To Flagstaff via Two Guns and Twin Arrows

We left Santa Fe this morning a few minutes after 10 AM en route to an RV park near Flagstaff, AZ.  We took I-25 back to Albuquerque and then I-40 to Flagstaff.  After 214 miles we stopped at the Arizona Welcome Center to make lunch and get an Arizona road map.  It was a little before 2 PM.

After lunch we noticed dark clouds building to the south.  The temperature dropped from 97 degrees to 73 degrees as the storm got closer to us.  We pulled into a rest area and I took a few photos.  I expected to run into some heavy rain before reaching Flagstaff.  As it turned out we only received a light sprinkling of rain for a couple of minutes.  Then the temperature started climbing back up.

About half an hour before reaching Flagstaff I saw a sign that I recalled from a trip we made over this same route about 6 years ago.  I had to stop and take a photo because I knew that about 10 miles further would be another sign that I wanted a picture of.  When you see the pictures you will understand why I had to stop and take these photos.

I was sure there had to be a good story that tied these two towns together!  In a western version of a "Tale of Two Cities," perhaps Two Guns was a cowboy town and Twin Arrows was an Indian village.  This would be something else to Google tonight once we were settled in at the RV park.

We arrived at the RV park just before 5 PM, or so we thought.  It turned out to be just before 4 PM because we had crossed from the Mountain to the Pacific time zone.  It doesn't really matter when you are retired.  The day's travel was 373 miles in 6 hours and 40 minutes.  A respectable average speed of 56 mph considering a fuel stop, lunch stop, rest stop, and 2 photo stops.  I-40 was smooth and straight and I had the cruise set on 65 mph.  What was really surprising was that our fuel economy was up to 7.5 mpg, even though we gained almost 1,000 feet in altitude since leaving Santa Fe.

The temperature at the RV park was 78 degrees when we pulled in.  But even when the temperature had been in the 90's earlier in the day it wasn't that uncomfortable because the humidity was only about 24% as opposed to 60% or higher back in East Texas.

After supper I began Googling Two Guns and Twin Arrows, looking for a great story tying them together.  Unfortunately, about the only thing they have in common was that both are essentially "ghost towns."  The building of I-40 caused the decline and eventual abandonment of many small towns on Route 66 and these were just 2 of the many tourist traps that failed to survive.

Historically, Two Guns was the site of a battle between the Navajos and Apaches back in the 1800's.  In more modern times it was a small privately owned town that boasted a gas station, overnight accommodations, restaurant, campground, and even a zoo for the travelers on Route 66.

Twin Arrows was even smaller than Two Guns.  About the only thing at Twin Arrows was a trading post but it lasted longer than Two Guns.  There is a faded sign that claims Twin Arrows to be the "Best Little Stop on I-40."  The store/motel/cafe complex of Twin Arrows managed to hang on into the 1990's only because it had its own I-40 exit.

Tomorrow we continue west on I-40 to Kingman, AZ.  From Kingman we will take US 93 North to Las Vegas.  Hopefully, I will be able to get some photos of Hoover Dam.

Another History Lesson

Today we visited the Pecos National Historic Park, which is about 25 miles east of Santa Fe.   We got there about 9:45 this morning in anticipation of going on a scheduled Ranger guided tour at 10 AM.  I flashed my Golden Age Pass in the Visitors’ Center and we went into a small theater to watch a short video on the area.  Unfortunately, due to short-staffing the Ranger tour was canceled so we took the 1-¼ mile “self-guided” tour. 

The Pecos National Historical Park lies in a valley of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  The Pecos River and Glorietta Creek meander through the valley, which made it an ideal place for the Pecos Pueblans to grow their corn, beans, and squash.

It was a beautiful morning in the valley.  The temperature was pleasant and humidity low.  Fluffy white cumulus clouds were scattered across the blue sky.  The surrounding woodlands of Piñon, Juniper, and Ponderosa Pines gave the air a pleasant smell.

The ruins of the Pecos Pueblo lie on top of a hill that dominated the valley and provided a complete 360 degrees of view that allowed the ancient inhabitants to see anyone approaching.  The valley floor around the Pueblo had been cleared for planting and today is primarily grassland.

