Days 150 & 151 (Tue 12/18/12 & Wed 12/19/12)- Liberal, KS

After spending the morning dealing with a van emergency that turned out to be a false alarm (thank god!) we stepped across Oklahoma into the town of Liberal.

Finding a charming small town with kind townfolk and a decent library we decided to stay for a day. Then we discovered a snow storm was predicted to strike our return route in Oklahoma and therefore decided to stay for two.

Our first day in Kansas featured a cloudless sky with ample sunshine. Day two found cloudier skies, which we didn't pause to dwell on. With Isaiah gracefully bowing out, I ventured off alone for the town's one tourist attraction, the Wizard of Oz Museum.

Since the book/movie didn't name the town Dorothy lived in, Liberal claimed rights. (I just hope there really is no place like "home"). An ambitious woman (and perhaps the model on which Ben Foster based his Rampart role) spent six months putting together the "Land of Oz" and turning an old farmhouse into Dorothy's home. As a sign proclaims at the end of the tour the exhibit was not put together with any corporate sponsorship (though 4 loco was interested) I think the clarification was self evident.  After first touring the free history museum which detailed the town's origins, including that of nearby "Beer town" which was the Vegas of Kansas (the Vegas of Nevada, not the Vegas of NM) in it's hay day, I waited for the $7 Wizard of Oz tour. A sweet girl in street clothes (they apparently only dress like Dorothy on the weekends) escorted me through Dorothy's house.

Taking little effort to make a real connection to the movie, the tour consisted of a walk through a small farmhouse with artifacts of the early 1900's. I was shown "Dorothy's room," where "Dorothy would play by the heater," the kitchen where "Auntie Em would churn butter" and finally Uncle Henry's "coffee mug with built in mustache guard" to protect the coffee from mustache wax, (A must have for the coffee swilling, mustache twirling hipster in your family).

The second portion of the tour was more or less self-guided, through a warehouse full of Dorothy manequins, a cowardly lion whose fear seemed, suitably, to be the 70's shag carpet purporting to be his fur and metal towers painted emerald green. All in all I cannot say the tour was worth $7, but it was an interesting experience.

We hunkered down in the Walmart parking lot to find firsthand that Oklahoma's storm was ambitious and had drifted more north than initially expected. Wind shook the van all night, a wind that pushed a shopping cart corral across the parking lot, smashing into a car. Morning could not come soon enough, all the while thinking, crap, the crazy museum lady was right, and we skeptics stuck in Liberal, would be swept up in a Dorthy tornado.

                         The town of Liberal just 10 days old

The tornado outside Dorothy's house

Glenda the Good Witch

An angry tree

                             The Cowardly/shag carpet Lion
                                  

Emerald City

The Tin Man

 

Day 149 (Monday 12/17/12)- Guymon, OK

Taking just a small sample of Oklahoma countryside it might be unfair to liken it to Nebraska. Though we did drive a solid hour before seeing anyone or anything besides a cow. Guymon is a small town by any estimation, but considering the nothingness we drove through to get there, it looked massive.

Again forgetting about the time change, we were a little disgruntled getting kicked out of the library an hour early. Struggling to adjust we had trouble falling asleep (before making fun of us early birds, please imagine how nothing cheap and interesting can be accomplished after 8p, in the dark, in a town of this size).
 

Day 148 (Sunday 12/16/12)- Trinidad, CO

We explored Fort Union in the morning. The military base and supply depot was established in 1851 by Lieutenant Colonel Edwin V. Sumner who decided to move it from Santa Fe, or as he lovingly referred to it, "that sink of vice and extravagance" to it's current location closer to the mountains and pertinent points along the Santa Fe trail. After two versions of Fort Union were hastily thrown together, it was re-built a third time in 1863. The third construction job was better, but still didn't stand, leaving, in present day, mostly chimneys, a small jail and some of the former hospital, which in its peak was the largest between California and Illinois. Thus touring the remnants was a little boring. Better was the Visitor Center movie.

Hopping across the border into Colorado we were surprisingly warmer (Colorado warmer than New Mexico, what?!) and watched the movie "Rampart." Woody Harrelson gives a compelling performance as a dirty cop, however the stand out in my mind was Ben Foster as a disabled, homeless, alcoholic. Especially considering that he got his start on the Disney show "Even Stevens." (For many of his Disney alum homelessness and alcoholism isn't regarded as acting).


 

Day 147 (Saturday 12/15/12)- Las Vegas, NM

Resembling in no ways the more populated and sinful version, we still managed to find some enjoyment within New Mexico Vegas' small borders at the local rec center.

