New Mexico, Here We Come!

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Trump Supporters in Show Low, Arizona

Like Satan diving into holy water, we are genuinely concerned about outing ourselves as the enemy were we to walk through the doors of The Trumped Store here in Show Low, Arizona. Claims of the best coffee in the area and the promise of hotdogs were not enough of a draw for us to cross the street and pay a visit. In these days of diminished retail presence, someone is making enough money selling Trump paraphernalia to have been planted on this main thoroughfare through town for years now. My favorite part of this enterprise is a quote from their website where grifters are grifting the grifter:

“The products sold by company are not licensed, introduced, or otherwise authorized or approved by President Trump, His Campaign or by any of its affiliates; and President Trump’s Campaign Committee does not receive any proceeds whatsoever from the Trumped Companies Sales or Activities.”

East of Show Low, Arizona on U.S. Route 60

Out of the ugly and into the beautiful. Truth be told, that stop in Show Low was a minor speed bump because the road northeast of the Phoenix area was as spectacular as it always is. There are no photos from that leg because we’re entertaining the idea that instead of spending the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we might be able to make it all the way to Santa Fe. Leaving earlier than anticipated helps in this equation of covering the requisite 500 miles to reach this city sitting in the clouds at over 7,100 feet (2,194 meters).

Near Springerville, Arizona

It’s so easy to see the world reflected in the still waters lying upon the surface, but do you know how to see it in the eyes of the person you love? And how should you know with certainty that what you see in those eyes is a real representation of enchantment or a façade being presented for the sake of harmony but hiding deeper unhappiness? Maybe you don’t, but Caroline and I seem to have either reached a permanent delusional state of tricking one another, or we really do see the resonant frequencies of amazement in each other’s smiles when we stop to gaze at the exquisite sights that nature deploys upon those susceptible to such murmurs.

New Mexico State Line on U.S. Route 60

We left Phoenix seemingly minutes ago, and blam! we’re in New Mexico. These roads we’ve been traveling might be at risk of growing overly familiar, and maybe we struggle to find alternative routes to mix things up a bit, but that won’t stop us from these long hauls. After previous journeys that took us over Holbrook, Arizona, to Gallup, New Mexico, or when we skirted through St. John’s, Arizona, over to Zuni before taking the route south through Mogollon, New Mexico, then cutting over through Duncan, Arizona, we find a way so the adventures continue to pile up like so many stickers found on this State Line sign on U.S. Route 60. As for the nature of what brings us out this way yet again after having been in this Land of Enchantment twice already in the past five weeks: well, those exact details will have to wait until tomorrow when I share that story.

Pronghorn Antelope off U.S. Route 60 in New Mexico

We might have had better luck catching, dispatching, and cooking this pronghorn antelope than getting a proper dinner meal here in New Mexico because it seems everything other than fast food closes at 8:00 p.m. It was just a few weeks ago on our way to Gallup, New Mexico, for the Sheep is Life celebration that we were wondering out loud why we haven’t seen any pronghorn on that trip, and then here today, we finally see a solo member of the species hauling ass trying to race past us. While it finally put on the brakes and reversed direction faster than we possibly could have, we have to have respect for this antelope speeding well over 55 mph (88 km/h), making the capture of this photo taken by me in the driver’s seat tricky, to say the least. Little did I know that the pronghorn antelope is the second fastest land animal on earth, only surpassed by the cheetah by a mere mile or two per hour.

La Ventana Natural Arch in El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico

Prior to stopping here at the La Ventana Natural Arch in El Malpais National Monument, we dipped in at the Narrows Rim Trail that we hiked last year for some reminiscing. Back then, we didn’t hike the entire trail because we arrived at the trailhead late, and this has us dreaming of a return to the 7.3-mile out-and-back hike that brings you to a cliff across from the arch pictured here for a view from above. Enough of the sightseeing; time to finish the long haul to Santa Fe.

Reaching Into The Past

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

St. John's Indian School in Laveen, Arizona

Aside from the arrow of time, does anything else truly move in a straight line? I was recently digging through a single day from 18 years ago, May 31, 2005, to be exact. It was a random Tuesday, the 150th day since I’d started blogging; I was looking at a map of the Phoenix area and saw that 51st Avenue ran south of the valley, spilling out of Laveen before entering the Gila River Indian Community. Back then, I was, for the most part, only posting one image per blog entry because, with the modems of the day, photos were bandwidth-intensive.

Over the past years, I’ve been trying to flesh out these brief missives by returning to the old photos and trying to identify other images that might have been worth sharing but were left behind due to the limitations of the time. And so it was when I encountered this solo trip that saw me heading down past the St. John’s Indian School in Komatke, cruising through the tiny town of Maricopa with a population under 1,500, driving over to Gila Bend, and then for some strange reason, turning around to drive to Sacaton, Arizona. With those images fresh in my mind and the fact that Caroline and I would not be taking a long 4th of July trip somewhere, I suggested that we retrace some of the steps of that old drive, and that’s just what we’re doing today.

St. John's Indian School in Laveen, Arizona

While the old sign and Catholic church still exist on the lands where the St. John’s Indian School once stood, everything else has been wiped off the map. We ran into a young friar, Brother Damian, who is yet to enter the seminary, and asked if he might know what happened to Deacon Cline Anselmo I’d met on that visit in 2005. Brother Damian knew nothing of the man as he was relatively new to the order of the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit, which had only taken over the property some years ago when things were in quite a state of disrepair. As I looked around standing near the church, nothing much looked familiar.

St. John's Indian School in Laveen, Arizona

The grounds have been cleared of the old ruins and foundations of the boarding school that once stood here. Walking the periphery, we were able to find some foundation relics and this small section of floor that was once part of a bathroom. I know it was a bathroom because later on I checked my photos, some I’ve not shared, and sure enough, there is this tile pattern and two toilet drain pipes in one of the images. Somebody wasn’t very effective in hiding this. Back in the main courtyard, we walked around looking for any hints of what had once been here, and sure enough, there was a half-inch of rock covering the floor of one of the old buildings. I get the sense that somebody is hiding the shame of past transgressions. Click the link in the top paragraph if you are interested in seeing more from my visit 18 years ago.

