Not the Seven Cities of Gold

There's no such a concentration of ancient pueblo buildings in Zuni as in, for example, Acoma, but there are some traditional Adobe structures..

In late 16th century the Spanish had subdued most of present day Mexico under their power. For some reason, a rumor about Seven Cities of Gold began to spread among them. They were supposed to be found in the North, across a great desert. The first one to look for them was Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who, however, never found them. Neither did anyone else, even though many have followed him during the centuries.

In New Mexico and Arizona we visited same parts where the Spanish conquistadors centuries earlier spread war, horror and destruction in their search for the Golden Cities. We didn't find any Cities of Gold, but seven places well worth visiting.

1. Inscription Rock Trading & Coffee Co

A recently shorn alpaca outside the cafe.

On our long drive from Acoma to Zuni Pueblo I felt an urgent need to drink coffee. Let's be honest: the coffee served in service stations in Finland is usually not good at all. However, it is far better than the disgusting goo that most roadside cafes in the U.S. torment their customers with. Of course, in big cities very good coffee is available, but now we were pretty close to Nowhere, New Mexico. I was fully prepared ensure my adequate caffeine intake with some disgusting, watery liquid.

Just east of El Morro National Monument (see below) we ran into a very pleasant surprise: a very nice couple serving excellent coffee in a most pleasing environment. In addition, outside the cafe there were two llamas and an alpaca.

2. El Morro National Monument

Steep walls of El Morro.

The summers of New Mexico are hot and dry. Historically, drinking water has been in short supply. A rock known as El Morro shelters the only water spring within miles. It is hardly surprising that passers-by have stopped here to fill their water containers for centuries, perhaps millennia.

In addition, the ancestors of the present-day Zuni built a small town on top of the hill in the 13th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement was abandoned relatively soon, even before the Spanish conquest. The inhabitants of that town did start a tradition that has continued to our days: making inscriptions in the soft sandstone of El Morro,

Ancient petroglyphs by the ancestral puebloans.

The Spanish embraced this tradition. Their first inscriptions date from early 17th century. The rock wall carries boastful descriptions of "pacification" of the pueblo peoples and other conquests. Some more modest travelers only inscribed their names, the date and the words paso por aqui, "passed by here". When the English-speaking Americans reached New Mexico in 19th century, they continued the tradition of inscriptions. Today, El Morro is a National Monument run by the National Park Service. As always, NPS does an excellent job providing information about the site and keeping the infrastructure in shape.

Boastful Spanish inscriptions.

El Morro spring.

3. Zuni Pueblo
The Zuni are an extraordinary people. Their language seems not to be related to any other language known to mankind, They are known, among other things, for their colorful and intricate ceremonies which combine a thousands of years old understanding of the Universe and the powers influencing it with Roman-Catholic christianity taught to the Zuni by the Spanish.

Earlier the Zuni have inhabited a vast area in several villages and towns. It is possible that the stories about "Cities of Gold" referred to their and other pueblo people's dwellings. After the Pueblo revolt of 1680 and the subsequent return of the Spanish most of the Zuni have lived in Zuni Pueblo, in western New Mexico.

The traditions of the Zuni have been a subject of active ethnographic research, and a number of books have been published on the subject. The Zuni have not always been too happy about it. At least some Zuni people think that some of their ceremonies are not meant to be observed by outsiders. Perhaps this is the reason that the Zuni are exceptionally reserved about photography. All photography within the pueblo is subject to permission, and for example inside the church no photography is allowed at all. However, photography is the only thing the Zuni are reserved about, they are equally as welcoming and friendly as other Americans.

Zuni Pueblo is not an impressive and beautiful place in a similar way as, for example, Acoma Pueblo. Old adobe buildings have disappeared, with the exception of the church (see below). The small but well-run A:shiwi A:wan -museum gets my recommendations. We were told that Zuni Pueblo is one of the best places for shopping for authentic Native American made arts and crafts. However, we didn't do any shopping, due to restrictions imposed by our schedule, budget and the airline luggage weight limits. The fuel prices were lowest we saw on our road trip.

