New Mexico & Arizona - October 2014

The original purpose of this trip was to join the West Texas Trail Walkers Club in their annual Columbus Day weekend hikes which this year were scheduled for Ruidoso, New Mexico, in the Lincoln National Forest.  Friends, Jo Ann and Lee, were meeting us there on Thursday, October 9 and hikes started on Friday, October 10.  We left Wednesday just two days after a deer ran out in front of us and damaged the front end of our SUV.  But the car was still drivable and our insurance company said we could repair it when we returned home, so we opted to drive our Toyota Highlander.

Wednesday we drove northwesterly through Fredericksburg, Mason, Brady, Eden, San Angelo (lunch at Fuentes), Big Springs and Lamesa before arriving in Brownfield where we spent the night.  There were many fields of sorghum and unpicked cotton around San Angelo and lots of pumping oil wells with the persistent smell of gas in the air.  I suspect fracking has increased the oil production in this area.  Brownfield has little to recommend it for a destination and after a mediocre meal we hit the bed early.

Thursday morning brought cooler weather (in the low 60s) and we drove due west to Plains and the New Mexico border.  Between Brownfield and the border were more fields of cotton, sorghum, sunflowers and pumping oil wells.  The first town in New Mexico was Tatum at 4100 feet altitude and the scenery switched to cattle and horse ranches with occasional prong horn antelopes in the fields.  Several of the ranches advertised they were the home of some well-known Kentucky Derby winner but I didn’t recognize the names. 

We climbed hills to Roswell where we stopped at a Starbucks for coffee and a break.  We drove around Roswell and saw the pretty campus of the New Mexico Military Institute.  We topped up the gas tank and pressed on into the Hondo Valley with mountainous areas around us.  We soon reached Ruidoso and had a good lunch at the Sacred Grounds Coffee Shop.  We went to the Shadow Mountain Inn and checked into our room which was nice.  We drove around to some of the trail heads that we would hike the next day and then to the town of Capitan and the Smokey Bear Historical State Park.  We returned to Ruidoso and met up with Jo Ann and Lee who had just checked into Shadow Mountain Inn as well.  We all went out and enjoyed a good dinner at Michael J’s Italian Restaurant.

Friday we all had a good breakfast at Sacred Grounds then dropped Rita off back at the Inn where she passed her time mostly reading.  Lee, Jo Ann and I drove to the Argentina Canyons trail head and starting hiking about 9 am.  We hiked 12 kilometers or about 7.2 miles with the first half all uphill for a nearly 1600 foot climb.  We had sunshine at the start of the hike and the scenery was delightful with aspen leaves changing color among the evergreens.  At the summit we had super views over the valleys to the north of us.  We came down the Little Bonito trail on our return and met hunters on horseback packing in to hunt elk.  As we started our descent clouds rolled in and we soon had a light sprinkle.  The trail crossed a creek 7 or 8 times and at the next to last crossing I slipped on a wet rock, hitting my left leg and soaking it in the creek.  I had a good scratch on my left shin and my left knee ached but I could finish the hike.  We ended about 2 to 2:30 pm and drove back to the inn.  I showered and doctored my knee as the rain really started to come down hard.   We all went out to dinner at the Rancher’s Steak House and Seafood restaurant.  Good steaks!

 We all went to a nearby restaurant called Pena’s Saturday morning where I had a great Spanish omelet for breakfast.  My knee was sore but I could still hike.  Rita found a quilt shop within walking distance of our inn so she had her morning organized.  Jo Ann, Lee and I drove to Lake Grindstone and hiked a short 5 kilometer (3 mile) hike around the lake from 9 to 11 am.   The sky was clear and sunny and temperatures had dropped into the 40s.  We came back, picked up Rita and went to the central district of Ruidoso for lunch at Dream Catchers and then walked up and down the main street going into a few of the many shops of Ruidoso.  In the evening we met with the West Texas Trail Walkers at their annual meeting and catered dinner.  It was determined that next year’s hikes will be in Palo Duro State Park. 

 On Sunday Lee and Jo Ann decided to hike the Turkey Canyon Trail.  I opted out of the hike and spent the day with Rita.  First we had a good, big breakfast at the Log Cabin restaurant then headed west on highway 70 and took back road 244 through the Mescalero Apache Reservation.  We had beautiful scenery and almost no traffic.  At Cloudcroft we took highway 82 west with a steep, scenic drop into Alamogordo.  Then we drove a short distance to the White Sands National Monument where it was 82 degrees.  We first visited White Sands 46 years ago and it hasn’t changed much – maybe more picnic tables and picnic areas.  We drove into the park, took several photos, and drove back to Alamogordo for lunch.  We took highway 70 back through Tularosa and Mescalero to Ruidoso.  We met up with Lee and Jo Ann and had dinner at the Grace O’Malley’s Irish Pub.  We said our good-byes to them as they head on into Colorado early tomorrow morning. 

We didn’t have very far to drive Monday so we slept in later and after breakfast at Sacred Grounds headed north through Alto to Carrizozo where we took highway 54 north unaware of all the road construction we would encounter.  At the little town of Duran we took back road 3 to highway 285 to Interstate 25 to Santa Fe.  The sky was clear and sunny and the temperature moved from the 30s only into the 50s for a cool day.  We arrived at the hotel we booked for three nights about 12:30 and checked into the nice Old Santa Fe Inn.  We were a short distance from the old historic plaza so we spent the afternoon walking around downtown Santa Fe for some time.  In the evening we walked back into town again and had a nice dinner at the Blue Corn Café and Brewery where I had one of their good craft beers with our New Mexican dinner. 

