, a famous vortex site, and climbed up a couple of hundred feet for a sunset meditation session. Yes, I also find places like Bell Rock sacred and worthy of a “time out” to think, admire the beauty of nature, and thank God for all my blessings.

We were up early for a three hour hike in Oak Creek Canyon on the West Branch trail. The trail follows Oak Creek, and actually crosses the creek a dozen times or more, but with it being mid-summer, water levels were down and we didn’t have to get our feet wet. The only negative part of the hike was a noisy group of 10-12 year old Boy Scouts; having been a Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Explorer Scout as a youngster, I did have to volunteer a comment to the Scoutmaster; I was taught to try to move as quietly as an Indian in the forest, not to let everyone within a half mile know that I was there. One of the benefits of being older now is that I can impart my sage wisdom to the younger generation. I am sure they appreciated it...

We are pretty sure our daughter Susan was with us on this hike, because we saw this flock of beautiful yellow butterflies on the trail.


















Suzanne enjoyed this hike immensely with her new hiking boots; she says it's the first time ever that she has hiked for over 3 hours without any pain in her feet...

We passed this father teaching his young baby about the wilderness and the joys of skinny-dipping... and you thought it was going to be me and Suzanne, didn't you? Naughty, naughty!

At the turnaround point of the hike is a very narrow canyon that you can wade through for another quarter mile, but we had not taken sandals with us, so we had an energy bar and headed back down. With another mile to go, I was famished, and decided that being in the wilderness, I should find something natural to eat, like on the Survivor TV show.... if you’ve never tried them, worms are actually quite tasty...

Standin' on the corner... and gettin' her kicks...

I don't know if you remember the Eagles back in the 70s, but one of their songs is very reminiscent of that entire era... I'm thinking of
"Taking it easy"... the lyrics go:
"Well, I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and such a fine sight to see,
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me...". 

So today, we're tooling down I-40, on our way to our campground at Homolopi Ruins State Park, in that same Winslow, AZ... a short detour into town, and what do we find but that very corner with a bronze guitarist (not sunburned, but bronzed), with (you guessed it) a flatbed Ford just a few feet away.

But I don't remember the lyrics talking about two dachshunds....













I-40 didn't exist back in the 60s and 70s; if you were headed from Chicago to Los Angeles, you probably drove via Route 66. Coincidentally, that now extinct highway passes right through Winslow. Another song from that era went, "Get your kicks on Route 66...", and I got a photo of a girl getting her kicks...








This was a long driving day, but one bright spot was the price of diesel at the Indian casino and reservation gas stations. We filled up with $3.52 diesel, the cheapest price we have seen the entire trip so far. Most truck stops were priced at $3.79-$3.89. When you have a 100 gallon tank, and only get 8.5 mpg, that difference of 27-37 cents per gallon can really add up. Maybe we should suggest a Seminole casino in Lady Lake.... naaaahhhhhh.....


Oh, Rudy and Gretchen asked me to comment on their new prey (not that they are fast enough to catch them, but they are ever hopeful that we'll let them off lead one day).... desert jack rabbits. They are huge, probably weighing in up to 8 lbs, with very long ears (up to 8 inches long). Our dachshunds went crazy when they saw their first jack rabbit running and hopping high into the air... after a moment of stunned recognition, they started yelping like beagles chasing a fox. Look at those ears! Jack rabbits are actually hares, since unlike cottontails, they do not build nests; the mother simply finds a good spot, and the babies are born fully furred with their eyes open. Who would have known?

Artists, hiking and SOARing

One of the best things about touring around the country is the people you meet. We met Nicholaas, a local artist born in Holland, and his wife Judy at Unity of Santa Fe. They graciously asked us over for dinner and then to some art galleries' open houses in Santa Fe. In 1983, Nicholaas and Judy built their house (by themselves) on 5 acres in the desert outside Santa Fe.





The ground floor of their house is adobe and the upper floor built of wood and logs. He did not use a crane to get these logs into place; they used a come-along (chain fall) and did all the work themselves (they didn't want any friends injured if a log fell).







Their house is made with thick walls with an air pocket, so it doesn't have air conditioning in the summer. Fans move the air around quite well. Winters can be a challenge, though, with one wood stove and a couple of space heaters able to keep the temp above 60 most days....




