Trail Canyon Ranch

Trail Canyon Ranch, owned by my Aunt Pati and Uncle David, is in Cortez, Colorado.  Snugly situated in a valley between two mountains, there's about 500 acres to explore.  Amagad, it is simply sublime.  Please, book a stay there.  You would adore it and Pati and David are some of the loveliest people known.  You don't even have to leave their property to hike, bike, climb, stargaze, and see ancient glyphs and ruins!  We stayed here every night, 'cept one, and it served as home base.  Lucky, lucky us.

After our arrival, the very first thing we did after hugging my aunt and uncle's neck was hop on some bikes and ride up the mountain to check out the waterfall before sundown.  We really needed to move after being in the car for two days.

The cottonwoods have turned their brilliant yellow.  Just so's you know, anywhere there is a cottonwood, there is water.

See ATM there?

Atop:

My aunt & uncle's home @ dusk.  They get to live here!

They've got six horses and a couple of burros.  Not really suitable for riding as they are mostly adopted wild horses or aged.  My Aunt Pati is a master rider and trainer.  

We did do a little shit shovelin'.  Can't go to a ranch and not do it!  

This is Sherman, a one and a half year old wild mustang, recently adopted.  He is jumpy as all hell, but really sweet once you gain his trust, usually with treats in hand.  Up close, you can see his silver coat coming through.  Our casita is behind his corral.

Our solar-powered casita!  We had total privacy here.  Lots of quality details within.

View from the kitchen window:

Ceiling:

Love the Navajo rugs adorning the walls and this one from Afghanistan:

Detailed:

View from the shower:

Bits and pieces found on the property:

Pati and David's house:

Can't forget the dogs!  Here's Chancellor and Winston, a rescued res dog:

Hermann (foreground), Chancellor & Winston:

That Winston is lounging like Marilyn Monroe there! That's my Uncle David:

On the morning of our last day, we climbed up the mountain to explore a cave that had ancient soot and corn cobs inside. The corn has been examined by a corn expert (Yes, there is such a thing and is this lady's life work to examine ancient corn!) and she determined it to be about 1,500 years old. It was an extremely moving experience to visit where ancient Puebloean people have tread.












Winnie came with us:









Photo by ATM



Sandstone alcoves:



We climbed higher to take photos of the ranch:



Although it afforded us great views/photos of the place, it was really stupid to climb that high without an adequate water supply.  High altitudes + extreme aridity + no cellular service = city slicker danger.  There are no trails, so you would sometimes have to double back just to ascend/descend a few yards. Footing is iffy and I actually sprained my left ankle.  Cactii, yucca plants, scorpions, and tarantulas abounds.  Also, the mountains are deceptive in that they look easy to conquer.



Migration season for these things:


That evening, we hopped on the ATV to run up to the waterfall, allowing our trip to come full circle. ATVing is so. much. fun.






I look and feel like a 32 y.o. here. It's a wonderful thing:



Last look @ the falls:



Still have a lot to share.

The drive between Farmington, NM and Cortez, CO

Tucumcari neon

and novelties

Cadillac Ranch : dawn, 15 Oct 2011, Pt. II

Photo by ATM

Cadillac Ranch : dawn, 15 Oct 2011

There's a lot to process, so I'm going to trickle-feed.


Cadillac Ranch

October 2011 Top 10

1.  Lifted directly from a letter I wrote to Collin:

"I’ve been drinking on some root beer lately.  Virgil’s is my preferred brand of choice.  I learned today that they SELL IT IN LITTLE KEGS.  What.  Heavenly.  Anyway, I often get to thinkin’ how nice it would be to try brewing my own batch of root beer.  Taking it further, I think that I’d like to brew a FEMINIST root beer.  Well, why not?  I got on the internet and plugged “feminist root beer” in the search box and ‘lo and behold!  No results!  Could I be a first?  So, I shared my idea with Andrew and he did not flinch.  I think I’ll have to wait a couple of paychecks to start this project, but I am beyond excited.  I wonder if you can ship bottles in the mail.  OR, you could just come home and get some home brewed feminist root beer from your dear old friend..." 

Even if it was in jest, as soon as I let known my intentions, a person I know said he wanted to make the antithesis of feminist root beer.  I wanted to laugh to keep from cringing, but it really wasn't funny to me.  Reproductive freedom is still being threatened to this day, which is no laughing matter.  Sadly, in the U.S., feminism is not even on the back burner, it's off the stove.  Sort it out, people!  Sip on a refreshing brew whilst you ponder the importance of gender equality and how to make everyone, not just girls and women, smarter, safer, and healthier, the world over.

