Through Apache Country

Photos: http://web.mac.com/goodlenora/iWeb/Site/Library%205.html

if you have a problem, go to my photo album, and click on Library 5

On Friday, we went with Terri while she ran some errands, and saw quite a bit of Scottsdale I would not have otherwise seen. In the parking lot of a shopping center, as we were leaving the parking lot of a shopping center, Terri suddenly stopped and showed us a great horse statue, made out of old ‘junk’ and I got a few pictures of it.

That night, Mark took us up on Camel Back Mountain to see the lights. We also saw several celebrity homes – including Glen Campbell’s, Alice Cooper’s, Curt Warner’s, and Stevi Nix’s. Of course, we weren’t sure which house belonged to which celebrity, but we can claim to have seen them. (We think the one with 67,000 lights on was Glen Campbell’s, but not sure.)

Mark then took us to a little Italian Deli, they call it Desert Heaven, and bought us cheesecake. So much for diets! Neither Kay nor I could finish ours, and the next morning, Terri asked me if I wanted oatmeal for breakfast, or the last of my cheesecake! Seriously! What kind of a question was that? After all, the cheesecake has protein, and the crust has grains. It surely was good cheesecake!

Flat Stanlietta was introduced to Curly and Lena (their Boston Terriers), but they were more interested in licking and tasting her than in posing nicely for pictures. Needless to say, there are no photos of Flat Stanlietta and the dogs. She did, however, find a small frog, just her size, next to one of Terri’s cactus out by the pool.

Angela, Mark and Terri’s daughter, found some old jewelry and decorated one of my Indian Maid quilt squares, then she and Terri signed the square. Slowly, the squares are being decorated. I hope to have them all decorated and signed by the time I return home.

With mixed emotions, we left Mark and Terri’s Saturday morning. However, being a strong believe in Mark Twain’s admonition that fish and visitors begin to smell after three days (give or take), and with many miles left on our Grand Tour, we bid our ‘goodbye’s’ to Kay’s family, including Curly and Lena. Mark and Terri are wonderful hosts, and staying with them was a relaxing visit.

Heading east, we traveled highway 60 through some of the most scenic mountains and plateaus. Many stops in the Apache Reservations to photograph the Salt River Canyon. Not as huge a hole in the ground as the Grand Canyon, but we thought it every bit as spectacular, possibly more so because it was more accessible and we could get ‘up close and personal’ with it. Be sure to check out the pictures! (I'm really glad we are now more or less friendly with the Apache - because their country is gorgeous and I, for one, truly appreciated driving through it!)

You who ride motorcycles would love that canyon – lots of twists and turns, and few trucks. We decided the Apache were just a trifle conservative on their speed limit – often 35mph – but figured they knew the road better than we did, so followed their advice. Trust me, if you take the trip, drive the speed they tell you to. We stopped at one outlook to look down to the base of the canyon, and spied a newly crashed car – and at the top, where we were, a cross. Mr. Gonzales did not negotiate the curve!

After leaving Show Low AZ, we pretty much stopped with the photo ops, and just drove and enjoyed the scenery. Much of it reminded us of Central Oregon. We did stop to shoot the Very Large Array of Radio Telescopes that are focused on the stars. It was too late in the afternoon to visit the observatory, but Sonja says it’s fantastic.

We arrived in Socorro about 6pm, or 7pm, depending on whether we looked at our watch or their clocks (switched over to Mountain Time at the Arizona-New Mexico border). Called my daughter, Sonja, and she directed us to a very nice restaurant, El Camino, on the main drag of Socorro – a couple steps above Denny’s – with New Mexican food as well as the ‘traditionals’. Sonja met us there and we had a nice dinner and visit. She is meeting us for breakfast this morning, so I need to sign off for now....