Life is a Highway

Holy Smoke - No More Bluebird Skies!

Earlier in the week, the National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for our area from Wednesday through Saturday. Coupled with the fires in the Gila Wilderness in southwest New Mexico, these southwest winds were expected to bring smoke into our area from hundreds of miles away. As promised, the winds have been howling, and today the smoke arrived. Marie and I walked out the door this morning, smelled smoke and wondered where our views went.

As we descended into the Pojaoque Valley on the way to Santa Fe, the visibility dropped further. As we crested the hill on Rt. 84/285 overlooking Santa Fe, we were shocked. The view nornally extends all the way across Santa Fe to the Sandia Mountains along the Turquoise Trail. Instead, we could barely see Santa Fe.

In addition to the winds increasing, the two fires in the Gila combined and tripled in size over the last 24 hours, now covering 110 square miles, almost half the size of the Los Conchas Fire last summer. The fire remains 0 percent contained due to unpredictable winds and erratic fire behavior. One official said the relative humidity in recent days has been 1 percent. 1 percent? Heck, kiln dried lumber has between 6 and 8 percent moisture content.

We went to Santa Fe to visit a couple of shops on Canyon Road that we hadn't gotten to this trip, pick up some favorite food items to ship home and look for last minute gifts. Mission accomplished on all fronts except one gift item, which we're still in the hunt for. (Hint: it's for our granddaughter.) We headed back to Medanales around 3:30 to pick up our next door neighbor, Renata Zimmermann, to go to dinner at a tiny restaurant in the nearby town of El Rito. El Farolito (The Lantern) truly fits the description of "hole in the wall", seating 24 folks on picnic tables. It's family owned and operated, and  nothing to look at from the outside, but it's a favorite of celebrities like Marsha Mason (who lives nearby), Susan Sarandon and Bill Richardson.

We arrived early for dinner to make sure we got a seat. As it turned out, we were the only ones there - none of the boats and four wheelers and campers hurtling north for the Memorial Day Weekend were passing through El Rito.

When the waitress brought us our menus, she told us we were sitting at the table featured in the 2012 New Mexico tourism commercial. (Note that Marie's seat would be shared by a person sitting behind her - if it's crowded you better hope for friendly neighbors.)

No alcohol is served at El Farolito - though you can bring your own beer and wine - but they do have Arnold Palmers. Renata didn't know what it was, nor did Marie (I did, from an ESPN commercial). When we ordered three, our waitress told us she made really pretty Arnold Palmers, to which we'd agree.

Figured it out yet? Despite the logos on the glasses, an Arnold Palmer is half ice tea and half lemonade. Very tasty. Marie and I ordered combo platters with a chile relleno, an enchilada and a taco, while Renata ordered enchiladas. Excellent food, topped off with their award winning green and red chile sauces. All told our bill came to around $37. I highly recommend El Farolito if you're ever in northern New Mexico, just be aware that they only accept cash and local checks.

When we came out, Main Street El Rito was even more deserted looking than before. There's a community college and lots of artist studios and galleries in town, but we saw almost no one outside of El Farolito.

Those of you who have read previous years' blogs learned about the politics of water and water rights out here, with irrigation ditches policed by "ditch riders" and the like. On the window of the shuttered general store opposite El Farolito we saw a "Ditch Notice" laying the law down in El Rito.

Nothing's simple when it comes to water out here!

Tent Rocks

Yesterday Marie and I finally got to visit the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Last year, by the time we decided to visit, Tent Rocks was closed due to the massive Los Conchas wildfire. The Monument itself wasn't actually threatened, but the Fire Service closed the roads in the area to allow unimpeded access of fire crews to the fire. In addition, Cochiti Lake, which Tent Rocks abuts, was a major water source for helicopters and planes fighting the fire.

Tent Rocks proved to be worth the wait - and that's an understatement. As with many of the geologic formations in the area, the tent rocks were a result of the Jemez supervolcano eruption and subsequent erosion. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice (solidified frothy lava) and tuff (consolidated volcanic ash) beneath harder caprocks, and vary in height from a few feet to 90 feet. Visually, many give the impression of teepees, some with hoodoo-like caps. As we started the trail, we were greeted by a massive wall of rock with a balanced rock at the top.

This rock face became even more impressive in profile.

There are two trails to hike - a cave loop trail that's flat and stays in the open, and a trail that traverses a slot canyon on the way to the top of the mesa. Since the day was beastly hot - we encountered temps as high as 99 degrees - we decided to forego the mesa-top hike. However, the two trails intersected, so we decided to give the slot canyon a look-see. Slot canyons are the products of rain and rock. Since rain can't soak into rock, and there's so much rock in the Southwest, water finds cracks in the rock and forces its way down to ground. Over time, the water wears the rock away, often in very narrow and sinuous passages. During the summer monsoon season, you have to be wary of hiking in slots - a rainstorm 20 miles away, while you see nothing but blue sky overhead, "relieves itself" in the form of a flash flood. Marie and I hiked a slot canyon in Escalante, UT several years ago. Our guide told us that his business turns from guiding in the spring to rescue and recovery in the summer. The lure can be strong, because slot canyons can be unbelievably beautiful. This is the entrance to the slot at Tent Rocks.

