Bluewater Lake State Park, Prewitt, NM; April 8-13, 2014

On the way to Bluewate

On the way to Bluewater

To Bluewater - houses beneath the rocks

It seems as though the country just gets more and more beautiful the farther west we go. I am constantly awed by it. Our campground is only six miles off the interstate, but 40 miles from the nearest town. In that six miles, the road winds up into the Zuni Mountains and is at the peak elevation of 7,400 feet. The oldest rocks exposed at Bluewater Lake State Park are sandstone and were deposited about 145-168 million years ago at the base of the canyon, which may be seen just a short walk 

On the way to Bluewater

from our site. It feels as though you are a hundred miles from any where. The campground is on open range, which means the camp sites are not off-limits to the wild horses and cattle roaming around and you need to watch where you step. It is a bit of a stark campground and has had its share of difficulties – the rangers have had to lock the restrooms at night due to the vandal activity, but they do leave the pit toilets open. There is little shade here, and the campground is all on a slope, so leveling an RV is a bit of a challenge but during our stay, the weather was cool (27 degrees one morning and only 50 by 9:30!) and delightful. The main plants 

Beautiful beadwork by modern artist

are cottonwood trees, piñon (peen yawn') pines, and juniper and the birds abound. I got photos of a few but have only identified a Western Bluebird. What a pretty thing that was!

Since we were so far from anywhere, we only went to Gallup once, but it was a delightful and yummy day. We visited the Gallup Cultureal Museum, which is housed in the restored 1918 Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Station, and showcases the art and history of native peoples of the area as well as the building of the railroads and westward expansion. There are also beautiful baskets, pottery, Kachina dolls, beadwork, and other art forms created by modern day

Pretty mosaic-like picture?

Native craftsmen. Outside the front of the building stand two statues – one of revered Navajo chief Manuelito, and the other of a code talker from WW II. It was quite a depiction of two Navajo men, both warriors but widely divided by time and methods.

Chief Manuelito was one of the principal war chiefs of the Dine' people before, during, and after the Long Walk Period ( 1864 deportation of the Navajo people by the United States of America. Navajos were forced to walk up to 

Made of cardboard!

thirteen miles a day at gunpoint from their reservation in what is now Arizona to eastern New Mexico. Some 53 different forced marches occurred between August 1864 and the end of 1866. [from Wikipedia.org])

The story of the “Navajo Code Talkers begins in 1940 when a small group of Chippewas and Oneidas became a part of the radio communications 32nd Infantry Division. Soon after, Sac and Fox tribes joined in the ranks as combat radiomen. The complexity of Navajo linguistics allowed it to become an ideal choice to be used in code due to the lack of documentation made available for learning to speak the language and ability for the same words to mean multiple things based on sound. The legacy of the Navajo Code Talkers will continue as many documentaries and stories have been shared about their journey since it’s declassification during Reagan’s Administration.” (from http://navajocodetalkers.org/) Working around the clock during the first two days of Iwo Jima, six networks of Navajo code talkers transmitted more than 800 messages without error. Major Howard Connor avowed that without the code talkers, Iwo Jima would never have been taken by the Marines.
After our time at the cultural center, we stopped at Bill Malone's Trading Post. I was a

Horse and Native American woman

Beautiful baskets

Beautiful pottery

Sand painters

Warriors of different times

Old adobe buildings in Gallup

bit apprehensive at first, after all the times I had heard about trading posts having low quality items and touristy junk, but oh, my! There were so many beautifully made pieces of quality turquoise jewelry, hand-woven rugs, beautiful baskets, and intricate bead work that it took my breath away. From what I could tell, the prices were very realistic, and the items worth every penny. In spite of the daughter of the proprietor having no expectations of a big sale, she spent time with us, told us about some of the pieces and artists, and we discussed two of my favorite artists - old man L'leeyka and Charles Loloma. I saw some of their pieces back in the early to mid 1970's and am still

Mountain bluebird?

drooling. L'leeyka carved exquisite fetishes and I just looked up a ring on the web made by Loloma and it was only $12,500 – guess I should have bought that magnificent bracelet back in '72 for a few hundred dollars when I had the chance...

From Malone's Trading Post we went Genero's Café, an absolutely amazing Mexican 

Wildflowers

restaurant we found on TripAdvisor and what a meal! We had green chili stew, tamales, and chili relleno's with posole, but, unlike the soup we are accostomed to, it was plain hominy that had been cooked in pork stock, drained and served – fluffy, fat white hominy kernels that were bursting with flavor. And the salsa? It was the most flavorful we have ever eaten. Near nuclear in heat, but fantastic.

As we wandered through downtown Gallup, we saw the murals on buildings painted by local Native Americans. There were nine murals and all were evocative of life in Gallup 

Canyon near our site

through the years and the Native American heritage.

It was a wonderful day and sometime I'd like to return, but now it's time to move on. Next stop: Root 66 outside Holbrook, AZ. Another new state for me!