Back from New Mexico last night; I haven’t had much time for
blogging. Here are a few photos from the camp and a
story from the Albuquerque Journal about what I’ve been doing for the past
four days. Considered picking up this
t-shirt from the gift shop.
The folks putting on the camp. We had about 300 kids
attend this year.
T. and E. with three of the young dancers who performed at
closing ceremonies.
The mountain at the edge of Albuquerque.
If I ever get back to the soutwest, I’m never coming back…Arizona, New Mexico… what are we doing east of the Mississippi ?!?!?
N.M. was a bit drier than I expected. Running, with elevation and lack of moisture, burned my throat (you know, sucking for wind during the bb game Friday evening!). Something about Ariz. appeals to me more…not sure what, exactly. On this visit, we passed over the Rio Grande. It was a mere trickle. There’s some serious water anxiety in the SW. Don’t know if I’d want to live with that.
Yeah, you gotta be a desert person to live down there year round. I did summers in Shiprock, New Mexico, and Page, Arizona in the late 60s with Peace Corps training programs. I prefer the area around Albuquerque and Santa Fe to Phoenix and Tucson, but you get pro sports there and you don’t in NM. I love the drama of the mountains in the Intermountain West, but locating between the Pacific and San Francisco Bay gives me mountains AND water–and a lot of sun. De gustibus non est disputandem.
If I ever had an urge to live in the SW, I’d probably keep right on rolling into Mexico. My stay in Xalapa, Veracruzana was as enjoyable as either of the stops I’ve made in Phoenix or Albuquerque. And I’ve driven between Portland and Seattle (not that you can call sitting in traffic on the highway in Seattle, driving). But I haven’t ever been to the Golden State. Saving up for a trip to Paradise with C’s next spring. I never visited before because I’ve heard about people who went to S.F. and never rejoined us in the Midwest. (Friends from college, writing profs from Ohio, and so on.)
Kingman Arizona…two hours from the Hoover dam, 30 minutes from Lake Havaseau, 20 minutes from Jualapai National Park. The park is about 5k above sea level, winding roads through mountains and pine forests have look-outs where you can pull the suv over, flip down the seats and tail gate where your head hangs out the back to watch the starry light shows… when I was there in the fall of ’96 the stars seemed so close and dense – billion of them– I felt as if I could scoop them up in my hands! Then the harvest moon! The desert comes alive at night. I spent every evening and most of my nights exploring. The sunsets are magnificent… so many hues of blue, violets, grey and pink… Yep… I’m long overdue for a trip back.
Are you a travel agent? Because you have sold me on a trip to N. Arizona. I’ve only been to Pheonix and, from there, Whiteriver. It was fine–scenic, dry, dry, scenic. And mountainous. But the moon and the stars!