ZUNI, NM ~ May 27, 2007

I was greatly impressed to see how clean and neat the Zuni and Navajo Indian reservations are in New Mexico. They are very well-kept, quite idyllic and picturesque. You can tell that these people truly care about their homes, villages, and land. This was quite a contrast to the Hualapai reservation that we recently visited in Arizona – in the town of Peach Springs on scenic Old Route 66 of all places – where you drive past a residential neighborhood and see trash laying everywhere. I respect the fact that the Hualapai Nation hasn’t resorted to making money from gambling casinos and I admire them for trying to develop a legitimate tourist industry at Grand Canyon West instead. However, if they really want to attract tourists they should work on cleaning up their yards! It’s not just old junk cars and stuff like that, either, but actual litter that has blown around and is piled up in backyards and stuck in fences. I can understand people being poor, but that’s no excuse for being lazy and messy. I am so glad to know that not all Indian communities are like that! I wonder what causes the difference in people’s standards of living, why some are satisfied to live in slum conditions and others are proud of the environment in which they live? I did notice that the New Mexico Indians had their own farms and ranches, while the Arizona Indians had what looked like government housing. Perhaps that provides a clue, since people are more likely to take care of what they have worked hard to obtain, as compared to something in which they have no vested interest. What do you think?

MT. TAYLOR, NM ~ May 26-27, 2007

“We just have to go back there!” That quote from my 7-year-old son echoes what we all thought about our trip up Mount Taylor. Although white settlers christened it Mount Taylor after General Zachary Taylor, this mountain had long been an area of special religious and cultural significance to several local American Indian communities. It turned out to be a magical place to us as well.

After eating at Chili Kicks on Route 66, we went to find a place to camp for the night. To get to Mount Taylor from Grants, go north on First Street until you reach Lobo Canyon Road. You will go past a Smith’s supermarket, the Mount Taylor Ranger District office, a nice subdivision, and then a state prison. From there it’s a gently curving road up into the mountains. The paved portion reminded me of the road that Lightning McQueen and Sally drove on in Cars, but without the waterfall. After about 13 miles, the pavement ends and from there it is a good dirt-and-gravel road until you get near the top and then the road begins to deteriorate.

Though not as impressive as Humphrey’s Peak in Arizona when seen from a distance, Mount Taylor is considered to be one of New Mexico's most beautiful peaks and its location is not all that remote, so we were surprised at how little-used the area appeared to be. We were there on Memorial Day weekend but only saw signs of one other group of campers.

The 11,301-foot mountain is the cinder cone of an extinct stratovolcano, surrounded by a field of smaller inactive volcanoes. It is part of the same volcanic system as the lava fields at nearby El Malpais. When Mount Taylor erupted, a large chunk of the summit was blown off, but it’s unclear as to how high the mountain was before the eruption.

As we neared the top of Mount Taylor, the road got so bad and washed out that we couldn’t go any further. There was standing water, too, so it must have either rained recently or it’s just a wetter area than we’re used to Arizona. The top of the mountain is covered with radio towers so I’m surprised that the road isn’t better maintained. I wonder if there is a better access road from the other side for servicing the equipment?

We turned around and went back to a camping spot we had seen next to a grassy meadow, and stayed there for the night. This place was so pristine and beautiful! If it had been in Arizona they would have had to rope off the meadow to keep people from wrecking it from overuse. The meadow was covered with little yellow flowers, and upon closer observation I saw that they were all dandelions. Everyone calls them weeds but dandelions are one of my favorite flowers! Their petals closed up at night but as soon as the morning sun appeared, the dandelions all started opening and the bright yellow petals looked like miniature suns themselves. We could just about see it happening right before our eyes but still I would have liked to have had a time lapse camera to photograph that.

The spot where we were camped out had something for everyone – a pretty flower-covered meadow for me, a mountainside for Rich to hike, some real nice rock outcroppings for the kids to climb on – plus “lots of nature” as Josh always says. The forest was mostly Douglas fir with a few aspen trees, whereas in Arizona it’s mostly ponderosa pine. In the leaf litter under the trees, we even found a few puff balls. One of the cliffs had a cave in it but it was up high and we didn’t have our climbing gear. It would have been the perfect spot to stay and play all day, but we were planning to head down to El Malpais so we had to break up camp. Mount Taylor is at the top of my list of places to go the next time we have another long weekend!

GRANTS, NM ~ May 26, 2007

The town of Grants is named after the Grant brothers who contracted to build the section of transcontinental railroad in this area. Although the first settlers had raised livestock, the timber industry took over once the railroad came in. Logging camps and sawmills sprang up throughout the Zuni Mountains, with branch lines connected to the main railway. In 1931, the lumber business slowed down as did the rest of the nation’s economy. By World War II, railroad logging had ended. Uranium mining began to flourish in the early 1950’s until the 1980’s when that also declined. The town’s population has dropped considerably since then, but Grants looks like a nice community with well-kept parks for the residents and mining museums for the tourists. Grants is the nearest town with hotels close to our next destination of El Malpais National Monument, but this was a budget trip for us and we were going to be camping, which is also easily available in the forested areas around Grants.