Beltline Road on the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona

I will be sharing a lot of beautiful (at least to Caroline and me) locations today that are often connected by long flat stretches of road leading us through the middle of nowhere. This is Beltline Road on the Gila River Indian Community, driving southeast until we turn south on the John Wayne Parkway, a.k.a. State Route 347 that took us through Maricopa. At the beginning of this post, I intentionally mentioned that the population of this town was under 1,500 when I first passed through in 2005 because today, as Caroline and I drove through this ugly, joyless outpost of everything that is wrong with modern American life, franchises, uniformity, and doltishly named communities such as Cobblestone Farms and Rancho El Dorado, the population has ballooned to over 70,000 with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary or stylish anywhere to be seen. Maricopa is a community of banality for the conformist blandness that found a home they could afford while only requiring an hour and a half to drive to work up in Phoenix.

Stanfield, Arizona

Just prior to entering the downtown area of Stanfield, Arizona (pictured), we passed by a rather large feedlot and dairy. While it looked like there were millions of cows, I’m informed by multiple internet sources that there are about 12,500 dairy cows and about 52,000 steers milling about under the blistering sun at this particular lot in Stanfield. According to the Arizona Beef Council, there are only 980,000 head of cattle in the entire state, so I guess I’ll have to accept that there are not millions of cows out here.

Cemetery in Kohatk, Arizona on the Tohono O'odham Nation

On the southern end of the town of Kohatk, Arizona, in the Tohono O’odham Nation, was this cemetery that caught Caroline’s eye. I was struck by how many graves were not much longer than about 2 feet long, meaning they were the final resting place of babies that hadn’t even made it to toddler age. While this has me wondering about infant mortality on Native American lands, I can’t imagine that information is easy to come by.

Roadside Memorial near Kohatk, Arizona on the Tohono O'odham Nation

Not much further south of Kohatk was this rather extravagant roadside memorial in honor of Jenelle Jolynn Juan, who passed away in 2006 at the young age of only 16 years old. These memorials and shrines to lost loved ones are found far too frequently distributed across the lands of the Tohono O’odham, and due to their locations next to roads, we assume that it was here where they died.

Reaching Out in Santa Rosa, Arizona on the Tohono O'odham Nation

Reaching out to touch the other and a bit of the past. Two years prior to this re-encounter with the disembodied baby arm jammed into a guardrail of a bridge over an unnamed wash near Santa Rosa; we stopped after I somehow caught sight of the arm that was still there; click here to visit my post titled Desolation Road to see the original image. When I was walking up just before taking the photo, I inadvertently startled a beefy steer of massive proportions down in the bed of the wash because it bolted, making quite the commotion and was snorting kind of ferociously; I whipped the camera around but capturing his backside wasn’t very photogenic. He was a beautiful beast with serious musculature and although I continued over the bridge to position myself for a better photo, he was having nothing to do with it and moved off into the brush.

Indian Route 34 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

Good thing that hand from the past reached into my conscience because, at that point, we were already about 500 feet beyond Indian Route 34 that we were supposed to turn west on. We’ve never been on this road before, but if all goes well, meaning we don’t encounter some rutted or sandy dirt road that turns us around, we are heading to a place we’ve never been before and where few ever travel.

Indian Route 34 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

So much beauty exists in the desert that it likely has me using the word too often in referring to this state of glorious charm; as a matter of fact, I wouldn’t blame anyone reading my posts over time to believe the word beauty occupies a permanent spot at the tip of my tongue. There’s so much I see that provokes this exclamation of extolling the grandeur I spot in life it’s as though I’m drooling language, and my vocabulary is limited to beautiful, wow, and amazing.

Petroglyphs off Indian Route 34 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

When looking at petroglyph panels, do you, too, get the idea that Einstürzende Neubauten might have been influenced by Native Americans of the Southwest for the creation of their logo? This got me wondering if I was asking something that was obvious to everyone else, and sure enough, there are various thoughts about the origins of the logo, with someone suggesting it was an Olmec Native American influence though Blixa Bargeld has stated it was of Toltec inspiration. Wow, a lightbulb has turned on for me now. Considering that Chaco Culture in New Mexico was coming into existence around the height of the Toltec Culture and how some theories have seen Chaco as a trade crossroads, did the stick figure we see in petroglyphs move from the south of Mexico near Veracruz up to our region? What other petroglyph symbols might have taken influence from ancient cultures found south of the U.S. border?

A natural arch near Ventana, Arizona on the Tohono O'odham Nation

On the final approach to one of our primary destinations, we see this arch in the distance, which must be why the next village on Indian Route 23 is named Ventana. Should you not know, Ventana means window in Spanish.

Welcome Sign to the Hikiwan District on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

The sign welcomes us to Hikiwan Ceksan, which I believe translates to Hikiwan District, which is one of eleven districts in the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Indian Route 23 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

How have we missed traveling through such a vast area of Arizona? Where are the Tohono O’odham PR people? I suppose with only 13,055 people of the Tohono O’odham Nation living on the reservation of 2.8 million acres (11,330 km2), there are not a lot of people to work the sights and the concessionaires that would be required to host tourists. Something else I learned today, among Indian lands in the United States, the Tohono O’odham Nation is only second in size to the Navajo Nation, which has a population of approximately 170,000.

Back of a sign approaching Kaka (Ge'hakah or Gagka), Arizona

Caroline might prefer I heed this sign and that we “Fuck Off” and run the other way, as she’s suffering a mild amount of embarrassment due to her husband’s puerile fascination with paying a visit to where we are stopping next.

Catholic Church in Kaka (Ge'hakah or Gagka), Arizona

We have landed in Kaka, Arizona. Search for it on Google and check the Wikipedia article on Kaka, Arizona, and you’ll see that I’m not shitting you, we are in Kaka. Not a popular destination for sure. I could only find one other photo of this Catholic church on the entirety of the internet, but it’s a beautiful building, though neglected. As I’ve already shared, we are in the Tohono O’odham Nation, and in the O’odham language, Kaka is spelled either Ge’hakah or Gagka, depending on the source, and means “a clearing.”

Catholic Church in Kaka (Ge'hakah or Gagka), Arizona

This church is a bit of a contradiction since it appears there have never been many people living out here. As of our visit today, there are allegedly about 83 people, down from 141 back in 2010. The church’s architecture is beautiful with its mostly round footprint. The interior is set up amphitheater-style and descends lower than the surrounding earth the church was built on, probably to help with cooling. With stucco pots and baskets on the walls, as you can see in this photo, there’s no mistaking that this place was built with a Native American influence. The altar is a simple affair of photos, images, candles, and a cross, with the lighting spilling in from windows on the side and near the doors. It appears mostly disused, judging from the amount of cobwebs, insects, and rodent feces (kaka) that are all over the interior space. No matter those minor blemishes, this church made our visit to this faraway place perfect.

