Day 133 & 134: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th April

Pancakes and bacon for breakfast in Telluride

Coming down the mountains in snow

Santa Fe, snow, and a cabin

Morning in Santa Fe

Plaza

Oldest Church in USA

Oldest House in USA

Art Galleries and architecture, including the 27 shades of brown 

New Mexico History Museum

Governor's Palace

Roswell UFO museum and research centre

Drive down to Carlsbad

Drive-in Cinema

Distance:

Total Distance:

We should have left Telluride much sooner. But who would leave the nice warm confines of a lodge to face the cold snowy world outside? Especially when you have blueberry pancakes, bacon, maple syrup, bananas, yogurt, and scrambled eggs? We had a good, solid, big, hot breakfast which lasted an hour more than had been planned. That was fine though- we had a long day of driving ahead of us.

Coming down and out of the mountains was beautiful. There had been a fresh blanket of snow over the land leaving everything clean and white and wintery. We drove through this snow, confident in our tour guide who grew up in Michigan. As elevation and exposure changed the snow would come and go, be thin or start coming down again in flurries. The mountains gave way to forests gave way to farm land gave way to rock formations and mesas gave way to winter desert plains. As we entered into New Mexico we were still high enough for the snow to be falling thick and fast. On a straight road in a relatively flat area we passed one large lorry jack knifed on the roadside and another car that had spun and crashed. We saw the drivers walking around at both sites. 

At Santa Fe we were thankfully staying in a tiny cabin which had a tiny heater. It wasn't much. Bunk beds, a little heater, table, chairs, veranda partially covered in a light powder of snow, a fire pit outside.

We huddled in the cabin for a time, getting what heat we could from our heater. 

For dinner we heated up he left overs that had built up, including beans and lasagne. By this point the cabin had actually started to heat up and we were all becoming sleepy. Everyone else went straight to bed, but I've done this cold living before. Showers were free and very hot, so I warmed up under the hot water then changed into thermals and pyjamas before curling up in my very warm, cosy sleeping bag.

The next morning we went out to Santa Fe. The snow/hail was falling but was only building up on plants and in cold corners. It was 1'C, due to build to 9'C at noon. We were all wrapped up warmly against it. This is how we entered the plaza of Santa Fe at 8:30am, before anything was open.

We did a quick look at the small plaza, took pictures of the outside of the Cathedral nearby then moved on.

The oldest church and house in The USA both sit next to each other in the city. The church has been changed, converted, and added to, but has been there since before 1600. It was based on mud, straw, and cattle dung, and much of the outside wall still is this combination. Stone buttresses have been added, a tower, a gift shop, but the centre is still the same. We were there too early to see inside though. 

The oldest house in the USA and its adjoining gift shop had just opened though. Only two rooms of the oldest house remain. There's a long history to this place. It's said to have been built upon a Native Indian dwelling in the Mexican/Spanish Adobe style with several rooms and two storeys. It was built of mud, straw, and cow dung, like the church, on a wooden frame. The wooden frame that presently remains has been carbon dated as around 400 years old. Then as time passed the extra rooms were removed or changed, walls crumbled, and the second floor became unsafe. 

Each section was taken apart in turn- just as gift shops have been built and rebuilt. This house has been designated the oldest house in the USA for over a hundred years. Along with the church this has drawn tourists, and thus people things can be sold to. Trinkets, jewellery, rugs, mini saints, fake fur hats, exotic feathers, ash trays, models, post res, mugs, etc. etc. It's all in there somewhere.

Santa Fe is famous for both its architecture and its art. Buildings here must fit into the distinctive New Mexico theme of 200 years or more ago, painted in a selection of 27 mud-like colours. This keep the idea of an outpost desert town- despite the freezing temperatures and Starbucks.

