When I opened the door this morning I promptly shut it.   It was cold (40’s).   After exchanging my sandals for sox and shoes and grabbing my fleece jacket I tried again.   The high temperature for the day was in the 50’s and there was even hail at one point.

This is not the weather we expected in the Southwest at this time of year.   According to the forecast this is only temporary and we should see the sun tomorrow.

First stop today was the Harwood Museum of Art.   Contemporary Southwest Artists a lovely building with odd shaped galleries.  The Hispanic Traditions Gallery featured collections of Retablos (religious paintings on wood) as well as sculpture.   The Taos Society of Artists were well represented as well as more contemporary works by the “Taos Moderns”.

We were foiled in our effort to go to the Ernest Blumenschein Home and Museum next door because of the CLOSED WEDNESDAY sign on the door.   So we headed out of town across the Rio Grande Bridge to the Earthship Visitor's Center. As their website says – “An Earthship is a radically sustainable home made of recycled materials.”

The homes are built with recycled materials; they harvest water from rain and snowfall and reuse it.   The water is used first for showers and drinking then for irrigating houseplants and food producing plants and then for flushing toilets.   There are solar panels, and windmills for electric power, and a solar/thermal system for heating and cooling which quite effectively maintains a 70-degree temperature year round.   Most interesting of the major building materials are recycled automobile tires, glass bottles and aluminum cans. 

This is an interesting idea but not for old people (like us).

After a late lunch and some errands we called it a day.

Tomorrow we take the High Road from Taos to Espanola and then head to Medenales, into the welcoming arms of our friends  Jan and Seamus. 

This morning we visited the Hacienda de los Martinez.  In 1804 Antonio Severino Martinez and his wife Maria ddel Carmel moved their family from Abiquiu to Taos. Their original four rooms grew in 21 rooms with two placitas (courtyards).   The Hacienda became an important commercial and political center for the Taos Valley.  

The adobe walls are two-feet thick and the exterior has no windows to protect the family from possible Indian raids.

The artifacts and exhibits are expertly displayed and the accompanying written explanations are thorough and informative.

Most of the time we were by ourselves in most of the rooms as it is a time of low tourism in Taos.   They actually have two tourist seasons – the skiers in winter and the tourists in summer.

This afternoon we went to the Millicent Rogers Museum.

Millicent Rogers was an heiress (her father was a partner of J.D. Rockefeller) who travelled widely and settled in Taos.   A beautiful woman who was a talented jewelry designer she collected Navajo and pueblo jewelry, pottery and textiles as well as Hopi and Zuni Kachinas, and basketry.

Millicent had rheumatic fever as a child and was in poor health throughout her life and died at age 50.  The museum beautifully displays her legacy.   A real treat.

Then we drove out of Taos to the small and very picturesque town of Arroyo Seco.  Stopping at the local café for coffee – which we had sitting outside in the sun.   Then browsed the shops before continuing to drive up through parts of the Carson national forest to the Taos ski valley and returned through Taos Pueblo land with far reaching views across the valley.   

All in all it was a lovely day in Taos.  

Today was a day of rest and relaxation in Taos.    Mostly because we are just exhausted from a week of constant travelling and we had forgotten that Taos is at 7,000 feet so we need to adjust to the altitude.   We did walk around the old sections of Taos today, went to the Kit Carson Home and Harry even rode his bicycle into town.

We have been on the road for 7 days and by now have gotten into the swing of traveling.  Marsha and I have done this before -- the trip that was most like this one we did in 2007 when we traveled 8 weeks in the Deep South -- Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas (and dipped our toe into New Mexico to go to Carlsbad Caverns).  This time, we are focusing on only two states, New Mexico and Arizona.  Of course we have to get there, and so have spent the first week leisurely traveling across the country.  

Along the way we have visited two museums we didn't have time to see on a previous trip to Pennsylvania ( Fonthill and the Mercer Museum ), visited Ephrata, a town that looked cute when we visited the Ephrata Cloister on another trip.  Although we were a little disappointed in the town, we are very enthusiastic about a B&B we stayed in -- the Historic Smithton Inn.  Then we had a lovely visit with our old friends Ann and Don Boyd:  we go back to before children.  On Tuesday, Ann and Marsha went to the Andy Warhol Museum and I joined them at the Sen. John Heinz History Museum, a great view of Pittsburgh through American history.

Leaving Don and Ann and Pittsburgh, we headed to Fishers, Indiana to visit the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park.  As a guide at the Lexington Historical Society, Marsha had viewed a DVD on how to engage visitors to a historical museum which was produced by this museum.  This was a different museum than most history museums in that it is designed to engage the visitor in a hands on view of the life in 1836 of people who lived in this area.  So, there were no priceless artifacts -- rather people (esp. kids visiting from schools) were encouraged to do things -- e.g. lie down on the beds to understand whether or not they were comfortable (surprisingly enough, they were). 