Regarding the root beer itself, I think I'll have to experiment with the ingredients.  I tried a root beer last night that had cinnamon in it, which was an unexpected, but lovely twist.  I wonder that if you use molasses, do you use less or more than regular sugar?  I know for certain I'll use Mountain Valley Spring Water to give it genuine Arkansas flavor.  Very much looking forward to this project.

2.  The Ettes.  I can't get enough of them and I have a massive crush on Poni, the drummer.

 02 I Can't Be True by fear_ants

Their video for Excuse, directed by Tom Scharpling:

3.  Veganomicon <---I treated myself to the alleged best vegan cookbook ever.  With a great title like that, how can you go wrong?  Our goal is to actually cook from it.  As people who are try to go meatfree 95% of the time, we are also trying to cut back on the bread and cheese and focus more on grains and vegetables.  I think this is a great way to get to there.  Too, I used tarragon for the first time.

4.  Telegrams

5.  LR Cream.  I know how it looks.  So, the guitarist is my husband!  I can be sincere when it comes to his work.  LR Cream is the best band in Little Rock.

6.  True Blood.  Damnit, I haven't enjoyed watching such trashy television in a long while.

However...

7.  Road trip!  We're headed West soon.  Route 66, Cadillac Ranch, and sparsely situated gas stations.  Americana, for better or worse.

8.  Halloween --> My birthday --> Los Dias de los Muertos, a mystical four days strung together.  KMHD is really pushing for me to be Jack Burton for Halloween, which is a riotous idea.  I am seriously considering it.  Working out a loose plan to celebrate my 33rd birthday -- there will definitely be cake.  Thinking about calling over my friends, ordering take-out, and making Mexican sugar skulls, all while drinking wine.  Art party!


9.  I AM GOING TO VIET NAM IN MARCH 2012.  That is less than six months away!  The reality hasn't hit me yet.  I don't even know what to do first!


10.  Kyril Bonfiglioli.  John Mark sent me his books a few years ago.  I have to reread them every once in awhile.

Keep me in flowers

Met KMHD & my stepmum for breakfast this morning.  Mayumi was kind to bring me flowers in celebration of my marriage.





One day, we'd love to have a beautiful pair of bookshelves handcrafted by Black Swan Carpentry, but, for now, these will have to do because the spines of some of our books are in need of sitting upright on a bookshelf.  Too, we'll be able to remove unpacked boxes of books that have been sitting behind the couch this whole time.  I'm quite pleased with the new shelves, especially since we customized them with the Japanese decorative paper.  This Halloween will mark two years since we've moved in.  Progress is achingly slow, so when we get a little closer to making the place come together, it is quite gratifying.











As we age, we procure more and more stuff.  I try to be really picky about what we let into the house, opting to not settle for landfill junk items.  That said, here are some things that got through our doors:


I love stationery.  I still send letters via the US Postal Service once or twice a week.  So, I got this thing, since we've laid roots here in AR and it's been decided that I will keep my name.



A little before ATM and I married, my friends treated me to dinner, cocktails, and a little hen party embarrassment.  I'm only getting around to recognizing what they've done for me because we wanted to keep the details of our day private.  I am so, so grateful for this bunch of women who know what I like, know how to have a good time, and make me feel loved. 


Here is the bracelet that KMHD & Brittany got for me.



Too, major thanks to Heather, Keiko & Leigh for enabling me to acquire my new favorite kitchen object, a grill pan.  Uhn!  I've already used it a thousand times and I just find it insane that I've just now gotten around to having one.  Also, they got me a penis cookie cutter.  I can't say that I've used it a thousand times or even once, but I think certain folks will be getting some real special holiday treats this year.

I miss John Peel

I had to let all of the weirdness and craziness of the past five days pass before I wrote.  It had settled right behind my face, making me hurt and ache all over.  