To explore both art and architecture we visited a road near the town centre where all of the art galleries are. There was a myriad of different arts in different mediums along the street. Statues in steel, some which moved in the wind, alongside stone, brass, and concrete creations. Paintings were displayed in Windows and on walls. Things chimed or twinkled with light. Horses, bears, people, landscapes, Eagles, abstract constructs, buffalo. It was interesting but we eventually had our fill. 

Cold and wanting a rest we dropped in at the Starbucks-not adventurous but we knew what we'd get and how much it would cost.

The New Mexico History Museum was great and I'd have spent far longer there than we did if I could have. We got split off from the girls so Mitch and I explored New Mexico's long history ourselves. Yes, long history. Even compared to European countries this part of America has been around for a long time.There was a little on the Native American history, but not too much is known. It was the Conquistadors of the Spanish that Veni Vidi Vici here first, nearly 600 years ago. They worked hard to be here, not just in various wars but just to grow food and survive. Then came more Europeans who fought over the place. No one ever really came out on top, culturally, though. Hence there are Native American, Hispanic, and European influences on Santa Fe.

Attached to the museum is the Governor's Palace. The original Governor's Palace. The building which was laid siege to by native indians after the Spanish invasions of the late 1500's. Since then its been changed little, other than redecoration. On the side facing the town square is a long veranda. This is now used by native indian peoples as a market place. They sit along the wall with blankets out before them showing off the jewellery and trinkets that they have hand made.
Inside the palace are a wide variety of treasures. One of the first rooms we entered had a large wall completely covered in ancient crucifixes from all across New Mexico. Another room had a tapestry made in honour of an early battle. There was arms and armour, an old postal carriage, items excavated within the grounds such as head collars and baskets. We simply didn't have time for it all!

At 12:45, having lost the girls, Mitch and I decided to leave to get back to the bus, which we were supposed to be at by 1pm. Surely the girls would decided the same-that that was our allotted meeting point and time. Once there we found ourselves waiting for the girls. As we ate lunch they appeared. They'd been waiting in the lobby for us to walk back together!

We drove south towards Carlsbad and the Texas border. Along the way, with a minor detour, was Roswell- the famous site of the "alien" landing. Well, we just had to go there! For a few dollars we entered the Rosell UFO Museum and Research Centre- a hall filled with an array of "evidence" and records of not just the original Roswell incident, but also other UFO sightings and alien encounters. They included exhibits about various films about extraterrestrials and UFOS, as well as quotes from high ranking statesmen and military men who apparently believe in aliens. Its hard to tell if they are being serious or if this is all tongue in cheek humour. Its all so silly and weird that you'd think it was a big joke. Yet they will be hosting this years convention for alien researchers, including lectures by university professors and other specialists.

We got down to our campsite near Carlsbad in good time. That evening we were going to one of the USA's remaining Drive-In cinemas. There was once thousands of these. but now there are only 8 left in the country. We picked "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2", drove around to a parking lot under a screen, and parked up. The receipt given to us had a frequency to set the bus radio to which blared out adverts. Around the parking lot were the other two parking lots, with their own screens. In the middle was a small building with the toilets and snacks. We shared a ginormous tub of very buttery popcorn and got small cups of soft drink. It was free refills on the drinks-who was going to buy the litre extra large? Oh, right, the people who were too fat to easily walk back for a refill.
We had a great night, sat in warm clothing on camp chairs, stuffing our faces with endless popcorn.

Day 139: House Party! Meeting up with another tour group

Friday 22nd April

Cabin in the woods

Dress up with thrift shop attire

A different group, mostly Brits

Corn hole

Chatting and drinking games

Early morning of hangovers and cleaning 

Distance:

Total Distance:

We arrived from Austin, Texas, in the middle of the afternoon. After driving through some confusing roads through the forests of the state park. Eventually we made it to a rather nice cabin, alone amongst the trees. It had 8 bunk beds, 2 double beds, a fold out double bed, a kitchen, an open veranda at the front, and a veranda at the back surrounded by fly netting. This was not only for the five of us. We would soon be sharing it with another group. They had started in New York, travelling across country, down to New Orleans, from which they were coming to us now.

