~A Sojourn~ Life on Planet Earth~
header photo-Riley Moore Falls, Oconee Co., SC
"Did you ever suffer an attack of a wandering foot caused by the lure of that mystic unknown? There's is no permanent cure, relief only had
while making the wilds your home."
Between Window Rock and The Crater lies Winslow! Well its not exactly the middle but its along those lines. I mentioned I hit a sand storm and had to stay the night in Winslow AZ...and I gotta say at first I was not impressed--but then...
The day after I took my tour of the Crater, I had to go back through Winslow cause I was heading north up through Utah to Colorado. So on the way back through Winslow I had a change of heart...for one thing it sits on the famous Hictoric Route 66 (I want to drive what's left of it from end to end) and that means there is a lot of "Americana" in Winslow.
the famous corner
Of course the City Works was digging a hole---
Some of the cool things I noted was this great interesection in the center of town made famous by the Eagles a rock group we all grew up listening to... Take It Easy..
Well I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see, its a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me...
Notice the painting on the wall behind the statue...its pretty cool!!
Here is the Roadworks gifts shops....
This is the La Posada Hotel C-1930's it was called the Fanciest Hotel along the Route 66 back in the day,...and its not looking half bad
today either!!
the La Posada Hotel
If you wanted to live here, can probably get a cheap apartment right in town...
And this cute Vintage Burger Joint is Closed!! TOO bad it should be hopping what's up with Americans these days they would rather buy at McDonalds and let a place such as this close down??? Not me, I dont do McDee's or any of those fast so called "food" spots. I don't even eat meat..lol So whadda I know!! IF I did I would rather buy it from a mom n pop like this spot once was. I'll have mine ALL THE WAY PLEASE...that's a Deluxe for the Yankee people!
Turn on the SOUND----
Surprise how do like the tune? This song has special meaning to me. Not just because it was by the group AMERICA and Dewey Burnell who wrote the song said its about leaving...in the lyrics when he asks..."how long you gonna stay here Joe" he was referring to the cold plains of Nebraska where he grew up and thinking of moving to California where he longed to be..."alligator lizards in the air"..that line brings to mind cloud formations he saw in the sunshine...but I'll explain later why it has meaning to me...enjoy the tune while you read.
I love to travel but money is the object--unfortunately--I buy a lotto ticket now and then but so far no wins- the money is just not there to go where I want to go and do what I want to do...and Im sure its that way with most of you. I always look for bargains! The last 2 years I took trips on free air flights using Delta Sky Miles. Its one way to do it--since we have to buy our groceries and gas anyways...may as well rack up sky miles points for doing so. Currently its 25,000 points to take a domestic trip if you are willing to make several stops before you get to your destination.
I prefer to drive my own car. Currently my car is a 2001 Chevy Blazer with over 180,000 miles on it! I purchased it when I moved back to SC from NYC in 2006. Its still in good condition, still gets me where I need to go, most of those miles are highway miles put on by the previous owner probably a work commuter.
11 years ago my Mom and I made a fantastic journey around America in my 1994 Ford Explorer. It had 115,000 miles on the odometer when we left and we when we returned it read 123,064. Dont bother doing the math it was 8,064 miles.
It was a thrilling adventure and the car never gave one bit of trouble. We stopped along the way for oil changes every 3,000 miles and the memories fueled by that trip have kept me going mentally for many years--when life starts to get me down I zone out and go back to one of the wonderful parks we visited (these days its very difficult to find solace in a National Park unless you are willing to get off the beaten path a little). We did that when we drove the Gold Belt Byway from Canon City to Cripple Creek and Victor, in Colorado. This wonderful bit of highway is an unpaved road. It took us about 3 hours to make the trip from Canon City where the Royal Gorge Bridge is to Cripple Creek. We stopped for a nice lunch overlooking a canyon. It was fantastic there...you can see a bit of the hood of the old red Explorer in this photo as we approached one of the crude tunnels cut through the rock on the byway. All the photos of that trip were taken with a 35 mm load,point n shoot film cameras. I took the negatives to Eckerds drug store and had reprints placed on cd discs when I decided to build a web page about our trip.
Now as much as I love adventure-- my Mom is the opposite...for much of this trip she was the reluctant traveler...here she is faining a headache due to altitude..she can be a bit of a drama queen...lol-- but she got it all sorted out and had a wonderful adventure after I threatened to drive her to the nearest airport and put her on homebound plane!..lol
Much of what was going on with her was --fear of the unknown. She was afraid of being lost, afraid of being attacked by man or bear, afraid of the car breaking down, afraid to enjoy our adventure. She finally realized living in the moment would mean letting go of that fear and enjoying whats happening right now....I reminded her we were not lost, we were not being attacked, our car was still running~ so why live the fear of what is NOT happening?? Why be afraid???
