Laguna Pueblo and Mount Taylor, New Mexico

On I-40 in New Mexico, along about mm 106 or so, there’s a little parking area. If you’re ever out that way, pull in there. If you’re lucky, the Native Americans will be in the little sheds that line the edge of the area on the westbound side, outside the barb-wire fence so they are on reservation, not state DOT land, selling jewelry. Maybe there will be someone making fry bread.
One day many years ago when I stopped and was walking around with the camera, a boy about 3 or so begged ‘take my picture – please’. He sat on a table, with a bright blanket behind him, and I did – the picture shows him behind the fencing, which I thought was rather appropriate. He’s grown up now, a young man, and sometimes I look at the photo and wonder what he’s doing.
Look north from the area, and you see the little village of Laguna Pueblo. A mission is on a rise overlooking the dusty houses, shining white in the sun. You can get off the interstate at Exit 107, just before the parking area, and drive to the village, get closer to the mission. I did this one morning and got a great photo of the truck parked near it, another morning got pretty shots of simple Christmas wreaths decorating the doors and a star atop the building. That’s about all there is to the settlement, several dozen small houses, the mission and a little store at the corner of the central street and the state highway.
Look further north and you’ll see Mount Taylor, the Turquoise Mountain, one of the corners of the traditional Navajo lands, in the distance. It’s miles away, and if you get off further down the road and take the side trip to the Acoma Pueblo, think about the Indians hundreds of years ago carrying timbers from the mountain to the mesa the pueblo is on to make the mission that is there. There’s a lot of all kinds of history out there. Stop and look at it.

Poverty Point, near Epps, LA

Poverty Point is a National Monument, and state historic site of a mound-builder Native American community which dates to 1650-750 BC. The site covers a square mile, and you can see the remains of the rows of elevations where the homes were, in a half circle pattern with the bayou on the long side. Behind these, there is a large mound that was originally in the shape of a bird, the outspread wings, head and tail can still be seen. I got there too late in the day (seems to be my pattern) and had to hurry through it, but I had time to climb the bird monument and stand where people from over 3,000 years ago stood and that was pretty awesome. Even more awesome to think that they dug and carried and shaped the earth to build this mound, which is even now pretty tall and wide, and it has to be worn down by time. Archeologists are trying to figure out the purpose of the mound, as it does not have artifacts in it to show that it was used for burials or ceremonies. A state road cuts through the site; it was not discovered until the early 1900’s, when the patterns of the earthworks showed up on aerial photographs. You can see the half-circle rows, even after all the years and the land having been plowed and used. There are ‘ghost houses’, small tent like structures, set around the outer ring of the housing earthworks, to show the scope of it. There are also low posts set in the ground in two places where they have found circular areas that served an unknown purpose. At the visitor center there is a scale model of the site, which originally covered 400 to 500 acres. Altogether a fascinating site, when you consider what they built with what they had to do it with. Another one I’d like to go back and spend more time at.

Flight 93 National Memorial

It was a cold, snow/rain/sleet mix in the late afternoon when I got to the memorial. The weather helped make it more poignant than it already is. Very simple, very eloquent, very moving. You turn off of Route 30 (an adventure to drive in its own right) and take a winding road to the memorial site. It’s a work in progress. From the parking lot you walk a short ways to a plaza area where trees are planted and a series of sign boards show the now iconic photo of the cloud sent up by the crash, against the bright blue sky and behind the red barn and green hillside in the foreground. Other panels show recovery work, and one has a photo of each person on the flight. There is a small shelter where you can pick up information, write a message and post on a bulletin board wall, and talk to the ranger. From that you step out onto a black (probably) granite walkway with a low wall along it. Flowers (plastic) lie in several niches in the wall. Several hundred yards along this you are even with a large rock in the field to your left, with American flags fluttering around the base of it. This is the impact site; those on the plane lie under the rock. Further along, the walkway ends at a wall of white marble slabs, one for each person on Flight 93. Flowers are on the ground in front of some. An opening in this wall is chained off, the sign says ‘Families of Flight 93 ONLY” – we can hope that everyone honors this. The path beyond leads to the site, where families may go to grieve, to visit, to pay respects. The rest of us may do so from the wall, looking through a wooden gate at the end of it, or at any point along the walk. The marble wall lies on the final flight path of the plane. A visitor’s center is planned, along the same path, on a hill overlooking the site. Future plans also include a chime tower at the entrance, and no doubt work on the grounds, which cover many acres.
The day I was there, cars from several states were in the parking lot, with a couple of dozen people viewing it – hurrying through the weather, but stopping to look at the wall, to touch it, and then to stare at the rock and flags. It is a sobering reflection on a sad day for our country, but also a day which brought out the courage and resolve that Americans have.
I want to go back and spend more time remembering and thinking about those.

Natchez Trace Parkway

Review written for Trip Advisor
“Fascinating drive through scenery and history”
I drove the length of the Natchez Trace, from December 30, 2011 through January 1, 2012. The route meanders through lovely scenery, and has countless stops at both scenic and historic spots. There are hiking trails, places to walk some of the original route of the Trace, great views of the surrounding area, forests, waterfalls, farms, fields, streams, rivers - something for just about everyone to enjoy. The historic stops are informative and interesting. You can get on and off in a great many places, to go into the many towns that are nearby; some of these have their own historic and scenic interest as well. Many rest areas offer bathroom facilities and picnic areas; there are also a couple of National Park Service visitor Centers that are informative and well stocked with worthwhile souvenir items. Spending New Year's Eve in the Rocky Springs Campgrounds was a bonus.