The word re: my job is that I'll get to keep my position because it is regarded essential.  A lot of very nice judges (mine included) argued that the trial court assistants should not have to shoulder this burden alone and offered to take a pay cut themselves and other kind alternatives.  Further, I may not have to suffer a pay cut yet.  YET.  The Administration of Justice (henceforth known as "AOJ") will request that the governor tap into the rainy day fund to float us until Feb. '12, or the next legislative fiscal year.  In the meantime, they will be investigating and trying to sort where all of the money from the AOJ fund has gone and what needs to be done to ensure that this never happens again.  Normally, there is up to a $10 million surplus.  In my opinion, one that I share with my boss and other judges, something ain't right.  Obviously this matter needs to be looked into.  


I feel relieved, naturally.  I'll still be pulling a full paycheck and enjoying benefits.  But, I was ready, man.  I was shopping plane tickets to NYC and was going to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters.  Because things are really shit right now.  My job isn't 100% secure and this problem will reoccur.  Everything  terrible you hear in the news -- layoffs, no healthcare insurance, losing a home, pay cuts -- this is stuff that is happening to people I know and care about.  I think that Occupy Wall Street summed it up nicely HERE.  Things are coming to a head and, well, we need to go somewhere.  And yeah, it's raw, naive, and the demands are many, unknown, or vague.  But, people have peacefully come together en masse because what else is there to do?  If you don't have a job, going to NYC and risking police brutality or jail doesn't seem like such a big risk.


To add to my exhaustive Friday, we went to the Evelyns/Lemonheads show @ the Rev Room that night.  We caught the last few songs of The Evelyns, and they were alright.  They've changed the line up quite a bit since I've last seen them, so it was an unexpected sound.  I couldn't even get into the second band whose name I've already forgotten, thankfully.  And then there was the Lemonheads.  Evan Dando.  What a weirdo.  I hope that it's a midlife crisis that he's suffering.  Otherwise, what a gross, sad old man.  We shouldn't have gone to that show.  You shouldn't mess with NOstalgia, that stuff is no good.  I'm glad that we supported the Evelyns, and I am glad I got to see the Lemonheads perform "It's A Shame About Ray" and "Rudderless", but the rest of it was a damn embarrassment.  I am, however, amused by how many rednecks love the Lemonheads.  Soft side.


Sigh, here:






After the show, I couldn't fall asleep fast enough, so Saturday would be here.  (I did have a minor set back with my bank that doesn't have an open lobby on Saturday, which is terribly inconvenient for me.  I really need to open a safety deposit box!  But, anyway.)  ATM & I had plans to meet Matt, Summer, Brittany, Steven & Aaron @ Boulevard for coffee and then walk over to the Food Truck Festival.  Having coffee was rad.  Walking around downtown was rad.  However, I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I waited nearly 2.5 hours in line for some shit food.  The turnout far exceeded everyone's expectations and there simply wasn't enough trucks to serve everyone in a timely manner.  Too, you had to buy tickets because they were not accepting cash and we bought $40 worth, so we felt we had to wait in line.  I got sunburned and extremely hangry.  Thankfully, we stuck it out and didn't turn on each other.  There were two redeeming qualities about that whole ordeal: the people we got to hang out with and the weather.  Seriously, Comrades, we owe it to each other to do something fun to make up for the misery that was the Food Truck Fest.  I'm going to have to let FTF sort it before I ever consider going again.  


Brittany, Matt, Summer & Steven:



Aaron & Brittany:



ATM & Aaron:



Walking around downtown:



Me & Matt:



Steven & Aaron holding the collective foodstuffs.  Those strawberry crepes were the best thing we had:



Me, Steven & Summer:



Summer & Brittany:



We made plans to meet up with everyone later that evening, but we were so beat down by Helios, that we couldn't even go out if we wanted.   Sunday was better in that I got things accomplished.  I got up, watched the rainbow show in the living room with the cats, made coffee,  and ate a breakfast prepared by ATM.  We started assembling our bookshelves, but had to abandon the job because we lacked enough decorative Japanese paper to complete it, which is maddening because, UGH, I had to order more, and it arrives by mail, and it's just another week gone by that it's not complete, not to mention that it costs even more money.  What's the old saying?  Measure a billion times, cut once?  


ATM:



Me (photo by ATM):



Monday contributed to my anxiety in that, well, it's Monday for one, but I have this co-worker who is mental and makes me feel mental.  I actually went home for lunch to avoid her, which goes against my not driving to save gas plan.  Today was hardly better (although I did get everyone in my office to pronounce juror as "jurruh" all day), but the fog is lifting and I am feeling much better.  I've been cooking, baking, and clearing away clutter.  





I miss John Peel.