Catholic Church in Kaka (Ge'hakah or Gagka), Arizona

I can’t be certain, but from the information Caroline found online about integrating the environment and Western architecture with the traditions of the O’odham people, I’d guess that using these ocotillo branches seen utilized in shade structures known as Wattos here within the roof of the church was another design element that allowed the building to blend into the culture.

Shade hut known as Watto on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Kaka, Arizona

This is a great example of a Watto made of ocotillo branches and various sticks that offer shade from the midday sun. By spilling water on the dirt floor, the O’odham people effectively created a form of air-conditioning that helped them endure the scorching summers of life in the desert. While we were in “town,” not a single resident could be seen or heard; does anyone really live out here anymore? To my amazement, when I turned a spigot near the church, water came rushing out, leaving me to wonder how running water got this far out in the middle of nowhere, a.k.a. Ge’hakah.

Horses near Vaya Chin on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

Wandering horses are always a welcome sight, though they never allow us to approach them. This was as close as I was able to get before they took off into the brush.

Donkeys near Vaya Chin on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

Hello donkeys, are you any friendlier than the horses about me approaching you? Nope, and off they went back to their baby donkey that hanging out in the shade out of frame. The foal was able to hit Mom up for some nursing while she and man-donkey kept a watchful eye on the guy with a camera.

Shrine on Indian Route 34 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

A memorial that almost made it to monument status. The door was unlocked should one feel like taking a moment to say a prayer while out back, Caroline discovered a cache of discarded glass jar religious candles and collected one to refill after we got home.

Watto Style Shrine on Indian Route 34 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

So, is this a Watto or a ramada? What is certain is that it’s yet another memorial of a life lost out on the rez.

Steer on Indian Route 7 on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

You have to ask yourself, is it the steer I’m admiring or those rather large balls?

Catholic Chruch in Hadaison Wo'o on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

Should we continue down Indian Route 34 for the last few miles before it meets Highway 86 or see what’s down Indian Route 7, which leads more or less in the same direction? Seeing that the slight detour is paved, we took the road to the village of Hadaison Wo’o, still on the Tohono O’odham Nation. We were about to drive by when Caroline told me to turn around because she spotted another church in the distance. This is a significant milestone worth remembering because, in our relationship, Caroline is generally not the first person to notice things in the distance. Heck, she doesn’t see the things she’s looking for that are right in front of her face! I turned the car around, and we slowly approached the building on unpaved streets. The church doors were locked, and while I was tall enough to peer through the windows on the doors, Caroline wasn’t, so I pointed the camera into the church to give her an idea of the interior, but the windows were too dirty to have something worth sharing. Right behind us, though, we spotted another interesting sight.

Shrine in Hadaison Wo'o on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona

The way the arch is wrapped at this memorial was interesting and not something we’ve seen before here in the Southwest. As I’m looking at it today, I have to wonder if the metal bars on each side of the tiled walkway to the roadside memorial/monument four photos above this were at one time fitted with a similar setup. Not much else going on here in Hadaison Wo’o and like the other villages we passed through, not a soul to seen or heard.

Immaculate Conception Church in Ajo, Arizona

Certain that we’d find a village with food or a roadside vendor this afternoon, we didn’t bring even a single morsel of sustenance with us though we were smart enough to know that we should have plenty of water, which was why we’d stopped at the grocery prior to leaving Phoenix to grab two gallons of water. By now, we were starving, and with one restaurant remaining in Ajo that we hadn’t tried yet, we opted for a late lunch at Arriba Mexican Restaurant. First, though, we made sure to dip into Oasis Coffee, which closes at 4:00. While we should have finished eating before that, we did not want to risk not having a coffee at this point in our long day.

Old Railway Track through Barry M. Goldwater Range near Gila Bend, Arizona

The drive from Ajo north to Gila Bend is bordered by the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, which has plenty of signs warning people not to trespass. On the right side of the car, behind the fence, is a railroad track that has my interest as I’ve never seen a train over there, and how would it be that it even passed through the Air Force property? The further we drove, I could see that plants were growing in the middle of the tracks, so now I know for sure they are no longer used. Then, just before reaching Gila Bend, I spotted a small guard shack offset from the road for the Gila Bend Air Force Station that would allow us to drive over the railroad track, so I made a U-turn in order to satisfy my curiosity about the tracks. As we pulled over and jumped out of the car, I was waiting for someone to speed up to interrogate us as to why we were taking photos this close to a bombing range, but we were left alone to walk around for a few minutes. It’s obvious that these rails haven’t seen a train traveling down them for a seriously long time.

Gila Bend, Arizona

This collapsing old building (Einstürzende Altbauten) was made of old railroad ties and would never be confused with any building practice in use today. The most normal parts of it were the ancient ceramic electricity outlets and a tipped-over toilet.

Gila Bend, Arizona

We had decided to circle around to Gila Bend because, in keeping with my trip from 2005, this was a major part of that drive, and I had photographed a bunch of defunct sites, including this one featuring steps to nowhere. As for the gas stations, they are all gone. Again, if you want to see the photos from that day, click the link at the beginning of this post.

Petroglyph Mountain in Ak-Chin Indian Community, Arizona

To avoid heading to Buckeye and returning home on the I-10 from the west we cruised along down Maricopa Road to close today’s loop before heading north to go home. Just before reaching Maricopa, Caroline pointed out that we were close to a site she’d read about earlier in the day. Not too far south of our current road lies Petroglyph Mountain in Ak-Chin Village. Ak-Chin is an O’odham word that means “a place where the wash loses itself in the sand or ground.”

Petroglyph Mountain in Ak-Chin Indian Community, Arizona

There are a number of petroglyphs right next to a driveway not 30 feet from the road, and as a reviewer stated, while not worth a drive all the way out here just for a few dozen petroglyphs, if you are in the area anyway, you should stop by. This concludes our reach into the past.

Bye Sheep

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Winfield Trading Post on Route 602 south of Gallup, New Mexico

There are so many places in between that we never document, and thus, we forget those stops along the road. While I try to record our travels, the photos I capture are not always worth sharing. Even though an image was taken because of the enchanting nature of its subject matter, sometimes the quality just isn’t there, and some photos are simply ugly shots. As I prep pictures for these posts, there can be a high level of disappointment that I didn’t capture what I thought I had, and so with posts getting long enough when I end up with 15, 20, 35, or more photos, I neglect telling you about the unpictured places. Take this morning. We started in the old town of Gallup, New Mexico, but we were surrounded by homeless wanderers, and while we helped the first young couple that asked with cash, this was going to be overwhelming so we left. Since it was so early on a Sunday morning, we weren’t able to stop in at Mary Walker’s shop, Weaving in Beauty. I took a photo of the front door, but upon looking at it now, I find the image boring; yet we were there, and without this note, it would be forgotten.

