OMG. My skin is shriveling and I’m short of breath, but I’m in the high desert. We just arrived in Santa Fe about 6:40 p.m. What a day.
But I digress. Yesterday was quite a day and I haven’t stopped long enough to blog. Good grief. Well, it all started at 8 a.m. when met Dez, our full blooded Navajo Indian guide for our private tour of Canyon de Chelly (Che). Very french like, not pronouncing all the letters in the word. Dez and Ray are pictured above. Dez was a hoot. He had all the lines…because he had been leading tours in the Canyon for 24 years. And never mind that he grew up in the Canyon. We couldn’t even imagine. But he was very funny. Pointed out a phone booth which was really an outhouse. That kind of humor. And the highlight was driving up the wash which had water in it. He explained that the Indian society is matriarch (I knew I liked it) and so if we got stuck, it my job was to push. Actually, land is handed down on the women’s side of the family.
Well, actually the highlight was seeing the Anasazi dwellings high up on the canyon walls. And seeing the horses roaming free. And seeing the petroglyphs. And the etchings. However, what was really interesting was that the Anasazi lived there until 1100 A.D. Interesting because Mont. St. Michel (in France) was built in 900 A.D. They were much more sophisticated in Europe. Also, the Anasazi were only about 4 feet tall. Ray felt like a giant after hearing that!!
After emerging from the Canyon, we headed to Farmington, NM. All this traveling was being done on backroads, so to speak. Beautiful vistas and light traffic made the driving a breeze. We listened to talk radio re: bin Laden most of the way. The rest of the day was uneventful. Except for Monsters and Aliens (a movie) was on TV so we started watching it. I pooped out about the time that all hell was breaking loose. Ray watched it til the end.
Up and at them this a.m. early so that we could go to the golf course and eat before we played. Played golf with two locals who spent a great deal of time in the hazards, the bushes, the water, the sand. Didn’t find out until the 16th hole that Bernard grew up in Paris, France. OMG. I could have been butchering french all around the course if I’d known that sooner. Being the linguist that I am, I thought he had an Australian accent!!
After finishing up the round, we jumped in the car and hightailed it to Santa Fe (it took four hours to drive). Did I mention that we rented a cart as the course was up and down a lot, and then we took turns walking every other hole? So, we finally got some exercise. The ride to Santa Fe was swell. Beautiful country and no traffic. Glided into Santa Fe, found the house, took a shower, had a glass of wine and went to the grocery store for food.
Nothing funny happened today. Had a great time anyway!!
Now it’s beddy-bye for me. Have to rest up. Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and we plan to whoop it up!! Oh, did I mention, I’m keeping an eye out for Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. They live here now. I have a few questions for them!!
Cousin Susie and Larry arrive on the 6th so we’re going to cook them a great meal to celebrate their arrival. Can’t wait!!
Here we are at Four Corners. We’re actually standing on the real estate of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Great way to say you’ve been to four states while actually visiting one or two!!
Here’s a picture of the rock formations we encountered and notice the lack of traffic. We just can’t convey to you, the reader, how fun it is to get off the Interstate highway. So much more interesting and the driving is much easier. No tailgating, no weaving out of traffic, fewer big rigs. And fewer rest stops which poses its own problems. But I digress.
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