Many times she would sit in the car with the doors locked while I was outside the car pumping the gas. I would just shake my head and laugh and she would grin back through the windshield at me, if that eased her fear then so be it. But for 34 days she became fearless and we ADVENTURED anyways!!
Me---im scared of spiders!!!!
You can see she began to enjoy herself...and loosen up a bit as she picked this huge sunflower through the open car window..
Now why is this song so important to me?... as we drove toward Barstow CA in San Burnardino County just coming out of the Mohave Desert we had to wait for construction they were paving the road...We sat in the heat with windows down and I could see our exit about a half mile up but the right lane was penned off with bright orange cones up to that exit...I took a look into my right side mirror at all of us travelers stuck in that long line and in that instant I made up my mind to jump the barrier and leave the flock...Mom gave me that look as I steered around the cones and took off in the "closed" lane...within minutes we had the desert air blowing our hair as we threw caution to the wind and made a B-line to our exit....I took one last look in the rear view at the others still sitting ---but suddenly another car took the same path I had, and then another, and well ---yepp I had opened up the gate and the sheep had left the fold and followed!!!
.... we headed north while the road behind us continued west-- eventually to the Ventura Freeway (hwy 101)---and just as we made that northward swing with the other independent thinkers following our lead this song came on the radio, no we werent on the Ventura Highway but we were dam close ....so it sort of became our theme song for the trip...& I used it for our commemorative website. It gave us a feeling of freedom and independence, and MOM bellowed with laughter as we zoomed down the highway (after her initial shock at her misbehaving daughter who thumbed her nose at the establishment once again!) LOL.
So now when Im listening to an oldies station and this song comes on I'm immediately transported back to 1998 and that long highway and that wonderful trip with my Mom!
Take a lookie see at our Great Adventure when you get time...
HOWDY THERE! I was home for one day and then off to dog sit upstate SC for my other sis...so Im writing from there. My sis's dog is quite old and he is not feeling too good so it's a pretty intense regiment of pills and such...but he is resting comfy right now so I am taking some time to update my blog! OH I had such a wonderful trip out west and even tho I was there for a bit longer than 2 weeks it wasnt enough! We took a fantastic road trip once I arrived in Colorado where big sis lives-we took the rental car and put 1800 miles on it! IN A huge circle--and although we didnt follow the entire Grand Circle most of the attractions we did see are in that vicinity.
We traveled through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world in my opinion. I simply cant get enough of Canyon Country in Utah--so much magic there in those rocks of many colors. I took so many photos...omg and Im so happy to have those images to keep my memories fresh of what I saw and what I did. Of course Colorado is not half bad either! Check out this magnificent fall color the Aspen trees shared with me before I had to leave! This photo was taken in the area of Greg Mace Peak, not far from Aspen Colorado.
ANd this was taken inside a slot canyon near Page AriZona-- if you are even in the area I highly suggest taking a tour with Chief Tsosie and his Navajo Guides!..Fantastic spot. The curves and the striations in the rock are fantastic!
you have to see this for yourself!!
and you have to see this guy--I dont know what his official name is but he is super fantastic to look at!
And this was a highlight...not just seeing this fantastic arch, but the boat ride thru the Glen Canyon and over Lake Powell to get to this arch--The Rainbow Bridge Natl. Monument--so worth the price--a must see and do!
1/2 boat ride to the Rainbow Bridge, so much fun. They weave in and around the rocks to you us there and sometimes we zoom over open water..
I know you guys are gonna be sick n tired of me and my trip photos...but I hope You love the landscape as Much as I do!..
And here are a few of the birds I saw--I didnt get a shot of the Pygmy nuthatch a new life bird for me!..but here is the western blue bird, the mountain blue bird, and the western meadowlark
Last year I took a trip to Utah. Prior to that I was visited by the desire to create art that reflected what I thought I would see there. In my mind I thought of the wide open spaces first of all and secondly the red sandstone. Thinking more of the history of the west I thought of the anicent civilizations that once lived in these areas, the natives and their early attempts at communication, mainly the Rock Art. Thinking about all this got me excited about the art petroglyphs and pictographs. One is carved into the stone then colored and the other is simply drawn onto the rock. I did get an opportunity to see this art up close and personal...and honestly It felt good.
The land is so spiritual that it gets into you right away or at least it did me. I must have taken over 800 photographs!..I was just as excited to visit a rock shop in Moab and the Arrowhead Motel where my hero John Wayne stayed when he was in the area working on one of the many films he starred in that were filmed out on the huge range. The two big parks there...Arches, and Canyonlands are vast and wonderful...so much to see there.
This is the collection of drawings I created with the Ancient Civilizations of our own South West in mind. After visiting these areas up close I realized I had connected in some with an ancient artist guiding my hand.
My art below was inspired by Ancient Drawings left behind for us to find and decipher!