The first inhabitants of the valley were pre-Pueblo people who built pit houses (partially underground) in about 800 AD.  It was another 300 years, about 1100 AD, before the first Pecos Pueblans began constructing their wood, rock, and mud buildings.  For the next 200 years there were approximately two dozen villages (Pueblos) built in the valley.

At its zenith, the Pecos Pueblo was home to 2,000 people.  It stood 4 and 5 stories tall in a rectangular shape.  As with other Pueblos, there was a central plaza surrounded by the wood, rock, and mud buildings.

The Pecos Pueblans were natural traders.  They traded and warred, but mostly traded, with the various Plains Indian tribes, especially the Apaches.  Trading benefited both groups.  The Apaches were nomadic and would come to the Pueblo to trade buffalo hides, flint, shells, and slaves captured from other tribes) for corn, beans, squash, pottery, turquoise, and textiles.

Although they traded with the Apaches, the Pecos Pueblans did not trust them and there was always the question of whether the Apaches were coming to trade or to make war.  The Apaches were not allowed inside the Pueblo buildings.  They were admitted to the central plaza for trading but were made to leave before dark and had to sleep outside.  The Pecos Pueblans probably considered the Apache as "second-class citizens."

The Pecos Pueblans must have been excellent farmers because when Coronado and his Conquistadors arrived in 1541 he found storerooms containing at least a three-year supply of corn.  Coronado, being the invading Spaniard that he was, took it all to feed his army.  Once again, the Spaniards attempted to erase the Indian religion and force Catholicism upon them.  The Spanish also required a portion of the crops to be tithed to the Church, just as was done in the Frijole Valley’s Tyuani Pueblo. 

The Pecos Pueblans put up with the Spanish for about a hundred years.  In 1680 the various Pueblo groups united to conduct a well-planned and well-timed revolt throughout the Spanish colonies in New Mexico.  Churches were destroyed and many priests were killed.  The Spanish retreated to the safety of Mexico, where they stayed for about 12 years before returning.

This time they seemed to have learned their lesson for they were a kinder, gentler, invader and got along better with the Pecos Pueblans.  They even fought together against the frequent Comanche raids.  Unfortunately, by the 1780s, disease, Comanche raids, and migration had reduced the Pecos Pueblan population to around 300 people.

To add further insult to injury, the Santa Fe Trail cut through the valley in 1821, causing more of the Pecos Pueblo people to leave.  The last of the Pecos-Pueblans abandoned what was, by then, a decaying Pecos Pueblo in 1838 and moved 80 miles west to the Jemez Pueblo to live with their relatives.

We completed our tour about 11:30 AM and headed back towards Santa Fe.  We stopped at Bobcat Bites for what is advertised around here as one of the best hamburgers you can find.  The place was small and had a waiting list.  After about 15 minutes we were rewarded with 2 seats at the counter.  We each got a bacon-cheeseburger, which was just as advertised, one of the best I have ever had. 

The RV service person that I had called yesterday finally called back as we were leaving Bobcat Bites.  He came over to our coach later and checked the water pump then asked me how long it had been since I changed my water filter.  He was talking about an in-line filter cartridge that filters the city water before it enters the RV’s plumbing system.  I told him that I had changed it before we went to Mexico in January (they normally last a year or more).  He unscrewed the canister and removed the filter cartridge.  It was dark brown and very yucky looking!  I should have replaced it when we returned from Mexico but, because I had been putting chlorine bleach in the water, I didn’t think it would need to be changed.  Apparently I was wrong.  The service guy screwed the canister back on, without the filter, and bingo!  I had good water pressure inside the coach once again.  It costs me $75 for the service call, which was cheaper than a new pump.

Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM is my one-on-one with the professional photographer.  Hopefully, I will learn something.  I brought my newer camera plus my older one as a backup.  I’ll hang them both around my neck so that I look like a professional photographer myself!  In the afternoon I will go to WalMart and buy two new water filter cartridges.