Flagstaff to Albuquerque

This day, the start of week three, was the best day so far.  Of course, each previous day was also noted as the best so far.  We awoke in a rest stop just east of Winslow, Arizona, surrounded by dozens of semi-trucks.  The movement of America at work or in this case asleep.

It rained throughout the night which considering that we are in the middle of a desert and have been for a week or more is quit intriguing.  My sister whom we left late last evening said she received about .35 inches which is great for someone who counts on rainfall off her roof for survival.  The day was cool, in the fifties instead of the nineties.  We stopped at a state park where there were Hopi ruins.  We were the first and only customers and had to ring the doorbell to get into the gift shop.  I was intrigued by the story of one village which had more house fires than similar villages.  They conjectured accidental fires, wildfires or ceremonial fires, but no conclusions.

 

A bit later in the morning we stopped at the Painted Canyon in the Petrified Forest National Park which I realized we had seen years ago on another trip between my sister and our adopted son’s biological mother.  It was still awesome, breathtaking and as beautiful as ever.  The small cumulus clouds cast moving shadows over the multiple-colored valley.  What a gorgeous planet we have been planted on and what a great land we live in.

 

About mid-afternoon we arrived at the home of Joan, our adopted son Darron’s biological mother, in Albuquerque.  Joan had the table ready for tea.  She brought out the hot tea followed by a chocolate cake with a heavy fudge-like frosting.  After digesting all that sugar we shared a meal at a restaurant down the street.  After a couple hugs and words of appreciation in both directions we headed out for an overnight in another WalMart lot.  

 

Joan is 85 and starting to look a bit frail.  She’s sharp as a tack and as beautiful as ever.  She practices daily Zen meditation for which she was an instructor all her life.  She continues group meditation alone but simultaneous with others the in group.  She has given up her car as she feels unsafe after having several TIAs.  We are so blessed to have her as the biological mother of our son and now a dear friend.