Tuesday morning we discovered that our hotel puts on a substantial breakfast buffet so we filled up before starting our day walking around Santa Fe.  First we walked past the New Mexico Capital Building to the Tourist Information Center where we picked up maps and good suggestions.  Next door we toured the old San Miguel Chapel, saw what is referred to as the oldest house in the USA, and walked through the old Barrio de Analco.  We continued on towards the center of town and saw the Loretto Chapel and St. Francis Cathedral.  We found the pretty, secluded Sena Plaza and sat down a while to rest.  We visited a nice wine store on Sena Plaza then walked through the rustic La Fonda Inn which has been located on the Main Plaza since the Old Spanish Trail went through Santa Fe.  The current hotel was built in 1922 on the site of the previous inns.  We had a good lunch at the French Pastry Shop which is in the hotel.  Next we went into the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum which has a few of her works plus photos and floor plans of her home and studio.  By now we had walked quite a bit so we returned to our hotel via the Sanctuary of Guadalupe for a short rest.  For dinner we walked back into Santa Fe for a delicious meal at La Boca, a Spanish restaurant with several different tapas.  We shared garlic mayonnaise finger potatoes, fried shrimp and a large bowl of local, spicy green peppers that had just come into season.  We had a nice Spanish red Rioja wine and finished off the meal with a manchego cheese plate and sherry.

All that was left for Wednesday were a couple of museums that interested us but Rita’s knees complained so we skipped the museums for a car trip.  And a good one it was too.  We drove north towards Taos through several different Indian reservations all with their super-sized casinos and hotels.  At the town of Pojoaque we turned right onto what is called the “High Road to Taos”.  Tony Hillerman has a great description of the towns along this road in his short story called “Las Trampas”.  Near the town of Nambe we were confronted by two cowboys on horseback and a couple on foot driving cattle across the highway.  I stopped the car and rolled down the window to speak to the cowboy who looked to be in charge.  He apologized and thanked us for stopping the car.  He was a friendly sort and I suppose he is either called a cowboy Indian or an Indian cowboy – take your pick. 

The next stop was the Sanctuary of Chimayo in the town with the same name.  It was in a beautiful setting and had a quaint old church with an alcove that had “holy dirt”.  Yes, that’s what I said.  Photos were prohibited so you’ll either have to go or use your imagination.  A hole in the floor about the size of a bushel basket was filled with fine dirt that looked like it came from a dry river bed.  It supposedly had healing powers and as we were staring at it an Anglo woman came into the room crying, scooped up two containers of dirt then filled each of her shoes with about a tablespoon of dirt.  She apologized and quickly left, leaving us flabbergasted.  Several crutches, canes, and other prosthetics were hanging on the walls.  It was very reminiscent of Lourdes or Rocamadour but on a smaller scale. 

We drove past Cordova to Trunchas where we stopped to see their 18^th century adobe church.  It was locked up and a couple of men were repairing the church.  They came over and apologized that the church was locked and soon their wives and children were surrounding us.  We talked with them for a short while admiring the views they had and asking them about their cold winters, living conditions, etc.  It was a friendly conversation with the locals. 

We pressed on to Las Trampas, the setting of the Hillerman short story, and viewed their old adobe church but nobody came out to talk to us.  It, too, was locked.  We continued through Penasco with beautiful views of fall foliage among the pine trees.  We arrived in Taos and parked the car near the old historic Taos Plaza, a Spanish settlement over 400 years ago.  It was noon and we walked to the historic Taos Inn where we had a great lunch at the Doc Martins Restaurant.  I had an elk burger while Rita had traditional New Mexico cuisine.  It was siesta time but we didn’t have a place to lay our heads so we walked around Taos instead.  We strolled down Bent Street and pedestrian walkways that ended up at the Plaza.  Rita, of course, found a couple of quilt stores and I enjoyed sitting on a park bench enjoying the mild weather and sunny skies.  We drove to Taos Pueblo on the outskirts of town – a UNESCO World Heritage Site where Native Americans have lived for approximately 1000 years.  It is thought that Coronado may have visited here in 1540.  I believe the tribe that governs and operates this pueblo is Tiwa (Tigua in Spanish) and there are several rules on what you can and cannot photograph, where you can go, and where you cannot go.  Still it is a magnificent experience.  Then we drove what is called the Enchanted Circle, the roads that go through the ski villages of Angel Fire, Eagle Nest, and Red River with outstanding scenery all the way.  By the time we returned to Santa Fe it was getting dark and we were hungry once more so we had a good dinner at the Cowgirl BBQ, an eclectic restaurant that is becoming a Santa Fe favorite.

On Thursday we departed a little from our original plan since we visited Taos yesterday.  There is so much to see in this area and the Tourist Information Center gave us some new ideas.  First we drove north on highway 84 and stopped to see Camel Rock, a structure that really does look like a rock – no, I mean a camel.  We turned west on highway 502 then dropped down to the town of White Rock to visit the Bandelier National Monument in the Frijoles Canyon.  Since a fire and flood had previously wiped out its parking lot, we had to board a free shuttle bus for the 30 minute ride to the park.  Here Rita and I walked the Main Loop Trail, about 1.25 miles long, first leading through the ruins of Tyuoni, a pueblo village of nearly 100 people around 1300 to 1400 AD.  The trail led to cliff dwellings called talus houses and a long house.  You could go into some of the reconstructed cliff dwellings and view several petroglyphs.  We thought it was similar to Mesa Verde but on a smaller, more accessible scale.

We took the shuttle bus back to our car and drove on to Los Alamos, located in a pretty setting where the Manhattan Project created the first atomic bomb during WWII.  We walked through some of the old historical buildings downtown like the Romero Cabin, Bathtub Row, and Fuller Lodge.  Leaving Los Alamos we drove west heading for back road 4 but were surprised when we came to a series of guard houses.  The guard asked us where we were going and when we told him he directed us straight ahead but we were actually on Los Alamos National Laboratory grounds.  Highway 4 was narrow and curvy with steep drop offs but soon turned into a forest road skirting the Valles Caldera National Preserve.  This is a 14 mile wide volcanic caldera, the remains of a super volcano that erupted about 1.5 million years ago.  Rocks from this volcano have been found in Kansas I was told.  The caldera sits in the Jemez Mountains and is the home to many elk but we failed to see any.  We continued southward on highway 4 along the Jemez River and through the town of Jemez Hot Springs to highway 550 and eventually Albuquerque where we spent the night.  This area is very beautiful and has several parks and sites to see so that one could spend a week here easily.

