Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon ~ March Book Club Online

[JoanP]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome.

March Book Club Online

Blue Highways - a Journey into America
by William Least Heat-Moon

This should be FUN!  Whether you decide to read and discuss William Least Heat-Moon's classic 1978 travel account  or share your own memories of the "blue highways" of America, you will probably leave winter doldrums behind -  in your driveway. Heat-Moon coined the term to refer to small, forgotten, out-of-the-way roads connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue on the old style Rand McNally road atlas). The book chronicles the author's 13,000-mile journey and the people he meets along the way, as he steers clear of cities and interstates, avoiding fast food and exploring local American culture. His book was on the NY Times’ best seller list for 42 weeks in 1982-83, and its title became a cultural code word for a journey of introspection and discovery.     Some questions we'll explore:      *  What's left of the country stores and cafes on the old blue highways?    *  Do you have photographs?

Discussion Schedule:    Part One ~       March 3-7  (Eastward)      Part Two ~       March 8-11  (East by Southeast~The Carolinas, Georgia)      Part Three ~    March 12-13-14 (South by Southeast)    Part Four ~      March 15-16-17(South by Southwest)    Part Five ~       March 18-19-20(West by Southwest)    Part SIX ~   March 23-24-25(West by Northwest) ~ Oregon  Part V  West by Southwest 1. Least Half Moon pulled into Heber at sunset,  hoping for an old hotel with bar  - people with good stories.   Only motels in Heber - "no focus for the eye and  soul  where townspeople and tourists meet."  How important is such a focus for you when you travel - a mix of tourists and townspeople? 2. Interstate 44, used to be Rt. 66.  Have you ever been near Holbrook. Arizona on Rt. 66, or to the  Navaho reservation, which covers most of the northeastern corner of Arizona?     Did US government really believe all that land was worthless? Is it? 3.  Did Least Have Moon find any conversation with the Hopi elders, whose territory is located in the center of the Navajo lands there? He's encouraged when he hears all the children in the Hopi Cultural Center speaking English.... 4. Into Utah - "Roads might be impassable during winter months." It was May! Did you ever find detours or road closing when in high mountains?   Back down to Cedar City, he met a Hopi Indian student at breakfast in Southern Utah State- Kendrick Fritz.  Did you wonder what prompted him to ask this student about prejudice against Indians here. Do you remember his reply? 5. "A true journey, no matter how long the journey takes, has no end."  Can you explain what he meant by this?  Maybe he means the road just keeps changing, without ending? 6..Remember Laurie Chealander in the cafe-bar-filling station in Frenchman, Nevada, population 4?  The place is located on a fault line, at the edge of a navy. bombing test site, miles from the nearest source of supplies.  Do you understand how she finds a home here, why she wants to stay?  "No gas within 80 miles." Sees no one.  Millions of stars. Finally some dying mining  towns - Did  you find them all depressing?  - Ely, Austin?  LHM says he liked Austin.  Do you remember why? 7. Dismal weather on State 70 over Sierrra Nevadas to CA, with "a vague sense of moving away from some things and towards others."  What do you think he meant by this? 8. After a harrowing night in the mountains, and then after his meeting at a deserted campsite with Bill Watkins and his wife, ole what's-her-face, he writes,  he writes "the journey would change."   What do you think he meant by this? Contact:   JoanP

[CallieOK]

Joan,  I have never been good at analyzing the "meaning behind the words" in books.  That's why I like these discussions with those who are more aware of them.  When someone calls something to my attention, I often reread and have an "Aha" moment.

Other than a memory of hearing coyotes at night while visiting an aunt in Tucson when I was 5 - and  having driven between Tucson and Phoenix on I-10 several years ago , I'm not familiar with this particular area.   However, I have traveled a lot through other parts of TX, CO, NM and AZ that are similar as to space and distance between towns. 

We often drove from our home in the CO mountains to visit family in Amarillo - usually leaving after school,.  We wound our way down to I-25, then to Raton, NM and east to Dalhart TX across an "empty" area of ranches and ancient volcanoes.  By this time, it was dark and going through this area  was like being under a black kettle with millions of little twinkling lights above us and from horizon to horizon. (of course, my husband would never stop and let me star-gaze - and I didn't get to visit a volcano site until I went to CO with my son/grandchildren!!)