4. Our Lady of Guadalupe Church

The church, built in 1629, was almost in ruins for a long time. It was renovated in 1960s.

I have visited quite a number of different churches. The Roman Catholic mission in Zuni Pueblo, built by the Spanish in 1629, is one of the most peculiar. Its walls are decorated with colorful murals that depict the traditional ceremonies of the Zuni. Reportedly, there were similar paintings already a long time ago, but the original ones were destroyed, when the church was abandoned for years. In 1970 Alex Seowtewa, a Zuni artist, decided to paint new murals. The project took several decades, but now there are murals depicting the Zuni winter solstice ceremonies on the northern wall, and summer solstice ceremonies on the southern wall.

The church can only be visited with a guide. We had the good fortune to get Ken Seowtewa, Alex Seowtewa's son, to present the church for us. He had helped his father in painting the walls, and had a lot of stories to tell and a wealth of information to share about the making of paintings (he even pointed out a Star Trek connection) and symbolism involving them, the history of the church and the culture of the Zuni. As explained by him, Zuni clan system is approximately similar to the one of the Acoma and the Navajo: the clan membership is determined by the mother. Among other things, the clan system has protected the Zuni from inbreeding, quite contrary to the traditions of European royal families which favored marriages among close relatives. Right after explaining this mr. Seowtewa apologized to us, as we were the only Europeans present. We told him there was no need to apologize, as Finland is a republic!

5. Inn at Halona
Most people who travel by car in the USA probably spend several nights at motels. So did we. Most motels are well kept and provide good value for money. However, the motels are also very like each other, there's not much to distinguish between them. We recommend trying different kinds of accommodation every now and then.

In Zuni Pueblo, Inn at Halona provides excellent accommodation. The old building has a special feeling to it, and the place is situated right in the center. The prices are only slightly higher than roadside motels, and include a truly remarkable breakfast. We recommend a local specialty, blue corn pancakes.

6. Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified wood.

A whole trunk of a petrified tree.

Long time ago, before the dinosaurs, a dense forest grew in what now is Eastern Arizona. Due to unique geological events, the trees did not molder after the forest died, but they were petrified and turned into jewel-like colorful stone. Nowadays the forest is aptly named Petrified Forest National Park.

A cactus in bloom.

In addition to weird stone trees there are other things to see in the park. About a thousand years ago the ancestral pueblo people built several small towns in the area. They were, however, abandoned already before the first contact with Europeans, probably because of a drought that destroyed their fields, and the inhabitants moved to more fertile parts. There is little left of their buildings, but there are some paintings made by them to be seen in Puerco Pueblo. One of them is said to indicate the exact moment of summer solstice. We visited the place slightly less than 48 hours too early to see that.

We were told the spiral-like symbol in the center of the picture is illuminated by the sun at the exact moment of summer solstice, and only then..

Puerco Pueblo petroglyphs.

Present-day Petrified Forest is not forest but desert. It is known as "Painted Desert" because of the colorful soil. We've visited quite a few places that felt otherworldly, like they were situated on a different planet than our home. This was one of those places.

Painted desert.

"Drove mys Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry..." - actually, we drove a Hyundai from Budget car rental.

As Petrified Forest is a U.S. National Park, there of course is a well-equipped informative visitor center with a museum and helpful, knowledgeable park rangers. There's an entrance fee, like most National Parks.

This Studebaker broke down on the historical route 66 before the Second World War and has stood in the middle of the desert ever since.

7. Mi Pueblo
On a U.S. road trip it is very difficult to avoid eating in fast food chains. When in Winlsow, Arizona, we recommend Mi Pueblo, an independent restaurant run by a family of Mexican origin. The food  was very tasty indeed, prices were reasonable and atmosphere cozy. Much nicer than most highway-side industrial fast food joints.

We were looking for Seven Cities of Gold on June 18th-19th 2015

Pleasant surprises in Utah

Zion National Park.

