The grill in the Best Western serves an excellent Beef & Bean Burrito w/ green and red sauce poured over curly french fries. It's too much.
Zane Graze Cafe and News
Olde Town, Albuquerque
The cafe in the middle of Olde Town serves an excellent order of Nachos Supreme and a delicious burger called the Green Chili Cheeseburger. This restaurant reminded us so much of Mexico it was scary. It was not the cleanest place in the world, but good food.
The "BEST" of the "Marathon"
The best of the Marathon of National Parks leads off with Canyon de Chelly. (de shay) Although access to the canyon is limited, even from the rim the views are spectacular. The sheer flat walls rise 600-800 feet above the canyon floor and are a burnt red in color. There are also cliff dwellings which are very well preserved, lining the walls.
Walnut Canyon is also a site to behold. A narrow 4' walkway traverses around an "island" mountain, 600 feet from the bottom of the canyon. We climbed down from the Visitor's Center on steps to reach the walkway. Indian cliff dwellings abound in this National Monument. We wondered why anyone would want to climb this far up to go home. Steve Smith (Fire Department) should put this place on his itinerary. Some of these Indians must have been Bighorn Sheep.
Wupatki is a preserved Pueblo from early times. It has been restored in some places because the sandstone construction is not stable. Wupatki is quite a large single pueblo, but not the largest. Chaco Culture is just huge. The only problem with Chaco Culture is a road that comes in from the south. It's a road that will shake everything you have with you until it rattles including your teeth. There is, however, a road that enters the park from the North.
Petrified Forest National Park is the largest collection of petrified wood in the world, and well worth the visit there. We spent 4 hours there looking at petrified wood and just admiring the "badlands" found there.
While the town of Sedona, Arizona is not a National Park, a trip to this city is well worth the time. It is surrounded by red rock mountains, and all the buildings are of Spanish adobe architecture.
Another issue of a Newsletter
called GOIN' SOUTH by
Bill and Sharon Rocheleau
710 E. Smith Street
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
TO: OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS
ANYTOWN, USA
Cadillac What?
By Sharon
Our first siting of the "Ranch" was our trip to Texas in June of 1993. We drove by it at that time, not having time to stop. We may have a blurred picture, but I'll have to check our albums. This time when we drove by, our campground was only 2 miles past, on the service road. We could hardly wait to park, hook-up and drive back to see "the ranch".
When we checked in at our campground, (SunDown RV Park) our host told us a few facts about Stanley Marsh 3. She said the ranch had been moved in November of '97. He told the Amarillo Press that his Cadillacs "talked" to him and said they felt crowded where they were and wanted to be moved. So in November, he moved them a few miles west, in an open farm field, same highway, same county as THEY requested. Sure enough, we found them resting nose down, rear end up, as they requested. They are now spray painted with graffiti from an earlier senior class from Amarillo a few years ago. When it happened, the press questioned Stanley about it and he said, "It shows you that today's youth knows how to treat its shrines." You can see where tourists have taken knives to the tires to take home a souvenir. We only took home videos, snapshots and memories as everyone should.............no matter how sacred or important any "site' is. Incidentally, the Cadillac Ranch is 10 cadillacs buried nose down in the ground just outside of Amarillo, Texas. For those who haven't seen it, make it a point at some time.
GAMES
For the past three issues I have been playing a little game with you. Each issue has been unique with something that I've done with the 1st page. I don't know how many of you have caught it, but if you threw away your past issues you won't figure it out. I thought Rod Theisen (Fire Department) would figure it out immediately. I'll have to see if he did when I get home. If you want to cheat, the answer is at the bottom of this page. If not, wait until next year. Every other letter is the answer.
