After three days of packing, cleaning, and making arrangements for closing one place down and opening up the other, we finally pulled out of Sedona to start the long drive back to Michigan, but way too tired to go very far. So we drove just a few hours, and stopped at the campground pictured below. It was in Gallup, New Mexico.
The scenery around Gallup contains a lot of big red rock buttes, and reminds me of Sedona a little bit. We had hoped to reach a state camp ground, but decided instead to pull into the first decent campground we could find. It was already dark, and all we wanted to do was plug in and go to sleep. Fortunately, our nice little Road Treck provided us with a heap more comfort than the wagon pictured above! I just don't know how those hardy pioneers did it, bumping over endless miles of desert in wagons like these, or covered wagons if they were lucky. They endured hardship we can hardly imagine. What a hardy bunch! We are all a bunch of softies by comparison. If we were the ones who had to go settle the West, it might still be in the hands of the Native Americans. Which would probably be a good thing!
As it is, we were saddened, as we drove in the fading light, by piles of rubble, rusting cars, tumbling down shacks, and assorted "stuff" lying around cluttering up what would otherwise have been a stark, yet beautiful landscape. The little towns we went through were ugly too.
How sad that with no more money, but a little more love of beauty and imagination and effort, they could have been nestled into the landscape in a way that provided shelter and took advantage of the environment in a respectful way. Poverty and ugliness are not necessary partners. I have been in very poor villages in Africa and India where people had very little indeed, but their dwellings and villages were pleasing to the eye, and fitting in their environment. Maybe someday people will remake those ugly towns, if they don't abandon them first. Of course, campgrounds like the KOA we stayed at don't exactly contribute to the beauty of a place. But they do provide a safe place with nice things like hot showers to make travel more pleasant. And they sometimes even do a bit of decorating!
The two statues are of the omnipresent Kokopelli, the legendary Native American trader and flute player who has become a tourist icon, but was once a symbol of the Hopi flute clan, I am told. They did add a certain kitsch like charm to the campground, along with the wagon, and the little statue of Liberty. It was certainly an "Americana" experience!
After a good night's sleep, we headed out the next morning, intending to cover more miles and end up at a nice state campground near the town of Santa Rosa (love that name!) on the other side of New Mexico. The forecast was not too good---dangerous cross winds, dust storms.
More about that tomorrow!
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