Here we escaped cold and boredom by working out, swimming and taking long, hot showers (a little scalding actually, but nevertheless still long). We felt invisible though, overhearing two young employees swap expletives about their weekend escapades like it was a contest and being the only ones in our respective locker rooms. Another highlight, Isaiah got perhaps his highest score ever on Ms. Pacman. He certainly got the all time high score on the machine. Sadly, he shattered the record after level 3. Kids around here have no dedication (or no interest in a 30 year old game).

In the evening we finally got around to watching "A Separation." The beautiful and sad Iranian film was masterful.

Days 145 & 146 (Thu 12/13/12 & Fri 12/14/12)- Albuquerque, NM

Enduring cold and then rainy weather left us feeling less adventurous than usual and led to many hours indoors, absorbing the warmth and entertainment of various libraries.

Dividing our time between several we had a clear favorite in the small, bordering town of Corrales. This tiny library was a re purposed house, separated into different rooms for computers, teens, children, non-fiction and fiction and had quite possibly the nicest librarians ever. My favorite feature was the koi pond upon entering, flanked by lush plants and stained glassed windows.

We did occasionally get fresh (as well as cold and wet) air, like a failed attempt to visit some museums. On the UNM campus we couldn't find university parking. We parked in an adjoining neighborhood and were walking over when it started raining. It didn't seem worth a soaking, so we turned back before being doused.

Day 144 (Wednesday 12/12/12)- Bandlier Monument, NM

Since New Mexico is known for making the best sopapillas we were surprised to have to go out of our way to find some. After dining out several times and only finding sopapilla mix at Walmart, we finally got some for breakfast at a place that claims to be "where more political decisions are made than the capital." If so, NM politicians are extremely old. Also, apparently having all you can eat dessert for breakfast is very unusual here. So much so that by the time we left the staff had dubbed us the "Sopapilla Kids." Like I said, everybody was really old.

Next we drove to the Bandlier National Monument which we consider one of the top ruin sites we have seen. Having recently explored a number of ancestral puebloan ruins this location was significant for several reasons-the extensive amount of ruins, their accessibility and, for us, seeing a new style of ancient housing.

Bandlier was occupied by different groups over many centuries, leading to the construction of several different types of living spaces- stone villages, cliff top residences and cavetes (small caves carved into the rock face). Ladders abound in the park allowing you to explore several cavetes as well as a cliff top spot. Most of the climbs are easy enough, except for the last, which led us through multiple frozen creek crossings and a four ladder climb to reach the summit. The high perched ruins weren't my favorite, but the view was incredible.

Following our cave explorations we went to the Nuclear Science museum in Los Alamos. Home to the Manhattan project, the town and it's secret mission were established to beat the Germans in developing a nuclear bomb during World War II. The U.S. victory in nuclear science led to the controversial bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Critics of the bombings (who were allowed to put up their own display) claim that we had already won the war and were just being monstrously spiteful by using the weapons we had worked so hard on developing. The one thing that is obvious to all-the nuclear arms race has forever changed the world. The scientists in Los Alamos now work on decreasing the worlds arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Proof that though the weather looks so nice,

this creek really was frozen over

Day 143 (Tuesday 12/11/12)- Albuquerque, NM

Having learned that Santa Fe had gotten a good dusting of snow we were hesitant to leave Albuquerque. We gave the sun some time to (hopefully) melt the snow and headed out. Up until we reached Santa Fe we had no trouble.

Driving got dicey when we tried to get downtown. Our ancient van turns out to be an ice skater and a bad one at that. Having barely waded into downtown we managed to turn around and get lunch at El Parasol, which won Best of Santa Fe two years in a row. The burritos were excellent and helped distract us from being marooned on the outskirts of town.

Days 141 & 142 (Sun 12/9/12 & Mon 12/10/12)- Albuquerque, NM

On our route to Albuquerque on Sunday we ran into a wind storm and freezing temperatures, so we hid out in a small town, watched the movie "Take this Waltz" and tried to stay warm.

Making it to Albuquerque on Monday we got right to work visiting locations from our favorite T.V. show "Breaking Bad." We could have spent days seeing all the sites, but narrowed our list to the most important and recognizable locations.

For fans of the show we got to eat breakfast at "Los Hermanos Pollos," drove by Jessie's apartment and house, Walt's apartment and house and other sites, like the car wash. When we attempted to visit Hank and Marie's house we were stopped and questioned. They were filming. As the assistant explained it would really screw with continuity if the world's most hideous van suddenly materialized in the DEA's driveway. (Side note. We actually had a complete stranger walk past our van, give us the thumbs up and exclaim, "Stoner van. Awesome man.")