We unpacked our gear before dressing up in the random bits of cheap clothing we had picked up from the thrift stores of Austin. Mostly we had managed to gather animal print outfits- which nicely surprised the other group as they arrived.

The other group was mostly Brits, with one Korean guy in tow.

We played "corn hole" for a while, our group having our own set. This game involves two wide wooden boards, each at a angle, with a hole in the middle. The boards are placed a distance apart and each player stands by a board, with four bean bags. Each then takes it in turns to throw bean bags. Getting a bag on the board is one point, and into the hole is three points. We'd gotten quite good at this over the last few weeks, so it was good to show off to another group.
(NB There's a few different ways to play Corn Hole, depending on State.)

We had a dinner of pasta and garlic bread, before having a quite British party of drinking and chatting, interspersed by both British and American drinking games.

Come the morning, as the first one up, I began the great clean up. Some how we managed to get the place back to ship shape before leaving, each group going our separate ways.

Day 135 & 136:Carlsbad Caves, New Mexico and into West Texas

Monday 18th & Tuesday 19th April

Carlsbad Caves

1.5km track, 800feet down

Caverns, rock formations, and bats

Drive into West Texas then Austin

Distance:

Total Distance:

We drove out to the small state park of the Carlsbad Caves. These caves are enormous, going 800 feet down. Normally everyone walks this distance down then gets a lift back to the surface. However whilst we were there the lift was broken. It was like the Grand Canyon all over again!

At the entrance to the caves is a small amphitheatre, facing the mouth of the cave. This is for the evening when one of the world's largest bat colonies leaves its roost. The bats swarm from the entrance hearing for the horizon to go eat. Videos at the information centre showed how the sky went black with the bats.

We descended down a number of switch backs into the dark. The sun light disappeared as the smell of guano intensified. In one direction the cave carried on- presumably this is where the bats are. We went in the other direction, going deeper. Steadily paths and switchbacks took us between features created in the caves by water slowly seeping through the rocks. All were lit by low level lights, orange to match the colour of the rocks. We passed great swarms of stalactites and fat round stalagmites. At moments we passed small pools of highly concentrated water. There were a lot of signs telling us what not to do- no touching, no going off track, no throwing pennies in the pools, no eating, no drink other than water. These are very important to have, but do you really need so many? Do Americans require so much reminding? So much controlling?

At the bottom was a 1.5km track through the cavern at the bottom. The loop goes around a huge number of a great variety of features, holes, and pools. In the low light pictures don't come out very well, but I did what I could.

It was nearly noon when we were finished and felt hungry. The only place one can eat in the caverns is a small cafe, with toilets, built into a corner of the caves. I wonder what they had to destroy to put that in there? We got a few sandwiches and cookies to share, then made the ascent towards the surface and a proper lunch.

After lunch we just had the long drive out to West Texas. We passed numerous small farms- far smaller than I ever expected to see in America. They had tiny combine harvesters in sheds, a few acres per field separated by ditches. Yet these sort of farms went on for most of West Texas. Seemed odd given everything I've heard of Texas.
Our campsite was a small place on the plains surrounded by tall grasses. We relaxed, made dinner, then just went to bed. Easy.

Day 137 & 138: Austin Texas

Wednesday 20th & Thursday 21st April

Ah, carp

Drive in to Austin, Texas

Hostel

Post office visit

Night out

Capital building

Wholefoods, the home of the rich but not famous

REI outdoor sports gear

Thrift stores

Distance:

Total Distance:

Like my father before me, I don't cry over much beyond sad books and the odd film. Mostly this is fine, but there are times when I wish I was like I was as a child. Able to sit in a corner and let it all pour out. Let the tears wash away my worries. But I can't. So, forced to bear the weight without a simple way to let it go, I carried on as best I could.
On Wednesday night I lost my wallet. At home that would have been fine. But here, in America, it left me penniless and vulnerable. I was so tired after so long away from any sort of home. I just wanted the trip to be over. Just wanted to go and be surrounded by family and friends. People I trusted, could depend upon.
In the end it would be ok. Not easy. Stressful and hellish, but ok.

