Friday to Sunday, September 24-26

On Friday, Jon had arranged to take the day off from work (Arianne works Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at her CDC job). We had a reservation for a two bedroom cottage for two nights in Callaway Gardens, a 13,000 acre planned resort and community in Pine Mountain, Georgia about a ninety minute drive southwest from Decatur. We packed and loaded food, clothes, 2 bikes, and baby gear in the camper, and all five of us piled into the truck.

Benji had a rough time for a bit since he isn’t overly fond of the car seat, but once we hit the freeway he fell asleep and the rest of us relaxed. We arrived in time to eat our picnic lunch overlooking a little lake with ducks and turtles. The greater resort area is full of fields and forests and little lakes. The tall, airy, graceful loblolly pines (I think) were abundant as were some trees that looked like rhoddies on steroids. Oh yes, we are in the south, those trees would be magnolias, of course! We were eager to get into our cottage since Benji was very ready for his afternoon nap but found that housekeeping had not completely finished cleaning the unit nor had they brought in the promised crib and highchair. All was rectified within 30 minutes and Benji crashed.

Callaway Gardens has walking and hiking trails, bike paths, several lakes for swimming and fishing, a top-ranked golf course, tennis courts and pools, and multiple themed gardens. It also has a free-flying birds of prey show, a butterfly house and an impressive horticultural center (reminiscent of Grand Rapids’ Meijer Gardens). Quite the place! Staying there got us into everything.

We enjoyed walks, bike rides, touring gardens and the butterfly house, watched the exciting (they swoop right over your head) bird show, swam and hot tubbed--all timed to accommodate Benji’s naps. We adults even managed an evening of Settlers of Caton--”All Hail, Lord of Caton” to Arianne! What a lovely way to spend relaxed and fun family time all together.

Sunday looked threatening. After lunch, we went to visit the small onsite 16th century Gothic design chapel named in honor of the founder’s mother. It is tucked away in the woods on the edge of a lake. Someone plays the Möller pipe organ (dedicated in 1962 by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale!) every day from 2-4 PM. We reached it in a torrential rain, crackling thunder, and tingling lightening storm. The organist wondered if we had any favorite hymns. We chose A Mighty Fortress is Our God and Amazing Grace and she went on to play Simple Gifts and others. A wonderful, rich, space-and-soul--filling sound.

Benji bounced and sang along with the organ.



A perfect end to our getaway. Time to head for home
 

September 21, 22, 23

On Tuesday, Jon and Arianne discuss plans for a chicken coop with Mark. They recently got five little chicks at a free giveaway. Sadly, we are down to three chicks now, but the hearty three are getting big and will need a coop soon.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we get to keep Benji at home while his parents bike off to work. Benji is a sweet, loud (even his mom says so), smiling, very busy baby. He plays happily much of the time. The plastic container collection, stored just within his reach, is a favorite toy. He dumps them out, pushes them around, fills them with small toys, shakes, empties and starts over again. His books are in easy reach, too, and he is mostly respectful of the paper pages. Oma and Opa worry less when he peruses his cardboard books, of course.

Opa starts working on the chicken coop. Benji and I take walks and putter around inside the house. We brought Benji an old pop-up toy from Jon’s youth just for fun and he is intrigued. His first birthday is just a week away. He is walking around everything but not quite ready to let go yet.

Sunday and Monday, September 19 and 20

Quick summary:

--stop in Memphis for general info and to see statues of  B.B. King and Elvis n the visitor’s center

--decide to go to Nashville--about 3.5 hour drive

--enjoy a sunset cruise on the General Jackson Showboat on the Cumberland River featuring dinner and a presentation of country music songs down through the years--Tammy Wynette is my personal favorite and brings back memories of a college dorm room resounding with “Stand By Your Man”. We’re not huge country music fans so some songs we knew but quite a few we didn’t. Had some great fiddling as part of the show which we thoroughly enjoyed

--stay in an RV park that was under 15 ft of water in some places during the May, 2010 Nashville flood--we had not heard about it at all

Monday morning we drove south towards Chattanooga. We had picked up a brochure about some major Civil War battles fought in that area in 1863 in what is now designated the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. A large promontory called Lookout Mountain, a confederate stronghold, was the site of a major victory for the newly appointed head of the Union army, Major General Ulysses S. Grant. It was a foggy day so the battle is known as the Battle Above the Clouds (such a lovely sounding name for an incredibly bloody encounter with 1,231 casualties). The Union army drove the Confederates off the mountain.