Los Pollos Hermanos

 

 

 

Jesse's House

 

 

Day 140 (Saturday 12/8/12)- Bosque del Apache

To break up a day full of driving we stopped at the Bosque wildlife refuge, home to many different varieties of creatures, particularly birds.

Visiting in early December, a prime time for birding, we were treated to views of geese, cranes and quails. We drove through some of the park and thought we had hit the mother load of bird sightings, probably one hundred geese at one time.

Yet it was only after leaving the park that we got the greatest show. Lounging in a pond just outside the park's borders were thousands and thousands of geese. It was such an impressive collection it was scary. Flashbacks of The Birds swooped through my mind. Geese aren't aggressive are they? We marveled, snapped pictures, and ran off.

 

Day 139 (Friday 12/7/12)- Las Cruces, NM

The town of El Paso has two free museums, one of which was exceptional. On the way out of town we visited it and the other one.

The first museum covered the area's archaeological history. Inside one room was life sized scenes depicting Ancestral people throughout time. Another room was devoted to artifacts, some dating back thousands of years.

We popped into the second museum on a lark, being next door. There we learned how 9/11 raised public interest in the department and led to more funding and a much bigger and more efficient border patrol force.

About a quarter of the museum involved history. A couple interesting points: The Border Patrol was launched in 1924 and was used to protect the first African American student to integrate a public school. The gift shop took up another quarter of the space, with everything from Border Patrol onesies to flasks. The last half of the museum featured vehicles-a helicopter, jeep and car used in earlier patrols and vehicles seized from would be immigrants.

This is obviously a delicate and complicated subject, with racism, or at least jingoism on one side-(to them I would say, if the US is the best country on Earth, why are you so upset people want to come here?) and some naivete or impracticalness on the other side (We can't sustain everyone in the world who wants to live here, some people who do come here are violent, others are diseased, and unless something changes there is the possibility of a long term and very large subterranean class to whom even minimum wage is beyond reach, who, after memories of Mexico fade, will be very dissatisfied).

Now I don't mean to stereotype, but I think the museum did. They bragged about their Nascar sponsorship and Amanda described their introductory video as "a bad Jean Claude Van Damn" movie. You can conclude for yourself who you think the museum believes is its audience.

My thought? Though it doesn't sound nice and isn't fair (but more fair and honest than the current..."como se dice cluster#@$% en Espanol?")...have people who want to work and send money back home screened and certified to do so, paid some sort of minimum rate and adequately housed in worker communities. Any employer who doesn't follow these rules (hiring certified workers, offering suitable wages and housing) are fined or shut down.

It's mutually exploitive-employers get a cheap workforce, workers get, because of the US economy, more money than they would otherwise.
　

I was surprised to learn that years ago the US did have a similar policy. Called the Bracero Program and lasting from 1942-64 the "US government contracted 5 million Mexican laborers." A large reason the program ended was because Texas refused to abide by the government imposed worker protection rules like minimum wage and housing requirements.

For those who want to become Americans and live here permanently, they too would be prescreened for skills, health and background and would attend free classes (paid for by a tax on farmers who employ non citizens. We, in turn, would have to pay a little more for our veggies) to learn English and American culture and history. Also, special incentives would be made to encourage the immigrant's offspring to get a full education.

Back in the town of Las Cruces-more museums. Their Nature and Science Museum was surprisingly impressive. We found displays on astronomy and all sorts of cool lizards, snakes and turtles who call the desert habitat home.

We exited to find the originally empty parking lot full, everyone in town jockeying to find a good parking spot. We arrived just in time to enjoy some hot chocolate sludge and see the town's Christmas tree being lit. Christmas, New Mexico style.

Archaeological History Museum in El Paso

 

 

 

 

Border Patrol Museum in El Paso

Yep that's a kid they captured. What you might not be able

to tell is he is holding bottles of booze in each tiny arm

 

 

Originally the D.A.R.E. robot

 

 

 

Museum in Las Cruces

 

Day 138 (Thursday 12/6/12)- El Paso, TX

　
You have so far followed faithfully on all our seemingly erratic route choices, don't doubt us now. We know what you're thinking, Texas? I thought you were in New Mexico.

Being an enormous mass of land, Texas seems easiest if done in parts. El Paso for now and back to New Mexico...then back to Texas. See it all makes sense.

Crossing into Texas we couldn't help but notice how the road signs there are quite large. The first sign boasted about the friendly drivers we would encounter in Texas. It lied.