It was another long drive to Austin, Texas, the state capital. The slogan for the city is "Keep Austin Weird", unusually. Unlike the usual view of Texas as a bunch of Bible bashing, redneck, cowboys, the city attempts to keep things different, slightly liberal, and modern. It's certainly not keeping up with Melbourne, Wellington, or even New Orleans, in this regard, but it seems likely to be worth the effort given the rest of the state.

We were staying in a small hostel by the river some distance from the centre of the town. Down the road was a small post office. I hoped to send a parcel home as I had done in the other countries. Just a few bits and pieces, presents, trinkets, nothing much. It was in a small kiosk that I found the couple who had been running the post office for many years. There was a drive by facility for anyone who didn't want to make the three strides from the parking inside. Within I found them to be having a small argument, surrounded by boxes. Beyond the desk that divided the public from the post was a small wash basket. From it came a tiny bark-a chihuahua poked its head out from underneath.
We had a good chat about dogs and travelling as a box was found for me. They weighed it as I filled out the paperwork. Then they, thankfully decided to warn me. It was going to cost over $70 to post it home! I wasn't even sending that much! In NZ or Aus it might have come to half, probably even less, than that. So no, that was off. I returned to the hostel and pushed the little package deep into my rucksack.

That night we went out into Austin. We wandered up and down the dark, dingy street, beign offered "cheap" "deals" by the few promoters. The girls weren't too keen on anywhere, but eventually we found somewhere and had a few drinks. We met up with a friend of our tour guide, and met a few students from the local university.
Later on in the evening the students would take us down to the Capital Building. this is the centre of governance for Texas state. It is designed based on the Capital Building in Washington D.C., but is a little bit bigger. Apparently everything in Texas has to be bigger.

It wouldn't be for a few days that I would decide that I must have lost my wallet in the taxi ride between here and the hostel.

The next morning we went to Wholefoods. This is a supermarket chain in America which specialises in selling the best of the best, for the appropriate price. Its not cheap, but it is good. As well as the normal supermarket area it has a self service deli area with a wide selection. We had soup, yogurt, thai, chinese, pasta, salad. it was all excellent.

Afterwards we went next door to REI. This outdoor sports shop used to believe it had such high quality goods as to offer a lifetime warranty on everything. If you bought a jacket from them you had a jacket for life. Should a zip fail or you tear the jacket they would replace it, free of charge, no questions asked. Apparently even if you simply didn't like something you could take it back and get an alternative. Now that warranty has gone down to one year-but the same rules still apply. The price is really good too- less than for similar items in the UK.

At this point I headed off to the Police Station to report my wallet missing. My tour guide didn't seem to understand why I would bother, nor did the police. I'd already rung the taxi company, another move people didn't seem to understand why I'd bother. This is America. No one cares. No one was going to hand it back in. They'd take the cash I had and probably throw the rest. This is the level of faith in humanity America turned me towards. In some ways the UK can be like this, but less than half the time. In Australia and New Zealand I never felt like this-everyone was always so helpful and happy. I'd had enough of this country a long time ago. This was getting to be too much.

Finally we headed to the thrift shops. This was to be prepared for tomorrow night. We would be dressing up for a party that we would be having with another Trek America tour group. The other group would come from the opposite direction, starting in New York, taking the shorter route than ours, going inland and down to New Orleans, then west towards us.

Day 129 & 130: Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Tuesday 12th & Wednesday 13th April

Forrest Gump running film set

Restful afternoon

Delicate Arch, symbol of Utah, sunset

Early morning Devil's Garden and Primitive Trail arches

Hummer ride with dinosaur footprints and sunset

Moab Brewery: Dead Horse

Distance:

Total Distance:

Turns out that the place where Forrest Gump stops his 2 1/2 year running spree was filmed just outside the Navajo Nation. So we ran on the road up the hill and got a photo each. 