And lastly this week (Sunday through Saturday), we went on to Kansas City to visit the Arabia Steamboat Museum. This was one of those one of a kind museums -- sort of like the Vasa Museum in Stockholm that we visited in the Fall of 2009.  After that, we drove another while until we reached Hays, Kansas -- a place we visited before on our South Dakota trip in the Summer of 2008 to check out the place where an interesting bicycle was made.  

By noon we had thankfully crossed the rest of Kansas and after entering Colorado finally said goodbye to the endless ribbon of Interstate 70.   I was driving and Harry had dosed off in Kansas and awoke to a view of the Rockies.   The rest of the drive was delightful.  We had both been feeling a bit worn from a week on the open road but finally seeing the scenery we had set out for has perked us up immensely.   The final hour from Cimarron to Taos was up and down mountain passes and through state and national forests.   Really beautiful.  

We had nice telephone conversations with both of our boys and my mother today.   It was good to hear their cheery voices.

We opted to upgrade from our usual on the road lodging tonight and are staying in a Hotel that dates back to the 1930’s.   It was built in the old style and is filled with local art.   Our spacious room has a Kiva fireplace in front of which I am now sitting enjoying a crackling fire.

Now we can slow down and enjoy the scene.   Three and a half days in one place.   The mind boggles.  

We drove from St. Louis to Kansas City this morning arriving at the Steamboat Arabia Museum around noon.   This place is a gem.  Our guide (to the right) was a wonderful story teller who brought the entire episode to life

Twenty years ago a contractor and his two sons heard the story of the Steamboat Arabia and how it sank (fully loaded) in the Missouri River in 1856.  Given how men will be boys when it comes to adventure and lost treasure they soon joined forces with a local Restaurant owner and with a friend who owned an excavating company and bet all their pooled life savings on finding the Arabia.   Their wives for some unknown reason hardily agreed.

They gathered all the written accounts of the sinking and began to map the possible location of the wreck.   Since the Missouri had changed course in that area their best guess was that it sat below a farmer’s cornfield.   Luckily the farmer had always wondered where the Arabia might be and granted them the desired permission to dig up his cornfield.   Using ground penetrating metal detectors they found the location of a shape in the cornfield that matched the dimensions of the Arabia.   Then brought in the heavy equipment.    Four months later they had unearthed the Arabia and began to bring its 220 tons of cargo up to the surface.   Their original notion was that they would sell the artifacts.   But once they saw what they had they all agreed to keep it together and open a museum.  

To view the contents of the Arabia is to step back in time and understand what life was like in the new settlements along the river.  The hold of the Arabia contained a wide variety of goods needed by settlers in the 1860’s.   Everything from fine china to carpenters tools, household furnishings and French perfume. 

The museum is located smack dap in the center of the City Market and we luckily were there on Saturday at midday.   The place was hopping.    Fruit and vegetable sellers, spice vendors, flowers and plants, and an assortment of ethnic eateries.   We chose the Middle Eastern restaurant because of the line waiting to order and the terrific aromas emanating from within.   This indeed was a wise choice as each and every item on the combo plate we shared was very tasty. Sitting at a table outside and discovering that middle America is a very diverse place this days.   

Before leaving Kansas City we stopped by Arthur Bryant’s Famous Barbeque Restaurant and got takeout.   We drove a few hours after leaving Kansas City.   Kansas is a pretty stark place and Interstate 70 stretches straight ahead for hundreds of miles.  What more perfect time to listen to Prairie Home Companion.   We spent the night in Hays, Kansas.   Hays is home to the Rans Bicycle Company. The folks who made our wonderful crank forward bicycles.     

It was a long day that was capped off perfectly by a swim in the pool, a soak in the Jacuzzi and eating the aforementioned takeout.

One thousand children on school field trips and we were at the Conner Prairie Museum today.   OK there were other families with pre-school children and other travelers too.   The place was hopping.   The two major impacts of the large number of school children were that many of the interpreters were thrilled to engage in adult conversation and that the children were for the most part interesting to watch and interact with.    

In the Lenape Indian (today’s Delaware Indians of Oklahoma) Village the two interpreters were extremely knowledgeable and engaging.  They actually were a Lenape Indian and a Fur Trapper.   

In the Prairie town all the interpreters are actual characters who lived in 1836.   They endure the children’s ridiculous questions and redirect them to actual learn something about this time in Indiana history.  It is a very hands on kind of place.  

I even got to stretch out on a rope bed at the Inn.   It was actually much more comfortable that I thought it would be.