The tents really loom over you as the slot begins to narrow

until the slot reveals its true nature.

We hiked the slot for awhile, but turned back when a couple of boulder scrambles presented themselves. Marie was a happy camper! Claustrophobia is not her idea of a fun afternoon.

Marie and I were each carrying cameras, and our photos often provide different perspectives on the same scene. Many of our absolute best photos have been the result of Marie's artistic eye - check out these two photos of the slot.

As we emerged from the slot, it revealed itself for what it really is - a wash.

Once we rejoined the cave trail, we came upon its namesake. Technically called caveats, these caves were carved into the volcanic tuff by the Ancestral Puebloans. We've seen similar caves at Bandelier, Tsankawi and Puye'. Note the black soot from cooking fires on the ceiling of the cave.

As we hiked out, we saw tents and hoodoos clinging to the cliffs at all levels.

Approaching the parking lot, we came upon the Tent Rocks photo gallery, for those who don't want to walk more than 100 yards for their fix. Very thoughtful of the Bureau of Land Management to place these so close to the parking area.

After enjoying a lunch of peanut butter and jelly tortillas at one of the nice covered picnic tables in the parking area, we took off for Belen, NM, around 35 miles south of Albuquerque, so I could look at a 1940's Navajo rug I saw on eBay. The rug was located at the Bethlehem Trading Post - turns out that Belen means Bethlehem in Spanish.

I didn't buy the rug - I'm very proud of myself for resisting - but we did get to see Belen, population 7269. An average of 110 trains go through Belen per day, which might explain the low population. We drove north to Tesuque to end our day at our favorite place to eat in New Mexico, the Tesuque Village Market. Although our favorite waitress wasn't there, Marie enjoyed her chile rellenos and I my chicken and chorizo burrito. It says something that it took us 23 days to get to our favorite place to eat - we've really eaten out less on this trip. Yay, us!

Today was a down day - at least from a vacation point of view. I had two coaching calls and worked on two trainings I'll be doing the week after we get back. That's going to be one busy week for me - I do four full days of training June 4-7, an evening training on June 6 and a morning training on June 8. Marie painted a good part of the day, then made guacamole and tortilla soup while I snuck off for an evening hike at Poshuouinge. I was rewarded by a golden light view over the Poshuouinge ruins

and a beautiful sunset on the mesa.

One week from today we'll be leaving - trying not to think about it.

So, It's a Moth, Not a Bird

We have a winner in the "name that bird" contest from my last post. And, as it turns out, it's not a bird! First to recognize that was our friend Janet, who pointed out the obvious - it's got more than two legs, so it has to be an insect! Duh! (Hey, I'm a retired engineer, not an ornithologist.) However, Janet identified our insect as a "hummingbird hawk moth" which, it turns out, occurs only in Europe and Asia. Our daughter Erin correctly identified our little friend as a "white lined sphinx hummingbird moth". WINNER!!! Marie and I are very proud parents, indeed.

Today Marie and I slept in a bit, then headed to Santa Fe to visit the Wheelwright Museum and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, both on Museum Hill. The weather was absolutely magnificent in Santa Fe - bluebird skies, nice cool breeze. First we went to the Wheelwright and enjoyed the displays, as usual, followed by a visit to the Case Trading Post, which has great Native American items in a fantastic setting. (Sorry for the quality of the photo - it's from the Wheelwright website.

Next we ate a wonderful lunch outdoors at the Museum Hill Cafe. I had grilled salmon with beans and rice, Marie had a Cobb salad, and we both had a great time.

Our next stop was the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. We were particularly drawn by their new exhibition, "They Wove for Horses: Dine' Saddle Blankets", which "highlights both the textile-weaving proficiency of Diné weavers who produced complex saddle blankets for all occasions and the design skills of Diné silversmiths who created dazzling headstalls of silver and turquoise". As an owner of several vintage saddle blankets, I was really excited to see this display. Saddle blankets are woven to place under the saddle: they have a utilitarian purpose (to absorb sweat), but fancy versions (sometimes called Sunday saddle blankets) are also woven for show. The overarching theme of the show was the pride that the Navajos take in their horses. No photos were allowed in the museum, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

In addition to the saddle blankets, Marie and I enjoyed the displays of Native American baskets. A highlight was a video of basketmakers from around the country that included Jeremy Frey, who made one of the baskets we bought in Maine several years ago. We also enjoyed the "Here, Now and Always" exhibition, which is a collaboration of Native American elders, artists, scholars, teachers, writers and museum professionals to tell the story of the Native Americans from their origins to now. In fact, the idea is to emphasize that they're still here: "We are here, now, and we will be here always." Very powerful and highly recommended.