2011-2012 vacation, condensed version

Monday, December 26: left late in the day and got to Wilkes-Barre, PA for the night
Tuesday, December 27: To Rickett’s Glen SP a little ways from Wilkes Barre, where I wanted to hike to see waterfalls, but only experienced ice climbers with equipment were allowed to do that, which left me out, so I went to the one fall I could walk to. Then to Woolrich and the outlet store.
Then to Shankesville to the Flight 93 Memorial, which is so simple and so eloquent, very moving. Quite a ride along Route 30 to get there, with lots of twists and turns and scenery. To Somerset, PA for the night.
Wednesday, December 28: To Fallingwaters, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed house, did not go through the house itself, but walked the grounds and got good views of the outside. Then on to Kentucky, to Mt. Sterling for the night.
Thursday, December 29: Drove through the Red River Gorge scenic area in the Daniel Boone National Forest, seeing lots of great scenery and several arches-Kentucky has the largest amount of those in the east, who knew. A little hiking and a lot of getting out of the car to look at things. Also hiked up the trail to a Natural Bridge. To London, Kentucky for the night.
Friday, December 30: Across Kentucky and down around Nashville, TN, to the Natchez Trace. LOTS of stopping to look at all the things, scenic and historic. To Tupelo, MS.
Saturday, December 31: Continue south on the Trace, with more stops, scenery and history. Got off near Jackson, MS, and went over to Louisiana to Poverty Point, an historic Indian Mound site, just had enough time to drive quickly through it and look at the main parts, and climb the largest mound, built in about 1500 or so BC. Amazing. Then back to the Trace, to Rocky Springs campground for my New Year’s Eve.
Sunday, January 1, 2012: Finished the Trace, with stops at Rocky Springs to walk around the old town site, and then at Mount Locust to look at the house, which became the first stopover point on the Trace back in the early 1800’s. Then across MS to Tylertown and Merrywood to visit with Camp Katrina friends. Lovely place, with lots of all sorts of animals.
Monday, January 2: Loafed, drove around to Camp Katrina, into town and back to Merrywood, took a little walk, then rode around with Johnna and Susan to look at horses and property.
Tuesday, January 3: Went down to New Orleans, to meet another Camp Katrina friend and to see the Katrina Animals Memorial; drove through the French Quarter but didn’t stop, no parking and too many pba’s in town for the football game. Back to Merrywood.
Wednesday, January 4: More friends came over, went to Camp Katrina which I said didn’t look right there were no tents all over the place – many changes, still lots of animals. Nice visit and yummy supper.
Thursday, January 5: Left Merrywood and across MS into Alabama and then Florida, on the way to meet online friends Claude & Shirley. A few scenery viewing and photo stops, went to Destin to see the white sands, and then looking for miles for a campground, finally found one at Panama City.
Friday, January 6: foggy in the morning, and most of the way along the Gulf, did get some sightseeing in, and a nice ‘shore’ lunch. Then up in to the middle of the panhandle to Fort White.
Saturday, January 7: Went for a walk at a state park near their house, where a river ‘sinks’ down out of sight into the ground and reappears several miles down. Then visited, out for supper again, and visited some more.
Sunday, January 8: Left in late morning to go over to see Anne Somers in Fruitland Park, got there and sat and visited the afternoon and evening away.
Monday, January 9: Left Anne’s about noon, up through the Ocala NF towards Jacksonville, but then saw a sign for St. Augustine so cut over to see it, went to the fort and walked around looking at old buildings, very pretty. To Kingsland GA for the night.
Tuesday, January 10: Went out to Jekyll Island, very pretty, with huge old ‘cottages’ that are a testament to wealth. To St. George SC.
Wednesday, January 11: Stopped to see Kelly Casey, which was a delightful visit. Started to rain very hard after that, got to Emporia VA and quit for the night.
Thursday, January 12: Just drove all day to get home, got here about 8.
Specifics to follow

SCENES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

A little blog about some places I’ve traveled to, what I saw and how I liked it.
I’ve always loved going places, just say ‘do you want to go…’ and before I know where, pretty much I’ll say yes. My dream job was cross-country truck driving, I was getting paid to be a tourist! Circumstances forced me to give that up in 2002, so to satisfy my wanderlust, I started taking road trip vacations. Vacations before that had been fairly limited, again due to circumstances. Then, in 2003 I did something I’d never done before: bought a brand new car - hey, I was 60, it was time to do something drastic like that! I named the car Big Girl (which is from a whole different story, as is the one about naming cars) and that fall took the first of my ‘extended’ road trip vacations: 4 weeks, 16 states and about 8,600 miles – and 61 rolls of film in those pre-digital days.
Since then there have been a few more road trips, short and long, and a lot more places, and so I am going to share, for those interested. Brief descriptions of places to visit, see, camp, eat, or even avoid, with my thoughts about them.
Hope you enjoy, and get some travel tips – and get out and see some for yourself!