Joe Milo's Trading Company in Vanderwagen, New Mexico

Pulled over at Joe Milo’s Trading Company in Vanderwagen for no other reason than our attempt at taking photos of the Katsinas along the fence line. There are so many beautiful, larger-than-life Katsinas here, but the background isn’t ever all that great. I think they work best as objects that catch your eye as you are driving down the road and draw you into the trading post.

Cousins Road near Chi Chil Tah, New Mexico

Heading south out of Gallup, we’d already established that we would be taking the scenic route with a slow drive over the landscape instead of getting on Interstate 40, which would have zipped us home in less than 4.5 hours. So, after I passed a paved road heading north on our right, I hurriedly slowed down to make a quick U-turn and see where this side road would take us. Here we were, driving up Cousins Road, trying to avoid looking at the map and just waiting for the pavement to give way to dirt, but after passing through Chi Chil Tah and reaching Jones Ranch Road, we decided to turn around and head back to our highway on a slightly different path.

Smooth Mountain Road near Chi Chil Tah, New Mexico

We turned right on Oak Mesa Road, as it was paved, and looked to connect to Smooth Mountain Road, which was further east and had caught our attention on the way out. By the way, I dare you to try and find some of these names on Google or Bing Maps as they are listed officially with names like County Road 6 or Indian Service Road 7010, but when you drive through here, you’ll see actual street names and not the road numbers, go figure. Once we reached Smooth Mountain Road, it was almost smooth, as smooth as a gravel road can be, I suppose.

New Mexico Route 602 near Zuni, New Mexico

After about an hour, we were back on the road taking us south, a road number that coincides with our area code: 602. It was just over a year ago that we spent the weekend right out there, straight ahead in Zuni, at The Inn At Halona.

Off NM-32 south of Zuni, New Mexico

The entire time we were driving down Route 602, we were nearly certain that we’d never driven this specific road between Zuni and Gallup; well, at least, we couldn’t recall when that occasion would have been. It would take getting home and checking our trusty map that documents every roadway we’ve traveled on over the past 25 years to find out that this one had already been covered. How nice it is that something that might have otherwise been familiar is new again.

Indian Service Route 9 on Zuni Reservation in New Mexico

I can’t tell you where Indian Service Route 9 goes as we didn’t follow its path, but I can assure you that the flowers that lined its way were a lot prettier than you can likely tell by looking at this photo. But isn’t that the truth about everything we see with our own eyes compared to what is captured in an image?

Fence Lake, New Mexico

Route 602 gave way to Route 36, which took us through Fence Lake, population between 42 and 121 depending on the source, and as we stood here at the intersection of downtown Fence Lake, we were even more certain that we’d never passed this way, wrong. How this monument faded from memory will be a mystery unless we passed through here in the dark.

NM-36 branching to Route 603 near Quemado and Pie Town, New Mexico

Finally, a legitimate new road to add to our trophy map of conquered roads. We are heading to Pie Town on dirt road number 603 with fingers crossed that here on Father’s Day, which is also a Sunday, one of the pie shops in Pie Town is open and not sold out or so busy that we’ll have to continue our road trip home.

Route 603 southeast to Pie Town, New Mexico

Only 23.5 miles of dirt, gravel, and washboard lay ahead, and once we’re done bumping down this dusty trail, we’ll be delivered to the world-renowned Pie Town, USA. In case you are curious about cellphone signal quality out this far from everything, you’d be correct if you guessed we had no service, and should you wonder if that makes us nervous, it does, but I’d never voice that while we are out here lest I jinx us and it turns out that we really could use a phone to help us with a disabled car or some other issue.

Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie-O-Neer in Pie Town is not only open, but it’s not nearly as crowded as feared. What’s more, they still had New Mexico apple and green chile pie available. The Pie-O-Neer Pie Cafe offers meals too, but you won’t be choosing what you want to eat as they feature a fixed menu, you can take it or leave it. Today’s plate was Mexican-themed, and we said, Yeah!

Caroline Wise at Pie Town, New Mexico

Is there anything more American than pie and coffee in a tiny old diner in the middle of nowhere? Sure, there is; that pie should be served with a scoop of ice cream.

Alegre Motel in Quemado, New Mexico

Appetites satisfied all that was left to do was cover the 20 miles to Quemado, New Mexico, to dip into a free abandoned room at the Alegre Motel and catch a nap. The only problem was that Caroline wasn’t interested in inspecting the rooms to find out which looked the coziest.

Clown souvenir on the right from Alegre Motel in Quemado, New Mexico

Well, if I wasn’t going to get a nap, I’ll just collect that creepy clown figurine on the right and add it to my collection of things I’m gathering from the defunct Alegre, but wait, that’s not just any figurine, it’s an “Emmit Kelly Jr Clown with Accordion” that could be worth a pretty penny. You see, maybe it’s worthwhile to explore these abandoned liminal spaces that may or may not be occupied by someone who could turn out to be your worst nightmare. I should probably keep in mind that I’m too old to sprint away from serial killers who might be in better shape and younger than me.

Caroline Wise in eastern New Mexico on Route 32

Pulled over to take a photo down the road, and Caroline, spotting some sticks next to the fence line, left the car to investigate. Closer inspection revealed that the “sticks” turned out to be a 5-point elk antler. After this quick photo, we stowed it in the trunk and had just gone to take a look for the second one when a park ranger/law enforcement truck pulled up behind our car, flashing a warning because our car was still on the road. We quickly jumped back in and continued our journey. With the antler in the back of the car, we were giant grins driving down the road, simply incredulous that we were the proud new owners of a massive antler. We talked about turning around to try and find the other one but decided this was good enough.

Eastern New Mexico on Route 32

I’ve on more than one occasion expressed my gratitude to those who’ve hand-carved the 10s of thousands of trails across the U.S. and likely have neglected to say how much I appreciate the work that has gone into creating our vast highway system with all the small roads, paved and dirt, that crisscross our country allowing those interested to explore a landscape that will never be fully be seen by a single American ever.

Mailboxes at Apache Creek Store in Apache Creek, New Mexico

This quintessential symbol of rural life found roadside across the country may only be a mailbox, but there is an undeniable aesthetic that screams Americana, and we love the sight of them.

