In summation

We have been on the road for 49 days and drove over 4200 miles in five states.  We saw thousands of cacti, rocks and other desert “decor.”

We saw 600 balloons with our daughter, son-in-law and grandson.  We spent time with friends from near and far.

We have slept in campgrounds, Walmarts and Elks lodges and have enjoyed meeting people along the way.  We spent one rainy day doing pretty much nothing and savored it.

This was our big RV trip of the year and it exceeded expectations.  We went to places we intended to see, found unexpected delights and enjoyed every day of the trip.  Now it’s home to see where we go next.  We look forward to your traveling with us.  Oh, and thanks for your comments on the blog; we delight in your opinions.

Heading to California

 We paused on our way to CA to enjoy lunch and conversation with Joe, a longtime RV friend.  Then we headed to Indio for the last few days of this trip.

We met Carl and Louise, friends from home at the beautiful La Quinta Cliff House which really is in a cliff. You can see why it is so named.   The atmosphere is as good as the food and the conversation was also great.

On Carl and Louise’s recommendation, we went to Desert Hot Springs to tour the Cabot Old Indian Adobe. 

 This is a place that is due to the dreams and efforts of one man, Cabot Yerxa, the son of Minnesota grocers.

Dropping out of school at 16, he went to Alaska and opened a cigar and candy shop, went to Cuba to work with his family, married and had a son, and grew citrus.  If that wasn’t enough, when he enlisted during WWI, he became Eisenhower’s Mess Sgt.  After the war, he got divorced and moved to Paris to study art. 

While doing all that, he took advantage of the government’s offer to homestead 160 acres in the desert.  He walked seven miles to get water until he acquired a mule.  Then a Cahuilla Indian told him there was a well on his property.  The well was alkaline but he had dug another and no longer had to travel for water.  What he discovered was well waters varying from 132 degrees to ice cold  that are now used in the spas of the area.  He enlisted the help of L. W. Coffee, an LA developer, and Desert Hot Springs had its beginnings.

 This is the history, but it is his 5000 square foot home with 35 rooms, 65 doors and 150 individualized windows (because most of them are made from broken glass panels fit together like a puzzle) that is the fulfillment of his dream.  The home is made from adobe he mixed by adding cement to the soil since the dirt here is not really fit to make adobe.  Building materials consisted of recycled materials he gather from where ever he went, such a cardboard roller used for printing newspapers that he used for insulation.

 One room has a dirt floor in tribute to the Hopi belief in living closer to the earth.
To combat the heat of the desert, he devised a system of having small windows on opposite walls.  The air that entered pushed the indoor hot air up making the rooms cooler.  There are many creations in the home that he developed or copied by studying construction manuals. 

Cabot was a great supporter of rights for Native Americans and helped them recover homeland.

He intended this home as a museum and trading post.  He lived here with his second wife until his death in 1965.  On his death, she left the home and it fell into disrepair until it was bought by Cole Erod who restored it and later gave it to the city to continue to be a museum.

The home contains paintings by Cabot, books collected by Portia, his second wife, and art they collected.

 This carving is called Shumash, by Samu, portrays the two-faced white man who agrees to one thing but winks at the idea at the same time.  The snakes are the poisoned soul and brain of the white man.

Waokiye, traditional helper, was carved by Hungarian-born Peter “Wolf” Toth.  It is carved of a 45-ton giant Sequoia that had been struck by lightening.  Toth has carved Native American sculptures in all 50 states.  Some no longer stand but to find one near you just look up his name.  The carvings are awesome to see.

The view from the adobe is also amazing.

 

As a parting gift, we each got a bottle of Desert Hot Springs internationally awarded water and it did taste very good.  This pueblo wound up being a surprisingly excellent side trip.


We came to this area to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Jacob, grandson of close friends Steve and Rita.  We were invited to a dinner before the Friday night services.  Coincidentally, it was held at the same restaurant where we had dined the previous night.  Few restaurants are worth dining twice in a row but this one was.

We felt great pleasure in being part of the celebration of this wonderful event with our friends from back home.   

City of Rocks, Deming, NM

 Anna Lee had read about City of Rocks in a magazine several years ago and we never had time to see it.  The twenty-mile drive from Deming caused our enthusiasm to wane.  We drove through much of the same terrain as we have been seeing for weeks, so flat you could almost see forever, filled with varieties of cacti and mesquite and cattle and the occasional horse. When we reached the park we knew the trip was well worth taking.

Thirty million years ago volcanic ash was churned into monolithic blocks by wind and water.  The people who named City of Rocks imagined one-to-four story buildings, some with chimneys and patios, a few in disrepair.  Lanes, some leading to deadends, wander between the buildings.   Anna Lee saw the rocks as blocks left by a humongous child who was through playing and left them where the fell.  Continuing to enjoy the fantasy, our imaginations did overtime in finding formations that were like humans, animals and relics from antiquity.

 What we wish we knew, and had more time for, was staying at the campground in the state park.  The sites are so private and have magnificent views.  We wanted to park for a few days, take out our books, and bask in nature's splendor.

We can only leave it up to you to see what you believe is there.

This hawk watched as we left his city.

We spent the night at St. Clair Winery, another Harvest Host winery, and have some samples on the coach.  Our wine server not only gave us a taste of many of the lovely wines from St. Clair, she also acted as a tour guide, telling us sites to see, how to get there, and where to find the best sunset.  We watched as darkness shrouded the mountains in front of us and brought on the quiet of night.

We are glad we finally made it to the City of Rocks and had the bonus of wine tasting.

Las Cruces

We arrived in Las Cruces for Halloween/Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  The second celebration lasts four days.  The 3000 year-old tradition originated in the Aztec and Meso-American civilizations.  It honors and celebrates the dead who souls come back on earth for a month each year.  Altars or ofrendas (offerings) are erected in front of homes and the Old Mesilla town square.  They contain photographs, personal comments and items that were important to that person or family.  These altars are generally quite colorful. 

Another way to honor the dead is to dress as a calacas or skeleton or as someone from the distant past.  Children, adults and seniors had their faces painted in lovely and ghoully fashion.  Calavera (skulls) decorated everything from jewelry to cupcakes.  Booths sell everything to help celebrate this holiday.

Even our servers at Andale, the restaurant where we started our evening, were in costumes. 

After brunch the next day at The Shed, one of the best brunches in both food and service we have had, we returned to the square.  We visited the Basilica of San Albino, designed in the French style under the direction of the newly appointed French shepherd of the diocese.  This structure replaced the traditional adobe Mexican church.

The square was filled with people dressed to honor the dead and many visitors like us enjoying learning about this tradition.  The “nun” carried two dogs and a cross as she wandered the square.

 These altars commemorated the military loses in Iraq.

  

The dancers came from El Paso to perform

She is a real balloon artist.

 

Before leaving Old Mesilla we drove around finding wonderful doorways.

 

 We also found adobe bricks drying.

 

Heading beyond the square we saw fields filled with New Mexico’s State vegetable, chile/


 We saw a blue heron and an egret on our drive along the Rio Grande in Mesilla State Park.

 

State Minutia:

The state aircraft is the hot air balloon.  The bird is the roadrunner.  State cookie, the biscochito, an overly sweet and dry wedding cookie, but good dipped in coffee.