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Saturday 2nd May It is quite cool this morning, we are at about 6,500 feet so that may have something to do with it but the temperature is about 30 degrees lower than it was on Wednesday and we keep having a few spots of rain. We go to Zuni Pueblo about 35miles south of Gallup where we are staying for another night. Zuni is a culturally intact Native American Reservation and people are living there today as they have been for generations. Photography is only allowed on the Reservation with a permit and today no permits can be issued as there is to be some dancing later on. They do not allow photography during religious or cultural activities and they can only be viewed at a distance with quiet respect. The Zuni people are mostly artists and craftsmen, the pottery and jewellery they make is sold in Trading Posts, in Zuni and Gallup, these Trading Posts also act as pawnbrokers and the pawn section is where most of the activity is found. Some of the most unusual things they make are 'animal fetishes' which are small, highly polished, carved animals; they are beautiful pieces of art and the Zuni people
The Four Corners
Colorado in the background believe that spirits live within them. We have a look in some of the Trading Posts, all the things for sale are very expensive, obviously
'made by hand' takes time but at about $100 for a fetish and anything up to $5,000 for a silver and turquoise bracelet we wonder how much they sell.
Sunday 3rd It is much warmer this morning we Travel up to Farmington, New Mexico, through the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation which is a beautiful and peaceful drive of about 130 miles. We see a lot of prairie dogs running about at the side of the road and at one point 2 rottweilers are walking together down the middle of the road. Check into a hotel and then we go to the 'Four Corners'. This is the only place where 4 states intersect at one point. It is in a very remote location in the Navajo Nation desert, the marker is in granite and brass. We take some photos and then walk from Arizona to New Mexico to Colorado and Utah!!
American Indian or Native American? The people whom these words are meant to represent have made their preferences clear and it is OK to
Four States
Meet here
in freedom
under God use either term. Tonight we eat at the Outback Restaurant which is one of our favourites.
Monday 4th Decide to stay another night in Farmington and visit the Aztec ruins just a few miles away. The structures were not actually built by the Aztecs of Central Mexico but by ancestral Pueblo people who were the ancestors of the American Indian tribes including Hopi and Zuni. The ruins are considered sacred and many indigenous people of the southwest are descendants of these Pueblo Indians maintaining strong cultural and spiritual ties to this site. It is a lovely tranquil place to spend an hour or two. We then have a relaxing afternoon and an evening meal at the Red Lobster seafood restaurant, which is new to us; we have an excellent fish meal one of the best this trip.
Tuesday 5th Head for Santa Fe it's another scenic drive; we are in the foothills of the Rockies and climb to about 7000 feet. We cross back over the Continental Divide, sadly we haven't seen any roadrunners for a few days, but maybe there are no rattlesnakes here either.
They do not go beep beep, (the roadrunners not the rattlesnakes).
The Four Corners
Utah in the background Arrive in Santa Fe which is America's oldest state capital, a high-desert town at the southern end of the Rockies. It is a mixture of Spanish, Mexican and Native American cultures and there are lots of adobe buildings. The Santa Fe Plaza is amazing, full of very unusual shops selling Native American pottery and jewellery and fantastic leather goods. In the centre of the Plaza is a green area and it seams to be a magnet for youngsters break-dancing and doing wheelies on their cycles; it's another great place to people-watch.
There are still quite a few tornados in the Texas and Oklahoma area.
The US really is the capital of the
'throw away society' even in the better hotels such as Holiday Inn they use plastic cutlery and polystyrene cups and plates at breakfast. The amount of packaging thrown away just making a cup of coffee in the room beggars belief, as well as individually wrapped coffee bags there is also a pack containing sugar, saccharine, and coffee whitener, so if you only use the whitener everything else is thrown away; even the polystyrene cups are wrapped. Then there is
Colorado
from the Four Corners always a notice in the room asking us to use the towels twice and thanking us for helping them to save the planet!!
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June
non-member comment
Your wonderful trip
Hi folks, Roy and I love having our dose of history - you make it sound so interesting and indeed your photographs match the commentary beautifully. I shall look forward to seeing the rest of your pictures. Your camera is doing a great job or rather should I say Rosemary is very good at composition. My camera has been sent back to Canon as after using the card reader to download pictures, I could not get the card back in again. Discovered one of the pins was slightly bent and I did not dare fiddle with it. I am awaiting a phone call to tell me how damage has been done. Keep sending your news, we love it. June and Roy