Friday we headed west on Interstate 40, the old Route 66 highway.  Close to Grants, New Mexico, we detoured south on highway 117 to the scenic El Malpais National Monument.  As this was completely unplanned we didn’t want to spend a lot of time here but we found the scenery impressive.  There was a huge lava flow on the west side of the highway and strange rock cliffs and formations on the east side.  This lava flow was created by eruptions about 2000 to 3000 years ago, so fairly recent in geologic terms.  Past a scenic area called The Narrows, we turned around and viewed the La Ventana Natural Arch before returning to Interstate 40.  In Gallup, New Mexico, we exited onto Route 66 and stopped at the historic El Rancho Hotel, built in the 1930s and “home to the movie stars”.  The owner’s brother was a Hollywood producer and during the 40s, 50s, and 60s, many famous movie stars stayed here while filming movies nearby.  Their website has a long list of movie stars that stayed in the hotel.  We had a decent lunch and enjoyed lingering in the lobby with photos of the movie stars of our generation. 

We headed north to the town of Ya-Ta-Hey then west on highway 264 into Arizona and the town of Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation.  Near the town of Ganado we visited the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site.  John Hubbell bought and expanded this trading post in the 1870s and had good relations with the Navajos for many years.  We took highway 191 north in approaching rain as we found our hotel in the town of Chinle on the edge of Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

Saturday, October 18, we spent the day in Canyon de Chelly – or I should say above the canyon.  I recommend, if you wish to visit, spend two days here, one for the rim drives and another with a Navajo guide on the canyon floor.  We drove the north rim first and hiked to all three overlooks.  The views of the canyon were stunning and it’s difficult to imagine that many Navajos still live in the canyon and herd sheep there.  After a visit to the information center we drove the south rim and hiked to all seven overlooks.  By the time we finished it was getting late in the day.  For dinner that night Rita had Arizona Navajo/Mexican food while I had fresh trout encrusted in blue cornmeal.  We finished by sharing a large chocolate cake and ice cream. 

Sunday we checked out and drove west on highway 264 across the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations to Tuba City.  I should mention that there is no alcohol sold on the Navajo Nation Reservation but plenty of signs warning drivers to not drink and drive.  We had difficulty keeping the time straight because Arizona does not go on Daylight Savings Time but the Navajos do but then again the Hopi don’t.  In Tuba City we headed south on highway 89 and took time to visit Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument as both are on the same ring road.  The Wupatki Pueblo ruins were the highlight of this park and they were built and occupied in the 1100s.  Rita and I had visited this park before but it was about 45 years ago.  Back on the road we drove Route 66 through Flagstaff and took highway 89A down a steep, curvy highway to the bottom of the Oak Creek Canyon.  The canyon is beautiful but much more built up since we last visited and, today being Sunday, there were hundreds of leaf-peepers so traffic was hectic.  We checked into the nice Southwest Inn in Sedona and I walked next door for two beers which we drank on our patio in mild weather.  For dinner we ate at the upscale Dahl & Di Luca Ristorante Italiano. 

Monday we really discovered how much Sedona has grown since we last were there in 1997.  It’s a beautiful town and great place to retire if you can afford it but we could hardly find a place to photograph famous rock formations like coffee pot rock.  We headed southwest to Cottonwood which has also grown by leaps and bounds.  We took the harrowing mountain road to Jerome in the Mingus Mountains and on to Prescott where we took highway 69 back to Interstate 17 and headed south towards Phoenix.  We saw a billboard sign of a pie shop at exit 242 at the little town of Rock Springs which had little more than the café and gas station.  We’re suckers for pies so we pulled over (it was lunch time) and split a delicious sandwich before each having a slice of pie.  I had a large slice of chocolate cream pie while Rita had a large slice of banana cream pie.  We traded bites of course.

We drove to Surprise, Arizona, and checked into our hotel.  Then we went to visit with old friends from Canberra, Fran and Richard Davey.  We had a great time talking for hours before going out to eat at Babbo Italian Eatery.  We said our good-byes to Fran and Richard and drove back to our hotel.

We had an adventurous Tuesday on our way from Phoenix to Tucson.  It took about an hour on uncrowded expressways to cross from Surprise, Arizona, on the west side to Apache Junction on the far east side of Phoenix.  However, Interstate 10 takes you right through the center of Phoenix so you get to see the city center.  Our adventure started in Apache Junction where we took highway 88 northeast past Superstition Mountain and the Lost Dutchman’s mine.  The road soon became the historic Apache Trail climbing up into the mountains with sheer drop-offs and curvy road.  Apache Trail is paved to the small town of Tortilla Flat, population 6.  We stopped here at the Superstition Saloon, a western bar with real saddles for bar stools and walls and ceilings papered with one dollar bills.  Next door we treated ourselves to delicious gelato and sat on the bench admiring the scenery.  We continued on the Apache Trail and from here it turned to dirt for 22 miles with no guard rails and perilous cliffs that kept me alert constantly.  At a narrow one-way bridge we came across a group with what appeared to be souped up off-road cars and a drone outfitted with several cameras.  I stopped and talked to the young people who said they wanted to photograph the cars for a commercial but they could not get the satellite signals they needed. 

We continued on hoping that our car would survive the corduroy road to Roosevelt Dam and Lake.  Here we drove east on highway 188 to Claypool, highway 60 to Superior, highway 177 to Winkelman and highway 77 to Oro Valley.  Scenery was beautiful except where we came across several large strip copper mines.  In Oro Valley we stayed with old friends, Gary and Stella Propernick, who we knew in Saudi Arabia but last saw in Puerto Rico.  They have two smart, friendly Scotties named Moe and Curley.  We went out to eat at Giuseppe’s and had a great time and great conversations. 

