Road Trip Day 7

It snowed overnight in New Mexico and we were at quite a high altitude.

In answer to comments on Day 6:

My email contact is on the left side where it says email me.

We won't be any where near Durango but next time we run away from home we will get everyone notified earlier!

Mr. S. looks good and sounds good and that's why I kept him off my blog for so long. I knew my constituents would want to hear more from him and my blog would not be about sweeping and sewing anymore. Actually the visit stats went up from 100 per post, to 400 on the posts featuring things about him. When I began blogging this trip he kept kibitzing so I said, get your own blog.

The story he collected today is that we were ushered out, or putting it dramatically, kicked out of a restaurant last night. We were the last customers late in the evening and after we had ordered were told we might want to go elsewhere for dinner because there had been a mishap in the kitchen.

The Raton Pass is our biggest concern because it was down to 60 F and snow. 32 is the freezing point.

Road Trip Day 6

Day 6 was supposed to be Colorado but we took a diversion because of bad weather warnings for a mountain pass.

Rather than trying to race ahead of the snow storm in Colorado we decided to wait it out and tour around some of Mr. S 's favorite places when he lived there.

He took me to the City of Rocks between Silver City and Deming, and to see the location of the hot springs and location of
the old Faywood Hotel originally built in the late 1800's.

You can read about it on Wikipedia and some historical sites, but what they never record is the history Mr. S. And his family remembers: the hotel was ransacked and burned down by a band of renegades at the turn of the century.

Mr. S. and his family and friends and most people who lived in the area used to go out to that location and poke around the old burn sight for old relics, finding dishes, glass items, pieces of furniture and old shoes strewn across the desert. The renegades were on horseback dropped a lot of the loot as they left.

However, as interesting as it was to dig around, people just left any relics there because they didn't really want a bunch of old burned things.

As far back as the Faywood Hotel and hot springs was established, it is a wonder there are no old photographs on the web, since it was a well liked area from it's inception.

Going to the City of Rocks and tramping around the sight of the hotel, was back in the day before the City of Rocks and Faywood Hot Springs became a national park and a camping area, so the young people enjoyed the challenge of finding mysterious things. Nowadays you have to pay to get on the area unless you're only driving through.

Mr. S. revealed that he and another man had been down South in Palomas on an old cattle trail when the car had broken down. They had a hard time getting it started and crippled it to the City of Rocks.

 It was dark so they sought shelter under one of the rocks. They found a blanket in the car to cover the cold ground and tried to sleep but it was very cold.  All night long the guys kept getting poked in their backs, and when the light came, they discovered they were camped out on top of a pack rats nest full of sharp twigs mixed with cactus.

The is the rayon dress I am wearing the Time and Tru brand. I couldn't get a clear photo so this is from web:

These were on sale two weeks ago for $9 and recently for $5 so it is no wonder you can't find them anywhere. They were taken as fast as they were unloaded!

Still killing time to let the storm pass, Mr. S. said he wanted to drive around looking at other familiar places from his youth.

 I was busy blogging all this and when I looked up we were still traveling in the desert so I didn't pay much attention to where he was taking me until my phone dinged and a grandchild wrote:

 "Are you going to church in Mexico?" 

We had gotten up at 5 a.m, 6 hours before church anywhere, so I texted back "not that I know of." 

The reply said "because Papa's phone is in Mexico." Drat that tracking App! A body can't even sneak off to Mexico without being found out.

We parked the car on the US side and walked across the border, the Mexican guards totally nonchalant towards us, looking like they would rather concentrate on their cellphones.

A street vendor tried awfully hard to sell me a ladies picture hat for $20 but I didn't want it. 

In Palomas, Mr. S. wanted his picture took (don't correct my grammar. It's a colloquial term.) with the statue of Poncho Villa because he once met Poncho Villa's son. He also met Geronimo's son, but those are details for later.

In The Pink Store Mr. S. Insisted on buying embroidered dresses for all the girls in the fam,  5 of us altogether.

A sales clerk took us to another place in an alley and showed us lead free pottery and sold us a tea pot. Before she boxed up our purchases she brought us each a complimentary cup of hot tea! We sipped it while she wrapped everything and it was soooo welcome. It was chamomile.