From Dalhart, we always took a "blue road" shortcut into Amarillo.  Just past the tiny town of Channing, we topped a certain rise and suddenly saw lights  stretching from Borger - Amarillo - Vega in a  semi-circle around the edge of the horizon.  We were at least 30 - 40 miles from all of these towns.

Oh, and it was an 8-9 hour trip!

 

[Frybabe]

Callie, the thing about trying to interpret what the author is thinking or the meaning behind a thing is that I (we?) often get it wrong. It is like looking at a painting or listening to music. I imagine (especially music) what it represents and when I read the what the artist actually had in mind - well, there is often a big difference.

[JoanK]

I'm jealous of the birding site. I bet LHM  didn't know about it (I didn't either). I like to think of him as new to this, struggling, as we all did, to figure out what he's seeing. The books are arranged by biological classification, so you have to know what bird it is in order to look up what bird it is. We all went through that frustration.

Later, you learn family resemblances, and eventually know the birds you haven't seen by heart. (Then you get old and start to forget!) 

[JoanK]

I'm behind, as usual. Hope to reach the mountains today.

[JoanP]

"The thing about trying to interpret what the author is thinking or the meaning behind a thing is that I (we?) often get it wrong. Frybabe

OK, I'll agree with you, Fry.  There are different ways to interpret what an author has written - and sometimes we get it wrong.  The exchange with the guy in the ten gallon hat is a good example - as Annie wrote-

" LHM is getting some good and some useless stories.  Especially the guy in the ten-gallon hat.   Finding the man to be so self centered that he wasn't learning anything while coming to Portal Peak Canyon on a regular basis."

Personally,  I felt "The Boss,"  (the guy in the hat) provided LHM with some very useful insights into himself - These are his own words, NOT my own interpretation.  I hope you'll let me know if you disagree that this was a meaningful, a useful conversation - not for the Boss, who was "wallowing in crises," but for Least Heat Moon.

 After hearing an account of LHM's journey,

The Boss: "Your little spree sounds nice until you go back."
LHM: "Don't have to go back who I was."
The Boss: "Can you get out of it?"
LHM: "I'll find out.  Maybe experience is like a globe - you can't go the wrong way if you travel far enough...a little spree can give people a chance to accept changes in a man."

Heavens, I'm copying more than I intended...and still not sure I'm convincing you that these conversations along the road seem to have a common theme - "CHANGE"   I think the possibility of change is slipping into Least Heat Moon's subconsciousness.  But you're thinking that's just my interpretation...and I guess you're right!

One last quote from the very last chapter of Part Four before we move on to Tucson and the way to California...  Least Heat Moon tells us he's been thinking of The Boss and Cave Creek - and then - ""By last light, I came into the city named after the bird forever reborn from the ashes of what it had been."

[JoanP]

Before we move on to Part V - a this message is for you, Callie - I though it was interesting to read that you have spent time on Interstate 10.  Just got finished looking at the Rand McNally with my husband - in an effort to answer that question # 9 you  puzzled over earlier -

Do you understand what Least Heat Moon meant when he said it was the 4th time he crossed the Continental Divide that day?  

 The Continental Divide is a really curvy line in New Mexico - curving around what, I don't know - the Hachitas, maybe?  On the New Mexico page in the Atlas, down in the southwestern corner, between J-1 and J-2, Bruce  ran his finger on I-10 or the old Highway 70  along the Continental Divide between Deming and Lordburg.... Wouldn't want to be traveling those curves in an Econoline van!   Don't know if that helps explain how LHM crossed it four times...husband counted out loud each time he would have crossed ...

JoanK , don't get lost in the mountains - above all, don't take any roads with warnings about the roads in winter.  Even if we're nearing April.  You'll see what happened to Least Heat Moon!  We'll be looking for you in our rear view mirror.

ps Keep an eye out for that elusive enigma bird!

Onward!

