Creede: Week 1

This is Creede...

... once a silver mining town high in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. We're here for a gig at Creede Repertory Theatre, but already, living here for a month feels like a gift. Fresh, cool, clean mountain air. Stunning scenery. Myriad trails for hiking and mountain biking. Clear lakes and rivers. Sunny mornings on the back porch with coffee in hand and birds singing, rabbits nibbling on wildflowers and grasses below, and this view (above) of the town, where we've met only the nicest people. Week 1 of our month here has been, well, pretty close to perfect. 

Our truck and teardrop parked outside our house -- actually Chere Waters' house. Chere owns Waters Gallery in town, where she showcases some beautiful and exceptional art created in Colorado and New Mexico. Chere is a wonderful, friendly, big-spirited human, and her house has that artsy, Laguna Beach vibe, which makes us feel right at home.

These pix (above and below) were taken on a hike above town called the Up and Over, which is a rite of passage for Creede Rep company members. It's challenging because of the elevation and altitude, but so worth losing your breath because of its stunning 360 degree beauty.

Creede's headwaters flow into the Rio Grande River, which defines the valley that heads in and out of town. We drove along the river for about 25 miles yesterday,, stopping here and there to get a closer look. Haven't broken out the fishing gear yet, but John's contemplating catching some trout.

He's mostly enjoying his free time exploring the valley on foot and on bike. 

One of his favorite spots so far: Seepage Lake (above). 

Stay tuned for week 2 and rehearsal pix.

Durango: Tevas and cowboy boots

After four days on the road and lots of storms, we spent a day and night in Durango, where we took advantage of more 21st century offerings, like showers, hotels and restaurants. We also made time for a rodeo and chuck wagon cookoff, before heading north to Creede.

The contestants pride themselves on authentic chuckwagons and costumes. I opted only for the hat.

The cowboy cooks shared a buttermilk biscuit hot from the dutch oven. It was like eating a moist, warm cloud of yeasty tenderness. Mmmm...

Mesa Verde - Part II

The second cliff dwelling we visited was Balcony House, which although smaller than Cliff Palace, is enthralling because it's so challenging to access it, requiring not only stairs and precarious pathways, but also an ascent up a 30-foot ladder.

It's amazing to think about people living here year-round, exposed to the weather, and having to climb up and down daily to access food and water (other than the rain that seeped into the cliff houses through the porous sandstone above). To help them, they carved hand- and toe-holds in the stone. And they did it all wearing yucca sandals.

Mesa Verde's Ancient Pueblos - Part I

It's summer, and we're on the road again, this time in the Southwest en route to Creede, Colorado. Not much to report from the hot desert of inland California and Arizona, although we did stop briefly to see cousin Ilene and her daughter, Skyler, in Phoenix, before heading north to Flagstaff for a picturesque afternoon/evening camping at Fort Tuthill County Park.

I was particularly thrilled by our return to Mesa Verde National Park, outside Cortez, Colorado. We had tried to visit in February, but the park was closed because of a snowstorm. Weather was stormy this time, too, but the cliff dwellings didn't disappoint. In fact, the thunder, lightening and rain made us appreciate even more what it must have been like to live outdoors year-round in this challenging climate and terrain.

A bit of history: the Ancient Pueblo people originally lived in underground pit houses on top of the mesa from about 500 AD, where they were the first Americans to settle and live in one place, at least for the growing season. With only minimal tools and no irrigation, they managed to plant and grow corn, beans and squash (the three sisters) to supplement their diet of wild game and berries.

The pit houses were built around a central kiva, which contained a fire pit for cooking and ceremony. Smoke was vented through a hole in the roof, which also served as ingress/egress on a wooden ladder. Above you can see into the kiva, which would have been topped by a roof of birch and pinyon pine timber. A short stone-wall deflector helped keep ventilated air from blowing out the fire.

After hundreds of years of living a semi-nomadic life on the mesa, people moved into cliff dwellings, building homes in naturally occurring alcoves in the sandstone cliffs below the mesa. Hundreds of these cliff dwellings still exist today, and they are absolutely spectacular.

One of the largest of the cliff dwellings, at 150 rooms, is Cliff Palace, which we toured with a park ranger. To access it, we had to climb down the cliff (on stairs), walk across its edge, and then use ladders to access various levels inside the structure. Look for the people in the photo below to get a sense of the enormity of the place.

All of the stone bricks were hand-carved using stone tools. Mortar was made from mud. Despite these "primitive" building practices, thousands of years after they were built, the walls remain straight and true with relatively little renovation needed.

More to come in the next post...

Cultural Tourism: Palm Sunday

Blessing of the palms at Church of the Immaculate Conception in Old Town San Diego.

Anza Borrego Super Bloom

A quick trip to the desert to see the beauty that the rain left behind...

Desert lilies.

Ocatillo

Beavertail cactus

Chuparosa

Cactus flowers

Brittlebrush

Arizona lupine

Barrel cactus

And why not hike when it's 98 degrees out? At least we found some shade in The Slot.

Of course, no matter where we go, we always love being in the teardrop, so I have to include these pix, too.

Happy Spring, everyone!

Navajo Art

Some contemporary art from my stop at the Navajo Nation Museum. I like the artists' sense of humor.

Santa Fe Stopover

Driving back to California, I made a point to visit Santa Fe, even if only for a few hours to stretch my legs and get a sense of place. I visited the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, browsed a few art galleries, and sought some spiritual strength for my travels in two of Santa Fe's most beautiful chapels.

Loretto Chapel. 

The Gothic-Revival style was modeled after St. Chapelle in Paris.

The "miracle" stairs that have no internal support. Learn more at http://www.lorettochapel.com/staircase.html

Apparently, the stairs were originally constructed without a banister. 

They seem to simply float on air.

The pictures below were taken in San Miguel Chapel, which claims to be the oldest church in America, built in the early 1600s of adobe brick and pine board. It's still used for mass today.

The altar was carved much later and stands on a wood floor built above the original dirt.

The large bell near the door originally hung atop the chapel, but after the adobe kept crumbling and the bell fell several times, it was moved inside. It's said that those who ring it will return to Santa Fe. I rang it.

This buffalo hide is thought to date back to the original chapel construction. 

Remarkably, despite hanging unprotected in the chapel, it retains much of its original design.

More info at http://sanmiguelchapel.org/

 Tomorrow: On to the Navajo Nation.