Wednesday Stella prepared us a big breakfast and we were on our way about 10:30 am.  We drove south to Interstate 10 and then took Interstate 19 south towards the Mexico border.  At Gary’s suggestion we stopped in the little town of Tubac, Arizona, where “art and history meet”.  Tubac is a pretty little town with lots of art galleries and gift shops.  We ended up buying a couple of ceramic horned lizards and a pound of Arbuckle’s’ coffee.  Then we continued on to Nogales and nearly got in line to go across the border by accident.  As Gary told us, there is nothing much to see in Nogales and we really could have skipped it.  We headed northeast on highway 82 and in Sonoita found a great little restaurant called The Café for lunch.  The countryside here looks and feels very much like the area around Alpine, Marfa and Marathon, Texas.  We also discovered that this area has wineries and pecan orchards.  We took highway 90 south through Fort Huachuca and from there a small back road to Tombstone.  We made it in time to watch the last OK Corral shootout with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and others.  It was a bit hokey and Tombstone is more like a movie set but it was fun walking around the town anyway.  On the way out of town we stopped to see the Boot Hill Cemetery which was more interesting to me.  We headed north to Benson and then Interstate 10 east to Lordsburg, New Mexico arriving late at our hotel.

We didn’t have far to drive on Thursday so we slept in late and took our time getting away although we didn’t see much of interest in Lordsburg.  We headed east on Interstate 10 through Deming to Las Cruses where we arrived about noon.  We headed for the adjoining town of Mesilla and the La Posta restaurant recommended by my brother, David.  Mesilla is a quaint town with new adobe style buildings around an old plaza where the Butterfield Stage used to stop.  La Posta was a delightful restaurant with lots of atmosphere and great food.  We had Mexican food then I finished off with flan while Rita had fried ice cream.  With the kind assistance of the staff we found the Ristraman just a few blocks away and bought a couple of ristras – one for us and one for our neighbor.  After walking around town we returned to the car and drove on to El Paso which is not far away.  Back to Texas!  We took the Trans Mountain Road through Franklin Mountains State Park with beautiful vistas on all sides.  We checked into our hotel and drove to the Concordia Cemetery but we only had time to see the new Buffalo Soldiers section before the cemetery closed at 5 pm. 

It has been years since we had been to El Paso and we were impressed by all the expressways around town and how much and how far the city has expanded.  But Friday morning we went back to Concordia Cemetery which El Paso boasts as their boot hill.  We saw the grave of notorious gun fighter John Wesley Hardin and many others like Texas Rangers and the Chinese section.  It’s a huge cemetery.  Next we drove to Ysleta Mission, the oldest mission in Texas and the second oldest in the USA.  However, unlike the oldest in San Augustine, Florida, Ysleta Mission is still functioning and has mass and services regularly.  We took the big loop freeway around El Paso through Ft. Bliss to the Wyler Aerial Tramway where we rode up to the top of Ranger Peak with great views of El Paso and Juarez.  We drove into downtown El Paso and viewed the beautiful Tiffany glass dome in the bar of the Camino Real Hotel.  While there we had a light lunch then walked around the old historic downtown.  We felt as if we were in Juarez across the border.  We drove north on Mesa Street and took the pretty Scenic Drive which was built years ago and where some of El Paso’s nicest houses look out over the city.  It was nearing the end of a long day so we went back to the hotel and asked for suggestions on good El Paso Mexican restaurants.  The nice young lady at reception suggested Los Bandidos de Carlos and Mickey which turned out perfect.  As suggested their margaritas were great so while waiting for our table we sat in the bar watching the two Latino men singers belt out Mexican songs while a group of about a dozen ladies danced to a frenzy on the dance floor.  Everyone was having a great time and I noticed that Rita and I were part of a handful of Anglos in the restaurant.  The food turned out to be excellent as well.

Saturday we left El Paso and took highway 62 east to Hueco Tanks State Park which we found out limits entries to 200 people a day.  We were early so we got in and after watching a mandatory video on the history and why we shouldn’t paint graffiti on the rocks we were allowed to hike.  Hueco Tanks is a rock outcropping of four main hills that have large hollowed out holes that collect rainwater.  Therefore the area in the desert was a Native American center for hundreds of years and was also on the Butterfield Stage Route for watering horses.  There are pictographs and petrographs dating back hundreds of years.  Today young rock climbers come to free climb certain areas the park has set aside.  We hiked to some of the more famous pictographs (plus some graffiti from the 1800s) then headed out about mid-morning. 

We took highway 62 east again across the only Texas salt flats with views of the Guadalupe Mountains to our north.  We cut south on desolate, but scenic, highway 54 to Van Horn then highway 90 to Valentine where we saw the famous Prada art work which looks like a Prada store in the middle of nowhere.  I read that the artists say it is a piece of art and the Texas Highway Department says it is a billboard sign that doesn’t meet standards.  It’s still being argued.  We drove through Marfa to Alpine and checked into the historic Holland Hotel for the night.  The hotel lobby is nicely restored but our room was small with old furniture.  Next time I would stay at a modern hotel.  We walked to the Reata restaurant where we first sat in the bar and talked with the nice bartender while having a local Big Bend Brewery gold lager each.  Then we went into the restaurant for a nice big tenderloin steak with a glass of red wine.  We returned to the hotel where sleep was occasionally interrupted by the trains that ran next to our room. 

Sunday, October 26 was our last day and I drove home in a hypnotic trance at 85 mph through Fort Stockton, Ozona, Sonora and Junction.  In Fredericksburg we stopped for a big late lunch (early dinner) at the Old German Bakery.  We did a little grocery shopping at the HEB and arrived home about 4 pm.  All was fine at home and we were happy to sleep in our own bed and use our own shower the next morning.  It was a great trip where we got to see old friends, eat delicious food, and see some of the sights and parks in New Mexico and Arizona that we had not seen before. 

 

Wyoming Adventure - 1946

This is not one of Rita's adventures but one Woody had as a small child. 

The trip I am about to describe was taken in the summer of 1946 with my Dad, Mom, and older brother, David.  David and I both agree that this trip probably opened up new worlds to us and whetted our appetite for travel from then on.  I have very little documentation to go on and both our parents have passed away.  Most of this is based on few memories, re-enforced memories from stories repeated over and over, and a few facts gathered from photos and using the Internet for research. 

First a little background.  On V-J Day, September 2, 1945, World War II had come to an end and my father began working for Dr. Evert Willem Karel Andrau who in later documents was called William Evert Andrau.  I’m not sure if his doctorate was honorary but most likely earned academically.  He was a WW II veteran of the Army Air Corps, was born to Dutch parents in Sumatra, Indonesia and his parents immigrated to California prior to the Japanese capture of Indonesia.  He joined Shell Oil Company as a geologist and moved to Houston after WW II.  His main businesses were the petroleum industry, rice farming and aviation pioneer.  By standards of that time, he was a wealthy man.

