April 10 – “To Cuba and beyond”

Well, that was the tiniest hotel room we have ever had, bar none.  The rolling luggage cart barely fit in the door.  We had to find a place for each item before unloading it.  I even had to crawl up on it a few times because there just wasn’t room.  As big and luxurious as the room was the previous night, this one was its opposite.  You know you are in a small room when the air conditioner comes on, and in two seconds the whole room in cool.  In four seconds, you need a sweater.  The hotel was being renovated, so at least two full floors were blocked off.  Our tiny room had a few of the finishing touches missing, like the clip to hang towels on the back of the bathroom door.  I guess once we got everything in its place, the room was passable enough, though.  We slept well, anyway.  Now to the next adventure.

 

First stop was, of course, another national monument.  This one was called Aztec Ruins.  They told us the ruins were in the Mayan style.  In New Mexico.  I’m still confused.  The volunteer teacher said the Mayans had a fully developed written language and a system of complex mathematics.  The people in this region apparently didn’t know how to sign their own name.  No written language whatsoever.  I asked him if perhaps some Mayans who flunked grammar and math dropped out of school and moved up here.  He didn’t seem too impressed with my theory.  But the ruins were pretty interesting.  And we got to walk around all up in them.  The doorways inside were about four feet tall, or even less.  I had to really scrunch up to get through.  Chris, not so much.  Score one for the short people.

 

Part of the experience was a lecture on how the early American Indians were really good astronomers.  The whole village was constructed with nods toward sunrises and sunsets, all things lunar, the equinoxes, the solstices, and all those other astronomy-type words.  They even knew how to read the stars.  Smart folks, especially for somebody who didn’t know how to write stuff down.

 

From that park we headed roughly east to see if we could drive over the nearby Navajo Dam road.  We were also looking for a place to grab some lunch.  Sadly, we didn’t find either.  I think we turned around just short of the dam.  But hey, when you’ve seen one dam, you’ve seen them all, right?

 

Oh, I haven’t yet mentioned that I’ve been sneezing and sniffling … a lot.  First it was the mounds and mounds of red dirt everywhere.  Now that we are back in tree country, there are thousands upon thousands of different types of pollen that have been finding their way into my nose.  Somebody please clear that stuff out of Galveston before we get back.

 

While we were driving around, I finally heard back from my different naming sources concerning the raven who joined us.  Sam from church suggested Ronnie.  Then Ezra, ever the keep-it-simple, scientist type, at first questioned whether or not the creature was actually a raven at all, but a penguin instead.  Once convinced by whatever scientific method his mom chose to convince him, he finally posited Ray.  Ray the Raven.  Both are kind of perfect, so why not both?  He’ll be Ronnie Ray the Raven.  Has a certain ring to it …

 

We continued our leisurely drive along the banks of the river before stopping in on Kathy White’s sister and brother-in-law’s winery in Blanco, New Mexico.  And by the way, we could tell immediately whose sister this was.  They look a lot alike.  We passed on the wine-tasting, but we stood riveted at attention as David and their son actually milled some lumber from a log.  Oh, and I did take the opportunity to seek to replicate the intricate maneuvers made world-famous by Jim on their travel blogs.  It’s the one where he sticks one foot out behind him and one arm out in front.  I think its some kind of yogi move or something.  So, I may or may not have substantially improved upon the position.  Word is, there have already been numerous accounts of yogi instructors the world over wanting my contact information … to ask me to just please stop.  We were invited to stay over night and enjoy the area, but we decided to keep moving.  Thanks for the hospitality, David and Marcia.

 

From the peace and quiet of the winery we headed out for Los Salamis.  Oops, sorry.  That was spell-check, I promise.  Los Alamos, and the two or three national sites around there.  That meant about three hours of driving that wilderness-y New Mexico terrain again.  Along the way I saw two elk grazing just outside of Cuba.  Wow.  Never thought I’d be saying those two words in the same sentence – elk and Cuba.  Nope.

 

We arrived at the next park area (which was way up in some other New Mexico mountains) about 45 minutes before closing time, so we didn’t have a lot of time for hikes.  In fact, I was just happy to race to the outdoor port-a-potties for a much-needed rest stop.  The only thing was, while inside the winds kicked up.  Think about it.  High winds.  Up in the mountains.  Me ensconced in a tiny toilet room.  The only thing I could think of was Dorothy Gale and her tornadic ride to Oz under somewhat similar circumstances (OK.  She wasn’t in a toilet box.  And the winds weren’t that high).  But from my perspective … yes, it felt like that.

 

Once I was safely back in Kansas, so to speak, we strolled around the area and down to the pond.  That stroll was actually through the middle of a massive prairie dog apartment complex.  We saw more than a few.  My favorite sighting, though was near the corrals.  As I rounded a bend, a small, furry creature was heading right toward me.  He put on the brakes in a hurry and scurried in the opposite direction.  What did I notice right away?  There was no tail on this otherwise tiny rabbit-like critter.  I found out that it was most likely one of the area’s more populous denizens, a Pica.  I thought that was a font size, but come to find out, it is also a little mountain rabbit-ish with no discernable tail.  And the best part of that whole experience?  I found his cousin hanging around the visitor center.  He was happy to join us after he heard us describing our much warmer climate to the ranger.  I will be sending his photo out this morning for naming.  Bring on the ideas.

 

We made it down the mountain and into Los Alamos for the evening.  It’s back up the mountain today for another park up there by nine, then back down here to the Manhattan Project visitor before they close at three.  And then …, further east.

 

Luke 19:38 says, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

 

Father, thank you for the chance to meet David and Marcia, Jim and Kathy’s New Mexico family.  Bless them for the hospitality they showed us.  Be with them as they finish that building project.  Amen.