On the way back over the narrow path from Old Mexico to New Mexico,  the street vendor recognized me and shouted out that the hat had come down to $5.00 so I gave in and bought it.

We didn't have to go to all that tedium of bargaining the price down because the salesman did it himself.

We had church on the border with communion and prayers and singing, and I told Mr. S. He could preach to me in the car to keep in practice.

We left Old Mexico at noon and drove to the next Walmart where we noted and appreciated the evenly paved parking lot and the well maintained streets of the town. By careful analysis of the Palomas street and sidewalk pictures I think you know the reason.

Road Trip, Continued

This is the last day of the road trip South.

Weather reports of dangerous travel conditions spoiled Mr. S.'s plan to make a quick trip to Mexico to buy me an embroidered Mexican dress. We were going to park the car and walk across the border and stay an hour. Instead, we are headed North for the journey back, following another route.

 I posted the map again on a previous blog entry. I would have fared better if I had asked for travel tips on the way down, so if you have any ideas or travel tips for the journey back, please comment.

For our final day we walked around the old part of Silver City and viewed the colorfully painted store fronts. Mr. S. lived here as a youth, and said it always rained between 1:30 and 2:00, and didn't you know, it rained right on time each day we were here.

I wanted you to notice the high sidewalk sides in that picture. Have you ever seen anything like it in other old towns? Mr. S. Would not park near them because it was too difficult to open the car door and even more difficult to leap over the wall!

Below is a photo of these mosaic lamps in a gift shop. They were very cleverly made, with a metal curved crook holding the colorful globes as though they were hanging lanterns. The price was $68 for the smallest ones, so I passed on that. I'm going for unbreakable merch these days.

We attended Mr. S.'s high school reunion. There were approximately 200 people and most of them were 75 years old. They looked very good, in fact I will say fantastic. Let me tell you: they were all dressed up and the ladies were wearing nice skirts and dresses, some  with shimmering shawls. 

I saw only one person using a walker and one in a wheelchair. That was a very hearty class. They also brought their beautifully restored antique trucks. Don't we love our trucks, old and new!

 A local judge, possibly also one of the 1962 graduates, led the prayer for the meal, and asked God's blessings on the graduates, as well as thanking Him for the servers and waiters who were looking after the food.  He petitioned Him to bless them and give them (and the rest of us) safe travel.  He then thanked the Lord for His watchful care of all those 75 year olds and asked for a continuance.

When he ended the prayer in Christ's name, he paused to listen, and that great throng of people said "Amen" quite forcefully.

I am not sure if this would happen with a class reunion for 2018.

The only thing that marred the event was the Noisic by a band that was hired, which had speakers on too high. We would have rather been able to hear ourselves talk and visit with each other. It would have been more pleasant and in better taste if the committee had hired quartets to sing some doo-wop from the 1950's, which is more in keeping with the age.

We have encountered this problem often in some of the events of our lives. They don't seem to realize that sort loudness with drums and percussion instruments does well in a concert hall, but it overwhelms a banquet room and makes it very unpleasant to eat by. This harsh music was unsuitable for the ladies and gentlemen of a more romantic era.

Because it was a small room in comparison to the volume, it came across muffled, and the tunes we're not identifiable. What we heard was a lot of crashing.

Could they not have supplied some simple  acoustic guitar music more sweetly played to an appreciative generation?  I can't wait to get home to children and grandchildren playing old time fiddle. I hope to be over the brain trauma by the time I return.

I was seated next to a lady who was obviously disgusted about the Noisic, who said after the first loud piece was performed,  "Let's pay them off now and let them go home before the entire evening is ruined." One noisic song later she said, "That one didn't take much talent."

Most of the group had been in the high school choir and knew how to sing. It would have been more digestible if they had done the music with the well trained strings of their vocal chords.

I heard several pieces of Noisic and went to the car to wait it out. The windows were rolled up and the doors of the building closed and I could still feel the Noisic in my feet as the band played on longer than necessary.