That afternoon we had a rest in our new campsite at Moab.

In the evening we walked up to Delicate Arch for sunset. This is the symbol of Utah. It's on all of the car license plates

The following morning we would get up early to see the rest of this National Park. This is Arches National Park. It is aptly named- there are over 2000 stone arches in the park. We saw old, new, double, crumbling, and deep arches. We walked amongst them all and over this odd landscape.

Much of this desert area is made up of "fins". These are large long rocks all parallel to one another. Cracks are being eroded between these fins as wind and rain wash away the sandstone's surface. These fins have eroded in certain places, holes appearing in the rock, resulting in the arches.

No ones too sure how the arches are formed. The map for the national park came with one theory that this sandstone is formed on a layer of salt that is unstable and movements cause the rock to crack. This crumbles from underneath forming the arches. However most salt layers I've hear of are very solid and the sandstone erosion looks to be more based on wind and rain converting it to sand than the rock crumbling. I prefer the theory the locals, those who spend the most time on the rock.

The fins have a number of deepening round eroded holes in their sides. These are formed as wind blows between the fins resulting in eddies which wear away a specific area of rock. Over a relatively short time for geology the hole grows and widens. Eventually this either eats through the fin of a crack appears in the fin separating the arch from the fin- an example of which was shown to me later by a local.

Either way the place is filled with many weird and marvellous arches, some slowly being formed, others slowly crumbling away.

In the late afternoon we were riding in a Hummer!!!

To the south of the arches is a petrified desert. Here all of the petrified dunes form a great place for people to show off their off roading skills with mountain bikes, motor cross bikes, converted dune buggies, jeeps, and hammers. On the surface of he dunes distinct black lines appear. This are the main "roads"- tracks left as the rubber tyres gain traction on the rock.

The rock is nicknamed "slick rock". This is a historic name. In the days of carts and horses the carts had metal rims and the horses were all wearing metal shoes. Metal doesn't grip well to the sandstone. However rubber tyres do- they grip to the stone exceedingly well. 

This is why the undulating surfaces are so popular. The surfaces we went over with the Hummer were up to 55% but the low pressure specialist tyres kept us stuck to the rock. Our vehicle had 33 inch tyres and the chassis elevated 24 inches. Not only could we go up the slopes but also over the rocks and boulders that litter the area.

There were a few similar vehicles driving around. We got shots of Jeeps going up and over slopes and boulders, as well as converted dune buggies. There were also motor bikes and mountain bikes. It's only $5 to get a pass to drive on this terrain, so it's very popular. There are some minor concerns about the damage that might be done to the land. However people try to stick to the rocky areas-there's no grip in the sand- and in areas that are no longer used the sandstone is eroded away by natural forces that the black tyre tracks disappear within a few years.

It was a great ride although I think the two girls with us were hoping from something a bit faster and exciting. The other guy in our team is a mechanic working on mining machinery so just the Hummer was very interesting for him.

Whilst out we were shown the local rock formations, plants, and the Dinosaur prints. Yes, there are tons of Dinosaur remains in this area! In Moab there are a number of places selling fossils. Many fossils have been found here. Near where we drove, and where we would later watch sunset, there were a selection of fossilised footprints from large and small, carnivorous and herbivorous animals. 

That evening we went to the local brewery. Utah is a "dry" state. That used to mean no alcohol. Now it means limits on the percentage alcohol allowed to be bought from liqueur stores (light beers only) and all stores are manned by the police.

The catch to this is that breweries can bottle and sell their own. This means they can brew and sell what every they want. Even 10% beers. So we visited the the Dead Horse brewery. It was a really nice place with a merchandise shop and restaurant attached. We did stick out quite well, but had a couple of beers past our "just a quick one" plan. Great beer, great night out.