[CallieOK]

Joan,  The New Mexico map in my atlas shows the continental divide in New Mexico.  What he calls "blue road 9 in the Hatchet Mountains" crosses the continental divide several times between Hachita and Animas. From Wikipedia:

"State Road 9 (NM 9) is a 109.154-mile (175.666 km) long state road in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The highway spans Hidalgo, Grant, and Luna counties from NM 80 to CR A003 at the Doña Ana county line. (this describes the opposite direction from LHM's route).
 ...A few miles east of Animas, the road again climbs and crosses the Continental Divide the first of three times. … Continuing east, the road crosses the Continental Divide twice in less than 2 miles (3 km), then descends to the Hachita Valley.  (to) the small village of Hachita,"

This is where he saw the sidewinder in the sand. Maybe he went across the divide while he was walking in the scrub.

Those of you who participated on the old Senior Net site may remember the Bashes that were held in various parts of the country.  The I-10 drive was to a Bash in Tucson.  The OKC friend who also went wanted to visit her granddaughter in Phoenix so we flew into there and drove to Tucson.  The group went to  Sabino Canyon, the DeGrazia art gallery, Mission San Xavier del Bac - and to Nogales, Old Mexico.  Lots of fun!

On another visit to Phoenix, my friends took me to Tortilla Flat, which is in the Superstition Mountains.  We had lunch in the saloon, where the wallpaper is real dollar bills and the bar stools are saddles.

 

[ANNIE]

Just stopping in to say that I will be gone for 2 or 3 days as the doctor puts in a pacemaker plus do an AV ablation.  My A-fib is getting out of control  causing my heart to beat too slow.  This procedure can be a big help for that problem.  I am picturing the best results. 
 
JoanP, I did have second thoughts about LHM and his friend in the "tall hat".  The more I thought about the whole incident, I began to see that by cogitating on what "tall hat" had to say,  LHM does see where he doesn't want to go on his journey .  Doesn't want to be bogged down by the past.  So, he learned a lesson there. 

I have really been taken in by the sights and silence of the desert.  He does such wonderful things with words about the mountains, snakes, cacti and the Indians.  And fires, smoke and clouds.  What a history lesson he gives us about the Hopi and the Navaho tribes and their differences in their beliefs.  I will be rereading this whole section tomorrow while I am awaiting my releasee from the hospital.

[maryz]

Thinking good thoughts for you tomorrow, adoannie.

[CallieOK]

Adding my good thoughts for you, adoannie.  My son had an ablation 25 years ago for Wolffe-Parikinson-White syndrome.

[ginny]

{{{HUGS}}}, Ann, I hope you'll be climbing mountains this weekend.

[Frybabe]

My best wishes, Annie, for a successful procedure. (I don't know what an AV ablation is).

I'd like to move on from "the Boss" but one more thing occurred to me. He and LHM are going through stages of grief (you don't have to lose someone through death to go through this process). Here is a brief summary of the stages(some lists only have five stages, this one has seven): http://www.recover-from-grief.com/7-stages-of-grief.html  Some people get stuck in one or another longer than others. I think you can see where LHM is and where "the Boss" is. It appears that "the Boss" is stuck in Anger. It looks like LHM is transitioning between #4 and #5.

I stopped at Phoenix for a day or two, but have just left on the jog north and east.

[CallieOK]

Good points, Frybabe - and ones I hadn't thought of.  I'll go back and reread to pick up the clues.

[JoanK]

Just coming into Phoenix. I did get stuck in the mountains with LHM. Interesting that of all the things to be scared of, he was scared of bears! We all have our own brave and fearful spots, don't we?

Boss Hat was a real lesson, wasn't he? We all know people like him -- stuck and resentful of something or someone in the past, often decades past! Some even look for things to resent, and hoard them, like treasures. But I think LHM learned more from him than anyone.

[CallieOK]

Yay!  I'm able to keep the library book for two more weeks.  So I won't have to guess what is being referred to along the rest of the way.

We'll have to read fast to get back to Columbia, MO by the end of the month!!!!

[JoanP]

Spent the morning going through annual medical tests...everyone searching  for something wrong...  Now the wait!
Annie, girl, you sound as if you'll be back with us soon, heart ticking at the proper number of beats,  good as new, ready to get back on the road in another day or two.  Tell you what we can do.  Let's cut the engines - give Ghost Dancing a break - and extend our tour of the blue highways a bit longer to give Annie (and the  Lollygaggers) a chance to catch up.  Plenty to see right here in Arizona!