We closed the museum down at 5:00 and then drove to Target for a few supplies. Nothing much to see except this priceless bumper sticker.

Reminds me of the bumper sticker we saw after we moved to Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1995: "Welcome to Maryland's beautiful Eastern Shore. Now go home."


 

Solar Eclipse and Hummingbees

On Saturday we spent the day in Santa Fe, starting with a quick stop at the Farmer's Market for raspberry red chile jam and bread. Then we drove to the Tesuque Flea Market, where we shopped a little and visited with our favorite vendors a lot. The Flea Market isn't what it used to be, but Will Trager (Santa Fe Trading Company), who specializes in new and vintage Native American jewelry, and Bonnie Kent (Bonnie Kent Trading), who specializes in vintage cowboy boots, Native American beaded items and jewelry, and Navajo rugs, can always be counted on to have cool - and desirable - stuff. Plus, they're both really nice folks and we enjoy catching up with them. The rest of the day we moseyed around Santa Fe, perusing the Native American vendors at the Palace of the Governors, visiting favorite shops, and picking up some gifts for the folks back home. Before we left, we picked up dinner salads at The Shed to take back to the mesa.

Yesterday we hung around the mesa, Marie painting and me working on a big 4-day training I'll be doing right after we get back home. I also took a quick trip into Espanola to see if I could find safety glasses to view the solar eclipse. Even though the Albuquerque/Santa Fe/Espanola area is right in the path of the eclipse, I was amazed at how difficult it was to find the glasses - a few museums in Albuquerque and that was about it. Nothing in Espanola, so I purchased some supplies at Wal-Mart and made a viewing device using binoculars.

That was the easy part. When I took my fine optical device outside for a test, I had a heck of a time finding the sun. Fortunately, we'd been invited to an eclipse viewing party at our next door neighbor's, Renata Zimmerman. Two folks came prepared - one with a pinhole box

and the other with a device like mine, complete with tripod to stabilize it.

As you can see, both worked really well, and prevented possible blindness for all. After the excitement of the eclipse, we drank local organic wine from Smiling Snake Vineyard, ate Marie's green chile stew, homemade salsa and blue corn muffins, as well as Renata's delicious guacamole, and got to meet several of Renata's friends from Medanales and Abiquiu. Renata weaves beautiful clothes, and the other guests included the winemaker, an accomplished painter, two paper makers and a novelist with several books (her first was "Dreaming in Cuban"). An accomplished group, and a very interesting evening.

When we returned home, the front of our house was alive with moths.

These little buggers showed up about a week ago, and they've found their way into the house on more than one occasion. Needless to say, we skipped the front door and came in through the kitchen.

Today I had a couple of coaching calls, and we went into Abiquiu to visit the Rising Moon Gallery. But the day was dominated by the appearance of several "hummingbees". They look like a cross between a hummingbird and a bee, and are having a great time on the honeysuckle and various other flowers in our courtyard. Notice in the third photo how the "bill" is curled up.

I assume these are some type of hummingbird, but if anyone can identify them I'd appreciate it.

Ojito Wilderness, Part 2

After my brush with danger - or was it stupidity - we embarked on our second hike at Ojito, Hoodoo Pines. The significance of this hike is the presence of Ponderosa pines and hoodoos in the same vicinity. The hoodoos are to be expected - the Ponderosa pines don't usually thrive this low in altitude in New Mexico. After parking our car by the side of the road, we started our hike. The trail was flat - good news since we were already tired from our previous hike - and relatively featureless.

Though we did come upon one set of hoodoos almost immediately,

the main items of interest were the beautiful flowers, cactus and otherwise.

Soon, Bernalillito Mesa loomed high over us, but we still weren't seeing any hoodoos.

A colorful lizard, but still no hoodoos.

After hiking for another 20 minutes or so, Marie wanted to stop. We were both gassed, but something told me to keep going. And then we saw it - a miniature Valley of the Gods. Once again, I'll let the photos do the talking.

For awhile, we forgot how tired we were and just marveled at this amazing little "garden". Every move brought a new view. And then ... it was time to go. Our legs grew heavier as we made our way to the car - car seats never felt so good. After a stop at the Bernalillo Wal-Mart for a few things, we drove to Santa Fe to pick up world-famous burgers at Bobcat Bite, which we ate back on the mesa. (Click here for last year's post on Bobcat Bite.) Nice end to a long day.