Finding Arizona

Best breakfast ever

June 6 – This was more a travel day than anything, and I began it by leaving Kanab and heading south. That is, I left after having my favorite breakfast at my favorite restaurant in Kanab - Enchiladas Huervos at Nedra's Too.  I knew I wanted to be close to Arcosanti, my destination for Saturday morning, so I decided I’d find a campground around Flagstaff, which is just an hour or so north of there.

Vermillion Cliffs

            I took the scenic route, which runs just north of the Grand Canyon, then swings over past the Vermillion cliffs. It’s a beautiful drive, and I was in no hurry. This is Navajo Reservation land, and as most reservation land is, was hot and dry – the government was always especially adept at choosing the most inhospitable land possible for our continent’s indigenous people. (Watch the Ken Burns’ documentary called “The West” for a look at how the Native Americans were treated.)

More Vermillion Cliffs

            There were a lot of roadside businesses that had closed as various highways replaced the road as a main thoroughfare. One of these businesses, in the small town of Gray Mountain, caught my eye as some shirtless Native American boys were cavorting around in front of it. As I looked over, I saw it was advertising a car wash. Having had children who washed cars as fundraisers and having a car that was filthy with red dust from my days in the canyon lands of Utah, I turned around and went back.

Getting a much-needed bath

            It turns out the fundraiser was for the boys’ basketball team, and the moms were the ones doing the washing. They did a great job and I gave them a little more than the $5 they asked for the wash, and visited with them a bit. I know how expensive it gets taking your kids to ball games all the time, and I was glad I could contribute a little. Besides, my car looked a whole lot better when I pulled back on to the highway.

            At little farther down the road, I noticed a sign for Wupatki National Monument and decided I might as well check it out. It is a small National Monument and is adjacent to its sister monument, Sunset Crater Volcano NM.  Wupatki consists of a number of ruins, inhabited approximately 800 years ago by the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. They were so interesting – the houses were intricate with many rooms, and I was amazed how much cooler it was within the rock and mud walls. The main ruin, a large structure on top of a hill, had a large outside gathering space, a ball court, and it was located next to a blow hole – an air vent from deep underground where air either escapes or is drawn in. Walking through these ruins made me think of the idea of sacred ground.

            I’ve written about the concept of sacred ground before, and in that piece I talked about how I find it’s all sacred at its core. That said, I appreciate and honor those who have sacred spaces of their own, whether it’s an ancestral home, a cathedral, or a homeland. But really, I can’t believe any ground is more or less sacred than any other. It is all a part of us – it is all one with us. I really believe we need to treat ALL ground, all the earth, as sacred. Respect for others necessitates that we must honor the places that have been designated as sacred by this group or that, and we must honor the places that have not. In honoring, we honor and nurture ourselves.

            After exploring this monument, I drove on to Flagstaff. I had business at REI to replace my watch, and I wanted to use the WiFi at a McDonalds. I sat quite a while at McDonalds waiting for some things to back up, and interacted briefly with some of the many homeless people there. I was happy to see that McDonalds didn’t run them off – clearly they needed a place to sit and rest. Some were eating, some asked people for money (which I couldn’t help but give) and one woman, as I sat in my car just before leaving, approached me and asked if I had an extra blanket. I didn’t, but after a little thought, I realized I brought three sweatshirts with me and I could certainly spare one of those. I felt better, later that night when I put on my sweatshirt and sweatpants, knowing she would be warmer too.

            I found a county campground just on the south end of Flagstaff, near the fairgrounds. After finding a spot, I noticed how many people brought dogs with them there. Then I realized there was a dog show the next day. I visited briefly with a slightly unfriendly woman walking her slightly unfriendly Dalmatian and a very friendly man walking a very friendly bloodhound. I kind of fell in love with that dog. A big, sweet dog, he allowed me to rub and pull on his loose skin. The man, his handler, had me pretend to be a judge as the dog has only been showing a short while. He is a working search and rescue dog and has found more than 50 people in his career. The man also showed me his four Tibetan Terriers or something like that, and they were little happy mops. I wished I didn’t have to be at Arcosanti so early – it would have been fun to watch some of the show.

This was my first night camping in Arizona except right on Lake Powell, and I was a little disappointed that they are under fire restrictions right now. There has been a huge fire, not far from Flagstaff  and near Sedona, that just now, after a few weeks, is 100 percent under control. It is all very dry here, and the fire danger signs all register “Extreme.” Understandably, I doubt I’ll have a fire as long as I’m in this state. But I still was able to sit near my tent and write a little, enjoying the cooler air and the clear skies.

 

June 7 and 8 – I spent the weekend at Arcosanti, an “urban laboratory” created by architect Paolo Soleri, who was intent on correcting urban sprawl. It is an experimental project, and it is constantly under construction with volunteers and interns living and working there. The idea is to combine architecture with ecology, making sustainable, ecological living spaces. It is in the desert, approachable on a rough gravel road and surrounded by rocks and hills, and it is beautiful. The temperatures reach 100 degrees during the day already, and there is no air conditioning, but the structure of the buildings and the materials allow for natural cooling.

I had VIP tickets, so attended this intimate concert

Free chapstick from these girls

This weekend was the annual Juneteenth Jazz Splash Jazz Festival, celebrating music and freedom. I purchased a special ticket that included a night’s stay at the facility, and listened to jazz all weekend. It was a relaxing and enjoyable few days, and I visited with some musicians about their music and their lives. I ate some traditional Ethiopian food and some down-home barbeque. I made some friends and exchanged numbers, and I bought a few trinkets for some friends at home.

Charles McPhereson

One of the views from Arcosanti

It was a lovely weekend, and it was great to sleep in a bed and have a bathroom right in my room, but I was quite glad to leave and head back to a campground and the wilderness. I did a lot of walking and climbing stairs at Arcosanti – it’s multi-leveled and you can’t go anywhere without climbing or descending stairs, and my room was about a quarter mile walk down a hill, so I got some activity in. But I’m ready for some more hiking and some solitude, and, of course, I’m getting it.