It is hard to visualize today but in 1946 as you traveled west from Houston on highway 1093, or Westheimer Road as it is called today, from about Voss Road west to Highway 6, there was not much but rice paddies extending from Westheimer south to about present day Bissonnet Street where the little town of Alief was located.  These belonged to Dr. Andrau and this is where we lived in a little two bedroom shack up on blocks beside a canal.  I was too young for school but my brother attended school in Alief and was one of the few, if not the only, non-Hispanic kids in his class.  My main memories of that house were that my Mom hated it, mainly because there were many snakes in the water canal that ran right by our house.  I remember that a railroad ran from Houston to Victoria and every day we could see the steam locomotive always on time stopping in Alief to pick up or discharge passengers.  It was a long way away but a clear sight across the rice paddies. 

At any rate, sometime in the summer of 1946 Dr. Andrau asked my Dad to deliver his truck and a mobile home trailer to his ranch in Lander, Wyoming.  Mom once told me that Dr. Andrau suggested that only the two of them go on the trip and leave the kids (David and me) with friends or relatives but Mom refused.  So sometime in the summer of 1946 we departed for Wyoming.  Exact dates or even the exact month are lost but from photos it appears to have been in summertime.  My Dad was 35 years old, my Mom was 27, David was 8, and I was 3 years old going on 4.

After extensive research on the Internet, using the only photo I have of the truck and trailer, I have determined that the truck was a 1941 Ford 1-ton Express pickup.  I don’t know what size engine but specifications say that the truck came with a 4, 6, or 8 cylinder engine.  I suspect that this truck had to have 6 or 8 cylinders in order to pull our load over the mountain passes.  Both the 6 and 8 cylinder engines were rated at 90 horse power.  The four of us usually sat cramped on the only bench seat in the truck although David thinks we may have ridden in the mobile home some of the time.  I don’t remember that but was told that the trailer was also filled with several of Dr. Andrau’s hunting trophies.  The trailer is more difficult to pin down but it looks very similar to one I found on the Internet called the Travelo Defense Housing Unit produced in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1942 especially for military personnel and their families.

I remember some talk of the route we took so using those memories plus a 1956 pre-Interstate highway map I’m fairly certain we took highway 75 from Houston to Dallas, highway 80 due west to Ft. Worth where we took highway 287 through Wichita Falls to Amarillo.  From Amarillo we drove due north to Dumas where we took highway 87 northwesterly through Dalhart into New Mexico and the Raton mountain pass at 7,834 feet – the first test for that Ford pickup truck.  We took highway 87 north through Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming and then highway 30 west through Laramie to Rawlins where we took highway 287 to Lander.  Today much of that route is converted to Interstate highways.  From Houston to Lander is about 1,400 miles.

Neither David nor I remember stopping to stay at a motel along the way.  I suspect we slept in the mobile home and that Dad just pulled over at a convenient wide spot at the end of a day.  I don’t know how long the entire trip took but probably around three weeks.  We were amazed by the geography as these were the first mountains we ever saw. 

There is one photo of David and me standing on a small patch of snow – our first sighting of the white stuff.  I guess we had an old Kodak Brownie camera that we used on the trip.  We stopped alongside rock outcroppings and have photos of both Mom and Dad who had climbed up high for the photo. 

We were impressed with antelopes in the fields but they don’t show up in the photos.  As we entered Wyoming we were doubly impressed with the American Indians at gasoline stations and along the road selling their handicrafts.  Unfortunately we have no photos of any of the Indians – Mom and Dad were probably too intimidated to photograph them.  I remember (or the memory was impressed upon me) an Indian medicine man decked out in quite a full regalia.  I also remember my Mom saying that some of the Indians called our mobile home a “teepee on wheels”.

Somewhere during the trip, David thinks it was in Colorado, we drove into a fierce sand storm.  We remember another driver pulling a mobile home, passing around us as Dad was probably driving slowly not being used to sand storms.  Further up the road we came across that same mobile home on its side and torn open when the trailer hit a structure on the side of the road.  His contents were strewn out along the highway.  Later that day as we stopped for the night we discovered sand all throughout our mobile home and even the butter in a covered butter dish in a closed cupboard had so much sand in it we couldn’t eat it. 

We eventually arrived at the ranch owned by Dr. Andrau on the outskirts of Lander.  Unfortunately, we can’t remember the ranch manager’s name or his wife’s name.  At one time I seemed to remember that their last name was Frank or maybe his first name was Frank.  And if the ranch had a name it is lost to us.  We did stay there for a few nights and had a bedroom for the four of us.  I remember that the nights were quite cool and the manager’s wife had an incubator in the kitchen full of baby chicks that fascinated me.  Dad went away for a night or two with the ranch manager leaving the three of us with the manager’s wife.  David thinks that the men went fishing but I don’t remember where or why they left for a few days.  I do remember hearing a mountain lion roaring at night and the manager’s wife getting her shotgun and checking on the horses and other animals in the corrals.  It was exciting times.

It was soon time to return home and I suppose the ranch manager took us to Denver somehow.  I have vivid memories of seeing and riding street cars in Denver for the first time.  Street cars were discontinued in Houston in 1940 so I never rode or saw one there.  Street cars were used in Denver up to 1950.  I remember being held by my Dad and looking down a long declining street with street cars along the way.  David says we rode the street cars to Capitol Hill.

At any rate we caught a train from Denver back to Houston.  It was probably the Santa Fe but that is not definite.  The train was full of soldiers and sailors from the Pacific who were going home after WW II.  One story told over and over was that Mom and Dad were approached by a soldier who said he had a son about my age that he hadn’t seen yet and could he take me walking around the train to get used to a young boy.  Supposedly he took me to the dining car and bought me a milk shake or some such treat.

