Spring Break! Yippee! Ross flew in, and we loaded up the car and drove south. There was a lot more snow than we expected. Camping was looking less than enticing. But when we reached Capitol Reef it was suddenly all warm rocks and red dirt.
Driving east through Capitol Reef National Park, we had a nice view of the Henry Mountains.
Capitol Reef is in the waterpocket fold, "a hundred mile wrinkle in the earth's crust, known as a monocline."
We stopped for lunch, and picked a spot sheltered from the wind. Too bad we didn't consider that this was also a choice spot for a potty break...I almost sat in someone's still damp puddle of pee.
The Grand Wash was too wet for cars, which suited us just fine, because it meant we could walk for miles through the canyon free of cars or many other people.
We camped that night near an old farmhouse. The Mormon settlers' orchards are still productive.
The next day we drove the rest of the way to Albuquerque to visit Ross' dad at his lovely little house in the Rio Grande Valley.
The garlic harvest was quick approaching.
And Dan is hoping for a bumper crop of apricots this year. He has a new fig tree as well, a little stick in the mud.
Onnie and Dan took the day off, and we all drove out of the city in the snow, on a pilgrimage to see the Salt Missons ruins.
Abo was built near the Tompiro Pueblo by the Spanish in 1629.
But there was a string of cold summers, and their crops wouldn't grow, and Tompiro and Spanish alike were subject to relentless Apache attacks. Everyone left.
I wonder what it was like when they left--what did they take with them? What did they leave behind? Who broke into the church and slept there, in the nave maybe, with a horse? Who cooked their meals in the sacristy? The pueblos have never been excavated.
Oh cholla, cholla everywhere, with your crazy wooden finger bones.
Dan and Onnie had been to the ruins before, and a bitter wind was blowing, so they opted to chat with the ranger and sit by the fire in the visitor center.
We lingered there a bit, warming up before driving on down the road to the Quarai Mission.
Much of the interpretive text at Quarai was about the debate between Spanish factions: who should the Indians serve? The church or the state? So the Indians were forced to serve both.
A walk around Dan's neighborhood means greetings from the many animals. The cattle stared and chewed. The sheep baaed loudly. A cat hid in the grass and watched us from a distance. Horses were startled. One dog waited for us to pass, then trotted along behind us, herding us. Another dog--a little corgie with gigantic ears--tried to sneak out of her yard through a hole in the fence. Geese squawked. Old dogs rasped and lumbered along their fence lines. Young dogs streaked across their fields. The animals made a beautiful racket.
Ross had business in Santa Fe, so Dan and I visited the historical museum where, among many other things, I saw a chocolate cup retrieved from the Abo mission. This is the only photo I took in the city.Dan and Onnie love to eat, and so do Ross and I, so all our visits to New Mexico involve much eating. This time around: delicious Thai food at Tip's. Mu shu pork at East Ocean. Enchiladas at El Modelo, where I discovered that the "red or green" question is not so easy to answer after all. (Ross and bought a bag of green chile and chicken tamales for the road, too). French sandwiches and quiche at Clafoutis in Santa Fe. Sopapillas and rellanos and green chile at Padilla's New Mexican Kitchen. Onnie's delicious massaman curry and pad se iew in Dan's kitchen. And Dan's homegrown and homeground blue corn atole for breakfast.
And then Ross and I drove back to Salt Lake and still had time for a hike in the hills around the U.
