Reconnecting with Friends

We had great visits with Jim and Joyce Weathers during our stay in Yuma - over dinner the evening of January 2, and then at breakfast the next morning! Lots of fun reminiscing and catching up took place between the three Independence Central High School alums and Bonnie learned a LOT! We look forward to a future visit to the Weathers' Idaho home! After breakfast, we set out on Interstate 8, bound for Tucson....our last stop before heading over the USA/Mexico border.

Across the Desert

On our early morning drive east of Tehachapi, we encountered hillsides dotted with countless windmills, which created for us the eerie image of an army of invading aliens coming over the ridges from the Mojave Desert. Their blades, twirling in the brisk Southern California wind, had an almost hypnotic effect as we drove past, into the sweeping desert terrain.
Hills in the distance stacked up in parallel ridges; the Earth's crust folded like a wrinkled tablecloth. Surrounding lava beds emphasized the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the area's geology.
Caravans of big trucks and RVs of all shapes and sizes joined us in our race South, like birds frantically migrating to their winter homes.

On the Road Again!

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's off to Mexico!
We made a relaxed departure from Kirk Road New Years Eve morning. With sunshine warming the road ahead of us, our climb over the Siskyou Pass was successfully behind us by mid-afternoon - Ahhhh! Rolling ranch land and all shapes and sizes of barns kept the long I-5 drive interesting. We were seranaded by Jimmy Buffet (Cheeseburger in Paradise), Van Morrison (Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?) and other favorite artists and sang our way to Corning where we celebrated New Years Eve at the Rolling Hills Casino and RV Park.. We "boon-docked" along side the big rigs, with their engines growling through the night to save a few pennies. HAH! The casino proprietors (sneaky devils) got us at the buffet line (read: feed lot!).
Fueled by McDonald's java, we were on the road at daybreak, headed down through the Sacramento Valley. Rosey sky over the hills to the West; the rising Sun punched up the volume on the vapor trails of early flights in the brightening sky to the East.....clouds of geese circling over the rice fields darkened the sky.....
Orange Grove RV Park just east of Bakersfield is our resting spot for this evening...... Do you have any idea how SWEET a fresh-picked orange tastes?!? Heaven!!!
AND it's 72 degrees! We're looking forward to some fresh-squeezed juice in the morning brfore we take off.
Tomorrow, we have our sites set on Yuma, Arizona...then to Tucson. Over the border on January 4 and then two serious days of driving to get to Mazatlan on January 6. We will update our travel journal as WiFi availability along the way permits.
Keep those candles lit, por favor!
Hasta luego!

Home Sweet Home!

What amazed me most was the sense of contentment I witnessed . . . a feeling of having enough . . . relationships and family ties and living life with gusto and passion and faith. The picture above shows some local musicians . . . part of a group that paraded through the campground one morning in Melaque last year. They included us in a birthday celebration!

Now, don't abandon this blog! "After the Trees" has just begun! Keep checking in for more adventures! I still have to tell you about the last few days of our trip . . . but the laundry needs to get done first!

Mexico Lindo . . . Beautiful Mexico. I think I made it sound too perfect at times. We've put together some lists to try and capture an accurate picture of how things really were!

What we'll miss:

Mexico sunsets/scenery, Tropical birds, Learning a new language, Freedom of spirit, Town squares, Beach walks, Collecting sea shells, "Street" restaurants w/ cheap, good eats: chiles rellenos, Mocajetes, Empanadas; Camp dogs, Tiny ancient women wrapped in shawls, Spa treatment in the RV Park, Luis' haircuts, Men bursting into song just because, "Chicken" (local) busses, Slower, more relaxed pace, Camper comforts, Dark, liquid eyes, Babies harnessed in shawls, Haunting, silent looks, Tuesday night pizza, new and special friends, Reunions with "old" friends, Warm nights, Living in the NOW/spontaneity, Gracious, welcoming local folks Pigs, goats, iguanas, burros, horses, cows, chickens, crocodiles, spouting whales, Men riding burros alongside the cuotas. Ah! and siestas!

What we won't miss:

Green swimming pools, Bug bites along the coast, Feeling too rich in the midst of poverty, Crazy drivers, Sad, not-cared-for-animals, Time-share "sharks" on the street, "Ugly Foreigner" behavior, Unexpected cold showers, "Banyo blues", Tummy rumbles, Water (of ALL kinds) issues, "Bump-Bump" music, truck air brakes and train blasts late at night; Struggling to understand and be understood, Topes y vibradores, Garbage/litter, Border crossing hassles, Traveling days without exercise

Back to Oregon . . . with mixed emotions . . . with a greater appreciation for the abundance that is ours . . . that we tend to take for granted. It's good to be home! Stay tuned for more!