The next day, the Union army stormed the nearby confederate-held Missionary Ridge with orders to halt at the bottom. However, in the heat of battle, the troops surged forward up the ridge anyway and at a critical moment in the charge, an 18 year old named Arthur MacArthur races to the top and inspires…“his regiment by seizing and planting the regimental flag on the crest of Missionary Ridge…shouting "On Wisconsin”… Some seventeen years later he will father a son named Douglas MacArthur.

There is now an informative visitor’s center and park at the top of Lookout Mountain as well as a commercial venture that does a sound and light show with a three dimensional diorama using five thousand miniature soldiers--was very informative and even dramatic! But we were overdue for starting our 3 hour drive south to Atlanta and eager to see Benji and his parents.

Using our GPS unit is always interesting to me. At times, it gives perfect directions. At other times, Mark the map-reader is dissatisfied with the provided directions and does his own thing. At yet other times, it gives strange and constantly changing directions. The later is what happened on our way to Jon and Arianne’s house. Mark was driving to begin with and was obviously sure that I was doing something wrong. I recommended that we exit the freeway and switch places. However, Mark was equally mystified trying to read the GPS (to my secret delight, of course). We finally arrived feeling somewhat harried. Of course, seeing Benji totally cleared our minds!

11. Tennessee--Agriculture and commerce….I guess they couldn’t decide what nickname to use for Tennessee because the list goes on and on…Volunteer State, Big Bend State, Hog & Hominy State, the Mother of Southwestern Statesmen--take your pick, I guess

12. Georgia--Wisdom, justice, and moderation/Peach State

As Arianne says, "The newest representative of the Peach State!"

Friday and Saturday, September 17 and 18

We dragged all of our stuff back down to the camper and set out driving southeast to pick up I-40 which will take us all the way to Memphis where we veer south for Atlanta. According to Google maps we had 22 hours and 40 minutes of drive time to cover 1,394 miles--IF we don’t deviate. But, of course, we did deviate…..

The route took us out of New Mexico, across the Texas panhandle, and into Oklahoma. Friday, we just drove and watched the changing scenery:
--tree covered dry hills with dark green and blue mesas and buttes against the morning sky ( wiki says a mesa has a top wider than its height, while a butte's top is narrower)
--long, flat, dry brown grasslands
--lots of Route 66 signs and small, somewhat depressed looking small towns USA
--huge mesas topped with wind farms rising out of the plains
--Texas cattle
--finally rolling hills when we hit Oklahoma
--we see a sign that says, “Use the rod on your child and save his life.” hmmmm….

Just west of Oklahoma City in Hinton, Oklahoma, Mark locates the Red Rock Canyon State Park. We trundle off the highway about 10 miles and descend to the bottom of a small, red rock canyon. Are we in Arizona again?? It is 7PM, 85 degrees and incredibly humid. Ah, but we have hookups!

Dinner and a walk follow in quick succession. On our walk we notice a sign listing more than ten nearby churches. In the night, we wake to loud, close, continual hooting of an owl…also the incessant sound of our neighbor’s air conditioned tent trailer.

By the time we got up it was already 72 degrees out. We ate, unhooked, and rumbled the truck up out of the canyon. Once again, we observe as we travel:
--huge, green, cultivated fields
--signs indicating as we enter and leave Indian nations land--Kickapoo, Sac and Fox, Potawatomi, Seminole
--more rolling green treed hills
--by noon we are in Arkansas
--we have covered more than 3,000 miles on our travels

Having never been in Arkansas and thinking it likely we never will be again, we decided to see some of the Ozarks. We turn off on the state-designated scenic highway 7. It was beautiful countryside but we are perhaps a little jaded after seeing so many beautiful places recently….weather didn’t help either…….

--drive through an area known as “Arkansas’ Grand Canyon” with views to tree covered low mountains off both sides of the ridge we are driving
--pass through the tiny hamlet of Jasper where the small stores have rocking chairs out front
--one shop is called the Museum of Junk
--eventually we are in the Buffalo National River recreation area known for canoeing, fishing, small cabin rentals
--the river is fairly low and sluggish this time of year and we nearly miss crossing it
--take a winding shortcut interestingly called Low Water Hasty Cutoff

Originally, we were thinking we would do some hiking in the Ozarks, but it is 90 degrees and very humid. We can’t even get excited about canoeing. We talk back and forth about where to camp. By 6PM, it is 95 degrees and when I tentatively suggest indulging in a hotel room, Mark jumps at the idea. With renewed energy, we consult the guide books and the GPS and find America’s Best Value Inn in Conway about 30 minutes north of Little Rock. Pulling in, we are delighted to find that our spacious $65 room, in addition to the longed for air conditioning, has a microwave, frig, and free breakfast of juice, coffee, cereal and donuts. We microwave our dinner, flop into easy chairs and veg out in the air conditioned coolness. Ahhhh…..the morning’s promised donuts were too gooey sweet for us but we are not complaining!

