We left home last Friday, December 27th heading to Yuma, AZ
then to Quartzsite ("Q") to meet up with our friends for the annual
"Q" get-together.
Stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, Charlies, in Las
Vegas, NM for a late
breakfast/early lunch. There is a large mural downtown depicting the history of
the town.
Here are the first two panels that clearly depict the
Spanish conquest of the southwest and of the Indians.
I read a very interesting history book recently. Civilization: The West and the Rest by
Niall Ferguson. He goes into great
length about the cruelty of the Spanish Conquistadors to the Indians they encountered in their relentless search for
gold and silver. A very interesting
book. As we drive through "Indian Country" our here, it's hard to not
recall the cruelty our American ancestors imposed on the native population
during the great western expansion of the 1800's. Not sure we were much better then the Conquistadors. Carol and I are
rereading some of the Tony Hillerman mysteries. The setting is the Navajo
Nation. We read them years ago when we first started traveling in the
southwest. A very interesting and informative way to learn about this part of
the country. The story is fiction but
the geography, and Navajo Indian information, is quite real. Hillerman's research was right up there with
James Michener.
We arrived in Yuma
on Monday the 30th and went to the BLM camping area; Fortuna Pond
(32.72395 -114.45423). It's a free area where you park right on the
pond. The dirt road running around the
pond is hard enough for Carols scooter so we walked the pond two or three times
a day. The plan is to stay here until we
head up to "Q" next week.
As would be expected, whenever
there is water in a desert, there are lots of birds. We saw a Roadrunner, Kingfisher,
herons, a Northern Goshawk(we think), an Osprey and an assortment of
blackbirds. The Osprey caught a fish right in front of where we were sitting.
New Years Day, 2014.
We made it up to ten last night talking about what a
wonderful year 2013 was for us. We tried to recall when the last time we rang
in the New Year at midnight might have
been but our collective memory didn't go
back that far. At any rate, we agreed
that 2013 was one of our best years ever. We sold the Fort
Pierce house and moved to Longmont.
Given our age and everything that's involved in selling and moving cross
country we were very proud of that accomplishment. It's just so wonderful to be
near Suzanne and her family. We talk about it constantly.
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| New Years Day. 2014 |
The plan is to hang our here until next week. Do one last WalMart and Fry's grocery store
shopping. Get caught up on the laundry, top off the propane tank then head to
"Q". We expect to stay there through early February. After that our plans are uncertain.
Happy New Year everyone.
Ed and Carol and Gopher the Dog.