After returning to Houston we moved to a nicer house on Brogden Street between Katy Highway and Beinhorn Road.  Today that is an exclusive area but in 1946 it was still rural.  I believe that house belonged to Dr. Andrau as well.  The last three photos were taken at Brogden Street where David believes we had a cow – or Dr. Andrau had a cow.  I don’t remember any cow but I do remember churning cream in the kitchen and adding yellow food coloring to make butter so maybe we did.  The 1940 Chevrolet coupe in the photo with my Mom is one car we owned for several years and the one where David and I sat on a wooden bench just behind the front bench seat.  It was crowded.

Thus ended our odyssey in the days when cars, trucks and highways were much simpler than today.  Heck, everything was much simpler.  When you pulled into a gasoline station, men came out to clean your windshield, check the air in your tires and check your oil level.  Gasoline cost about 25 cents per gallon.  There was no TV much less computers, cell phones, or iPads.  There were no Interstate highways.  There were no Whataburgers, Dairy Queens, or McDonalds along the highways – no fast food chains at all.  But the dinosaurs didn’t really roam the earth either. 

This wasn’t my first big trip but the first one I remembered.  My first big trip, to Mexico, when I was a very small baby, is another story. 

Canadian Trip - May/June 2014

We began this adventure on May 22, 2014 with our American Airlines flight from Austin to first, Chicago O’Hare, and then another flight to Boston, arriving a bit late.  We checked into the Embassy Suites Hotel adjacent to Logan Airport and had a late dinner in the hotel restaurant.  It was just a day of travel.

The next day, Friday, we spent with old friends we first met in Hawaii 45 years ago, John and Zoe Ann Liepins.  They came to our hotel and picked us up for a day along the Boston coast.  First we headed north to the scenic fishing village of Rockport, Massachusetts.  The day was cool in the 50s and overcast with a few sprinkles from time to time.  We parked the car and walked around Rockport taking photos and trailing in and out of shops.  We had a nice lunch at My Place by the Sea with a window view of the coastline.  On the walk back to the car we stopped at Tuck’s Chocolates and purchased our dessert. 

We continued driving the scenic route along the coast south to Gloucester where we stopped for photos with the old fisherman statue looking out to sea.  Pressing further southward we drove a nice back road through Manchester-by-the-Sea, the campus of Endicott College, Beverly and into Salem where we stopped to tour the House of Seven Gables and Nathanial Hawthorne’s birthplace.  We drove into downtown Salem and found the old witch house, a witch statue, and several witch museums.  They know how to market a past mistake. 

Eventually we drove through Lynn and Revere into North Boston where we parked and walked with the crowds.  We stopped at Bricco’s Italian restaurant for a delicious dinner.  Afterwards we walked along Hanover Street looking at all the tempting Italian bakeries.  We saw the Old North Church where Paul Revere received his lantern signals and the large statue of Paul Revere.  Finally John and Zoe Ann took us back to our hotel where we said our goodbyes once more. 

Saturday we had breakfast in the hotel and arranged for a ride to the pier where our ship, Maasdam of the Holland America line, was docked.  In the waiting area we passed through security and found Rachel and Deana before boarding the ship.  We went to our cabin, number 822 on the lower deck, and unpacked our suitcases.  In a short while we all met Gretchen, Chris and Sophie-Claire in one of the many lounges for a drink.  We sailed at 4:00 pm and Rita and I stood on the forward deck as we sailed out of Boston Harbor.  The air was crisp but mostly sunny for a nice start to our cruise.  Soon we had the obligatory life boat drill which always seems chaotic but hopefully works in an emergency.

We all met in the nicer dining room about 6:00 pm for dinner.  Food and service were excellent throughout the trip.  We always ordered wine with each couple taking turns picking out the evening’s drink.  I began with a starter of scallops then a pork shank on Boston baked beans followed by devil’s food cake for dessert.  Sophie-Claire was always smartly dressed and usually well-behaved.  She ate most everything and the wait staff gave her top attention.

Sunday morning we woke up in Bar Harbor, Maine.  We all met for breakfast at 8:00 am and then caught tenders to the port about 9:30 am.  This was the only port where we had to use tenders.  First we all walked the Shore Path along the water where Sophie-Claire, her father and I jumped over rocks to a promontory.  We pressed on and ended up at a local farmer’s market adjacent to a playground where Sophie-Claire could run off some steam.  We walked along Main Street to Cottage Street where we had lunch at the Thirsty Whale Tavern.  I had an Atlantic Brewery brown ale with my lobster roll.  Rita had fish and chips and their home made root beer.  After lunch we walked to West Street and took an Oli’s Trolley tour through town and up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.  After the tour we had ice cream at Mt. Dessert Ice Cream shop before catching the tender back to the ship.

On board we had another nice dinner together.  It was formal night which just meant, for me, a tie and jacket.  First I had beef carpaccio for a starter and then surf and turf (steak and shrimp) for the main course.  Rita and I were presented with a cake for our 50^th anniversary which happened last February but was celebrated tonight.  We saw whales breaking the surface on the port side of the ship.  In the evening we went to a floor show of Broadway songs.  We sailed at night as was the custom.

Monday was Memorial Day and we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The weather was cool in the 40s with occasional rain and a brisk wind.  We had a group breakfast then met at 8:30 am for an excursion tour we had all signed up for.  First the bus tour drove around the city showing us one street that was almost completely old Sears and Roebuck houses.  We saw graveyards where victims of the Titanic sinking were buried.  Then we took highway 333 south to Peggy’s Cove where we had a stop to explore the village on our own.  It is a very picturesque village sometimes called the most photographed town in Canada.  The trip back to Halifax was along a pretty coastline and in Halifax we stopped for a short visit at the Citadel overlooking the city.  It began to rain harder so Rita and I returned to the ship while the rest of our group had lunch in Halifax.

In the afternoon we began participating in trivia contests.  We usually ended up near the top and won the contest a couple of times.  For dinner this evening I had duck pate, lobster and potato soup, baked cod, and a brownie dessert.  Entertainment tonight was a fiddler and bag pipe concert of typical Cape Breton music.  

