WOW!  It's been a long time since I updated our site here!  I figured I'd better type up a quick update so you can see what we've been up to the past few months.  Thanks to Teresa, we have a nearly up-to-date gallery posted at the usual site:  http://koransky.com/gallery/v/Salida/

We last left you in April... Teresa and I realized we hadn't taken a vacation for ourselves in a little over a year.  (On all recent trips, we simply visited family.)  When you live in paradise, the need to vacation isn't as high on the priority list as it once was, but we decided to take a week for ourselves and go explore Arizona and Mexico. 

We started the trip with a visit to some friends we met last summer.  I met them through the running club.  They purchased a straw bale house up here in Salida.  They teach on the Hopi reservation in Northeast Arizona.  They invited us to come and visit them on Hopi, and this past spring, we actually made it happen.  And it was an incredible experience. 

Teresa writes:

We traveled though the Navaho reservation and finally arrived at the smaller Hopi reservation within. After traveling through first and second mesa, we finally made it to third mesa, where Chris and Jessica live and work as school teachers. We hiked up to a nearby mesa and village, Old Oraibi (Old Orayvi). Oraibi is the location of an older Hopi village, one that split several years ago. There's an old Christian church that had been hit by lightening twice and many of the natives felt that was the sign of bad spirits. They split off, moving to a location off the mesa, where the village of Kykotsmovi is. Because the natives feel that a photograph will steal their spirit and because photographs have been used for negative purposes in the past, I respected the culture and didn't take any photos, even though it was killing me not to shoot something so beautiful. On our way out to hike, we ran into a couple of local kids and they guided us up to the church and then showed us a different trail, along a ledge of the mesa, that was lined with pottery shards and ancient petroglyphs. The pottery shards had the most amazing patterns and had been there hundreds of years, scattered all along the trail. The kids told us that the Hopi are not allowed to touch them, it shows that they have been there. They have ALWAYS been there. We asked the kids about some of the petroglyphs and they responded with, "Oh, those are just some kachinas", very nonchalantly.  A couple of images showed the Spanish on horses, dating these around the 15th or 16th century. These were ancient rock drawings from their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents!!

Later, we went to Second Mesa and took a short hike (about three miles), down a short stair step carved in the rocks, following the edge of the mesa. Some of the local boys joined us for the hike, running and playing "Kachina" as we walked. I couldn't take any photos of the village.

Larson, a local potter, showed us around First Mesa. Again, I couldn't take pictures in the villages of First Mesa. He took us up to his village, Tewa, first village on First Mesa. We also took a semi-guided tour of the Middle and Third Village (Walpi) of First Mesa. The tour guide allowed us to walk in front of the group while Larson gave us a very personal tour. He told us more about how the kivas were used at different ceremonies and by different clans. He also told us a bit about the different clans and how some clans have died out, as well as some of the ceremonies.

It's sad to think that their traditions that lasted hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, are on the verge of dying out here in the 20th and 21st century. Many of the villages are now only inhabited by the families for ceremonies. After our walk through the villages, Larson took us for a drive to the backside of the mesa where he and his cousins have been planting some fields. The only photos I could take were of the fields outside the villages, with Larson's permission.

You can find the pictures we were allowed to take here. 

The Hopi, as well as many natives I suspect, are a people caught between two worlds... the world of their native past, and the world of the modern man.  They walk a fine line that is difficult to convey in words.  

The people have a very strong sense of family and native traditions.  Many desire to stay on their native lands close to their family, but poverty can often drive people off the reservation to find jobs and more money for their family.  As a result, the reservation doesn't have enough of an economic base to support their own infrastructure.  Doctors, teachers (like our hosts) are "imported," which allows the community to "function" in the modern world with education, hospitals, and libraries.  We discovered you can't get a traditional home loan on the reservation because you cannot own land on the reservation... land is granted by the tribe to the head of household.  (Being a matriarchal society, this is usually the "mother" of the house.)  As a result, most homes are mobile and therefore can be reposessed if the owner defaults. 

We also discovered a lot of trash heaps outside of family homes.  I found this surprising, given their respect for the eath.  I guess, in the past, midden mounds were typical traditional ways of dealing with trash... but the "natural" garbage decomposed a lot better back then.  I asked others about this behavior, and I think their reasoning was "poverty angst."

Then there is technology versus tradition.  For many years, many Hopi would take ancient stairs down from the top of the mesa to get water.  But now, they have the option of installing a pump.  Which would you prefer? 

