It's good to get away from home.
Especially when it's a scorching July back home in Texas.
Most especially when I'm in the driver's seat.
And most and most especially when I am going west.
Each day is going to be full of adventure and fun. Let's go on a road trip!
The great excuse for this summer's adventure is two-fold, as if I even needed one single excuse. But a provided purpose for the destination(s) piques the enjoyment at the end of an enjoyable journey. Above all - Enjoy the Journey.
Reason #1: We were in possession of an invitation to nephew Andrew's wedding to Katerina, in Santa Cruz, California. Katerina, who is from the Czech Republic, works with Andrew at a major accounting firm in the SF Bay Area. This would be a Suneson reunion with grandparents coming down from Montana, sister Sheri and brother-in-law Tony coming in from Idaho (Tony grew up in Santa Cruz, the "original local") and of course sister Wendy and husband Barth, our hosts and parents of the groom. Cousin Daniel and Inga and Sean would make an appearance at the wedding as well.
Reason #2: Sister-in-law, Anne put together a Cook family reunion in western Washington, with 6 of the 7 siblings penciled in for the festivities.
Meanwhile, Sue had a prestigious invite to participate in a Presbyterian Synod conference in Tulsa, OK, which overlapped with the wedding dates. So, wanting to do all things, she arranged to leave the conference a day early, fly out of OK to San Jose, catch a ride over the hill to Santa Cruz late Friday night and be at the wedding Saturday evening. I raised an eyebrow, scrinched my lips and said, "That's cutting it close". She said, "That's the way I roll. Just accept it dear." What more could I say?
She left for Oklahoma a few days before I needed to get on the road to California. That left me the privilege of doing all of the car packing for multiple adventures. I need some nice clothes for the wedding, some comfortable driving duds, possible cool &wet weather togs for the NW, camping gear (including tent and meals) for 3 nights sleeping upon the good earth along with some caving clothing and equipment. I got it done. And I did a good job if I do say so myself.
First stop was a freebie - winner, winner, chicken dinner; only this was a steak dinner at brother-in-law Bill's and his wife Susan in Wichita Falls, just a 121 mile jaunt from my Garland driveway. I find it a good first step to get out of Dallas traffic in the afternoon and then I am primed for the wide open road across the plains of North Texas and on into New Mexico, or perhaps further. Bill was to be the 1 out of the 7 siblings that could not make it to the reunion in Washington at the end of July. But in lieu of his presence, he load me up with his presents - home grown and homemade sweet pickles to be shared with his brothers and sisters.
My travel strategy was to go until I wanted to stop. I had considered a state park in the western part of New Mexico as a possible stopping place, but I was making great time and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon when I reached the exit for Blue Water State Park. Quick decision, too soon to quit. Keep it west on I-40 to Gallup and beyond.
It was 'end of the trail' once I got to Winslow, Arizona. A stop at the Taco Bell for a chalupa dinner and then time to select a camp site at Homolovi SP. The previous week the news had telling of the Arizona heat wave, making it too hot for commercial aircraft to takeoff from Phoenix; but on this afternoon, I'd been driving in an out of small rain showers.
Not wanting to expend the effort to erect a 2-man tent (and then have to take it down and stow it in the morning), I opted to throw my ground tarp over the picnic table and sleep under the table for shelter from the storm.
With rain only falling in large, widely spaced drops, with the summer sun offering another hour or so of daylight, I left camp overland to visit the archaeological site of Homolovi I, a residence for the ancestral Hopi People starting ca. 750-850 AD and being finally abandoned in favor of the cliff dwellings in the early 1400's. The gate across the road to the ruins was locked at 5 PM, so my overland route to see the dwelling of the Ancient Ones was on foot. There was a mound where an estimated 250 rooms were build for human habitation and storage of comestibles from farming along the Little Colorado River at the base of the settlement. Plenty of decorated potsherds were strewn across the desert floor, with visitors picking them up and laying them on flat sandstone blocks for display.
I returned to camp to be treated to a luminous rainbow over the Northern Arizona desert and a brilliant golden sunset beyond the San Francisco Peaks to the west. I texted a photo of the rainbow to my wife no doubt sweating in Tulsa, Oklahoma, along with a few of the lyrics from the Eagles;
Especially when it's a scorching July back home in Texas.
Most especially when I'm in the driver's seat.
And most and most especially when I am going west.
Each day is going to be full of adventure and fun. Let's go on a road trip!
The great excuse for this summer's adventure is two-fold, as if I even needed one single excuse. But a provided purpose for the destination(s) piques the enjoyment at the end of an enjoyable journey. Above all - Enjoy the Journey.
