We were in a hurry to pack up from one train excursion to the next, going from Chama to Durango. A quick shower was all I allowed myself, because John knew there was a Lutheran church in Durango with a service at 9:30. In said shower, I thought I was clean, but when I turned my head in that small space I smelled something. Train smoke! Thick, black train smoke was trapped in my hair. Too late! If people turn their heads as I walk in church, we’ll blame Chama. Durango will have its own aroma, depending on what kind of coal the steam engine burns.
Author: Anne Mehrling
I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.
Ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad
We ate at the Box Car Café in Chama, NM as the sun was coming up. John watched the activity of the steam engines while I went back to our room and wrote about pictures I took the day before.
We traveled on that tourist railroad as we’ve never traveled before. Instead of seats as in a school bus, John and I had a table to ourselves.
There was a hostess to bring us drinks (non-alcoholic) and snacks.
We had access to a gondola where we could stand outside to absorb lots of black smoke. You realize, of course, that inhaling that smoke adds tremendously to the train experience. Yes, I’m sure there are some that get high on it, no names mentioned.
The most modern thing about this ride was watching the drone take photos of us. A train buff in a car sent the drone at several spots. I didn’t get a photo of the drone, but I did take one of train buffs watching us. A road came near the railroad in many spots, and there were always cars parked to watch the steam engines. The people jumped out of their cars, snapped photos, and rushed to the next viewing spot.
Our car was toward the end of the train, so we had good views of the engines when there was a curve.
We had lovely views of the mountains, a huge dinner included in the price, and a souvenir travel mug. The real bonus was a lovely day when a nasty one had been predicted.
Chama NM
We threw our luggage in the inn and walked across the street to poke about the train station in Chama. I have no idea of the history of this place, but there is one steam train a day up the mountain. We walked through the yard, and John stayed to see the train come in while I ran back to the room and sent email messages to two of our children. We were hamstrung by poor internet service at the inn and no signal on my phone. Kate, Michael, and Lise found us on the website as we watched the crew begin switching cars for the next day’s run. That was really live streaming for our family.
I took photos of John in train heaven and liked the ones that show how massive the engines are.
New Mexico was new to us
We stayed in Tucumcari NM, a place John has known about since he was in high school because of its connection with trains. It was the end of the line for the Rock Island and the beginning for the Southern Pacific. Neither of us had ever set foot in New Mexico before. The scenery was really different – fairly flat with huge buttes jutting upward. We enjoyed seeing the wind farms, many right beside the highway.
I enjoyed the distinctive picnic shelters in rest areas. The ones in Oklahoma had three heavy poles put together as for a tepee with a wooden disk inserted halfway up to shelter the picnic table. We saw the first one, couldn’t get in the second because it was closed, and never saw another one. The Texas shelter looks like a free form cape topped by a flag with the lone star. New Mexico had adobe ones.
When we drove through Santa Fe, we noted that many buildings were what I call a Spanish style. Even a McDonald’s was adobe looking! Having seen photos taken in the Southwest, I expected that architecture. What took me by surprise were the road bridges. We missed several, but I got shots of others. They were decorated in a Southwest style, no two alike that we saw. We also enjoyed the retaining walls that were made for this area.
Everything OK for 24 Hours
Everything OK means we were in Oklahoma (OK) for 24 hours, and everything was wonderful.
The years seemed to roll away as soon as Perry opened the door. We hadn’t seen him or Martha in 51 years, but we felt an instant rapport. It was amazing, considering our backgrounds. We came from Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, and New York. Our religious affiliations began with Disciples of Christ, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches. We bonded in our college choir and madrigal singers, and they sang at our wedding.
Friend Sue in Kentucky mentioned that the national severe weather center was in Norman. Sure enough, Perry drove us right by it on his tour of their area. They live only a few blocks from the Oklahoma University campus. It is a huge campus, narrow and very long.
John asked about car tags that were unusual. Even while driving, John could read Cherokee, Muscogee, or Cheyenne Indian Nation on the license plates. The Indians don’t have reservations out here, but they have the name of nation and are entitled to special tags.
We went in the church where Perry was the director of music for 23 years. He didn’t have to move to retire, as I felt I had to. He retired and went to another church, making sure to give the new director plenty of space. The church was huge and beautiful. Perry pointed out the big Tracker organ, and we could see all the golden pipes. Only a handful of pipes are silent. Martha mentioned that after a change of ministers, the new clappy-tappy service involved long, impassioned sermons. Someone told her the sermons went on until many in the congregation were in tears. We noticed the tissue boxes, three to every pew. I had to get photographs of that!
I learned a number of facts about gardening from Martha. She tends the intimate garden area surrounding the patio. She has several varieties of hydrangeas, and the formula to boost their blooms is 1 tablespoon Epsom salts to a gallon of water. I suspect a mystery plant at the corner of our house is a hydrangea. If it doesn’t bloom next spring, I’m going to blast it. I also want to remember to look for Coral Bells, because hers were lovely.
We liked their water fountain, a large rock with water gushing out of the top, falling onto a bed of rocks. Perry showed us how he cleans it when leaves from the big oak tree get in the water. I always wondered how those water features were put together, and now I’ve seen one firsthand.
We brought up the names of as many classmates as we could remember. Sometimes they had recent news, and sometimes we did. We talked of all kinds of things and had similar views on most. The visit was totally delightful for us, but all too soon it was time to go.