Apache Creek Store in Apache Creek, New Mexico

This can’t be the first time I’ll attempt to write something about a small country store, and while I was considering what to say about the Apache Creek Store at the intersection of State Highways 12 and 32 in Reserve, New Mexico, it occurred to me that should I decide to cut and paste something from a previous blog post, nobody other than an AI could know that I’ve done so and then I thought, heck I should write an entire post exclusively using recycled text. Now I have to wonder how much my brain is already doing this.

US 180 south of Reserve, New Mexico

I’ll have to guess that we are already on State Route 180, about 180 miles from where we began this morning in Gallup. What you can’t see in the shot is what time it is; the deal is that we’ve already been out here for about 8 hours at this place on the road. How we turned 3 hours of driving into 8 is a mystery to us. With about 280 miles yet ahead of us, good thing we gain that hour as we cross back into Arizona.

Leopold Vista in Buckhorn, New Mexico

Shortly before our turn west, we stop at the Leopold Vista in Buckhorn, New Mexico to admire the landscape of the Gila Wilderness Area from this viewpoint. This spot on the map was dedicated to Aldo Leopold, author of A Sand County Almanac. The reason behind the dedication is best explained by this paragraph from Wikipedia about him:

In 1909, Leopold was assigned to the Forest Service’s District 3 in the Arizona and New Mexico territories. At first, he was a forest assistant at the Apache National Forest in the Arizona Territory. In 1911, he was transferred to the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. Leopold’s career, which kept him in New Mexico until 1924, included developing the first comprehensive management plan for the Grand Canyon, writing the Forest Service’s first game and fish handbook, and proposing Gila Wilderness Area, the first national wilderness area in the Forest Service system.

State Route 78 east of Mule Creek, New Mexico

This is the wrong time of day to be driving west, right into the sun. Maybe the clouds will help protect us from being blinded.

State Route 78 near the Needles Eye in Clifton, Arizona

We are well into Arizona at this point, and considering it would be smart to put an end to the incessant stops along the way if we want to be home before 9:00, how could we just pass by the Needles Eye outside of Clifton?

Billboard near Three Way (between Clifton and Duncan) in Arizona

Seriously, we were finished with these stops along the way until this sign in Conservative Country stood out like a sore thumb and had us laughing as we drove by. With so many signs across the west shot to bits using various gauge guns and the old familiar pattern of the shotgun blast, how has this sign not been burned to the ground or hit with a bazooka? It reads, “America – Already Great!” followed by, “Fight Fear, Fraud & Fascism, Vote Democratic.”

Sheep is Life

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

We were up before dawn and gone shortly after the sun had just started peeking over the eastern horizon. With a couple of breakfast sandwiches and coffees, we were soon on our way for the half-hour drive northwest to Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation. The location of this year’s Sheep is Life celebration was the Navajo Museum, Library, and Visitors Center.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

We intended to be here by 7:00, but it ended up being closer to 7:30 by the time we ran into a woman, and after an exchange of hello’s, she told us she needed to run as she was hoping to catch the prayer ceremony, which was the very reason we were showing up at this time of day. The woman we followed was invited into the Museum’s Hogan, so our thoughts were that the ceremony would take place in it, but nope, we were wrong because we heard the guy between the Hogan and that pickup truck say it was time to get things underway now that the sun was in the right position.

About a dozen of us joined in a line facing the rising sun as Ron Garnanez led the prayer in Navajo and concluded by pulling out a satchel of yellow corn pollen, touching a small pinch to his forehead, and then offering it to the wind in the direction of the sun. He then passed it to me, and I tried doing the same before passing it to Caroline, who then passed it to someone else. This was a first for us, and needless to say, we were honored.

Caroline and I waited until Ron was finished talking with someone else so we could offer our gratitude for being allowed to join the prayer. It turned out that Ron had to get going because he needed to unload his Jeep. He was going to be the cook for a meal being offered later in the day and had brought supplies. We offered to help him get things over to the kitchen, which he graciously accepted as his helpers hadn’t shown up yet.

Ron Garnanez is not only a sheep rancher, but he also learned to weave early in life, is a nurse by profession, and he’s on the board of Diné Bé’Iiná, which translates to Navajo Lifeway. He’s offered to share with me the process of making today’s extravagant meal.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

While wandering around after emptying the Jeep and Caroline off somewhere else, I met Sam, who was recruiting volunteers for some sheep-related duties. I told her I knew of the perfect person who’d enthusiastically be willing to help in any way required.

Caroline Wise at the Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Caroline became a sheep wrangler to help show lambs that were to be inspected and graded on a number of criteria. I believe she has the full story as she was in the pen with the others all struggling to hold onto their wards who apparently wanted to be with their fellow sheep they typically herd with. I’ll let Caroline tell you more.

I was excited about being part of the lamb judging! At this point, I had already been watching Nikyle Begay, founder of the Rainbow Fiber Coop, sheepherder, and Navajo-Churro expert, review the registration application for a couple of adult ewes, so I had an idea about what they were going to look for. I had, however, never handled a sheep of any age. This young fellow (lambs are less than one year old) could be handled by holding on to his horns and frogmarching him from the pen into the arena. He struggled only a little, and once we were in the arena, even if I had let go, he couldn’t go far. When he started to buck, someone gave me the tip to hold his chin up with one hand, which helped subdue him. He ended up garnering second place in a group of about ten lambs, and after returning him to his pen, I picked up a ewe lamb and repeated the process. – Caroline

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

I don’t know what would constitute a good turnout for Sheep is Life, but the “crowd” never seemed very large. There were a few Japanese tourists who’d somehow heard about the event, and even one of Caroline’s fellow guild members had come up from the Phoenix area, but somehow, I want to believe that this should be a major cultural happening drawing people from around the world to learn about the Navajo-Churro Sheep and the important role they play in so many aspects of Diné life.

Caroline Wise at the Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Oh well, we are here, and looking at my wife with that happy smile on her face had me choking back the wellspring of emotions that wanted to tug at my eyes. I’m well aware that we are not living common lives and that by cultivating a willingness to lead participatory lives, we are offered meaningful experiences that are far away from any expectations either of us might have had prior to encountering each other and sharing time together. To be present is the precursor to anything happening that would take us further into the inexplicable. Today is one of those moments that defy my understanding that we should be so fortunate.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

There were over 30 presentations and demonstrations happening over the course of the two days of the event, but sadly, Caroline and I would see very few of them as conversations and volunteering consumed the better part of our day. Learning that Sheep is Life is held every 3rd weekend in June means that we need to plan better for next year’s event so we can learn even more about what’s offered to attendees. On stage at this time were those being recognized with awards by Diné Bé’Iiná (Navajo Lifeway).

