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Leaving the car at LAX, we flew to Honolulu to see friends and, for me, to attend a ukulele workshop. (Ukuleles are far more portable than drum kits.) Damn, it’s pretty here.
For any of you who want to watch a ukulele performance, here is “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” performed by the workshop organizers.
Next: More California.
After we left the Grand Canyon, we decided to go to Sedona for a night, but once we saw that the cheapest hotel rooms started at $400 per night, we re-routed ourselves to Prescott. (A lot of our trip segments have been planned about 40 minutes in advance.) Prescott is a cute town filled with galleries and bars, including a speakeasy called “The Point” that serves some amazing cocktails, including this one, the “Bastard Son”:
While we were in one gallery, the owner said “You’re also going to visit Jerome while you’re here, right?”—to which we asked “What’s Jerome?” Jerome is a former mining town that has become an artist’s colony and refuge for aging hippies. Like many mining towns, it had a reputation as being a sinful place, full of bars and prostitutes. We visited the next day, which happened to be the town’s 125th anniversary, so naturally there was a parade.
From there, we drove to Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Trees were designed by Dr. Seuss were created by cross-pollinating an oak tree and a toilet brush were given their name by Mormon immigrants who likened the trees to the biblical figure Joseph, because their limbs seemed to beckon the travelers westward.
From there, it was onward to the coast, Los Angeles, and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Things are now back in order.
Next: Ukuleles.
Again, there’s nothing for me to say about the Grand Canyon. It’s there, it’s huge, and I have more photos of it than I’ll ever need. (I’ve been told that pictures don’t do the Grand Canyon justice, but apparently I felt obligated to try anyhow.) This is just a sampling from our first hike into the canyon.
While our first day there was clear and sunny, the second began with a snowstorm. We stayed on the rim for our next hike. The clouds dissipated quickly, but the snow came back later for about an hour. It made for some rapidly changing vistas and weird cloud effects.
Next: Joshua Tree.
Just photos, because it’s not like I can add anything. In fact, the hardest thing about this post is the editing.
The wind and rain have carved the rocks, as did some early settlers.
Next: the Grand Canyon.
They really lean into it here. Even at the Lego Store. And at the wine store.
Next: this time, Monument Valley.
In modern times, the Carlsbad Caverns were found by a teenager, Jim White, in 1898. He used a wire ladder like the one above to descend into and explore many of the rooms, the lower set of which are at least 1,027 feet below the ground. (There may be still lower chambers that haven’t been found yet.) The site became a national monument in 1923.
If you aren’t into stalactites and stalagmites, you can stop here.
Next: More otherworldliness, but above ground.
I overlooked a few stops before we got to Taos. Let’s go back to Texas first.
From Marfa, we drove to Alpine. Alpine is supposed to be an interesting place, but we pulled into town on Sunday, so most of the stores were closed; and it was Super Bowl Sunday, so most of the restaurants were closed until game time. The place had the feel of a ghost town, which was not helped by the lead-grey sky; even the beautiful murals scattered throughout downtown didn’t help. The place gave me the heebie-jeebies, and that’s not something that happens often.
From there, we went to Fort Davis, which had been established to protect travelers and settlers during the Indian Wars.
Next: Carlsbad Caverns.
A lot of landscape photos from our drive, including the Rio Grande (as seen from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge), Ship Rock, Mexican Hat Rock, and the outskirts of Monument Valley.
Next: Monument Valley.
Taos was great. It’s a small town, but with friendly people and beautiful art galleries. But visually and culturally, the most interesting place for me was Taos Pueblo. It was very quiet the day we were there, given that it was off-season; however, we were lucky to be there, because the pueblo was going to close the next day for a two-month-long tribal gathering. Our tour guide was cagey in talking about the event, telling us only to say that it was a time when many members of the pueblo who lived outside the pueblo came home.
The patron saint of Taos Pueblo (because the conquering Spanish said so) is St. Jerome. The current church of St. Jerome (San Geronimo) is located on the main square of the pueblo. However, the history of the church is entangled with the history of the pueblo’s resistance to conquest. As the National Park Service explains,
Taos Pueblo received its first Catholic Franciscan priest in 1598, when Juan de Onate, after establishing a Spanish settlement at San Gabriel, assigned Fray Francisco de Zamora as missionary to the Taos area. In 1627, Fray Benavides reported that the church was under construction, but with difficulty due to the non-cooperation of the Taos Indians. In 1647, the tribe sent the Inquisition in Mexico an official complaint of the immorality of the priest assigned to pueblo. In 1640, Fray Miranda and several other Spaniards were killed by the Indians at Taos, the church was destroyed, and the people left the pueblo. They returned under the persuasion of Governor Lopez de Mendizabal around 1660 and reluctantly accepted another priest. The church was slowly rebuilt, impeded by local resistance, and the situation continued to deteriorate as tribute continued to be collected and traditional religious practices were suppressed.
In 1690, a coalition of pueblos revolted against Spanish rule and drove the Spaniards out of the area for 10 years. The Spanish finally reconquered Taos Pueblo in 1696, but did not complete a new church until 1726. In 1846, the mission again came under attack
as Mexicans and Indians resisted the American takeover of the territory during the Mexican-American War, killing the new American governor Charles Bent and marching on Santa Fe. Government troops and volunteers marched on Taos and attacked the Mexicans and Indians dissidents who had taken refuge in the San Geronimo church. The church, with walls 3-7 ft thick, became a formidable stronghold. The first day the American cannon balls lodged themselves in the thick adobe with little effect. Seeing that bombardment was not successful, the next day forces led by Colonel Price resorted to setting the roof on fire and storming the building. The American forces took the town and two years later the annexation of New Mexico was formalized by the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848. The cannon ball riddled mission church was left to ruin and a new church was built in 1850.
So much for the idea of sanctuary. Today, the ground around the old church is a cemetery.
Next: New Mexico to Arizona and Utah.
From Texas, we crossed into New Mexico. Our first stop was Albuquerque, which didn’t really grab me, despite having an attractive old town. Santa Fe, on the other hand, had Meow Wolf.
Meow Wolf is a Santa Fe-based company of multimedia artists who put together enormous, interactive art installations. (There are installations in Las Vegas, Denver, and Grapevine, TX as well.) The Santa Fe installation, in an enormous old bowling alley, currently tells the story of a family whose science experiment goes horribly wrong, opening a portal into multiple other worlds. As you explore their house and the worlds that it contains—including psychedelic gardens, a black-and-white cartoon kitchen containing alien life forms, household appliances that lead to other dimensions, and an multi-versal travel agency—you find clues to the tragedy that has torn the family apart. We spent a few hours there and probably could have spent another two or three.
As an added bonus, the curators at Meow Wolf are officiants in the Church of Universal Life, so we renewed our vows during our visit.
Next: Taos.