More state mottos/nicknames:
8. Texas--Friendship/Lone Star State

9. Oklahoma--Labor omnia vincit, Labor conquers all things/Sooner State

10. Arkansas--Regnat populus,The people rule/The Natural State

Thursday, September 16

We left early for the 45 minute drive to Bandelier National Monument in Frijoles Canyon northwest of Santa Fe. We had hiking and climbing to do and the day would be hot. The 52 sq. mile Monument is home to thousands of archeological sites and some 70 miles of trails (vs. only 3 miles of public road) within its borders.

For the visitor like us with limited time, there are wonderful pueblo ruins, petroglyphs, and cavates (cave rooms pronounced “CAVE-eights”) in the “tuff” (volcanic ash) cliffs less than a mile from the visitor’s center. Most date from around 1100-1200 A.D. We enjoyed climbing up short ladders to peer into cavates and admired the many petroglyphs carved high on the rock face along the path. We especially liked one large, clear petroglyph showing a macaw parrot (thought to be obtained in trade with peoples from Mexico).

see the parrot?

On the valley floor, we also saw the extensive, partially excavated ruins of a village called Tyuonyi (QU-whe-nee) which translated means “meeting place”. It once had at least two stories and over 400 rooms. It is estimated that it was inhabited for some 400 years ending in the mid-1500s.

Another half mile beyond the village is the Alcove House--a 140 ft. climb on 4 ladders and many stone steps to an alcove carved out high on the rock face and thought once to be home to some 25 people.

almost to the alcove

The alcove also includes a small reconstructed kiva (which is often but not always an underground room entered through a hole in the ceiling and associated with religious or community activities or ceremonies). We could barely see the alcove from below. From the top, it was like being in a secret treehouse. Climbing into the tiny kiva felt like we had been transported to another time. For a short time we even had the Alcove House to ourselves. It was beautiful.

We would have liked to visit Los Alamos but the day was hot and time was short. Instead, we went back to our condo for an afternoon swim knowing that early the next morning we would have to leave. Definitely many more sights to see in Santa Fe.

Wednesday, September 15

The Santa Fe stop for us was mostly a utilitarian one--to do laundry, clean the camper, catch up on blogging for me, attend to a few truck needs for Mark, check emails, catch our breath, and restock the camper.

However, on Wednesday we took a 2.5 hour walking tour of downtown which focused largely on the last 400 yrs of the area’s history. Interestingly, the Indian peoples there were never taken from their land and put on reservations so they still live in pueblos surrounding Santa Fe. We barely scratched the surface of what there is to see and do in Santa Fe.

Wished I had brought along Willa Cather’s novel Death Comes for the Archbishop in book-on-CD form to listen to in the truck. It is based on the life of Jean-Baptiste Lamy, bishop of Santa Fe from 1851 to 1888, and partially chronicles the construction of the beautiful but rather French looking Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which we saw. I was particularly disappointed to learn, however, that the Georgia O’Keefe museum was closed for the month.

Did enjoy a wonderful lunch at The Shed, a local restaurant favorite featuring Southwest food. The restaurant is housed in a hacienda dating form 1692.

Mottos vs Nicknames

We have now been in seven states. In Utah, I got intrigued by state mottos, so here goes:

Washington--Al-ki (Chinook jargon) meaning by and by OR bye and bye

Oregon--Alis volat propriis meaning She flies with her own wings

Idaho--Esto perpetua meaning Let it be perpetual

Utah--Industry

Arizona--God enriches

Colorado--Nil sine numine meaning Nothing without Providence/the Deity

New Mexico--Crescit eundo meaning It grows as it goes

Oh, I realized, these are not to be confused with state nicknames!

Washington--The Evergreen State

Oregon--Beaver State

Idaho--Gem State, Gem of the Mountains

Utah--The Beehive State (which totally explains the symbol on their highway signs)

Arizona--The Grand Canyon State, Copper State

Colorado--Centennial State, Colorful Colorado

New Mexico--Land of Enchantment

Some of these totally nonplussed me..............

Tuesday, September 14

After disposing of the mouse, we set out driving towards Four Corners (only spot in the USA where four states meet in one place), just a short detour from our route to Albuquerque. We figured that we would never go there again so why not go when we were so close. Indeed, it is in the middle of NOWHERE. It was also a little disappointing. Cost to enter the Indian-run site was $3/person and consisted of a large concrete area with four raised corners, the seals of all four states, and a brass medallion in the middle showing THE SPOT. This area in turn was ringed with Indian stalls selling jewelry, sand paintings, leather items, etc.