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

I was rather surprised by the number of male weavers and cannot remember this many from our previous visit. On the loom right, there is Kevin Tsosie, who’s a Navajo knot weaver, adobe brick maker, and artist using recycled materials. Later in the day, we watched him outside making bricks and plastering a small section of a demo wall to show us how he built his own home.

Caroline Wise at the Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Every so often I check in at the kitchen looking for Ron as he had to run to collect a few things; the hour took longer than he anticipated. I arrived back at the sheep pens in time to find Caroline returning a ewe lamb to its owner; she was worn out from wrestling with the feisty sheep and was ready for some restorative shopping therapy.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Blue Bird Flour is the only flour Navajo would use to make Fry Bread; it is key. For years, Caroline wanted to make her own bag of one of the flour sacks, but with so many other projects on the docket, it simply never happened. One of the vendors was about to take care of her desire for a Blue Bird bag, not only that, her friend Claudia in Germany will also be the recipient of one of these rarities. I know I shouldn’t have written this last bit, as she will now know that a gift has been acquired for her, and she has no way of knowing just when we’ll get around to shipping it to her.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Not only did Ron show back up, but he is also joined by his daughter Laura and a couple of others; there’s a lot of food to prepare in order to feed the 50 or so people expected for the banquet that should get underway at 6:00. The sheep that is being carved was harvested just yesterday in a demonstration of the process here at Sheep is Life. By the time the meat was being carved up, Laura had already chopped and prepped the internal organs, including the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, small intestines, fat, and other assorted bits for a variation of ‘ach’íí’ (mutton fat and intestine) that was being made in the crockpot as a stew so everyone could try the internal organs of the sheep.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

These wild onions are a favored foraging food of sheep; consequently, they are considered the perfect pairing when cooking sheep. Ron pulled these out of the deep freeze from his personal supply. Some years, the weather is not conducive to a good harvest, and so when they are abundant, he stores them for special events such as today’s. The work to peel them out of their sheath is tedious; I now know this firsthand because I helped clean a few hundred of these tiny onions.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Spent a good amount of time talking with Franco Lee, a chef up at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, down here in Window Rock for the special occasion. Franco enthusiastically walked me through the process of making Navajo cake using corn meal, brown sugar, roasted pinon nuts, and peach slices. He was also preparing two other Navajo dishes I’ll speak of later in this post.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Back to Ron, who was running this show. I peeked in on the roasting mutton that was covered in wild onion and wild parsley but not only that. After the pieces of meat had been chosen and washed, Ron opened a large container of sumac and started sprinkling it over the leg and ribs that were going to be a part of the menu. He explained that with the sumac, there was no need for salt during cooking because the sumac would fill that role. While I thought sumac was something special to Persian cuisine, it turns out that there’s an edible variant native to the western United States. The branches are used to make baskets and the berries are for food and drinks.

Live music at the Navajo Arts and Craft Guild in Window Rock, Arizona

Being present for the preparation of the feast only amplified my hunger, following our light breakfast and a couple of handfuls of cherries to sustain us. By midday, it was time to get something to eat. Unable to wait till 6:00, we opted to take a walk over to the Ch’ihootso Indian Market Place at the main intersection here in Window Rock, the location of a few eateries, as well as a busy swap meet. Between the Navajo Museum, where Sheep is Life took place, and the Ch’ihootso Market the building of the Navajo Arts and Craft Guild, where a get-together of sorts was being held. What the purpose was exactly, we never found out but we were quite astonished at the serendipity of what we heard from the band on the left.

First, some backstory: years ago, maybe 20 or more years ago, Caroline and I were driving across the Navajo Nation listening to 660 AM radio, a.k.a. KTNN – The Voice of the Navajo Nation. It was late at night (or so my memory tells me) when a song from Chester Knight titled Love Me Strong came on. We fell in love with the song and downloaded it so we could listen once in a while. Well, time passes and the song is forgotten until today when this band is out here playing just that tune right as we were walking by. This nearly felt impossible, and if we weren’t both on hand for such a coincidence, we might have thought the other was telling us a whopper should they have related the story.

Roast Mutton Sandwich in Window Rock, Arizona

At the Ch’ihootso Market, the busiest eatery of the two in the plaza was Ed’s Cafe, and while the wait was quoted to be 15 to 20 minutes for our food, we went with the idea that the locals know best. The Roast Mutton Deluxe looked like a perfect fit for me, while Caroline felt the Corn w/Squash and Mutton Stew would suit her. While waiting for our exquisite meals, we walked around the market but didn’t find anything that just had to come home with us. I do have one lament about this location: back some 20 or more years ago we were first directed to the “mutton shacks” at this otherwise empty corner. On that first visit, we were leary customers who weren’t going to let some dirt floors and an abundance of flies scare us away from our first encounter with Navajo food. Well, those shacks are now long gone, and with them, some of the flavors and authenticity of the rez.

Caroline Wise and Naiomi Glasses at the Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

As we were walking back into Sheep is Life, Caroline thought she recognized famous Navajo influencer, textile artist, and skateboarder Naiomi Glasses, and sure enough, it was her. Having a fan girl moment, we asked Naiomi if she’d take a moment to have her photo taken. Obviously, she obliged. Naiomi told us about a recent project she had done with Sackcloth and Ashes, a company that produces beautiful blankets and donates a blanket to homeless shelters for every purchase. She was here to present the award winners with blankets made after her design and was still having her own moment of feeling overwhelmed by the honor of being able to do this.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Let the feasting begin.

Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

I had no idea how elaborate our meal was going to be. Things got underway with a bit of sheep’s blood sausage made of blood, bits of meat and pancreas, potato, salt, and pepper stuffed into sheep intestine and boiled. This was served with salad meant to add a sweet and fresh component to the heavy first course. Next up was the ‘ach’íí’ or internal organ stew with wild onion, wild parsley, garlic, and green chili. Our third course was mutton stew with potatoes and chile. Fourth was a small cup of blue corn mush followed by roast mutton served on a bed of red chili, honey, and blue corn flour. Our sixth course acted as a palette cleanser, sumac berry pudding made of sumac, honey, and blue corn flour. Somewhere in there was frybread, and finally, our dessert was the Navajo corn cake topped with peaches and served with a dollop of whipped cream. And not to forget, iced Navajo tea.

