Done!

Gee but it’s great to be back home

It’s been two days now since my latest road trip came to an end. All the food left from the trip has been cleared out of the van, the dirty clothes and sheets washed, and modifications that needed to be made to the van for the next trip are done. I was going to vacuum and clean the inside, wash the outside, and refill the gas tank yesterday, but I was tired, so I laid on the couch and watched the Mets (they actually won yesterday).

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On the last day we made only one stop, at Pecos National Historical Park. The Pecos Pueblo was active from 1350 - 1838. In 1541 the Spanish came to colonize and convert the people at Pecos. As they did in other places they invaded, the Spanish wanted the natives to adhere to their preferred religion, Catholicism. The people of Pecos didn’t go for that, so to force the issue in 1610 the Franciscan friars took to destroying kivas (underground ceremonial rooms), smashing statues, and banning the ceremonies the natives held. Finally in 1680, the Pecos and native peoples from other pueblos rose up and fought the Spanish, driving them out and destroying the church. Unfortunately they didn’t stay away for long. By 1692 the Spanish returned. But this time they used different tactics to get the Pecos people to agree to their presence and assist in the building of a new church. But even though they seemed to get along better, the fate of the Pecos people was sealed. Over the next 140 years diseases brought by the Spanish, attacks from Comanche warriors, and natural disasters such as droughts decimated the population. By 1838 those who remained relocated from their land to the Jemez Pueblo (about 95 miles west if you drive down I-25). Eventually the land the Pecos once inhabited was sold to a private owner. The final owners, film star Greer Garson and her husband understood the historical importance of property. they sold the land to the Conservation Fund, which then donated it to the National Park Service.

As I was walking through the remnants of the kivas, housing areas, and church on the Pueblo, I wondered what it would be like today had the Spaniards never come, never forced their will on the people who lived there. Would Pecos natives still be here hunting and gathering and would they be preforming ceremonies in their kivas? Or would they have let outsiders in and embraced all of the changes the world has seen since 1838? The Pecos people believed the land they inhabited was owned by the entire community - all ancestors who came before and after - since they all had gained sweat equity from their hard work. Would they still hold to this belief, or would they have sold off parcels of land so that rich people could own a ranch and a piece of the west? Of course, these are all merely topics for, “what if” conversations.

Trip statistics:

Total miles traveled - 3,767.4 miles

Gallons of gas used - 218.833 gallons

Highest/Lowest price of gas per gallon - $3.159 / $2.629

Most amazing place visited - Matchstick Marvels (it’s crazy to think someone did this intricate work for over 40 years and is still at it, at least until the matchsticks run out)

Most insane place visited - The House On the Rock (interesting about the owner/builder, then ridiculous with all the strange “collections”)

Most underwhelming place visited - The Loess Hills (maybe it was the cloudy skies due to the fires everywhere, but the hills were nothing to write home about. Yes, it’s true that the soil found there is only present only in Iowa and somewhere in China, but still…)

Best unexpected thing found - all the old barns and abandoned houses (especially when I realized some of the barns that looked like they were about to fall down were still being used)

Best camping spot - Shady Creek Recreation Area near Muscatine, Iowa, right on the Mississippi River (great breeze, great view, saw some shore birds, a nice place)

Best restaurant along the way - Almack’s Kitchen in Trinidad, Colorado. A great find in this small town, offers and interesting menu for breakfast and lunch.

More pics from the trip - a view of the Mississippi from Effigy Mounds, the Hurstville Lime Kilns, an Iowa staple - breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, a barn taken over by nature, old gas pumps, more friends we made on the trip, another Matchstick Marvel, and the view by Lake Alice in Sugerite Canyon Park, NM

And in conclusion…

All in all, this was a very fun trip. There is lots to do and see on the road between Albuquerque and Iowa. But now that it’s over I’m ready to relax for a while before getting back out there. Next trip is in two weeks- to the Hatch Green Chile Festival in the small town of Hatch, New Mexico. Along with pinto beans, chile peppers are the official vegetable in New Mexico because of their importance in the state’s cuisine and culture. So I’m looking forward to eating a green chile cheeseburger while there and also bringing home a bushel of fire roasted chile peppers. Yummy!