Frybabe - good catch! Both Least Heat Moon and Boss are grieving - one has just lost his job, his wife - the other feels stuck with his.  I remember the first time I read of their meeting.  It was as if the Boss stepped from a dream, the way he appeared from nowhere, without a sound.  Didn't Heat Moon hear him when he drove up?  I didn't understand that.  Then, as the Boss continued to whine and complain about his luck, his life, I thought surely it was a dream - that Half Moon had fallen asleep - and that in his dream, the whiner, the complainer was a reflection of himself.  (Weren't these two the same age- about  40?) And he wasn't happy with the guy in the mirror!

So, you see them at different stages of grieving...maybe by the end of his journey Heat Moon will have moved along to recovery.  We've all concluded he's depressed, but as he comes through deserts and mountains, perhaps he will find the inner strength needed to pull himself out of it.

Callie, glad you've got your book for a while longer!  How did you manage that?  I do remember those SeniorNet bashes out west.  So you were there - in Phoenix and Tucson!   Least Heat Moon didn't stay in Phoenix long, just long enough for gas...too crowded?  

Do you have a Rand McNally handy?  I've been enjoying tracing his route today out of Phoenix, JoanK. Are you coming?  I see Tortilla Flat, Callie, but didn't stop.  What did you find there?

North on 87 to Payson, stopping at an old log hotel there, saw a map where someone had marked an old Hopi reservation and decided on the spot to check it out. Takes 260 to get there, stops at Heber, hoping for an old hotel, with a small bar..people - good stories!
How long has it been since he's had good conversation?

[PatH]

A slowdown would help me--every time I think I'm almost caught up, we move on, and the things I think of to say come too late.

I've just started the first 3-week renewal, and I get another one.

[Frybabe]

I'm on my last renewal.

LHM sure likes to stop at bars, and he often had a six-pack with him. I hope he didn't end up with a drinking problem. Bars and diners/local cafes are probably the consistantly best places to find people to talk to who have interesting life stories to tell.

I've gotten to the Navajo and Hopi Reservations and will stop there to check out the land, buildings and culture. One of my former co-workers is part Navajo. She's been out several times to visit. She has relatives in the area.

[CallieOK]

I thought I had renewed as many times as possible - but, apparently, I had one more available...for two weeks.

Tortilla Flat was "touristy" and nothing at all like the John Steinbeck novel or the movie based on the novel.  From the web site:

Tortilla Flat is an authentic remnant of an old west town, nestled in the midst of the Tonto National Forest, in the Superstition Mountain Range. Tortilla Flat started out as a stagecoach stop in 1904 and neither fire nor flood has been able to take away this historic stop along the Historic Apache Trail.


The book/movie:

Above the town of Monterey on the California coast lies the shabby district of Tortilla Flat, inhabited by a loose gang of jobless locals of Mexican-Indian-Spanish-Caucasian descent (who typically claim pure Spanish blood).

The central character Danny inherits two houses from his grandfather where he and his friends go to live. Danny's house, and Danny's friends, Steinbeck compares to the Round Table, and the Knights of the Round Table. Most of the action is set in the time of Steinbeck's own late teenage and young adult years, shortly after World War I.

[Frybabe]

Erata: I take it back, my former co-worker is partly Peublo Indian, not Navajo. Sometimes the memory sucks.

Anyhow, I hit the jackpot with maps and such for the Navajo/Hope Reservation:
https://www.google.com/search?q=navajo+reservation&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&biw=1190&bih=676&tbm=isch&imgil=OqZSsDb5euQlCM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcRecWTs8bSCcRNzc3MIbvcoeMjOI3t4SxKpM4mKV4TKO84SyEzcyg%253B1900%253B1563%253B9rCZl2qkV0BTwM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ihs.gov%25252Fnavajo%25252F&source=iu&usg=__flSVEx_QDTI84JZx6FBkRFLSkCQ%3D&sa=X&ei=lusqU5_1K8KKqgH494C4DQ&sqi=2&ved=0CD4Q9QEwAg#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=5-IfXchO5CjV2M%253A%3BkXPn5iba_X-sMM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nhmu.utah.edu%252Fsites%252Fdefault%252Ffiles%252Fattachments%252FNavajo%252520Reservation%252520Map.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nhmu.utah.edu%252Fboneuponnativevoices%3B1300%3B800

Holey Moley, another huge link name.