The Grand Canvon

NOW THIS IS PROOF POSITIVE OF GOD'S CREATIVE ENERGY AND LOVE!

HAPPY EASTER!

Sky Islands: Home of Cochise and Geronimo

Top picture: Rock Profile of Cochise's Face

Middle Picture: Organ Pipe Rock Formation

Bottom Picture: Distant Mountains were once the Apache Stronghold

Our visit to the Chiricahua National Monument left us dazzled; first by the rock formations and the richness of the environment and then by the history of the area.

Okay, the teacher in me is not entirely retired! So humor me, already!

The Chiricahua National monument is the intersection of two deserts and two "sky island" mountain ranges, creating a biological diversity rarely found anywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere. In plain language, that means that there is an incredible variety of plants and animals concentrated in a small area.

27 million years ago, the Turkey Creek volcano erupted, with a magnitude that dwarfed the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption by 1,000 times. Super-heated ash particles spewed into the air and melted together, forming layers of rhyolite rock. Cooling and uplifting created joints and cracks in the rock. Wind, rain, freezing and thawing have broken down the softer rock and have created "the land of standing-up rocks", formations from the remaining harder rock that are dazzling. The pictures tell the story best.

The Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache Nation made their home in these mountains for many hundreds of years, hunting large game and gathering edible plants. After the Mexican independence in 1821, the Apache warriors, lead by Cochise and Geronimo, fought the encroachment of the white settlers. Despite their efforts, these indigenous people were forced onto reservations in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Paquime Ruins & Mata Ortiz Potters

Just outside of the little town of Casas Grandes is an incredible museum which tells the story of the Paquime culture, a group of people closely related to tribes in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. The pueblo ruins, pictured above, remain at the side of the museum and reflect a civilization with advanced skills and knowledge that allowed them to not just survive, but to thrive in a less than hospitable, sometimes unmerciful environment. Development of cisterns, water filtration systems, and irrigation of crops with water brought from 15 meters below the surface of the ground indicated a deep understanding of many of the modern concepts of engineering and physics. These resourceful, tenacious people lived harmoniously on the land for many hundreds of years, partnered with the native flora and fauna. With hand-fashioned weapons, the men hunted the giant bison and deer that roamed the land in countless numbers, while the women and children gathered food provided by plants . . . the roots, fruits and shoots! Nothing went to waste . . . meat fed their families, bones became tools, utensils and weapons; hides were transformed into clothing. The powdery-fine soil of the area was mixed with water to make clay, used for bricks and pots. The pigments found in the native ores were used to create beautiful and intricate designs on the pots. The pottery tradition continues today in the nearby village of Mata Ortiz. Paquimes societies were complex with spiritual ceremonies and athletic competitions assuming a significant part of their culture and social structure. Tribes came together for competitions, to trade goods and for comradery. At times, the tribal exchanges became violent . . . Sometime around 1,100 A.D., the encampment at Casas Grandes was abandoned. Possibly, invading tribes from the North attacked and destroyed the village. But, certain traditions have survived and lived on into the present. Recently, we were fortunate to meet some of the artists who have continued the art of creating pottery in the Paquime tradition . . .

Mata Ortiz seemed deserted as we entered from the smooth highway which lead us from Nuevo Casas Grandes, onto the dustystreets of this village of 2000 inhabitants. We had expected slick shops and people enticing us to buy the pottery for which this town is reknown, but not a soul was there to welcome our arrival. A sign outside one small gated home indicated that there was pottery for sale inside but the locked gate made the way impassible. As we struggled with the gate, we were approached by a woman who spoke only in Spanish and pointed to a car with the trunk open. Soon, pots of all sizes, designs and colors were displayed on the ground. Before we had a chance to examine all the wares of this first family of artists, another car arrived, laden with another talented family's work....then another car and another arrived. Within a very short time, word spread throughout town of our arrival. We were dizzy with the waves of people and the incredible display of pottery spread before us. Then, along came Maria, the tiny, ancient matriarch of the town, with no more teeth than you could count on one hand. Her head and shoulders covered with a red shawl, she carried/brandished a walking stick and wore a chartreuse pant suit. She was the local marketing guru! Though she spoke not a word of English, she charmed us with her sparkling eyes and delightful, raucous laugh. We had no choice but to follow her to the favored artists' studios. Those in the street, with their wares displayed on blankets, seemed to accept Maria's pull on us. We explained to the crowd in our broken Spanish that we would be back after we had inspected what Maria had to show us. When it came time to buy, there was an undercurrent of intensity and high expectations as we began to make our selections. We left Mata Ortiz after about a three hour visit, laden with treasures and leaving behind pesos in our wake. The people we met there were gracious and friendly, reaching out without hesitation to this foreign couple in the big red truck . . . Once again, we were blessed.