Day 128: Navajo Nation

Monday 11th April

Wind talkers display at Burger King

Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation

Big truck out to the mesas- film set of every Wild West film ever.

Display of Navajo rugs

Hogans, including the one we'd stay in

Sunset dinner

Display of Dog men, Medicine men dances, creation stories

Distance:

Total Distance:

Having packed up camp we made our way from the Grand Canyon down into the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation. The Navajo Nation is effectively a state in a state. They have their own laws and emergency services- I've written about the nation on Day 126.

This morning we stopped off on our way through at a specific Burger King. 

One of the factors that makes the Navajo Nation different is that they lost limited amounts of land to the Euro-Americans. Combined with good management by the Elders, such as banning alcohol and working with the film industry, they seem to have survived into the modern world relatively well. This has been resulted in the Navajo being patriotic about the USA. Part of this patriotism has resulted in Native Indians joining the military. It was during the Second World War that this became fundamental. 

It was decided to use the Navajo as radio operators for the Marines. A code was developed for them to use which has never been broken. The basis of the code is this.

Take a Navajo word

Translate it into English

The first letter of the English word is the letter

So Tank could be radioed as the Navajo words for Tree, Ant, North, and Knot (not these words used, but you get the idea)

They did also use Navajo words for specific, common, words. So infantry where Dog Faces and Tanks were Buffalo. 

The reasons the code is so hard to crack is firstly because the Navajo language is unrelated to the languages of the old world and novel for the world, so would not have been considered by the Japanese code breakers. Secondly it is based on two unrelated languages so there's no cohesion within the code.

The Japanese broke every other code used by the USA but never the Marines code.

Of course one of the limitations was the need to use Navajo- they were the only ones who could understand the code. They did it well, with limited training other than having to qualify for the Marines. The first class was of 29 Navajo, and later classes expanded on this.

Where the Burger King comes in is that the Manager has a grandfather who was a "Wind Talker" or "Code Talker"- the name given to the Navajo Radio Operators. He has a large collection of articles from the Pacific Theatre. This includes a collection of captured Japanese flags and a belt of a thousand stitches- a sacred warding garment made for Japanese troops to magically stop bullets, a very rare, precious item.

This afternoon and evening we would be staying in the Monument Valley Park. This is a national park of the Navajo Nation. It is were nearly every western since the days of John Ford and John Wayne right up to "A Million Ways to Die in the West" has been filmed here. All those big red, square, blocks of rock? The knee high desert bushes? The erratic rocks to stand on in an awesomely theatrical macho manner? That's the stunning Monument Valley. It is the old west for pop culture. 

It's also a beautiful place to be. There are Navajo still living in the park, despite having no electricity or water supply. I can understand why. It's got that great mix of open spaces with the great edifices, the big red monuments, that give the park its name and fame. No wonder it's been used to for all of the films.

We were also taken to some of the Navajo's ancestors favourite spots. These included a large spherical hole in a cave which acted as an amphitheater, where our guide played his newly made drum and sang. Afterwards there was a protected collection of petroglyphs- artwork carved into the surface of the rock around 3000 years ago. Primarily the pictures we saw were of what looked to be big horn sheep, or possibly goats.

We were picked up by a Navajo called Ron. He picked us up in a large SUV with a converted rear section which has two benches to sit on high up to see the park better. We would stop at various sites for photos and to have a walk around. 

He took us over to a place where locals sell handmade jewellery and food to the tourists. They even had a horse that could be taken out onto a rocky outcrop for John Wayne style photos to be taken either of a local on the horse, or for a more you can sit on the horse. It's quite touristy, but that's the point. 

Afterwards we were taken to see Navajo rug making and rugs. These are made of wool using various original and traditional designs. There was also a rug-dress, a rug with a central hole like a poncho, with a rope tied around the waist. Today some Navajo girls wear these at special occasions, such as graduation, but with a light robe underneath as the woollen rug can be uncomfortable. In the same Hogan were more jewellery and horse hair pottery. This pottery is a white china but horse hair is passed across it whilst still warm straight as it comes out of the kiln. This causes the hair to burn and leave irregular black lines across the pottery.