Freddy’s Nickname
We met John’s cousin and wife Susan for lunch in Nashville. Freddy is an orthodontist whose main hours are in the afternoon, and Susan works from home. They are much more flexible than we were at their age.
Freddy can be serious, but we are more often treated to his lighter side. The subject of height came up, and Freddy asked if we knew what his nickname in school had been. Motioning toward his ankles, he said, “Highwater. My nickname was Highwater because I was always growing out of my slacks, looking like I was ready to wade in a flood.”
What I most enjoyed hearing Susan talk about was the neighbor who lives in the house behind them. His name is Igor, a Russian who is a portrait painter. I suspect many of us have seen his work at one time or another, because he has painted presidents and popes. The man’s studio faces their back yard. They’ve noticed he sometimes paints through the night, several nights in a row, judging by the light coming from the large windows.
All too soon it was time to go. It really felt odd to breeze through Memphis without stopping. When John began planning this trip, he put Uncle Howard’s name down for the evening. We would have had dinner with him and stayed the night if he hadn’t died. As it was, we opted not to go to the cemetery.
Arkansas was very flat and dusty. Tractors working in the fields stirred up clouds of dirt along I-40. We passed Little Rock before stopping for the night. A list of restaurants in the motel included a barbecue place, and we had a pulled pork sandwich. Of course, it wasn’t called pulled pork. I think that is a dandified name from someone who did not grow up in the South. We simply ordered a sandwich with slaw, a downhome delight!
Happy Birthday, Son
Son John ($ for short) received a silent birthday gift from me that he is not aware of. It was a sacrifice, too. A few days before his birthday, he came over for dinner. He got to choose the form of the meat – ground turkey burgers or ground turkey made into a pie. He opted for the meat pie, and we had a favorite vegetable that he wouldn’t prepare for himself, broccoli with Hollandaise sauce. His gift from me was not asking to take his photograph. I know he got a double dose of the non-photo gene, so we are blessed to have any pictures of him at all. He is passably photoGENEc; it’s just that the gene is a negative one.
Son’s gift to me was cutting my hair. He was making moves to leave when I begged him to curb my witchy mop. I know he would much rather have beaten a hasty retreat, but we went out on the deck for the barbering. I haven’t been to a hairdresser for over a year, ever since I asked who had given him such a good haircut. I reasoned that if he could do a good job on his own hair, surely he could trim the ends of mine. I should have given him a tip, shouldn’t I?
I was pleased with the result, knowing it saved me from being dissatisfied with my earrings. I would have needed a whole new wardrobe of longer ones to hang lower than the pesky hair.
I found photos taken when $ turned 5 and when he was 25, standing in the same spot in our dining room.
Jonathan Creek Water Table
The floods in South Carolina made national news for days. North Carolina had lots of rain, too, but there was no flooding in the western mountains. John and I made a special effort to see our local creek, enjoying the high water as long as it wasn’t hurting anyone. Two days we opted to walk the flatter route with neighbor John O. We enjoy his company, but he wouldn’t go to the creek and later climb the hill on Qualla, with good reason. From the level road there is a very steep climb up to his cabin. One big hill a day is his quota. Today we told him we needed to visit the creek, and he walked the flat road by himself. Amazingly, we met again after we pulled ourselves up Qualla. Either he walked more slowly than usual or went further.
When John O asked about the creek, Husband mentioned the water table. I had laughed at his comment beside the water, and now it was time to share it. John O was a civil engineer by training, and the subject caught his attention. I whipped out the toy camera to show him the photographs. The first looked like a stream-scape.
The second shows an object in the water. It was a metal table, hence our talk of the Jonathan Creek water table.
There is no telling how the table got there or how long it will stay. On a scorching summer day, you might be tempted to draw up some chairs and have a picnic. Not in October! We’ll need to keep checking on it, which is a good reason to push ourselves to walk there daily.
Skunked!
Apparently the animal was cheated out of life. John and I spotted the lifeless skunk as we walked toward the curve in the road. We’re still pondering how he died. He had not been run over, so we guess he jumped up as a car was passing. Because of the curve, no one goes very fast at that spot. We also wondered why there was no telltale skunk smell, but coming back, we did get a hint of it. I looked for his white stripe and could not see it. Over the last year we asked all the neighbors what wild animals they had seen, and no one mentioned a skunk. We can all be glad it was seen when it could no longer contaminate the area.
Creeks Rise and Hawks Hunt in our Backyard
South Carolina was swamped by days of rain, but all we have to show for it are swollen creeks. John was amused that I looked down at a small drainage ditch when we heard rushing water. What we were hearing was the sound of the first little stream that goes under the road. We were several yards from it when it announced it had recovered from its summer low. Jonathan Creek was running clear, having dropped the silt and covered all the boulders with rushing water. It was nowhere near overflowing its banks. I think the lowest tones were several steps above what they were a week ago. The water had little to make music with, as the boulders were muffled.
Rabbits and squirrels, take cover! I happened to look up when I sensed movement by the fence that separates our yard from the neighbor’s cow pasture. A rabbit ran for his life as a hawk swooped toward it. The hawk reached out twice, but his wings were beating against the barbed-wire fence. Later I saw a hawk chase a squirrel in the same spot. Evidently, the little creatures knew there was some protection from the fence. I feel sure neither would have had a chance in the open.
Mehrling Muse 