We started our Texas adventure with a meal in a family owned, extremely crowded hole-in-the-wall. The food and service at L and J's was great and the dining experience unusual. Drunks, rowdy good-ole boys, business professionals in suits on their lunch breaks, and the two of us, made for a diverse crowd and proved the food was good. We can attest.

After lunch we walked through the UTEL campus and stopped in at the school's museum. Here we got to see interesting exhibits that ranged from decaying railroads in Mexico, stories from Tuberculosis sufferers, a collection of minerals and a room of taxidermy birds. A wonderful museum set on a beautiful campus and still not the highlight of the day.

Isaiah surprised me by taking me to a family run cheese farm. Though a lover of cheese I was confused. Instead of cheese, I found a petting zoo. I was still confused, but elated that in the cheese factory's backyard was the best free petting zoo I've ever been to. Burrows, goats and cows were cool, but expected. Ostrich's, peacocks, llamas, an albino reindeer and several types of birds so exotic they were unidentifiable were the real treat. After cooing at a tiny burrow and baby peacock for an hour I am sure Isaiah was silently reconsidering any future animal surprises.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 137 (Wednesday 12/5/12)- Deming, NM

Under the weather and needing a day off we spent Wednesday researching our next leg, nursing a carton of O.J. and finding out why the check engine light in the van had turned on. Though not an entirely unproductive day, we feel lazy if we don't do anything blog worthy.

Our evening was occupied with the funny but ridiculous 'What to expect when you're expecting,' another sign of Isaiah's generous spirit-he would never have seen it on his own.

Day 136 (Tuesday 12/4/12)- Gila Cliff Dwellings, NM

We started out for the Gila cliff dwellings with no idea that the drive entailed 44 miles of treacherous mountain side with significant downgrades and tedious speeds. We were thus relieved to even be there, but also had high expectations for the park, to justify the drive. The Gila dwellings were constructed by Mogollon people who called southwest New Mexico as well as parts of Arizona and Mexico home until the 1300's or so. A relatively easy hike led to the top of a cliff and the dwellings. On the way we got a view of the lovely late autumn landscape speckled with barren trees, yellow leaves collecting at their bases.

Our favorite thing about the park was they allow visitors to enter the two most intact sections of the dwellings, but the rooms were only intact because of our least favorite aspect of the experience. Due to a mistrust of the general public, explorations must be accompanied by a Ranger chaperon (this actually proved to be necessary as a woman in front of us had to be reminded again and again to keep her hands off the walls).

There were two reasons this dwelling was special. First the ceiling was marred with thick black soot. Many cliff dwellers lit indoor fires, but the soot here was not from the Mogollons. The fires were actually from 1500 year-old inhabits who used the cave as shelter, but were too nomadic to build any permanent structures.

The second special feature was a separate building at the entrance of the cave. Originally it was thought to be the home of an important family in the village, but was later determined to be a curing house for meat.

In the end the drive was well worth it.

 

 

Day 135 (Monday 12/3/12)- Saguaro National Monument, AZ

As an Oregonian I tend to be a little snobby, catching myself thinking that desert landscapes cannot hope to compete with lush green valleys. I mean how interesting can a cactus filled landscape be? I quickly ate my words.
Starting our day at Saguaro (Sah-Wah-Row) with a guided hike from a volunteer Naturalist we learned something about virtually every plant and animal we encountered along the way, even ones we didn't. The added possibility of stumbling even slightly and receiving a cactus spine in our shin or ass ensured we were an attentive audience.

To our surprise we talked only briefly about the cactus after which the park is named, learning it can grow up to 60 feet tall, have as many as 25 arms and live over 200 years. A desert Woodpecker so admires this incredible plant it makes it its home, puncturing holes all over the cactus and walking along it's spines with no apparent problem.

Along the hike our guide pointed out a Pack Rat's nest which was made of all sorts of desert debris, particularly cactus leaves. Much like humans, the female Pack Rat's nests are organized and neat, whereas the males are a big pile of trash. (Then again perhaps we should not read too much into the cleanliness of Pack Rats. After all archaeologists love them because they not only collect objects archaeologist find interesting, but by also pissing on them, the pack rats preserve historical objects for generations).

The Naturalist also shared that a week ago he had startled a sleeping rattlesnake who had reacted by striking his boot. Though no actual damage was done, I think my response would be quite different than his. Instead of stopping to take a picture of the angry snake, I would have immediately ran.

Though advised that the hike we had planned had extreme increases in elevation, we decided to give it a try anyway. After a significant incline, but pleasant hike, we sat atop a rock overlooking the valley, cactus carpeting everything but the path. We left the park with a much better appreciation of the importance every plant and animal brings to its environment, any environment-even a desert.