Through New Mexico, through Texas, through Louisiana, through Mississippi, through Alabama and back into Florida. A couple of overnight stops on the way with nothing particularly interesting. But, we then stopped in Tallahassee for a couple of nights. We had never been to Tallahassee in all the time we lived in Florida. We drove through the center of town and pulled into an RV park on the east side of town. Tallahassee is, obviously, a city of some size, but the east side is more like nice suburbs. Pretty neighborhoods, tons of shopping including Costco, and many restaurants. Unlike south Florida, everything was green. Most of the trees are hardwoods not palm trees. The weather is a little cooler than the south and overall, it turned out to be a pretty nice place.
We decided to take a drive over to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. About an hours drive over towards the Gulf of Mexico. The preserve is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operated refuge to protect the animals and plants of the area. There are over 75 miles of trails winding through several different environmental areas. The area was almost stripped of trees for turpentine production, but in the 1930's the Phillips Turpentine Company sold the land to the government and the woods have made a comeback.
At the end of the road is the historic St. Marks Lighthouse. The House of Representatives authorized the construction of a lighthouse at the mouth of the St. Marks river in 1828. In August 1837, a ten foot tidal wave washed away all the buildings surrounding the lighthouse , damaged the lighthouse and took the lives of eight people. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1842. During the civil war, President Lincoln ordered a blockade of southern ports and the light was turned off. Confederate troops used it as a lookout but northern naval bombardment stopped that. After the war, the tower was repaired, the height was increased to 73' and the light was turned back on. For the next, almost 100 years, the lighthouse was a steady sentinel against shipwrecks. In 1960, the light was automated and in 2000, the electric light that had illuminated the lens was turned off and an exterior solar powered lighting blinking every four seconds was installed. Today, the lighthouse exterior has been restored and it looks as if it is brand new.
Jo and I went for a hike on the Tower Pond Trail and about 45 minutes in remembered why we didn't hike in Florida. Heat, sticky and bug infested. And, quite frankly, no fun! Back to the air conditioning of the RV .
The next day, a drive in a different direction. 12 miles inland through some absolutely beautiful, tree lined roads and farms to Bradley's Country Store. The store was built in 1927 and stands today as it did then. The family still sells what it started with, the best, old fashioned, country smoked and fresh sausage. The building is a butcher shop and general store with some of the most interesting and fun items on the shelves. We stopped for the $5 lunch of sausage on roll with chips and drink and sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. Looking at the farm and animals across the street. You absolutely step back in time. We stocked up on sausage, pork loin and a beautiful porterhouse steak. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. I felt like I was back in my grand father's butcher shop in Philadelphia.
Check out the inside of the store. Hasn't changed much over the years.
On to Palm Harbor/Clearwater for family time and repairs to the RV and car.
Our next visit from Gallup was to Hubbell Trading Post National Monument.
A great piece of history met us after our ride from New Mexico to Arizona. Remember, Arizona is a state that doesn't have daylight savings time. But daylight savings time is in use on the Navajo reservation. Apparently, time confusion happens frequently. Here's what greets you when you get to the front door.
And right next to that is a sign that says, "Daylight Savings Time". At one time there were hundreds of trading posts throughout the Navajo nation. Trading was the optimum word when Lorenzo Hubble began in 1876. Two years later he bought out a settler and then opened the trading post in 1883. Hubbell became the most important trader in the Navajo nation. Hubbell supplied merchandise to the Navajos while at the same time promoting Navajo arts and crafts. Hubbell is primarily responsible to improving the quality of Indian goods, especially rugs. The post still runs everyday but now the Navajo get payment in cash not goods. While we were there, we saw an artist selling jewelry to the trader. Hundreds of rugs were on sale, but all out of our price range. Somehow, I think the price has gone up since Hubbell was around.
The store still looks the same however.
Hubbell built a hogan (guest house) for visiting Navajo who had traveled long distances. Now it is used for an annual artist in residence program.