                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                 
In an alley off Canyon Street, some colorful mailboxes... 









                                                                         Here is Suzanne preparing for her S.O.A.R! workshop in Santa Fe. Pretty as can be!!!











While Suzanne SOARed, I went solo hiking in the Sangre de Christo Mountains above Santa Fe. These tree roots captured my attention.

Canyon Street artists and a nice hike

In our exploration of Santa Fe, we discovered Canyon Street, where over 100 artists and sculptors have their galleries. It is a beautiful, shaded open air museum/gallery with some of the most original pieces we have seen. Some are serious, many are whimsical, but all are fun. We were there after dinner, so we had it all to ourselves. Here are some of our favorites.

I wanted to try dancing with these guys, but a police car was driving by and I thought I might attract too much attention...

This shaman was amazing! Many of the galleries had courtyards where you can sit and admire the sculptures and just be...

                                                           
 This was one of Suzanne's favorites. I think it brings out the child in her. Maybe when the oak tree behind our house gets a little bigger I'll put in a swing for her...

There were also galleries featuring wall hangings, paintings and jewelry, but regrettably, they were closed while we were there. (Saving my wallet...).
There was also a neat restaurant down the street; I looked for an online review, and one critical diner had noted that "the elk was a bit too salty"... well, we certainly weren't going to dine where the elk was too salty!

Rudy and Gretchen found a playmate, but he was very subdued and not very playful. They did really enjoy the walk along Canyon Street; they found lots of other dog smells to investigate, but no rabbits or squirrels.

Having recovered from our mountain bike ride the day before, Suzanne thought a short hike in the mountains would be fun, so we drove up to Hyde Memorial State Park above Santa Fe, at 8,500 feet, for a pleasant two hour hike on the Borrego Trail and Bear Wallow Trail through pine forests and along a small creek. We didn't see any wallowing bears, but did see a mule deer buck whose antlers were still in velvet. I wasn't fast enough with the camera, but this hiker is much prettier anyway. Isn't that a snazzy hat?



Suzanne asked me to include this one showing your faithful correspondent using his old Boy Scout skills. Yes, guys, that is a real compass, not a GPS, iPhone or any other modern gadget. The ranger had warned us not to miss the trail intersection that would bring us back to our car. If we had missed it, we would still be on a 50 or 60 mile detour through the wilderness. Speaking of cool hats, that one has a logo that reads "Remember the Alamo".

Mountain biking for sixteen year olds, blocked chakras and Santa Fe architecture

Some of you know that we are avid cyclists back in The Villages, riding our very lightweight carbon fiber bikes 20-30 miles 2-3 times per week. On this trip, we brought heavy mountain bikes to be able to enjoy the back roads, trails and "singletracks" that the Southwest/West is famous for. These bikes also take abuse much better; they ride on the back of our car in the rain and dust. This morning after a hearty breakfast, we donned our bike shorts and jerseys and struck out on a trail system near Santa Fe. It quickly went from moderate jeep trails to challenging singletrack as the trails rose and fell on rocky paths and sandy arroyos. And remember, we're at 7,000 feet. Here is Suzanne feeling fresh and having fun.

I don't have a photo of what she looked like an hour later. I knew something was amiss when I called back to her on a steep, windy, rocky downhill asking, "How are you back there?" and hearing a "I'm just won-derful!" in a somewhat --shall we say -- "frustrated" voice. She hadn't fallen (although I had, once or maybe even twice), but the altitude and strenuous trails were clearly having a deleterious effect on her. (I, of course, was feeling quite chipper and not at all fatigued.... HA!). We finally found our way back to our car; on the way home, Suzanne mentioned how much fun our ride would have been for sixteen year old boys... and reminded me that I was no longer a sixteen year old boy. "What do you mean by that, My Sweet?").    When we got back to the coach, Suzanne took a nice hot  shower and disappeared for an hour-long chakra-clearing exercise, which brought her back to the Land of the Happy Medium.  