One thing to keep in mind about both Grants and Gallup is that most stores and restaurants are closed on Sunday. Coming from Arizona where everything is open all the time, this was surprising and seemed rather quaint in our current day and age. It’s a good thing we were traveling on a budget anyway and had brought a cooler full of sandwiches and snacks. Even so, Rich at least wanted to sample some New Mexico chili so on Saturday night we did stop at a place called Chili Kicks on Route 66. It’s owned by a local chili cookoff winner, Millie Chavez. She had won first place at the annual Chili Fiesta in Grants, as well as first place at the Sky City Salsa and Chili Championships. Definitely a family restaurant, the Chavez family was eating there at the time, too. The furnishings were simple, the prices were inexpensive, and the portions were plenty. The chili, salsa, and enchilada sauce were indeed good but they were all extremely HOT, even for us Arizonans. It’s a good thing they had free refills on soft drinks! If you have tender taste buds, you can just get a plain bean burrito with Spanish rice on the side, which wasn’t too hot. Sit by the window so you can watch the trains go by.

GALLUP, NM ~ May 26, 2007

While the Acoma, Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni Pueblo Indians have lived in northwestern New Mexico for centuries, it also seems that this area has always been a thoroughfare for travelers. Spanish Conquistadors led by Francisco Coronado arrived in the region in 1540, and although this wasn’t the “Seven Cities of Gold” that they were searching for, they did find a sophisticated network of roads connecting the various Indian settlements.

The Spanish were followed by other explorers, mountain men, cattle ranchers, cowboys, sheepherders, homesteaders, and expeditions sent by the U.S. Government to map the territory. (New Mexico became a U.S. territory in 1848.) Europeans, Asians, and Mexicans came to work in the region’s coal mines and build the railroad in the late 1800’s. (Originally called Carbon City, railroad workers re-named the town in 1881 after David Gallup, a paymaster for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.)

The establishment of Route 66 in the 1920’s led to an increased stream of travelers through Gallup, from farmers fleeing the dust bowl to soldiers starting a new life after World War II. Gallup was one of the first cities along Route 66 to have paved streets from end to end, and the town’s name is mentioned in the lyrics to the popular song, “Route 66.” Today, people still travel that route to see the wonders of the American Southwest.

Gallup is sometimes called the “Indian Capital of the World” for its centralized location in the heart of American Indian country. Since the early frontier days, Gallup has served as a major trading area for Indian arts and crafts. Gallup is the largest city in the American Southwest that holds onto this unique tradition. While Gallup is now a modern trade and tourism center it still retains its trading post atmosphere, western frontier flavor, unique cultural diversity, classic Route 66 roots, and productive railroad industry.

Driving into downtown Gallup along Route 66 you will see a bustling place with lots of traffic moving through, tourists shopping for souvenirs, and trains running along the tracks. There is a big lumber yard right in the center of town. There are over 100 trading posts, shops and galleries specializing in original American Indian art, including upscale galleries for the discriminating buyer. But the transient nature of the town combined with a plethora of roadside motels makes for cheap lodging, which means you will also find plenty of pawn shops, liquor stores, and fast food restaurants in Gallup. There are a dozen old motels all within a mile of the center of town.

El Rancho Hotel with its huge neon sign and western motif is a prime example of the heyday of Route 66. El Rancho was built as a home-away-from-Hollywood for movie stars filming in the area. These included such notable actors as Jackie Cooper, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, and Kirk Douglas. We stopped for gas at a Texaco station across the street from El Rancho, and later I found out that it’s also a Route 66 landmark that the same family has owned and operated since 1939. Oh, and speaking of movie stars, it was great to see an old single screen theater still in operation in the heart of downtown Gallup. Built in 1928, El Morro theater features performing arts as well as movies. (Spiderman 3 was on the marquee when we drove by.)

It was interesting to see that Gallup is a hillside town with steep side roads leading up from the main street into residential neighborhoods. While cruising along Route 66, look for the parking area next to the tracks where there is an old caboose with a map painted on it. You can step up onto the caboose and peek in the windows while watching the trains go past. We were separated from the train tracks by only a fence, and we could hear every squeak and creak of the train cars as they rumbled by. Once when we weren't looking, a locomotive blew his horn right next to us and made us jump!

ROUTE 66 - AZ - NM ~ May 25-28, 2007

I’m still on my Route 66 kick! But our destination this time was in a different direction. We headed up to I-40 and went east to New Mexico, passing some of my favorite places such as Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, and Painted Desert. We also cruised through the towns of Winslow, Holbrook, Gallup and Grants on Old Route 66 before heading south through El Malpais and past El Morro where once again we ran across the trail of Lt. Beale!