When conversing with the Innkeeper he asked where we were headed and when we said Kansas City he indicated that he thought it would take us 40 days.   We made it half way in four hours and will complete the journey in the morning.

This morning we packed up – hugged Don & Ann and headed West.  Tonight we are just north of Indianapolis.  Tomorrow, we are going to spend the day at the Conner Prairie Museum.  We went over to scout out the place when we got here and talked with a very nice person at the reception desk.  She told us about the museum, how she had been an interpreter (they now call them something else) for 10 years prior to coming into the reception center.  She was involved in the production of the DVD Opening Doors to Great Guest Experiences and seemed very proud of her involvement in that.  The purpose of this DVD is to "help train interpreters at museums across the country to  better engage their guests".  Marsha had seen this DVD and in fact, this was the reason we put this Museum on our itinerary.

Whatever you call them, guides do their thing in character -- like at Plymouth Plantation.  Our friend at the reception said that one of the problems is that the first way visitors think of reacting to this is to try to get the interpreters to go out of character -- rather than to be a little creative and ask them questions about the vast amount of information they know about 1836 on the prairie.

One of the "fun" things that happened on our drive today is that a large piece of plastic cowling decided to separate itself from underneath the car’s front bumper.  Not a big deal, but we probably need to get it replaced sometime.

We love staying at the Boyd’s house in Pittsburgh when we are venturing out or returning from roadtrips.   The guest accommodations are superb (a separate first floor suite) in their cozy Pennsylvania stone home surrounded by perennial gardens. 

At this time of year gazing out the back windows down the valley you see what seems to be hundreds of shades of green on the budding trees that stretch to the horizon.   We talked happily about our travels, our children, our favorite activities.   They are about to travel to Ethiopia to visit one of their daughters who is in the Peace Corps.  

Today,  Ann and I (Marsha) headed out early to the Andy Warhol Museum.  Warhol (Warhola) was a Pittsburgh native.   This small museum displays a variety of Warhol’s work.   Outlandish and jarring as it is you leave with an appreciation of how Warhol and pop art changed the way we view what is art.  

Lunch at Primanti Bros. in the Strip District where the cole slaw and French fries are included in the sandwich rather than next to it.

Harry met us at the Senator John Heinz History Center where we stayed the entire afternoon.    It celebrates Pittsburgh’s place in American history and it’s continuing role as a center for innovation.  Housed in a building that once served as a storage facility for ice cut from nearby Lake Chautauqua.   Later it was a warehouse for Heinz foods whose original factories are across the river.

Along with the exhibits relating to Pittsburgh glass, the steel industry and all those 57 varieties there is serious history about the French and Indian War and Lewis and Clark.

One interesting exhibit was Angels of Mercy: Sisters in Healthcare in Western Pennsylvania

We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Great dinner at the Cross Keys Inn – dating from the 1850’s.  The food was terrific – as was the company.

We seem to be taking our time to get going -- which is good.  We stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast, the Historic Smithton Inn in Ephrata, PA.  This is a very nice old house from the 1760s.  The proprietor, Rebecca Gallagher, is a native of the area, who moved back to Lancaster County from Texas in one of the more positive effects of the recession:  Houston had not been particularly hard hit by the recession when she and her husband decided they wanted to move back to be closer to their families.  So, they didn't have much trouble selling their house in Houston and were able to buy the bed and breakfast at a relatively reasonable price in the harder hit area of Pennsylvania.  This little bit of arbitrage allowed them to land in a very nice area and to start running a very nice "authentic" B&B.  We enjoyed our stay. 

Rebecca alerted us to an interesting place to visit along our way towards Pittsburgh, the Cornwall Iron Furnace.  It was indeed an interesting place, although it was closed.  So we took some pictures and made a note to come back sometime.

We poked around Cornwall which featured some very nice stone row houses.   Sadly I didn't take and pictures of these houses.  We were a little sad to see that there were no restrictions about what the owners could do with their properties. Living in Lexington MA where there are strict rules about what you can do to houses in the Historic District, we are quite familiar with both the difficulties created by such restrictions, as well as the benefits, as shown by this negative example, of such regulations.  It's not too late for Cornwall and they should make an effort to control wires, satellite antennas, etc.  Sorry to sound like the old guy I have gotten to be...

Once on the road, I took some pictures of the scenery.

At around 2:30 we arrived at the Boyds and were greeted by the always cheery Ann.  See, I told you we were taking it easy at the start.  We had a very nice dinner with Don, Ann and 16 year old Alexis, the last of the 5 Boyd children still at home.  We talked about their upcoming trip to Ethiopia to visit their daughter who is in the Peace Corps -- a second generation Peace Corps volunteer.