The Hogan was next to ours. "Female" Hogans are huts built from wood (without nails) starting with 9 short pillars to symbolise the 9 months of pregnancy, then with about 8 inches of mud over the top. The hut is domed with a hole in the centre of the roof and a fire in the centre. This keeps the single room warm. Women sleep on the right, as you walk in the door, and men on the left. These are the Hogans they used to live in.

"Male" hogans are used for ceremonial purposes. They are like he female ones but with an extended door way like a long porch.

There are also little Sweat Hogans. These are like saunas, with a fire being lit outside to heat rocks which are then put inside and water added create steam. These might be used communally or singularly.

Tonight we would be staying in a female hogan of our own. We had a little stove to keep us warm. The floor is sand so we brought our tarps and mats to sleep on. Outside was an outhouse. Which had no door. But it did face some beautiful scenery. 

Our dinner for the evening was a Navajo-Mexican dish of fried bread, beans, salad, cheese and steak. We ate this under the Rock of the Rain God which features a cliff streaked with black and white vertical lines.

After dinner our guide, Ron appeared in his competition Medicine Man regalia. He performs Navajo dances, as do his two daughters, at a high competitive level. Normally he comes in his second rate regalia but the day before he'd been to a competition so had his best with him. It was a big comp. He came second. He knows what he's doing.

A Navajo Elder came along too. He played his drum and sang as Ron danced. He also told us about the history of some of the dances, their meanings, as well as some of the creation stories of the Navajo. This included the many stories of how the cayote went from being the most gorgeous, energetic animal in the world to the creature it is today, as well as how it put the stars into the sky.

In the morning we watched the sun rise over the features of the desert. I'm not a sunrise person. That's well established. This was truly beautiful though. Well worth getting up for. 

The modern American breakfast spoiled the day somewhat though. Fruit salad cup and a bowl of cereal. It wasn't until I'd had my breakfast that I realised both the fruit salad with "extra light syrup" and cereal were each about 1/3 sugar. Even the milk had 12g of sugar in it per cup. I totalled about 50g of sugar in just breakfast. And people feed their kids this stuff everyday. What's wrong with you? I don't eat much sugar normally so I had a massive sugar low a few hours later. Since then I've been watching how much sugar is in stuff. The corporations here have managed to keep the main focus on fat. Calories are marked per serving but also what comes specifically from fat, as well as large ads for minimising fat content. However most low fat products replace the fat ingredients with sugary substances such as corn syrup. The body converts these sugars into fats- so it doesn't make any difference in the end! Well, it does, because of insulin. Fatty foods and complex carbs result in a slow insulin increase and decrease giving slower release of energy. Sugar on the other hand results in a spike in insulin which causes glucose in the blood to fall dramatically, the body putting it into storage, resulting in a low energy levels and a need to eat more. Maybe more sugar. Another insulin spike, plus more calories. 

No wonder there's so much diabetes in modern America

Day 131 & 132 : La Sal Mountains

Thursday 14th & Friday 15th April

Ride out to Dead Horse Point

McDonald's

Drove up to Telluride

Lodge

Walk around Telluride

Evening in by the fire

SNOW!

Late morning on the wifi

Others go out to town- I do paperwork

Walk up a track in the hill in the snow

Snowman and playing in the snow

Chicken and bacon dinner

Distance:

Total Distance:

Before we left Moab we had a quick morning run out to Dead Horse Point.

This high piece of land is formed in a meander of the Colorado River. It is surrounded by cliffs and the connection between point and main land is very narrow. Thus it was used as a place to catch wild horses. Large crews of men would gather them up and her them down to the point. From here the best horses were selected and extracted to be transported to people's ranches. The rest were left where they were.