Caroline Wise and Laura at the Sheep is Life Celebration in Window Rock, Arizona

Before our end-of-the-day meal was served, we had the opportunity to sit down with Laura Garnanez and her aunt Flora with the conversation turning to addiction and overcoming uncertainty when we are young and not fully understanding our fortunate place in life. We also shared with Laura and her aunt why we were up here and what we get from it, how much we are in love with Navajo culture, how often we’ve been here, our time in a hogan with my mother-in-law, bringing our niece over the reservation, and our first encounter with mutton here in Window Rock. Just before Caroline and I were about to leave, we dipped back into the kitchen to say bye to everyone, and very sweetly, Laura asked about sharing contact information; we seriously hope we’ll have the opportunity to visit with Laura and her family again – this year.

Window Rock, Arizona

Nothing left to do but drive back to Gallup; oh wait, how can we visit Window Rock and not visit its namesake? Okay, now we can take our mutton-stuffed selves back to El Rancho Hotel in Gallup and pass out.

The Sheep are Calling

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Fountain Hills, Arizona

We finished reading our book White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg on our way out of Arizona today. Next week, we will be returning to Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Like our return to this French author, which we have been reading intermittently since September 2021, so it takes time to return to other things, such as the annual Sheep is Life celebration on the Navajo Reservation. We last visited this event 15 years ago, in the summer of 2008, when it was being held in Tuba City. Today, we are driving to Gallup, New Mexico, which is the closest we could book a room to Window Rock, Arizona, where Sheep is Life is happening this year.

Arizona Route 87 south of Payson, Arizona

Another chapter from our evolving book of life is being written about this weekend. What follows is a chronicle of the events that occurred over the previous 55 hours. Come to think of it, this is likely just about the same time remaining in Proust’s book and hopefully not the amount of time required to write about these wonderful days.

Where were we going and exactly what time of year was it that we were last driving up Arizona Route 87 admiring how green things were out in front of us? Now, here we are in the early dry days of summer, and things are baking in their old familiar tan hues. Grabbing a decent photo on this stretch of road is nearly impossible because it follows a long curve after cresting a pass, and by now, everyone is hauling ass, and the shoulder is too narrow to pull over to snap a photo. So, while driving as slow as I can in the right lane on a straight section of the road, I ask Caroline to take the wheel while I quickly focus on getting a shot out of the windshield from the driver’s seat.

Arizona Route 377 north of Aripine, Arizona

We’d love to stay on the smaller roads that are less traveled, but this isn’t always easy or expedient. We weren’t able to leave the Phoenix area until nearly 2:30, and we’ll lose an hour when we enter New Mexico due to the time zone change, which will have us checking in to our hotel at approximately 8:00 p.m., the same time that the majority of restaurants close in Gallup. But John, with these skies, why concern yourself with anything other than witnessing and capturing the immense beauty you and your sweet wife seem to nearly always be falling into? Yeah, I know, it is quite charming, isn’t it?

Interstate 40 east of Holbrook, Arizona

And then the reality of expediency rears its ugly head, and we are thrust into the vapid expanse of the interstate that induces yawns but does promise faster delivery if one survives the madness of aggression that rages on America’s highways.

Sunset in western New Mexico

Not long after entering New Mexico on a slightly wider stretch of the highway, we had to pull over as far as we could so that, with the window open, I captured the setting sun that was busy enchanting us here in the Land of Enchantment.

El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico

Ten years ago, Caroline stayed at this historic hotel on Route 66 when she and our friend Sharie Monsam were traveling through New Mexico on their way to Durango, Colorado, for a fiber workshop at the Intermountain Weavers. Today, it is the two of us checking in at El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico, just as John Wayne, Howard Hughes, Ronald Reagan, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, and Humphrey Bogart did before us. The hotel was originally built in 1936 for the brother of director D.W. Griffith and was used as luxury accommodations for countless Hollywood celebrities.

El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico

Sadly, room 316, known as the Howard Hughes Suite, was booked, so we were offered room number 326, the Dana Andrews Room. Dana who? That’s what we thought. It turns out that the majority of the films someone might know him from were shot in the 1940s and 50s, such as Fallen Angel and Kit Carson. Later in his career, he was relegated to TV and B movies such as Take A Hard Ride, directed by Antonio Margheriti and featuring Dana Andrews, James Brown (Cleveland Browns NFL player and actor), and Lee Van Cleef, which looks about as low budget as one might expect of Italian directors in 1975. This one might require watching if we can get past how dated it appears.

The Absolute Middle – Day 6

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Sunrise in Santa Rosa, New Mexico

There was no alarm set for 4:30, but that didn’t stop us from waking up and getting out on the road by 5:00 in the early morning. When we left we could see still stars to the west ahead of us and barely an inkling of light behind us. We were probably nearly an hour down the road when we pulled over to snap this photo of the rising sun back on the western edge of the plains.

Lulu's Kitchen on Route 66 in Moriarty, New Mexico

We had left Santa Rosa so early that our breakfast choices were non-existent, but by the time we reached Moriarty, New Mexico, a place called Lulu’s Kitchen on Route 66 was just opening. This little joint is not a sit-down operation, and for one second, I considered going elsewhere, but time is precious today, so we opted to try their breakfast burritos. This being New Mexico, we had the choice of red or green chili, which was a plus. That our burritos took nearly 15 minutes to prepare. We at first perceived this as a negative, but that was only until we took our first bites. “Wow!” doesn’t do Lulu’s breakfast burros justice as they were perfect, nothing short of that. They are only open from Monday through Thursday from 6:00 to 2:00, so if you just happened to be passing through Moriarty on one of those four days during those limited hours, be sure to stop by.

Interstate 40 in New Mexico

From burritos to red rocks, we are back in the familiar.

Native American Curio Shop on Interstate 40 at the New Mexico and Arizona State Line

Harkening to a golden age of travel with people driving across the United States for an Old West experience, this is a typical Route 66 tourist stop for travelers to buy souvenirs made by real Indians, find clean toilets, and live their dreams from a childhood playing cowboys and Indians. Rest stops like these across Arizona and New Mexico invited people to marvel at the wonders never seen before in person.

Native American Curio Shop on Interstate 40 at the New Mexico and Arizona State Line

These relics are now mostly dilapidated, while some hold on better than others. Typically, we’ve avoided stopping as there’s a sadness to seeing the failing enterprises that, in days gone by, were likely hopping places bringing in a lot of outside currency.