Tuesday we had docked in Sydney, at the top of Nova Scotia which is known as the Cape Breton Highlands.  We all met on the Lido Deck (open air) where the bag pipe and fiddler were entertaining everyone who joined the special crepe and pancake breakfast.  At 10:00 am we all met for another excursion tour of Fortress Louisburg which was built by the French.  The weather was cold and windy but we persevered and first watched a soldier’s loading and firing of a flint lock musket.  We were a bit early in the season so there weren’t many park employees in period costumes.  One welcome stop was in an old tavern where a lady demonstrated, and served, the art of making hot chocolate.  About 1:30 pm the tour ended back at the ship.  Everyone except Chris and I returned on board.  We walked to the Governor’s Pub where live entertainment was more Cape Breton music with a keyboard and fiddler group.  Chris and I had local Spruce red ale while Chris had chowder and I had a nice poutine, a Canadian dish of fried potatoes with gravy and various toppings – this one having cheese curds and bacon.  Our ship sailed about 5:00 pm.

This is Wednesday so we must be in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  And we are!  We all had breakfast together and departed the ship about 10:00 am – no excursions today.  It was cloudy at first but soon the sun came out to help with the brisk, cool wind.  We walked to St. Dunstan’s Basilica first then Confederation Hall where we toured the inside.  Then we each went our separate ways.  Rita and I walked around the downtown shopping area and went into the Green Gables Store where we bought a small doll (Anne of Green Gables) for Sophie-Claire.  We also walked into the Cows Chocolate store where we saw them making chocolate-covered potato chips.  We didn’t try one. 

We all met again at 12:30 pm for lunch at the Row House restaurant which turned out very nice.  I had local red ale and a half lobster in the shell.  Rita had fish and chips.  The service was very good as was the food.  We walked back to the ship but first stopped at a Cow Ice Cream store for dessert. 

We departed PEI and sailed under the new Confederation Bridge which links PEI with Nova Scotia.  Many people were up on the decks photographing the bridge as we sailed under it.  Later on Rita played the slot machines in the casino where she won about $8 overall.  We also watched the movie “Monuments Men” at the theater.

Thursday was the only day at sea with no port visits.  We took it easy as we rounded the Gaspe Peninsula and entered into the St. Lawrence River.  I finished reading my book in the library and then played in a trivia quiz game.  This evening was formal night again so we dressed up and had photos taken by the ship’s photographer before dinner.

We arrived in Quebec City early on Friday and after breakfast on board we departed and toured the lower old city, going inside the oldest stone church in North America, Notre Dame des Victories.  We took the funicular to the upper city and walked along the ramparts by the famous Chateau Frontenac Hotel.  The rest toured the Citadel but Rita and I walked up Avenue Saint Denis to Ruelle des Ursulines where we found the hotel, Au Petit Hotel, where we stay next week.  Next we walked down Avenue Saint Louis to the Chateau Frontenac and went inside to wait for the others.  They arrived after a while and wanted to ride a horse drawn buggy called a caliche in French.  While they did that Rita and I went into a Starbucks for a cold mocha drink.  After their ride we walked to the Place d’Armes, to Place de l’Hotel de Ville, and had lunch at a nice restaurant, Chez Boulay.  After lunch Rita returned to the ship with Gretchen, Chris and Sophie-Claire.  Rachel and Deana did a bit of shopping and I walked alone to St. Jean’s Gate and Artillery Park.  I walked down to the lower city and did a bit of sightseeing there.

We all met for dinner again and this time there was a special birthday cake for Chris.  We were celebrating his 50^th birthday tonight but it really was last January.  We all went for group photos then packed our bags and set them outside our door as we dock in the morning.

Saturday was the last day of the cruise.  Montreal greeted us with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.  We left the ship about 9:30 am and caught taxis to the Marriott Chateau Champaign Hotel in Central Montreal.  Rita and I were put on the 31^st floor with magnificent views of the city.  We all met downstairs and bought one-day metro passes.  One station was in the basement of our hotel and we took the metro three stops to Champ de Mars Station where we started our walk around Old Montreal.  First we saw the Hotel de Ville and Place Jacques Cartier with its monument to Admiral Nelson.  We had a nice lunch of crepes in an open-air restaurant called Jardine Nelson with a jazz band playing.  Then we walked to Chateau Ramezay.  Sophie-Claire was tired and crabby so Gretchen and Chris took her back to the hotel for a nap.  Rita and I walked with Rachel and Deana through the Bonsecours Market, along a major street called “The Main”, through the old port to the birthplace of Montreal in 1642, Place D’Youville to Place d’Armes with Norte Dame Basilica.  At every church we saw there were many weddings taking place – one after the other.  In the evening we met and walked to Beaver Hall for our last meal together as a group on this trip.  Rachel and Deana went to see Cirque Soleil which is headquartered in Montreal.  The rest of us walked back to the hotel and retired for the night.

Sunday morning our group broke up – Rachel and Deana rented a car and drove to Niagara Falls, Chris, Gretchen and Sophie-Claire flew back to Washington, DC, and Rita and I picked up a rental car to drive further northeast into the Gaspe Peninsula.  We rented a Chevrolet Cruze and decided to pay for a GPS too.  We made our way out of Montreal in heavy traffic and were directed to Motorway 20 arriving in Quebec City a few hours later.  We found our hotel easily and settled into our room.  We walked around Quebec a little and had dinner at Aux Ancien Canadiens, a famous restaurant with French-Canadian cuisine.  We really like the walled city of Quebec and think of it as the best European city in North America.

Monday a continental breakfast was brought to our room with the best croissant since France.  We checked out and found our way out of Quebec and headed further northeast on Motorway 20.  Soon we drove into the town of Levis where we switched to the scenic coast road 132.  It was pleasant driving this road with farms on the right side and the St. Lawrence River on the left.  We stopped in the pretty little town of Islet-sur-le-Mer to photograph a pretty church with silver roof.  We stopped to look at wood carvings in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli where we bought a carving 41 years ago.  We stopped in Kamouraska for lunch at Poissonnerie (fish restaurant) Lauzier.  We shared a large shrimp kebab with rice and salad.  I had a Boreal ale which tasted good. 