[JoanP]

Okay PatH - for you and others who are still in the desert dust, we have decided to extend our time with Blue Highways until April 12 - and then start the April Book Club Online in mid April!  Please, please don't hesitate to make observations from the rear of our convoy.  We are hoping for that!

In the meantime, the rest of us can find much to do in Arizona - though sadly, Least Heat Moon is not finding opportunities for conversation.  If he is depressed and lonely, he certainly needs company.  Even if he wasn't depressed, he must have been lonely - all those empty roads, alone.  
He chose the route though - he must have chosen it for a reason.  Lonely empty stretches - the solitude.  I still think he should have brought a dog with him, at least!

"Bars and diners/local cafes are probably the consistantly best places to find people to talk to who have interesting life stories to tell."

Frybabe. I'll bet that's what LHM was counting on - but isn't finding.  I hope he isn't more depressed than ever, before the trip is over.  For some reason I believe something will lift his spirits to change his outlook...but not until he sinks even lower.
It sounds as if he'd have been disappointed in Tortilla Flat, Callie - and Payson - and then Heber, where he was looking for people...a mix of travelers and locals.  Heck, he'd have settled for locals...but can't find them anywhere!

Did LHM make a stop in Holbrook?  I remember he mentioned it, but not if he stopped.  I know he stopped in Tuba on the Hopi Reservation...

Thanks for the jackpot link to the Navajo reservation, Frybabe.  Let's talk about how the Navajo came by all this land.
Have you ever visited this part of the country?  The closest we ever got was Holbrook, the Painted Desert, when traveling Rts. 66 two different times.  I got all excited when I saw his route shared Rte. 66 in these parts.  I have a few photos...will co get them to share with you.

[JoanP]

 
10 miles from  Holbrook and our night in those tepees, we stopped at this trading post - quite touristy...I bought little granddaugher a pair of Indian mocassins.

Jack Rabbit Trading Post

Two years later, on a return trip, we stopped again at the Jack Rabbit - can you believe I brought back the mocassins which had been too small for Lindsay after the first trip.  They let me trade them in for this silver, turquoise, coral necklace, made by the Navajos.  I have it on right now.  They told me it was to bring harmony.

Navajo necklace

The tepees - made from cement, I think,  a typical Rt.66 tourist attraction.  Like staying in a tomb.  Pitch dark, the only window had a big air conditioner unit mounted in the space - no other people in the "park" - and the manager told us he wouldn't be there at night - if we wanted coffee in the morning, the Safeway down the road opened at 7 am!  It was fun, in an odd way.  I wouldn't have done it alone! The cars you see parked beside each unit were classic 50's cars - adding to the illusion of a ghost town...

[maryz]

We've traveled in the Four Corners states many times, and love the area.  The teepees are really funny - definitely not from the southwest Indians.  Those are the plains Indians.  As a way to learn a lot about the country and the Navajo and Hopi peoples, read Tony Hillerman's mysteries.  He's a great storyteller, and the country is always a primary character in his stories.  The Navajo always considered him a great friend because he was so honest and truthful in his story telling.  And his geography (roads, towns, etc.) is always spot on. 

[JoanP]

Hmmm, when I enlarged the sign in the bottom picture, I see they called them "wigwams"... Now you've got me wondering if my precious Navajo necklace is genuine Navajo, Maryz!

What is the difference between a tepee and a wigwam.  I thought the tepee was for travel...these look like my idea of a tepee!

Apparently LHM didn't think much of Holbrook either...copied this out of the Interactive map link in the heading-

"Holbrook used to be a tough town where boys from the Hash Knife cattle outfit cut loose. Now, astride I-44 (once route 66), Holbrook was a tourist stop for women with Instamatics and men with metal detectors; no longer was the big business cattle, but rather rocks and gems."

[CallieOK]

"Holbrook used to be a tough town where boys from the Hash Knife cattle outfit cut loose. Now, astride I-44 (once route 66), Holbrook was a tourist stop for women with Instamatics and men with metal detectors; no longer was the big business cattle, but rather rocks and gems."