Road Trip Day 5 and 6

Rain poured the entire trip through Arizona today, and I got a photo of a drenched field of cotton. I am thinking about how in the greatest stretch of my imagination I could make something to "go with" that cotton field ;-) Cotton plant decor is so well loved these days. I've seen the artificial cotton at Hobby Lobby and it is made so real-looking.  I am liking all the imitations of nature that is done in the decorating world these days but putting it mildly, it would be good if that translated to ladies clothing and fabrics too.  To go with the scenes of nature, one must have something beautiful to wear. Anything less than elegant is not complimentary to the scene!  I would say with cotton, the smocking and puffy sleeves, gather skirts and of course, made of cotton, would work in a fashion design. Also, in a previous post of Area 51 where I posted a photo of the marbled pastel rock hills, would be a great inspiration for fashion design. 

Commercial clothing is not very appealing, and ladies don't feel dignified and pretty anymore, but there is opportunity for something better. Designers and home stitchers can look around at the beauty of the Earth for ideas. The natural surroundings are covered in color and pattern but most of the population is wearing black.

We viewed the Apache Country as we drove through and had lunch at an Apache restaurant. They were very pleasant people.

Today blogger cannot post my photos. I have so many good ones.

Here is the schedule for the next three days:

Day 5: New Mexico

Day 6: Pueblo, Colorado.

If you live near Pueblo or near I-25, please leave me some comments about the weather there.

It has been raining all day so we were not able to see the mountains of the Great Divide very clearly, but Mr. S. educated me a deal about it. He used to be a school teacher and he does it quite well. I am encouraging him to make some podcasts, with all the things he has been talking about while we are driving.  He knows about a little town which he lived in, which was divided by time zones. He also told me about a fishing trip he took with someone a few decades ago. I want him to tell about it himself, but maybe in the next post I will go ahead and write the amusing story.

This is where the photo of the courthouse in Silver City New Mexico, where Mr. S. was once a deputy sheriff---in the previous century.

Road Tip, Day 4

Hello Ladies,

We are in Globe, Arizona, taking our time getting the car packed again. We are headed for Silver City, New Mexico  to spend the weekend, and we are not in a hurry at all.  I think I will get my electric kettle out of the trunk of the car and bring it into the motel room before we check out so I can get a decent cuppa.

There are no tea rooms or anywhere to get hot tea along the old  highways, which is where they should be, because it is easier to stop. It's just not right.

I must say the trip through Arizona was a lot like the hills and valleys of Tennessee, because it was so green, with soft, rolling countryside that I didn't expect, since I had only ever seen the desert side of it.

We will be going through all the little towns we can, on the way to Silver City, and stopping at the Walmarts also.  The grandkids apparently break out in peals of laughter while watching Papa park at Walmart, and then getting the jump on us by telling us what grocery aisle he is in. We decided to eat fresh groceries from now on and not so much restaurant or fast food.  My stomach was doing flip-flops.

If you want to contact us you can email me. It is on the sidebar. I will check it from my phone.and we can exchange phone numbers if you like.

We will not be going to Texas, even though it is quite close. Sorry for all you that asked.

It rained all through Arizona yesterday and we drove 644 miles, including Las Vegas (which I won't be driving through again. Notice the change from "we" to "I".

We were able to drive 14 hours because the motel we were in was so awful and the dinner we ate was just as bad, so we got up at 3:00 in the morning and left.

• We are now eating picnic style with fresh food from the grocery storestores, and doing much better.

Yesterday, Arizona looked more like the green valleys of Tennessee

Here is the map again that I posted a few days ago.

Road Trip, Day 2 and 3

Day 2 and 3: Nevada and Arizona

We have driven the Extraterrestrial Highway, and of course Mr. S. was tickled to see the sign:

One thing I saw that seemed alien was this cow out there all alone, with no other cows in sight. I wondered how it got left behind.  I felt so sorry for it because it came up to us when we rolled the window down. It must be very lonely without a herd around it. In the miles and miles that we covered, we saw this one cow, all alone.

Mr/ S. insisted on going into this gift shop but I did not leave the car.

We stopped to take pictures of this  beautiful marbled pastel painted mountain range along the Terrestrial Highway. If I had sewn a gown to go with, it would have been in all those soft colors. This scene is a painter's dream location.