We arrived in Riviere-du-Loup about 3:00 pm and checked into our stay for the night, Hotel Levesque.  We were surprised and pleased at how nice a hotel it is with the most modern motif throughout.  It was one of the best bathroom showers we have ever had in a hotel.  We drove into and around town but there didn’t seem to be much to see.  We did watch some emergency in a tall church steeple but didn’t hang around to see the end results.  It appeared some repairman had an accident and had to be rescued by local fire trucks with long extension ladders.   Back at the hotel we ate dinner in their Le Griffe restaurant.  Another great surprise – some of the best food for a hotel restaurant.  I had magret de canard with vegetables and baked potato.  For dessert we shared a delicious chocolate fondant.

The next day we continued northeast on highway 132 with clouds overhead and fog on the river.  We drove through Trois Pistoles and Rimouski with occasional stops for coffee or to snap photos.  Again the scenery on the left was the St. Lawrence River and on the right were dairy farms and rolling hills.  Around Cap Chat the farmland turned into higher mountains full of forests and some timber businesses.  The road became curvier with beautiful views.  Signs along the road near St. Anne-des-Monts warned of rock slides and snow avalanches on the right and a sign that seemed to indicate that huge waves from the river on our left could sweep cars off the highway.  It was a perilous stretch of road.  Actually the body of water on our left was probably the Gulf of St. Lawrence at this point.  We didn’t see much wildlife with the exception of a fox and her two kits beside the highway.  We stopped to see the lighthouse at Le Marte and for gasoline at Riviere-au-Renaurd.  We eventually made it to the town of Gaspe and checked into our hotel.  We had dinner at Brise-Bise which was nice.  The maple syrup pie for dessert was nicer.

Wednesday we woke to a foggy morning, especially over the water.  It was cool, in the 50s, with occasional showers.  After breakfast we drove along the scenic coastline to the town of Perce.  If I were to return to this area I would stay in Perce instead of Gaspe – it appeared to be more interesting.  There are large offshore rocks but our views were limited by the fog.  We headed southwest along the bottom coast of the Gaspe Peninsula and stopped in Chandler and Port Daniel for pretty views of this area.  The sun came out and burned the fog away.  We stopped in New Richmond at a nice coffee shop and had a smoked meat sandwich which is the Canadian way of saying pastrami.  The drive was idyllic with mountainous forests giving way to farmlands once more and several road side produce stands.  We noticed more signs in English, more Anglican churches and more anglicized town names such as Chandler, New Richmond and Carleton.  While we were still in the province of Quebec I suspect this area was previously heavily occupied by the English.  We drove along Chaleur Bay to the town of Pointe-a-la-Croix where we crossed the bridge into New Brunswick and the town of Campbellton.   Here English was the first language and French secondary on road signs.  We made it to our motel in the town of Dalhousie and it started to rain harder.  The town was not very pretty, the motel was okay but a strange staff, and their restaurant was mediocre at best.  We washed a load of clothes and called it a night.

The next morning we returned through Campbellton and took highway 17, also known as the Appalachian Route, southwest through thick forests.  There were plenty of signs warning of moose but we didn’t see any.  This area in New Brunswick is the top of the Appalachian Mountain range.  We drove through Kedgwick and St. Quentin to St. Leonard where we took Motorway 2 northwards to Riviere Verte.  Here we left the motorway, filled up with gasoline and took back road highway 144 into Edmundston.  Back on Motorway 2 we re-entered Quebec once more and in the town of Notre-Dame-du-Lac we stopped at Fromagerie Le Detour, bought cheeses, pheasant pate, a fresh baguette, and some apple cider for a picnic.  Since the weather was still cool with off and on showers we parked by a planetarium and had our yummy picnic in the car. 

Back on the highway we drove through Riviere-du-Loup once more but continued east on Motorway 20.  The GPS directed us into the town of Levis and onto a ferry that crossed to Quebec City.  It was a surprise but turned out pleasant with good views of the city from the river.  We made it back to the Au Petite Hotel where we previously stayed and checked in once more.  It was nice and sunny so we started walking, first to the Parliament building with tulips in bloom then to St. Matthew Church, an old church now turned into a library.  Next we walked down St. Jean through the St. Jean Porte (St. John Gate) and stopped for beers at an outdoor restaurant called Sapristi.  Their menu looked good so we ordered three starters and made a meal of it.  A little further down St. Jean we stopped at a nice ice cream shop and indulged.  We walked back to the hotel and settled down for the night.

Friday we once more had a nice continental breakfast in our room then headed out for one last walk in the Old Town of Quebec City.  Then back to the hotel to check out and head out on our last leg of this trip.  This time we headed east towards Montreal on Motorway 40 but soon exited and took scenic highway 138, the King’s Highway, along the St. Lawrence River.  The view was of pretty villages, prosperous looking farms, and several produce stands with the first asparagus of the season.  At the town of Trois-Rivieres we stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant called Le Sacristain, housed in an old Wesleyan church.  Rita had a delicious quiche and my sandwich was equally delicious.  For dessert Rita had affogato while I had a rich brownie with ice cream and an espresso afterwards.  We re-entered Motorway 40 and somehow, with the help (?) of the GPS made it through Montreal and to the rental car office.  Their shuttle took us to the Marriott Hotel which is actually in the airport terminal building.  We checked in and started to repack our luggage for tomorrow’s flight.  We walked around in the airport terminal and had a nice dinner at Archibald, a microbrewery with lots of game on the menu.  I had a very good salmon fillet and their local amber ale. 

Saturday ended our trip.  We cleared US customs in Montreal then had an early flight on Delta Airline to Detroit with another flight to Austin.  We arrived in Austin about 2:00 pm, picked up our car and stopped at a restaurant for Tex-Mex and another stop at HEB for groceries.  All turned out well in regards to the car and our house.  The rain gauge indicates we had about 2.5 inches of rain sometime while we were gone so the plants fared well too. 

It was a great trip and a nice celebration for our 50^th anniversary.  Rita and I had taken much of this same trip by car back in July of 1973 when we lived in New Jersey.  The girls were too young to remember much of that trip so they enjoyed seeing this part of Canada.  The best part of the trip was having leisurely meals on the ship together with Gretchen, Chris, Rachel, Deana, and especially Sophie-Claire.