Back to the real world as opposed to more "romantic notions" in his mind?

I'm not too surprised that he didn't find anyone willing to engage in conversation on the Reservation.  I doubt there are very many "outsiders" traveling the route he took
His description of the Hopi doesn't sound like people who would be willing to "open up" to strangers.

 

[JoanK]

We drove route 66 in 1957 on our way to spend a summer in New Mexico.

I'm either behind or ahead. read last night to the middle of Nevada. Where am I supposed to be?

I love Tony Hillerman's mysteries about two Navaho policemen! And MaryZ has it right:  "the country is always a primary character in his stories." If you want the feel of that country, there's no better way.

[CallieOK]

Old Route 66 goes through the town where I live.

[salan]

I, also, am in the middle of Nevada.  I had to stop & get out my travel journals and relive our trips to the Grand Canyon, 4 corners area, Holbrook, Winslow, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Sedona, parts of old rte 66, Monument Valley, etc.  My late husband loved to travel west & reading these journals; I travelled with him again. Half the fun of travelling with him was our journey along the way! Oh, how I miss him!
Sally

[PatH]

Sally, the missing doesn't ever stop, does it.

[JoanP]

{{{Sally}}}...I was looking through scrapbooks at photos of our trips west on Rt. 66  - and thinking that someday, I'd be sharing those memories - with myself.  Life is bittersweet, isn't it?  We were fortunate for the travel...and the memories.

Callie - Elk City? Clinton?  Oklahoma City?

Joank- you're right where you're supposed to be if it we had stayed on schedule.  We've slowed for a few days, waiting for the others to catch us.  Nevada is a little too far ahead at this point.  You skipped Utah and also the student Least Heat Moon questioned  about whether he has experienced prejudice - against Indians!  I thought that was interesting following the cool treatment Heat Moon had received on the Hopi reservation in Arizona...were they ignoring Heat Moon because he was not one of them?  Was it a language barrier?  Their children were all speaking English...

[CallieOK]

Joan,  Oklahoma City, Edmond (right through downtown).

[JoanK]

I didn't skip the interview with the Hopi, but wanted to quote from it and didn't have my book. A very spiritual and thoughtful man, especially given how young he was.

Here is a quote (not from the Hopi). John le Carre "Nothing ever bridged the gulf betwwen the man who went and the man who stayed behind." Le Carre is talking about death, but do you think LHM is talking about something else?

[JoanP]

And you were there in 2004, Callie?  We could have met - had lunch at the County Line Barbeque place  - over on N.63rd?  Or do you recommend something cosier?  Bruce remembers the beef brisket.  I don't remember what I ate.  Do remember the moving memorial and the oil rigs on the lawn of the capitol.

A quick stop in Utah - and THEN on to Nevada.  
Though  the scenery was beautiful in both places, I don't have fond memories of Utah - or Nevada?  Perhaps it was because there weren't likable people in either place - and because Least Heat Moon wasn't finding satisfactory conversation.  He's lonely, and that snow/ice n Utah almost did him in.  It was May, wasn't it?  He almost froze to death in his sleeping bag, unable to turn his van back down the mountain.

JoanK - I don't remember much of that conversation with young Kendrick Fritz - except that he was a Hopi Indian.  Was it because of this that Least Heat Moon asked him if whites were prejudiced against Indians?  I thought it a strange question to ask an Indian boy - and don't remember his answer.  Does anyone?  I just remember that the Hopis on the reservation wouldn't talk to LHM.  

Do you think Least Heat Moon looks like a white man - or like an Osage Indian?  I've seen photos somewhere, will try to find it now.  Here's one of many of the white haired LHM in his 70's.  No younger photos yet -

...

Here's another - young Bill Trogdon photos - difficult to find:

ps  JoanK - I just now see your addition to your post - the quote from John LeCarre - "Nothing ever bridged the gulf betwwen the man who went and the man who stayed behind."  Does he mean the man who went is forever changed, the gulf is so wide?

[CallieOK]

Joan,  oh, my, yes, I was here in 2004; I've been here since 1977!!!!   And I don't live all that far from where County Line BBQ was on 63rd.  Sadly, it closed and is now an Italian restaurant. Did you go to the National Museum of Western Heritage "next door"?

