Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Many years ago, we experienced our first Mexican food while we were in New Mexico. After eating barrels of refried beans, burritos, and guacamole in the days since, we still love it. When we were planning our vacation this year, we decided we would have Mexican food everyday while we were in the West. The problem wasn't finding a Mexican restaurant, it was deciding which one to go to.  It's all good. The picture above was from  Mariscos Altamar in Albuquerque.  Highly recommended; they had good food, live music, and freebies because we were staying at the Hampton. The one above was from Arriba Mexican Grill in Glendale, Arizona. The food was good and plentiful.  We went during the lunch special and this was $4.99. Here, we were eating at El Encanto, a unique place in Cave Creek, Arizona.  They had a pond with huge fish and turtles swimming just outside the windows from our table.  The entree above was a grilled chicken breast with spin...

There is only one place on the United States map where four states come together.  It is here, in this high desert in the Navajo Nation. We thought we would be the only ones there, since we had seen very little traffic that morning.  Wrong again! There was a huge line of people wanting to put their bodies in four states at once. There is a flea market with lots of merchants around the monument; most have jewelry and sand art and T-shirts.  We decided to shop a while until it wasn't so crowded.  I shot some photos in all four states. When we finished shopping, the line was longer than before, so we just took these photos of people we don't know and went on our way.  We were able to spend much more time in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.  Our visit to Colorado this time was short; just the time it took to walk around the vendor's booths.  It looks nothing like Denver here!

When we travel west from Alabama, the first big change I notice is the wind.  Across the plains and prairies, there is a constant breeze. There are weeks here when there is not enough wind to tinkle my wind chimes. I've always loved the old windmills, and wish we had enough wind to make one profitable here. We had not driven out west since 2005, when we drove all the way to Disney in Southern California with our son's family.  Then, we were amazed at the new wind turbines in Southern California.  Now, they seem to stretch all the way across Oklahoma and Texas. There are hundreds of them on ridges that stretch for miles and miles. I'm told the wind turbines produce clean and renewable energy, although they are expensive to install. An example of the old and new existing together.  Beautiful!

William Tecumseh Sherman has never been one of my favorite  people.  After  all, he burned Atlanta to the ground, and they are still     trying to rebuild it after 150 years. Years after the Civil War ended,  Sherman, who intensely disliked  the arid country and the people of  the Southwest, supposedly said  that   “the United States ought to  declare war on Mexico and make it  take back New Mexico.”                                                             I totally disagree. New Mexico has good people, good food, and oil wells.  It has Albuquerque, a turquoise jewel that is one of the best places I have been.  It has a constant breeze, even when the temps soar. It has dazzling sunsets and painted ...