McEwen Farming and Family Stuff

Monday, 17^th August

Albuquerque – What a name? Spanish background no doubt. It was beautiful driving into Albuquerque, New Mexico, back into the desert country. The desert has a beauty of its own. I practised pronouncing Albuquerque all day!!!!!!!!

We arrived Saturday and checked out on the internet, the Baptist church we would like to attend the next morning. Two addresses went down on the notepad. Ian chose the closer one so off we went to church. The GPS is making our trip! We just decide to do something, note the full address, enter it and arrive. The drive out to the `Believers Centre’ was very pleasant noting the pueblo style houses – dusty red to tone in with the desert. The church is set up on a hill so the view overlooks the city with blue/dusty red rocky hills in the distance. We enjoyed the service, led by their senior pastor, Pastor Marshall Townsey. The remarkable factor for us was that we had one of the Christian TV programs on early in the morning, I listened to the preacher and was not impressed – felt it was a show for the TV, flipped to another channel (local) and listened and felt the Pastor was sincere and had a humble heart. The Sunday service times were announced, I drew Ian’s attention to the program – I said I think that is the church we are going to. Sure enough, the same Pastor spoke and the same impression was there. We received a warm, friendly welcome. Always amazes me that there are believers in every corner of the world worshiping, and growing in discipleship.

Back to the motel room – some washing – lunch- rest and plan the afternoon. We were looking forward to the evening we were planning to go to a live music program – `Glen Miller Orchestra ‘ at a night club!!! – different. We had heard it announced on radio. `Lets check it out on the way to the Nuclear Museum`. Well we drove and drove following the GPS. On and on and down this long, long road – at last we arrived at the address – wow! Something wrong here – it was not a night club it was a Baptist church –not putting on a Glen Miller Band but a special evening dinner for their senior members!!!!!!!!! Ian realises that he had put the second Baptist church address in instead of the night club. See, even with the GPS –garbage in –garbage out?????   back into town, find the venue, flop on the motel bed – no museum – the driver was exhausted.

Really excited to arrive at the `Sister’ at 6.00PM – stood in line – doors open – and we sit in prime seats waiting for the show to start. Lots of talking to others. One lady turned to me and said ` You are too young to be at this show’!!!!!! I laughed, my older brothers, Alistair and Ian played the big band music, volume well up in their bungalow in the backyard for years. This lady was 83 and remembers the war (WW2), Glen Miller, hearing the disaster – news of his plane going down in the English Channel – such brilliant talent coming to an abrupt end. But here we were anticipating in hearing the music again. We were not disappointed. 18 piece band – dressed in suit and tie, delivered such a genuine Glen Miller concert. Everyone clapped and cheered – a crowd of a hundred loved it. It was as if we were there, back between 1938 to 1942. 700 pieces were written at that time for the Glen Miller band and recorded for the fans to enjoy for the next 60+years. The band played and sang (the vocalists )- Little Brown Jug, Moonlight Serenade, In the Mood, American Patrol (Ian’s favourite) and many others.

Off to Arizona, this morning. Lunch time found us at the Petrified Forest. Looked for a tree to sit under to have picnic lunch – no trees – 95 degrees –so no picnic outside just sit in the car and look at the amazing scenery – the Painted Desert’. The photos say it all. We turned a corner and I gasped. The pinks, blues, greys, reds in the rock faces were breathtaking. This whole area had been inundated with massive flooding, resulting in tropical trees -4 feet across being washed away, buried by deep sediment, alongside the diasauras . In the sediment was silica and it acted on the trees to turn them into rock. Erosion over the years has exposed the petrified forest. I looked and thought someone has had the sawbench out and cut up the trees and left them strewed about – including the chips. Turns out that the petrified wood will spilt and water and ice will erode the rock through in a straight line and the tree logs will break up and roll away in big pieces. The chips were from dynamiting the trees in the 1890s to take the pieces and polish the semi precious stone to make into jewellery etc. This was eventually stopped in 1906. A wonderful day. We are in Williams ready to travel to California, tomorrow.

*Extra: While in Elk city, Oklahoma we looked over a Route 66 museum. We are following the old 66 highway.The Mother Road. Ian was/is keen to follow it, which we are. It, of course was replaced by the state of the art current, interstate highway in 1950s– magnificent!!!! For those who may not know, Route 66 was famous for the mass migration from the mid west to California during the depression of the 30’s – drought and depression drove the families on to the lure of jobs and prosperity, which WW2 and the after the war development finally delivered.

Ian , The roads are amazing and very fast . with a speed limit of 75 MPH most cars do more than that.

I found if you don,t do 80 an occasionmal truck will want to pass yesterday an old Peterbuilt was sitting on 80 and I had to do 83 to get past him,

Not many troopers around, you see one on the other side accasionly with a car pulled over. It was interested in the Petrfied forest ,all the Park att are fully armed with a six gun and a tayser not much more than kids some of them and they are paranoid about losing samples of rock from the Park .