It wasn't in the mountains, but in March of 1972  ( before CBs, cell phones and GPS systems), family and I (plus our Filipino exchange student) were stranded for almost 18 hours by a huge snowbank on a "blue highway" between Trinidad CO and Springfield CO.  We and some other cars were trying to take an alternate route to Amarillo because Raton Pass was closed by the snow.
The experience sounds like a dime-store novel but all made it safely.  It was the one experience of his year with us that our exchange student never talked about!!

We were a minority on our street in Leadville.   I "walked the walk" with my dear, sweet Hispanic neighbor the day she discovered she was the "token Spanish-surnamed" member of a school committee and was not expected to contribute anything useful.  When I asked if she had experienced other indications of prejudice, she said, "Individually - but not in general."

When I was in high school (in the Choctaw Nation/Oklahoma), some sisters moved to town from a northern state.  Once, when we were downtown, they asked me to show them an Indian.   I had a hard time finding anyone who looked "Indian" enough to convince them.  Mixed-bloods don't always fit the expectation.

 

 

[JoanP]

 

Callie-who knows, we might have been sitting at adjacent tables! I think we missed that museum - guess we should have, huh?  Every place we visit, we find more reasons for returning!

Good to hear you survived you night in the snow bank...with your whole family +
Exchange student? Which would be worse- marooned in a car full of kids...or alone, no one in the world knowing where you are?

[JoanP]

I thought this was interesting -found it while looking to see if young
Kendrick Fritz was able to achieve his goal of becoming a doctor-

"In Blue Highways, when LHM stops in Cedar City he gets some breakfast at the campus of Southern Utah State College.  While eating, he strikes up In Blue Highways, when LHM stops in Cedar City he gets some breakfast at the campus of Southern Utah State College.  While eating, he strikes up a conversation with a Hopi man named Kendrick Fritz who is studying medicine and who wants eventually to go back to the Hopi homeland to help his people.In an interview with Artful Dodge, LHM says that there were three interviews that were most important to him.  One was at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Georgia with Brother Patrick.  We have already been there on our literary journey.  One  is with a person we have yet to meet.  His interview with Kendrick Fritz was another of the three interviews that he felt most important.  I think that it was because the whole idea of how journeys fit into our lives came into focus for him.
Source:
http://littourati.squarespace.com/main_page/tag/kendrick-f conversation with a Hopi man named Kendrick Fritz who is studying medicine and who wants eventually to go back to the Hopi homeland to help his people.In an interview with Artful Dodge, LHM says that there were three interviews that were most important to him. One was at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Georgia with Brother Patrick.  We have already been there on our literary journey.  One  is with a person we have yet to meet.  His interview with Kendrick Fritz was another of the three interviews that he felt most important.  I think that it was because the whole idea of how journeys fit into our lives came into focus for him."
Source:
http://littourati.squarespace.com/main_page/tag/kendrick-fritz

[Frybabe]

Scroll down to Kendrick Fritz's name in the article to see what he has been doing.
http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/print.asp?ArticleID=11431&SectionID=74&SubSectionID=102

 IHS is Indian Health Service which is part of the US Government.
http://www.ihs.gov/

[CallieOK]

Frybabe,  thank you for the link to Kendrick Fritz.  He's doing well.
Interesting to see the Clan identity after each person's name.

[JoanP]

 :'(Yes, thank you, Fry - it is a relief to hear Kendrick Fritz has had a meaningful and satisfying career - and using it to help his people too!  

I don't know about you, but I'm finding the drive through Nevada quite depressing.  Maybe it's because of the remote route he has chosen, through the dying mining towns.  The people all seem resigned to living here as they do.  Is this a good thing?

Do any of you have ties to the place, the Nevadans?  Would appreciate hearing from anyone who can eradicate the impressions LHM's account  of life in Nevada has left on me?

Maybe we should talk about the "lovely" couple he met in the deserted campground before we go -  Bill Watkin's, his wife, whose name escapes me - (was it even mentioned?) What do you think Least Heat Moon took from Bill's resignation to his situation?  I found it depressing, but maybe there's something to be said for his method of coping.

Let's plan on crossing the border to Oregon tomorrow, hoping everyone has had the chance to experience Nevada as we have!