We took a few pictures and then happily purchased and ate fry bread! We still had four and a half hours to drive in order to get Mike to the bus in Albuquerque. We got him here with a little time to spare.

After dropping Mike (who is bound for Denver, Boulder, and places in California before returning home), we drove a couple of more hours to Santa Fe. We would spend three nights in Santa Fe.

  

eating frybread while hopeful friend looks on

Monday, September 13

We knew that we needed to cover about 300 miles in order to still have time to get Mike to the bus station in Albuquerque by 3:00 on Tuesday afternoon. We also knew that we wanted to go to the Anasazi museum in Boulder, see some of the sights in Capitol Reef National Park, and stop at the Natural Bridges National Monument. It would be a long day…and, as it turned out, a long night as well.

--the museum was small but nicely done with ancient ruins under outside cover; we learned that the term “anasazi” which means ancient enemy is no longer in favor; now the preferred term is ancestral puebloan people
--followed hwy 12 to 24 and had views of mesa after mesa--actually climbing to a pass at 9600 ft. at one point
--entered Capitol Reef National Park, which is called a “giant wrinkle” in the earth or the Waterpocket Fold--a unique area which is surrounded by desert

--watched a very good short video at the visitor’s center (area was a long time, very small Mormon settlement), ate lunch, and picked some small but good apples at a U-pick old orchard near the picnic grounds--included bags, long handled pickers, ladders, and a scale with an honor payment system at $1/lb.

--would have loved to do the 20 mile scenic drive but no time
--saw some great petroglyphs

--exited Capitol Reef and drove through Cathedral Valley, an area of brown and gray ramparts, sand slides and sculpted ridges; Mark called one area of gray rocks protruding from the sand around it, a “battleship graveyard”
--another area reminded us of flying buttresses; strange and bleak but beautiful in its own way

About this time, I was weary of sitting in the middle seat and retreated to the camper. Mike and Mark drove through the areas bordering Lake Powell. I snoozed, read, and periodically peered through the windows.

We arrived at the Natural Bridges National Monument and took the 9 mile loop drive through the park stopping at vistas of the various natural bridges (by definition they are formed by the erosive action of water) as well as distant views of some ancestral puebloan ruins from over 700 years ago.

can you find the bridge?

We resumed driving while looking for an appropriate place to spend the night. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Suffice it to say, we finally found an RV park in Bluff, Utah about 7:30 at night. By the time we pulled in, I was in a hypoglycemic snit but we got dinner going in record time. Mark and I went to bed early since we planned to get up early. Mike decided to sleep in the cab since it was a typically barren gravel park. It did offer good showers AND wi-fi, however!

Mike took the computer into the cab with him for a little more online time. Somewheres around midnight, we heard an insistent knock on our locked camper door. Mark crawled out of bed and Mike tumbled into the camper with tales of a mouse in the truck cab. (Apparently, Mark had left the back truck window open when we were in Kodachrome and a mouse had crawled in to go traveling with us.) Mike stretched out on the floor of the camper for the rest of the night. We all struggled to get back to sleep.

Early the next morning, Mark went hunting for the mouse. He discovered that the mouse had gotten into a bag of sunflower seeds but he couldn’t find the mouse. Needing to open the glove box for some reason, he was surprised to look into a Kleenex box there and see…the mouse!! I’ll spare you the gruesome details but the mouse did not go on any further with us…..

Sunday, September 12

We had a leisurely start to the day and left Kodachrome heading northeast on Hwy 12 through Escalante and beyond. We passed through more sagebrush strewn rolling plains sprinkled with red grasses and the bright yellow-flowered rabbitbrush. We encountered white and yellow hoodoos prompting Mike to quip, “Oh, these are the Caucasian and Asian hoodoos.”  Not PC perhaps but made me chuckle.

We got out and climbed over some hard slickrock and cruised by white, pink, and cement gray rock cliffs. Mark had a CD of grand organ arrangements of hymns playing. This whole trip we have been meandering through various strata of colorfully named cliffs--Chocolate and Vermillion Cliffs plus White, Gray and Pink Cliffs.

We found a campsite at the Calf Creek Recreation Area and prepared to hike to the well known Calf Creek Falls. It is a 6 mile interpretive hike along the Calf Creek to a 126 ft waterfall. It took us three hours but was a beautiful and interesting hike.

pictographs viewed from across the creek along the trail