/dev/zero

I got back from Taos, New Mexico, last night. It was exactly 20:00 CDT (UTC -5), when I took the key out of the ignition and closed the garage door behind me. We left Taos at 06:15 MDT (UTC -6). Total travel time: 12:45. Total distance: 746.3 miles. I drove about 200 of that, from just east of Amarillo to Vernon.

I’ll do a more complete write-up of the whole trip later. I’ll probably back-date the entries, to cover each day of the trip.

Our accomodations in Taos, The Abominable Snowmansion, were truly abominable. The shower was tiny, the floorboards under the linoleum were rotted out and you had to be careful turning on the hot water lest you scald yourself (I’m not kidding - the water was seriously hot enough to cause serious burns. Someone is going to get hurt some day if they don’t turn it down.) It was hard work. I got very dirty. I have boots and pants that are not fit to be seen and will disappear into the back of my closet until next year. And I’d happily finish my laundry, throw it in my bag and go back tomorrow.

Sat., 10 July - Meet at the church at 06:30, meet most of the rest of the mission team: Ann, Christine, Jessica, Stephen, Vance, Jeff and Alic, our new associate pastor, load up the van and leave for Taos. Approx. 12 hours later, arrive at The Abominable Snowmansion and meet up with the rest of our team: Bud and Carol, our team leaders who arrived two days earlier with all the food. I drive about 265 miles of the outbound trip, from just east of Amarillo to Las Vegas, NM. Unload the van, eat dinner, some of the team heads off to the pow wow; I go to bed.

Sunday, 11 July - Up for breakfast, off to Sunday service at El Pueblito UMC where our contingent of 11 is about 1/3 of the congregation. Back to the Snowmansion for lunch, then off to the pueblo to attend the last day of the pow wow. (Pictures later) We left early, around 16:30, 17:00, but the pow wow lasted until about 21:30. I had a beutiful hemetite necklace made.

Mon, 12 July - Early start, off to the pow wow grounds to help dismantle the arena. Lunch provided by the indians. With our help, get the arena dismantled in about 12 hours. (They’ve tried leaving it up all year, but someone started torching it every year, so they have to take it down every year after the pow wow and put it back up the following year.) I leave with Carol to help get dinner ready. That evening Jimmy, one of the tribal elders, drops in on us at the Snowmansion to say hello. He invites us to visit him at his ranch just up the road. He takes Stepehn with him to show him how to get to the ranch and where the keys to the gate and his cabin are.

Tues, 13 July - Finally we go onto the Pueblo grounds to do the work we came here to do: this year, more work on the Garcia house. We arrive to find that the floor has been completed since last year and some of the plastering. We get to work on completing the plastering and painting all the walls. We knock off early that day to return to the Snowmansion and get cleaned up, then drive out to la junta point, at the Wild Rivers Recreation Area. Dave Gomez, our liason with the Pueblo, his wife Vera, their son and daughter-in-law and their son join us for a wonderful dinner. After dinner the Gomez family returns home and we have communion service, then return to the Snowmansion.

Wed, 14 July - Back to work on the Garcia house. Dave drops in to say hello. Much painting and plastering is done. Jeff decides not to work that day. The electrician drops by to take a look at the rooms that need to be finished, then leaves. Myra Gomez’ (the woman who will be moving into the house when it’s done) brother drops in to check out the house and say hello. He lives right next door, but has never so much as waved at any of us, on this trip or any prior. Bud and I have a long conversation with him about this and that. The electrician comes back with his crew just as we’re leaving. Bud, Carol and I relax on the back patio of the Snowmansion to watch the thunderstorm over the mountains before bed.

Thurs, 15 July - More work on the Garcia house. Late in the day Bud sends Vance, Christine and Jeff off to the Headstart facility to get started on prep work to pour a new concrete floor for their storage shed. Benito, the supervisor of last year’s mission team, drops in with Harold (Jimmy’s son and the tribal sherrif) and Harold’s deputy to have a look and say hello. Most of us go out to the Rio Grande Gorge while others go to Old Blinking Light for drinks. Those of us who went to the Gorge return to the Snowmansion. Some of us change clothes and join the others at OBL.

Friday, 16 July - Finish up plastering and painting the Garcia house while Vance, Kristina and Christine finish the prep work for the concrete floor at the Headstart storage facility. Jeff, who has refused to do any real work since Tues, is detailed to Carol, who puts him to work helping make lunch and dinner. Clean up our work area, scrub the floors and head back to the Snowmansion to get cleaned up and eat lunch, then we get to explore the historic Taos Pueblo (Pictures later). After the pueblo, we join those who chose to skip the pueblo in town for window shopping, then back to the Snowmansion for dinner. After dinner I pack up my things, then join some of the others in the lobby where Stephen and Vance are watching Christine and Jessica play chess. The ladies get upset with their kibitzing and walk off in disgust, so Vance and I finish their game. The ladies come back and play cards at the table while I kick Vance’s butt at two more games of chess.

Sat, 17 July - Up very early for breakfast, then we hit the road. Arrive at the Church about 19:20, unload the van, I get home at exactly 20:00. Unload my car, drop everything in the living room, undress and head straight for the pool and shower. It feels good to take a shower where my elbows aren’t constantly banging the walls and I don’t have to worry about burning off my skin.

More detailed descriptions of each day later.