There was a sense of distrust in foreigners.  When we were with our friends or a native, we were welcomed with open arms... even to the point of being invited over for dinner one evening!  But when Teresa and I wandered into a grocery store, unknown faces without local friends, we felt a tiny bit out of place.  People weren't really unpleasant... just guarded.  I walked away with a much greater understanding of the dilemma facing the natives of our country.  Thanks so much to our native and non-native hosts!  It was a special cultural experience I won't soon forget.

On to the rest of our trip...

We like to travel with no agenda, and this trip was no exception.  Our vague plans called for us to head towards Chaco Culture National Historic Park, but we left plenty of time in our schedule.  After studying the map for a bit, we decided to take a circuitous route to Chaco, first stopping in El Morro.  (photos here)  From Teresa:

We drove into El Morro, where a natural waterfall and pool used to draw travelers from all over the area hundreds of years ago. There's a cliff face of sandstone with petroglyphs and historic engravings. While people camped here and filled up on water, they carved their names and other sayings onto the cliff walls. Almost all of the engravings were Spanish, many dated. The oldest one was dated 1605, several years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock! Some sayings were poems, others were simple declarations of who they were and why they were here. Some declarations were quite boastful, with another saying close by mocking the first. There are several Native American petroglyphs and other elaborate carvings.

Next stop?  Bandera's Ice Cave and Volcano... a bit of a tourist trap, but still kinda neat.  (photos here)  From Teresa:

We'd heard about this before, but missed it on our previous journeys. In a very volcanic area, the bottom of this cave always contains ice. Of course, we asked about why. It seems that the bottom of the cave is insulated from the earth temperature by several feet of lava and the top is also insulated from outside temperature swings. Cold air sinks into the cave and the water there remains frozen year round. Workers on the local railroad in the early 1900's used to keep their beer cold in the caves.

El Malpais was surprisingly nice.  It's basically a massive volcanic flow with a few cinder cones scattered about.  There was tons of hiking and open terrain.  There is so much to explore, we may return another time.  (photos here)  From Teresa:

El Malpais is the location of a 2,000 year old volcano. We did some hiking on the lava. The surface was erratic and rough, but your shoes stuck to it like glue. We rock-hopped out to the ancient caldera, jumping over large cracks in the lava.  It seemed strange the way the lava suddenly stopped at the edge of the flow.

On to Chaco, but the super high winds (50 mph) kept us in Grants for an extra night.  Chaco is exposed, and the last thing we wanted was to try to sleep with our truck rocking back and forth.  Part of the way to Chaco, we turned around and headed back to Grants for a hotel/laundary night.  We did finally make it the next day, and although the winds were up, they apparently weren't as bad as the day prior.  (photos here)  From Teresa:

Chaco is the ruins of an ancient Puebloian culture. The Hopi are believed to be the decendants of these people. This site is not easy to get to, possibly saving it from too much tourism. It's many miles out on a dirt and gravel road into the middle of nowhere. It's the largest collection of Pueblo Great Houses that's been discovered. Some of these houses cover acres of land in the desert and are believed to be used mainly for ceremonial purposes. We visited many of the ruins, but Pueblo Bonito is the most famous. We saw it from above while we were hiking up on a nearby mesa and it's truely amazing! We also saw a "ladder" up to the mesa from below that was carved into the rock face. I can't believe someone perched on the side of the rock wall while carving the next step! If you ever get a chance to go, GO! But it's not a place that you'll just pass thru, you have to WANT to get there.

We stopped in Navajo City (blog) while we enjoyed their wonderful food and talked to Pat.  You meet some amazing people on the road, and Pat was one of those people.  Intelligent and engaging, we probably chatted with her for an hour or two before heading on to Santa Fe, where we managed to get a priceline hotel smack next to the Blue Corn Cafe brewpub!  Beer?  It was ok.  The IPA was descent.  Finally, on to home!  It was good trip, and it was nice to spend time together, just us two, for a change.

As I wrap up this blog entry, we now find ourselves on yet another family trip.  I write this from Florida, where we are attending a family reunion (Teresa's side) as well as visiting my grandma.  Next, we head North to Alaska for more family fun.  My mom is turning 60, and she's taking the family in a cruise.  Hopefully, the weather will be better than last time!  I plan on updating the blog with our summer activities as well (assuming I can find internet) during our trip.