On the surface this seems like a long boring drive but it was very enjoyable and quite interesting. I liked the old highway and all the roads to the right and left of it that had no signs on them.

We were trying to stop every hour and get out of the car, so that we would not be sitting too long. It was a country highway with plenty of turn outs on the side of the road. We were walking around in this spot, when someone in a huge truck stopped and asked if we needed any help.  I thought that was very nice.

The other end of Area 51 had a sign, too, but it was weighted with so many stickers and magnets that it looked like it would fall down. One mystery in Area 51 that I encountered was that  sign was extremely high, and I wondered how people put those stickers on it.   Here is a (very poor) picture of me near the first sign, to show you how high it is. I am 5 feet 8 inches tall:

The other mystery was why not one picture of  my Area 51 dress turned out well enough to publish.

...but Mr. S. Looked good.

After this long stretch we had to get through Las Vegas. This was only the tip of the city as we approached it.

Mr. S. says I never called him "honey"  as much as I did while driving through Vegas, as in, "Honey, watch out for that truck on the left!"  We will not be doing this again! I cannot even remember how in the world we got to the other side of that city and on our way to Arizona.  We won't be doing that again.  

Finally we arrived in Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. This is a place of pink mountains and pink sidewalks to go with.

You can look up Sedona and the canyon to see how spectacular it really is. I took a dozen pictures but they aren't showing up yet so I can't share them with you at this time.

We allowed the grandchildren in Oregon to connect a family tracking app on Mr. S.'s cellphone so they could watch the little car going along the map.  When we stopped in a Walmart in Kingman, AZ  they sent a text to tell me Papa was at the opposite end of the store in the automotive department.. I am not sure whether to be unnerved or reassured by this sort of thing.  I suppose one could never really run away, could they! 

We are so thankful there has not been any car trouble and that in spite of gas stations being over 100 miles apart in some areas, we have not run low on gas. In the remote places there is still a happy peacefulness and beauty, in the presence of our great Creator.

To those who were looking for the Time and Tru rayon dresses like the ones I took with me on this trip: today a Walmart associate told me they had been on sale the last week for $5.00 and were almost all gone, but there are plenty of very pretty and feminine Time and Tru rayon peasant blouses in lovely colors, which might go on sale too. Of the dresses that were available, about four of them were quite modest yet very stylish and pretty.

Road Trip Day 1

Road trip Day 1: Oregon, California, Nevada

Today we covered 417 miles, taking 7 hours.

Above, the drive along Lake Klamath Falls in Oregon, looked very much like the scenic route around Turnagain Arm in Alaska.

What Mrs. Sherman wore:

Because we covered three states in one day, I didn't get to have a dress for each of them. What you see here is a photo taken in Lapine, Oregon, which was getting some rain at the time. This is a very comfortable rayon dress I got for $9 at Walmart. The label is "Time and Tru" and today it was just right for car travel. It is a red and black check, and of course Mr. S. has a matching shirt.  Note the red umbrella with black dots. 

We have enjoyed driving the old highways through small towns....

an old hotel in a small town in California.

This picture is for anyone who is concerned about crowded neighborhoods. There is still plenty of room.

 In the 417 miles we drove today, there was not one tea room, and gas stations were 80 miles apart.

We tried to avoid the speedways, but there was no way around Reno, so we drove through. We did not stop for the evening meal because the traffic through Reno was going 70-75 m.p.h. and it was very dark, with a lot of car light glare, so we just drove through and went to the next small town, 30 miles away.  It was so tense for me that I didn't remember to take a picture of the lights of Reno as we drove across. 

We have lived out in our country home at the Manse so long we did not realize how much more crowded and fast the traffic had become out there in the fast-track world. We took the first hotel we saw, because we were (well, I was) too rattled to look for anything else. We are having cheese and crackers with hot tea tonight and nothing will tempt us to get back on the road even to look for a restaurant.  