Native American Curio Shop on Interstate 40 at the New Mexico and Arizona State Line

It was still early when we arrived here at the NM-AZ state line, hoping to find a roadside vendor selling roast mutton. We’d seen a sign west of Gallup, New Mexico, that a shop here sold roast sheep ribs, but they weren’t open yet, so no mutton for us. As for buying stuff from Teepee Trading that was open, we couldn’t bring ourselves to go in as there really wasn’t anything we wanted to add to our hoard of stuff.

Arizona State Line on Interstate 40

How many times have we passed by and failed to stop and capture this Arizona State Line sign?  Countless times, that’s how many.

Native American Billboards along Interstate 40 in Arizona

The town of Houck was named after a local trading post operator, James D. Houck. Trying to take photos from the car moving at highway speed didn’t allow me to fully investigate the surroundings; just the bright yellow sign was the first thing that caught my eye. And so I can’t tell you what else might be open, though it’s obvious that the old Armco gas station is no more and that whatever is left of Fort Courage is for sale. Not that I would expect most any reader of my blog to remember this, but the old show called F Troop that ran in the mid-60s and which I watched as reruns was set at Fort Courage. Not this trading post called Fort Courage, but at a fictional place. Anyway, that’s it for my nostalgia, I think.

Native American Billboards along Interstate 40 in Arizona

Get your CLEAN RESTROOMS, Indian Ruins, and Route 66 junk you didn’t know you needed at the NEXT EXIT!

Grand Canyon ahead on Interstate 40 in Arizona

What else were you supposed to do on those long cross-country drives when the family was cruising down the highway with nary a radio station to tune into, and your car could barely do 60 mph on your way to the Grand Canyon that was still 190 miles away?

Native American Billboards along Interstate 40 in Arizona

“Dad, you’ve got to stop at the next place; they have dinosaur fossils and petrified wood. I bet they’ll have ice cream, too.”

Native American Billboards along Interstate 40 in Arizona

“Oh my god, are those real dinosaurs? Come on, Mom, make Dad stop; we’ve got to pee.” Getting wise, Mom asks, “Didn’t you just pee at Fort Courage?”

Native American Billboards along Interstate 40 in Arizona

“But they have real teepees at that place, pleeeeze, Dad; you’ve gotta stop.”

As the years passed, so did the cars as people were no longer out seeing the sights, the drivers have somewhere to be, and tchotchkes they believed were probably made in Japan (1980s) or China (2000s) were not interesting. The days of Native Americans being curiosities are over, while nostalgia probably lives on for those trying to capture something out of the past.

Off Arizona Route 377 south of Holbrook, Arizona

In Holbrook, we were able to leave the interstate and return to the small roads that would take us home or maybe not. We’ve gotten the message that today will be a good day to pick up our new glasses from the Oculist, which is going out of business, so we’ll be going into Phoenix to deal with that and let the owners, Brian and Angela get on with changing their life’s direction. They’ll be missed, but everyone has to take a new direction from time to time.

Wild Woods in Heber-Overgaard on Arizona Route 260

From the passenger seat, “Come on, John, you’ve got to turn around; I’ve always wanted to check out those chainsaw carvings…and I’ve got to pee.”

Arizona Route 260 between Heber and Payson, Arizona

I’m making an extra effort today to photograph our return to Arizona since it feels that I too often neglect large parts of the landscape here because they feel so familiar. I’ve probably posted them dozens of times after all, but the reality is, I’ve likely not shared these stretches I might be taking for granted.

Arizona Route 260 between Heber and Payson, Arizona

Even though I know that Arizona is not all sand and cactus, I somehow want to forget that beyond the Grand Canyon, many people probably don’t know about our vast forested areas and herds of unicorns. Okay, we don’t have unicorns; I just wanted to see if anyone was reading this stuff, aside from our AI Overlords.

Arizona Route 87 south of Payson, Arizona

We have just left the Payson, Arizona, area on the Mogollon Rim, and for years, I’ve wanted photos of this transition zone from forest to desert, but the intensity of aggressive drivers racing to get back to Phoenix makes for a white-knuckled drive down to the lower elevations. Combine that wreckless speed assault with the fact that there’s no safe place to pull over, and the options to stop for photos are reduced to nil. So, through the windshield, I attempt a quick burst of images as Caroline handles the wheel from my right; I think we make a great team, albeit an occasionally dangerous one.

Arizona Route 87 south of Payson, Arizona

So, in yesterday’s post at the end of it, I mentioned a strange phone call. We were about to go to sleep when an old friend named Krupesh called me. We’d not heard from him in years. The first thing that came to mind was that he was chosen to share some dire news about someone we used to be close to in the Indian community who had passed away, but before he could convey that, he was already asking me to hold on. He handed the phone to someone else, and an even more distant voice said, “Hi John.” It was Jay Patel. The last time we saw Jay was August 15, 2004, as he was leaving the United States to return to India. He asked if we could meet the next day as he would be in Arizona for only two days and had to leave on Wednesday. Certainly, we could make that happen. Getting out of New Mexico early and not taking any detours on this last day of vacation was to ensure we would be back home in time to give us the greatest flexibility for fitting into his tight schedule.

Caroline Wise, Jay Patel and his daughter, John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona

I can’t believe we were just talking about Jay while we were up in North Dakota as the last time we were in that state, it was with him, and now here today, after nearly 20 years, we are seeing him and his daughter face to face. Jay was in the United States to take his mom and his little girl Siya to Disneyworld with a very brief stop here to say hi to friends. It would have been easy to monopolize Jay’s time, but when we arrived at Krupesh’s home, there were close to 20 people already there, so we did our best to race through shared memories and update each other about things happening in our respective lives.

Sonal Patel's mother, known as Ba in Phoenix, Arizona

This is Sonal’s mom, who’s earned the title, Ba – meaning grandmother. Sonal, you might remember, was the owner of Indo Euro Foods and was the person who convinced us to move closer to them back in 2003, which was great as we shared many meals over at their house for nearly ten years before circumstances saw us all drifting in various directions. It was Ba who made the exquisite food we’d enjoyed with them on so many occasions. It was simply wonderful seeing her smile again.

Rinku Shah, Jay Patel, Caroline Wise and Sonal Patel in Phoenix, Arizona

Of course, there was food and lots of it, but as I said, we didn’t want to keep Jay from everyone else who wanted to fall into conversation and laughter with the guy, so we took our leave after little more than a couple of hours here. On the left is Rinku; I photographed her wedding back in 2009; on the right is Sonal Patel, who will forever be an important part of our lives even if we rarely see her these days. Our time in the Gujarati community was a milestone in the experiences that have left indelible impressions upon us; we miss everyone who, for a decade, were some of our best friends.