On the Road 4

This is just a response to several comments about the Andy Devine Museum. It was a bit of a disappointment. I had heard from a friend that it was pretty good. It may have been at one time. Now it is only a small room with some photos, movie posters and newspaper clippings about Andy. It is part of the Mojave Museum in Kingman, AZ, Andy’s home town. I was sorry that it wasn’t better. The museum itself is quite nice, but I, too, was disappointed that there was not more about Andy Devine.

We holed up in Las Vegas to watch the Breeder’s Cup. I won’t bore you with a lot of horse racing stuff but the two days of racing were terrific for this old guy. And Zenyatta, the mare, went up against the guys in the Breeder’s Cup Classic and won. She’s a huge horse. 17-1/2 hands.

Now we’re in Tonopah, NV, about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno. It’s over 6,000 feet in elevation and a bit cold out at night. It’s touted at being the best place in the U.S. to star gaze. The nights are clear and cold and there is a map of places you can drive to where you have no light obstructions for looking at the stars.

On the Road 2

On the Road 2 - 11.02.09
Coming north from Soccoro, NM we passed a GMC car dealer. His name was Tillery. We wondered whether his first name was Art or Dis.

We stopped at the Laguna Pueblo casino, about 60 miles west of Albuquerque, for lunch. It is a small casino but the most friendly people. The casino is called Dancing Eagle after a ceremonial dance of many Pueblo people. Our waiter was Will Louis and we had quite a conversation with him. He had been up to Washington state and told us of the many things which he had never seen before. Driving across the Narrows Bridge high above Puget Sound was one of them. Another was watching the fish mongers at the Pike Place Market throw big salmon from the front of the cases where they are kept in ice to the person who weighs, price and wraps the fish.

The people at the next table were from Minnesota on the way to visit their daughter who is in the service and stationed at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma. They were happy to hear a weather report from the Puget Sound area. They began to talk about the beauty of Minnesota, especially of the Boundary Waters area near the border between the U.S. and Canada. Since we have been there I knew exactly what they were talking about. They were trying hard to convince Will that he must visit there and canoe in to experience the silence when there is nothing or no one else around.

I told Will that he could read about that part of Minnesota in the wonderful books written by Sigurd Olsen. Olsen taught and was sometimes Dean of a community college in Ely, MN. I’, quite sure that he could have had a university post almost anywhere but he chose to stay in the area of the country that he loved. He’s been dead many years but his books have been republished within the last few years, I think by the Univ. of Minnesota Press. Anyone who loveds the outdoors or even to read about it would do well to search Olsen’s books out.

Oops! Apparently this did not get posted. Randon abstracts, rejoice!

On the Road 3

On the Road 3
We stayed in Soccoro an extra day because Anna came down with the flu. A couple of days later it was Frank’s turn. Blessed be Immodium AD. In each case it only lasted a day. Weak, we journeyed on. This is written in Kingman, AZ where we will visit the Andy Devine Museum tomorrow morning. Andy Devine was not my favorite western sidekick but he is well-remembered for his gravelly voice and his rotundity. He sure acted in a heap of western films from my childhood and youth. I’m anxious to see what is in the museum. Then we’ll go on to Las Vegas. To gamble?? No, we’ve already done that on the horses and dogs in Phoenix. To watch the Breeder’s Cup on television. Two days of horse racing. Supposedly the best horses currently running. And Zenyatta takes on the boys. We wish her the best and we’ll see how that comes out. You go, girl. More from Las Vegas – maybe.