We had not been on an elevator in such a long time (in our town there is usually only one or two levels (storeys) in the commercial buildings), that we stood inside and talked for 15 minutes after the door shut, before it occurred to us to push the button to go to the 2nd level. I guess in the back of my mind I thought it would automatically go up to the 2nd floor when the door shut.  When you live in a small town, the elevator automatically goes to the 2nd floor as soon as the door slides such. But there are now 4 and 5 and 6 storey hotels now ;-) 

 I didn't have time to make the fancy dress and hat for Area 51, so I got another Time and Tru dress, which I will show you tomorrow.  In the meantime, you might enjoy finding some of the Time and Tru maxi dresses online. 

Thank you for your prayers for our safety, and thank you for your visit here!

Happy Trails

Since we are planning a road trip, I thought you might enjoy some historical accounts of the Oregon Trail.

These tidbits come from a book called "Christians on the Oregon Trail" by Jerry Rushford.

The journey could not begin until the grass along the trail had grown high enough to feed the livestock that would be making the trip, and left in late May. On Monday, May 22, 1843, the migration officially began with nearly 900 people, 120 wagons, and about 5,000 head of livestock--horses, mules, oxen and cattle. 

A major crisis developed when The Lord's Day (the first day of the week) arrived and most of the church-going population in the train made it clear they were not going to travel until they had observed a worship time, taken the Lord's supper, rested both the people and the livestock.  According to the son of one of the preachers:

On that first Sunday morning father was resting in his tent, and mother and the four girls were taking it easy after an arduous week, when several from the families around us broke in impatiently upon us and wanted to know at what hour we were planning to get off. "how is this, Captain Lenox," said one of them, "that you are not up and off this fine morning?" "We are not going to travel today," replied my father. "This is the Lord's day. The cattle need rest, and we need rest, and your families need rest." "Oh, you can't cram that down our throats" was the vigorous and irreverent reply; "We are going on." "Well," said Captain Lenox, "I have no authority to stop you, but you will find it to your interest to travel with a well-guarded company, rather than go it it alone."

To change the subject now, and along the same lines, a family in one of the tiniest churches in the area was moving away. They are the cowboy sort, and so the few people that remained, put on a Happy Trails going away party for these fine people who will be sorely missed.  They are going to an area where there is no church, so they will start one in an old school house that is on their property. The family consists of 3 couples--the parents and two daughters and their husbands.  They are apparently working in a business there.

In spite of being such a small group, the members managed to put on a whopper of a party, in the form of a chuck wagon with typical western food, and the tables were decorated with small cabins and toy livestock with hay bales.  

After we ate supper we sang all the Happy Trails western songs to them. The preacher had made copies of the songs  so that we could all sing the words and of course everyone knew those old tunes.  We also sang some hymns:  If We Never Meet Again and  Got Be With You Til We Meet Again, but it made the family cry, so the old father said we should sing some happier songs. The preacher led "If You're Happy and You Know it", an old VBS children's song.....

I just learned the history of the song, "Peace , Perfect Peace" at a 5th Sunday singing Mr. S. and I attended somewhere else. Originally, it had question marks: Peace?  Perfect Peace?  In this dark world of sin?  The blood of Jesus whispers peace within." Also, the song has a different tune in England than in our country.

Apparently as the decades have passed by, new publishers that didn't know the intention and history of the song, left out the question marks, but it certainly has more meaning when you learn this!!

Mr.S. always buys a new map book for me and highlights the route going in yellow, and then highlights the return route in orange or green. He then writes an itinery for me stating what places we will be on each day. I do not have a picture of it because I couldn't get his day-timer book .

This road trip is a big circle, as you can see. Just follow from Oregon across California and down to New Mexico, then up again and around. 

There will be nary a freeway for us, as  Mr. S. is planning an old towns of  America itinery and he likes the old highways because his Dad took his family on road trips on the original highways. His father made it his life's goal to take his family to every state in the south 48 and while the children were growing up, he did it.

There are some pretty colors here, but most trees stay green all year.

I like this old vase of Grandmas, with the  glass "frog" that has holes for arranging the bouquet, so today I got some hydrangeas from Dollar Tree and put them in, along with a sparkly dragon fly. Can you see it there?

 I hope to hear from you all soon and publish your comments!

Lydia