Finally, a note on Southwest architecture. This is quite typical of adobe architectural design out here; thick walls, heavy wood beams supporting the second story, heavy Spanish colonial furniture, and large walled courtyards. The heat obviously drives a lot of the design; there are fewer windows than we are used to in Florida, although I understand that solar tube lighting is popular. Also, a lot of people live "off the grid" (not even connected to city electric power), using solar panels to charge large battery banks that use inverters to convert DC power to 120 VAC household current. It's windy here, with daytime winds often in the 25-35 mph range. It's also very dusty, and there aren't any lawns to speak of. That eliminates a lot of water usage. Speaking of that, many of the houses have barrels at the bottom of drain downspouts; the barrels collect rainwater, and there are taps at the bottoms of the barrels to which you connect your hose for watering flowers in the garden.

Gretchen is back to normal today, and she and Rudy are looking forward to a post-dinner w-a-l-k in t-o-w-n. 

 

Madrid, a big scare, and a Margarita...

Today we decided to go sightseeing to the town of Madrid before Suzanne's radio interview. Madrid is a former coal mining town that is now an artist and hippie community, with lots of wildly painted houses and shops selling herbs, leather goods, metal sculptures, rocks, turquoise and silver jewelry, etc. (Also lots of stray dogs running loose in the streets.) This shop advertised the "Cheapest Silver West of the Pecos". Fortunately (for me), it hadn't opened yet when we were visiting.


Madrid was the setting of Wild Hogs, a Harley Davidson rider movie from a few years ago. We had not seen it, but these two Harley riders had ridden 800 miles from Kansas just to see the town and Maggie's Diner, where a lot of the movie scenes were shot. After seeing these cool Harleys, I am having second thoughts about motorcycles... maybe a black Road Glide Custom with lots of chrome... and let's see, I'd need a ponytail, leathers and some bad tattoos... hmmm..... and maybe not....


The big scare of the day came after we took our dachshunds Rudy and Gretchen to the vet for some shots that needed updating. All went well for several hours, until we noticed that Gretchen was acting a little hyper; then we saw her face and eyes swelling horribly and red skin on her belly. She was having a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine shot. A quick run back to the vet (fortunately only 3 minutes away) for an antihistamine shot and within a couple of hours she was back to normal. We cancelled all afternoon plans and stayed home to keep an eye on her.  She's doing fine now and relaxing next to Suzanne as I write this blog.


Our good friend Terri from Minnesota had told us about a great restaurant in Santa Fe, Cowgirl BBQ, that also had the best margaritas in town. We were in the mood for Southwestern cuisine, so off we went. The two dishes to the right were fabulous: our appetizer was Chipotle Shrimp Tamales with a tangy butter and ancho cream sauce, tomatillo salsa and pico de gallo; our entrees were Pescado Tacos, prepared with delicious grilled mahi mahi, chipotle aioli and mango salsa.

 

And did I forget to mention the Margaritas? They, too, were terrific.  Here is one happy cowgirl! That's two Margaritas in one month, two more than she's had in the past year. This book tour is hard work!








And lastly, the highlight of the day for Suzanne was seeing a skunk alongside the road. When she received Sanaya's message on Saturday about a skunk, she knew that she would see one very soon. We can't remember the last time we saw a skunk, so this was very special.

Unity Santa Fe and altitude fatigue...

Today was a great day; we arrived at Unity Santa Fe, where Suzanne was the guest speaker at their Sunday service. She spoke about love-centered living and growing your angel wings here and now, rather than after you pass; she also led their community in a guided meditation. The community at Unity Santa Fe are a delightful group, very warm and welcoming.

Following lunch, we had another exclusive viewing of the Messages of Hope movie to an enthusiastic audience. We even got to introduce Rudy and Gretchen to the USF community, since their church is pet-friendly. Rudy hammed it up, looking at everyone and giving us lots of kisses, while Gretchen was subdued in front of the crowd. Suzanne signed books after the viewing, and many participants also signed up for her S.O.A.R! Workshop on Saturday June 16. 



Almost forgot to mention the altitude here... Santa Fe is at 7,000 feet, and physical activity is a bit harder than at sea level... last night, we took a 10 mile bike ride after dinner; this morning, after a 0600 (dawn) reveille, we got in a 3 mile run... Suzanne mentioned that it was like running with 10 pound weights strapped to each foot. After the service and viewing at Unity, we went for a short hike in the Sangre de Christo Mountains above Santa Fe (around 8,000-8,500 feet). We're both dragging a bit tonight, but looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful area in days to come. I think she's trying to wear me out...