Monday, October 19th, 2009
This is me at work the other night:
is this the best office ever, or what?
I am really liking this camping on BLM land thing. El Malpais National Monument was a few miles off the Route but it was well worth the drive. Primitive camping, but then again so is Walmart – and which would you rather have? Besides, Walmart wouldn’t allow me to set up my Campfire in a Can and sit outside like this. I didn’t have much of a wifi or phone signal, but I was able to spend time weeding out photos next to the fire and under the stars. It made me think about Technomadia, Cherie and Chris, who live full-time in their trailer and whose office is virtually anywhere they want it to be. I totally get why they gave up their homes and live full-time on the road. The best part is, they have their partner with them! They get to be together AND travel all the time. And amazingly, they’re still in love! It’s perfect.
About finding campsites: I’m finding it’s taking me a fair amount of online time to locate good places to park/camp, so my advice to you, if you ever do this trip, is to research all of the camping areas near Route 66 before you leave. Have a list, and then you can just pick and choose from the list depending on how far you get each day.
outlook over sandstone bluffs and black lava on the valley floor
Near that campsite was this overlook where you could see gorgeous sandstone cliffs and a wide expanse of the miles of bumpy, black lava flows that give this part of New Mexico its name: “El Malpais” means “the badlands”. I know there is a lot more to this area that I would love to explore, but this is not a nature trip, this is about Route 66.
That said, New Mexico has pretty much been about the nature for me. I’ve encountered the least connection with people here than any other state so far, but I’ve been totally struck by the natural beauty of the place. I’ve also had the least amount of media attention here. It’s interesting to me that the state with the most sweeping, beautiful vistas so far is the one where I’ve met the least amount of people. It’s OK with me because this is the sort of place where I’d want to go to “get away” and just be in natural beauty anyway… so perhaps I’m generating this isolation myself and just don’t realize it. This definitely feels different from the previous states, though. They said when I left Oklahoma, “get ready for a whole lot of nothing”. Maybe this is what they meant – but it sure is a gorgeous lot of nothing.
typical gorgeous view to the north of Route 66 in northwest New Mexico
Last night I ended up in Gallup, NM before it got a bit dark for the time-lapse, yet there was still some light left in the sky. A blog reader who used to live in this area had recommended a side trip to Window Rock, AZ. The town’s namesake is a gorgeous red rock formation that I wanted to photograph – plus it is the seat of government for the Navajo Nation, which I think is interesting and cool. It was less than an hour away so I thought I’d shoot up there and then back to Gallup later on, after dark.
sunrise over Navajoland
Alas, it got dark before I arrived so I decided to park there and photograph the rocks today, then head back to pick up the Route in Gallup. Snag: no campgrounds, no WalMarts, no truck stops anywhere around here. I was about to drive back to Gallup defeated, when I thought: may as well ask someone at one of the motels here; maybe they know something or will offer up a spot. Sure enough, the nice lady behind the counter at the Navajoland Inn & Suites hotel said I could park in the lot next to their Denny’s, as that’s where their trucks park sometimes. There’s another tip: just ask around, you might find something good. It was great being parked there – no one bothered me at all last night, and even though I was in a parking lot, look at what I woke up to:
There are a lot of reservations and pueblos in this part of the world, so one must be respectful and aware of proper etiquette when visiting native lands. I slipped off the Route the other day to get a look at the San Jose Mission in Laguna. It was built in 1699 and I thought it would be beautiful, even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to photograph it. The mission is on Laguna Pueblo Land, and taking photographs is prohibited (unless you have permission, of course). I made sure to stop and read the sign heading into the town that listed the regulations. I did drive a few streets in, but alas, I couldn’t get close to the mission: there was a sign in the middle of the street saying “Town is closed to all non-Indians for religious activities”. I don’t know what the activities were or what significant date it might be, so if anyone reading this out there knows, please share. I’m curious.
why is the word "Indian" not painted?
I’m also curious, and rather confused, about naming here. I thought that the use of “Indian” was inappropriate, so I always use “Native American”. But I’m seeing the term “Indian” all over the place here, as in the above example. I also saw this odd sign for a church a couple of days ago. The word “Indian” was still carved into the church’s sign, but it wasn’t highlighted with paint like the rest of the name. I wondered whether that was because of the use of the term “Indian”, or whether it meant they’d had a split with the nearby population over something and no longer had the local Native Americans (or Indians?) come to their church anymore. I feel so darn uneducated in these matters… it bugs me. I need to learn more about this.
On a more frivolous note, can someone explain to me how my iPod can contain songs I don’t even know I have? Yesterday I hit that familiarity wall with my music collection – you know, like when you stare at your collection of CDs and can’t think of anything to listen to because you’ve looked at them in that configuration for so long, you can’t really see what you have anymore? That’s the wall I hit looking at the lists of albums in my iPod. So I went for the “shuffle all songs” option, which turns your iPod into a bizarre random DJ. The first song? That 70s one that goes “It’s too late, to turn back now… (I believe I believe I believe I’m falling in love…)”. Wtf? Where did THAT come from? I didn’t even know I had that song on there. Weird.
Tags: campfire in a can, el malpais, gallup, indian, ipod, navajo, new mexico, technomadia, window rock