Reason #1: We were in possession of an invitation to nephew Andrew's wedding to Katerina, in Santa Cruz, California. Katerina, who is from the Czech Republic, works with Andrew at a major accounting firm in the SF Bay Area. This would be a Suneson reunion with grandparents coming down from Montana, sister Sheri and brother-in-law Tony coming in from Idaho (Tony grew up in Santa Cruz, the "original local") and of course sister Wendy and husband Barth, our hosts and parents of the groom. Cousin Daniel and Inga and Sean would make an appearance at the wedding as well.
Reason #2: Sister-in-law, Anne put together a Cook family reunion in western Washington, with 6 of the 7 siblings penciled in for the festivities.
Meanwhile, Sue had a prestigious invite to participate in a Presbyterian Synod conference in Tulsa, OK, which overlapped with the wedding dates. So, wanting to do all things, she arranged to leave the conference a day early, fly out of OK to San Jose, catch a ride over the hill to Santa Cruz late Friday night and be at the wedding Saturday evening. I raised an eyebrow, scrinched my lips and said, "That's cutting it close". She said, "That's the way I roll. Just accept it dear." What more could I say?
She left for Oklahoma a few days before I needed to get on the road to California. That left me the privilege of doing all of the car packing for multiple adventures. I need some nice clothes for the wedding, some comfortable driving duds, possible cool &wet weather togs for the NW, camping gear (including tent and meals) for 3 nights sleeping upon the good earth along with some caving clothing and equipment. I got it done. And I did a good job if I do say so myself.
First stop was a freebie - winner, winner, chicken dinner; only this was a steak dinner at brother-in-law Bill's and his wife Susan in Wichita Falls, just a 121 mile jaunt from my Garland driveway. I find it a good first step to get out of Dallas traffic in the afternoon and then I am primed for the wide open road across the plains of North Texas and on into New Mexico, or perhaps further. Bill was to be the 1 out of the 7 siblings that could not make it to the reunion in Washington at the end of July. But in lieu of his presence, he load me up with his presents - home grown and homemade sweet pickles to be shared with his brothers and sisters.
My travel strategy was to go until I wanted to stop. I had considered a state park in the western part of New Mexico as a possible stopping place, but I was making great time and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon when I reached the exit for Blue Water State Park. Quick decision, too soon to quit. Keep it west on I-40 to Gallup and beyond.
It was 'end of the trail' once I got to Winslow, Arizona. A stop at the Taco Bell for a chalupa dinner and then time to select a camp site at Homolovi SP. The previous week the news had telling of the Arizona heat wave, making it too hot for commercial aircraft to takeoff from Phoenix; but on this afternoon, I'd been driving in an out of small rain showers.
Not wanting to expend the effort to erect a 2-man tent (and then have to take it down and stow it in the morning), I opted to throw my ground tarp over the picnic table and sleep under the table for shelter from the storm.
 |
| Lazy-man's campsite Homolovi SP, AZ Tarp over picnic table - quick and easy |
With rain only falling in large, widely spaced drops, with the summer sun offering another hour or so of daylight, I left camp overland to visit the archaeological site of Homolovi I, a residence for the ancestral Hopi People starting ca. 750-850 AD and being finally abandoned in favor of the cliff dwellings in the early 1400's. The gate across the road to the ruins was locked at 5 PM, so my overland route to see the dwelling of the Ancient Ones was on foot. There was a mound where an estimated 250 rooms were build for human habitation and storage of comestibles from farming along the Little Colorado River at the base of the settlement. Plenty of decorated potsherds were strewn across the desert floor, with visitors picking them up and laying them on flat sandstone blocks for display.
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| My overland trek to Homolovi I archaeological site was filled with danger and adventure! |
Standin' on the corner in Winslow Arizona
what a fine sight to see...
Rainbow at day's end!
A good campsite in rain-cooled air.
And I have received the sign of a blessing at the close of the day as I spread out by bedroll on the ground among the ancient ones.
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| Ruins of Homolovi I Ancestral Hopi People's habitation on the banks of the Little Colorado River |
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| Potsherds from ca. 1350 displayed on a fallen sandstone building block at Homolovi I Site |
Time to crawl under the table and get some sleep before I drive across the Sonora and Mojave Deserts and up to Fresno.
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| End of the day blessing Northern Arizona Desert Campsite |
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| Sun setting beyond the San Francisco Peaks from my campsite Day 1 |
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| The sky grows darker over San Francisco Peaks |
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| Final blaze of glory, Day 1 |
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