At least in Finland the name of Utah conjures images of fundamental mormons, restrictive legislation and generally conservative social climate. For us Utah was one of the most pleasant surprises of our trip. Of course we cannot claim to know the state very well at all. We only popped in twice from Arizona to the southernmost part of Utah and spent only about 24 hours in the state, including one overnight stop.

A small Scutellosaurus in St. George.

Our first stop in Utah was the St. George Dinosaur Discovery site. I have wanted to have my own pet dinosaur been very interested in dinosaurs since an early age. Actually I'm kind of fanatic about them. As there are no dinosaur fossils where I come from (thanks a lot, Ice Age), I was very keen to see an authentic fossil site. Some exceptional footprint fossils, about 200 million years old, were discovered in 2000 at Johnson Farm, close to central St. George.

Now there is a small but well-kept museum displaying footprints and other fossils, and real dinosaurs but unfortunately one is not allowed to pet and feed them life-like reconstructions of jurassic dinosaurs.

I know that some people lead empty and meaningless lives are not as enthusiastic about dinosaurs as I am. Maybe not everyone would be as interested in the St. George museum as me. However, I highly recommend the place for those who care about dinosaurs even a little. It is not a huge museum, so it makes a good stop in a long day of driving: if your schedule is busy, four hours half an hour is enough to get a meaningful overview of the exhibitions.

Dinosaur fottprints from 200 million years ago.

From St. George we continued towards the Grand Canyon, but decided to make a detour through Zion National Park. We drove through it on a scenic mountain road constructed in 1930. The scenery was awe-inspiring, and very different from what we had seen in Yosemite, for example. Through millennia water has eroded red sandstone, which is soft and crumbles easily. This has resulted in some peculiar, dream-like shapes.

Checkerboard Mesa in Zion.

Up on the mountains the temperature dropped to a tolerable level, well under 30 centigrade (86 Fahrenheit). Of course, there's much more to see and do in Zion than we had time for.

Up in the mountains of Zion.

Soon after leaving the National Park we stopped by a beautiful small pond for a snack and to switch drivers. At the same time, a group of six bikers pulled to the same parking lot. They looked exactly the kind of bikers one sees in American movies, long hair and beards, black leather vests, and they definetely did not wear helmets when riding - a bit of a scary-looking bunch. I admit that I was prejudiced and a little concerned when  they approached us. There was absolutely no reason to be afraid - they asked us, very politely, if we could kindly take a picture of their group in front of the pond!

A couple of days later, after visiting the Grand Canyon, we made an overnight stop in the small town of Bluff, Utah, close to the Arizona border. I have been to the USA once before, then in New York and Boston. Then I heard many Americans describe New Yorkers as a unfriendly and rude. I was surprised, as I found them very nice and helpful.

On this trip I understand where this comes from. All the people - really, every one - we met in rural Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and California were incredibly friendly, polite and helpful. We, reserved Finns as we are, sometimes even felt awkward. I see that in comparison, even a friendly and easy-going city like New York may indeed seem unwelcoming.

An example of this helpfulness: we needed to do laundry in Bluff. We arrived in the town late in the evening, and the only laundry shop was just closing. Before I could say anything, the manager told me she lived right across the street, so I could take my time washing our clothes and knock on her door when I'm done so she can close the shop after that, no problem, hope you've enjoyed your trip so far, oh you've seen the Grand Canyon, magnificent isn't it, make sure not to miss Monument Valley...

"Polygamy Porter, proudly brewed in Utah". A Utah brewery pokes fun at fundamental latter-day saints. Quite tasty, too.

If you ever visit the region, Bluff gets my warm recommendations even though there's not much to see and do in the tiny town itself. Landscape is beautiful and there are many interesting places nearby. We stayed in  Kokopelli Inn and liked it. There are a couple of other motels and inns, too.

We visited the dinosaurs of St. George and Zion National Park on June 12th 2015. We stayed in Bluff June 14th to 15th.