But horses base most of their behaviour on fear. They remember that which has scared them, and when and where it occurred. All of the pent up fear from being herded hit them deeply. They didn't voluntarily move from the point, even once them men had gone. So they stayed there and died from dehydration, leaving the place littered with bodies.

And that's how it got the name.

It a nice enough place, but we didn't do much in the way of walking, it was cold, and early in the morning- so it wasn't as good as the other national parks we've been to.

Back in Moab one of our crew wanted to get breakfast at McDonald's. Not too different from NZ, although 20 chicken nuggets costs only $4 which is so cheap it scares me. Though it didn't stop me taking the last few Mitch couldn't finish.

From here we were driving towards the Rocky Mountains. 

From Moab we could see the La Sal Mountains. La Sal comes from the Spanish for Salt. Spanish explorers saw them from near the Moab area and thought all of the white stuff was salt, apparently. Really? They didn't know about snow on mountains, nor realise that salt dissolves easily and would soon be washed away? Maybe they truly believed that and were idiots/dehydrated. Or maybe it was just a nickname and it's stuck.

We drove up into the mountainous region until we finally came upon the tourist town of Telluride ("Telly-Ride"). This is a quaint little town of early 1900s architecture surrounded by mountains, pine trees, and snow. It hosts skiers in winter and hikers, mountain bikers, and the lazy people who appreciate a view in winter. Oh, and rich people. House and accommodation prices are ridiculous. We looked at a few $5million houses at the real estate office window. You don't get much, but it looks great.

We had a large lodge-flat. It's part of a complex of flats but which look like 2 storey lodges on the inside. It was big and beautiful and luxury after 9 days in cold tents. In addition we arrived during the "penalty box"- the 2 week period when the town switches from winter season to summer season. The winter locals and staff leave before the summer locals and staff arrive. This leaves half of the shops shut and only the true locals hanging around.

We had a walk around town, checking in on shops and various places before returning to our nice warm flat.

We couldn't get the wifi to work, which was something of a blessing. We had a nice night in by the fire, eating lasagne, and watching TV. Utter luxury after the freezing campsites. Our only concern was our tour guide. He didn't come back for dinner. He's the most experienced, he should know what he's doing and not get in trouble. I'd seen him outside on the phone just after we'd come back from town. Where was he? He returned at 10pm-he'd fallen asleep in the minibus!!!

The next morning we awoke to SNOW!!!

There had already been the reminents of winter left littering the town and mountains. Now we had a half inch and more steadily falling. It was beginning to bring the temperature down enough to settle everywhere and would continue to do so until we left.

Our guide had got the wifi working so we had a morning of catching up on everything internet related that hadn't been done in the past week (emails home, photos, updates, etc.). After this we had bacon and eggs we'd bought specially knowing we'd have a proper kitchen at Telluride.

The others had a few things they wanted to get from town and I had a heap of paperwork to get started on so we organised to meet back up for a late lunch at the lodge. As I worked away in the warmth they were steadily getting covered in an entertaining and novel amount of snow. They arrived back like walking snowmen. The landscape around us had become powder white and has become a winter wonderland.

After lunch we walked up a track into the forest. Ahead of us a local guy was putting on his cross country skiies and slid away. Maybe if the shops and slopes had been open we'd have gone skiing, but without lifts nor skiies we were more than happy enough. We plodded through the snow up hill, having minor snowball fights and jumping into snow drifts. As we got higher we found a place to build a snowman. We moved higher, making snow angels and burying Mitch the Aussie in snow. We reached the clear patch under a ski lift. Here I climbed up the slope until e snow was over my thighs, this was high enough to roll down. Well, we didn't even have a sled! After this we were cold and hungry enough to go back to our fire.

That evening our guide, Don, made cheesy potatoes (like nachos, but with diced potato) and the girls, Laura and Ness, made something amazingly tasty. Bits of chicken breast rapped in bacon, stood on their end for cooking in the oven with homemade garlic butter on top. They were great. Mitch and I did the washing up.