We stopped for lunch for a Dena (what the Navajo call each other) meal and then drove over to Window Rock. Headquarters and home of the Navajo reservation that is thousands of square miles.
The first thing that greets you is a monument to the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II fame. Pretty impressive but not as impressive as the natural wonder of window rock.
Then a short ride back to Gallup and preparations for leaving the next morning.
Our first stop heading east was Gallup, New Mexico. As you probably know, Gallup is on the old mother road, Route 66. The town is a little rough around the edges, having seen better days. But the area surrounding it is chocked full of great site seeing. Within a few hours drive, is The Petrified Forest, The Painted Desert, Window Rock, Hubbell Trading Post, El Malpais National Monument, El Morro National Monument, Acoma Puebla, Aztec Crater, Bandera Crater, Canyon de Chilly, Chaco Canyon, Four Corners, Hovenweep, Mesa Valley, Monument Valley and Zuni Mission. Amazing for a place in the middle of nowhere.
We drove downtown and stopped for a late lunch at the El Rancho Hotel. A terrific old spot on Route 66 that has a great movie history. D.W. Griffiths's brother opened the hotel in the 1930's. Because of the location, many Western movies started being filmed in the area. And with it came the stars: Henry Fonda, Clark Gable, Tyrone Power, Lucy & Ricki, Rosalind Russell, John Wayne, Jill St. John, Burt Lancaster, Alan Ladd, W.C. Fields, Doris Day, Spencer Tracey, Jack Benny, Lee Marvin, Jane Russell, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, John Garfield, Robert Taylor, Mae West, Ray Millan, Ralph Bellamy, Robert Mitchum, and Rock Hudson and the list of hotel guests just went on and on. The photos were priceless.
The next day, it was off to El Morro National Monument. About an hour and fifteen minutes away was the entrance to a truly monumental place. El Morro National Monument has been the stopping place for travelers for literally 2,000 years. Pre-historic man, ancestral Indians, Spanish explorers, American settlers, and the U.S. Army Camel Corps. All of them stopped to rest and refresh at the spring at the base of El Morro Mountain. While they stopped, they left inscriptions on the rock. Pictographs, petroglyphs, Spanish inscriptions, thoughts of settlers, and history, history, history.
The hike around the mountain started easy but ended up being pretty extreme. We didn't make it all the way to the top, but we gave it a good try. The scenery was worth the hike.
Another extraordinary place that few people know about and fewer have visited. A beautiful day touching a beautiful piece of history.
On the Friday before we left Sedona, Leigh coordinated a trip to Palatki Heritage site just outside town. Luckily Scott had rented an all wheel drive SUV, because the information center was five miles down a dirt road. But, arrive we did to find bathrooms in the parking lot and an information visitor center. The area was pretty rustic but also just plain pretty.
We were led by a volunteer who really knew his stuff. We headed up the mountain steps to see the dwellings of another extended family of Sinagua Indians. The path was steep but steps have been built of rocks.
Soon, we arrived at the dwellings and
although you couldn't go into the rooms, you were close enough to
touch them. Similar but different to those dwellings at Montezuma's
castle, these were one and two story homes for the people who farmed on
the valley floor below. The two family groups lived at Palatki (Hopi for
Red House) from 1000-1400 AD. Like many of the other sites we visited, no one is totally sure why they left but by 1400, they were gone. Moving north to bigger communities.
The best part was yet to come as we hiked down the mountain and back up the other side to the walls of art. This area contains pictographs dating back 3,000 to 6,000 years ago and petroglyphs from 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. It is a history of the people who lived on the land. Hunter gathers from the time before the Sinagua, the Sinagua who built Palatki, modern Indians like the Hopi and even graffiti from the settlers who lived in the area more than a 100 years ago. Pictographs are painted symbols and petroglyphs are actually cut or chipped into the rock. The rock walls have both.
Then down the mountain, a stop at the visitors center to learn more, and back to Sedona for our last night's dinner at the Golden Goose.
It was a great, up close and personal day.
Next stop, Gallup, New Mexico as in "Get your kicks on Route 66".
