Coronado National Monument, AZ – 2/9/2017 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

February 9, 2017 (Thursday)

Tried to sleep in but…I guess we did in a way because there’s a time difference here so we got up and went out to the breakfast buffet at around 8:30 AM. It was a typical hotel breakfast but with some hot items – eggs, waffles, sausage, biscuits, SOS, yogurt, cereal, fruit, bagels, etc.

After breakfast we left for something Michael has been talking about and wanting to do for about 30 years. Over 30 years ago he flew down to see some friends, Brad and Dottie, who lived in Sierra Vista, Arizona. While he was visiting them, they went on a walk at the Coronado National Monument, the Coronado Peak trail at Montezuma Pass. He has talked to me about how wonderful it was. He said as they walked there were brass placards spaced that had words that were in Coronado’s diary of his travels. He said it was very spiritual and he loved it and wanted to recreate it with me. (Something like what I had experienced at Mesa Verde.)

The drive was less than thirty minutes to the Visitor’s Center. Great little center with really over the top friendly and informative employees.

They covered a remarkable amount of territory. To the Grand Canyon, to Taos New Mexico and back.

The description of the countless herds of buffalo is staggering to me – realizing that they are 99% gone. What a horrific waste.

We then drove the 3-1/2 miles (2-1/2 on a very steep and windy gravel road up to the mountain). Took awhile. Once on the top we noticed they had one of those special units that the Border Patrol use to track people trying to cross the desert. Very interesting in that we had just watched a television show on how it worked.

We walked the mile or so up to the top of the pass but were very disappointed in that the brass plaques were gone and in their place were regular (dull, dry and without soul) parks type large placards. The Ranger in the Visitor’s Center had told us there was a fire about five years ago and all the brass plaques were gone. We were still hopeful maybe they had the words of Coronado – but no.

Looking south into Mexico. Had to complain to our cell company. Got charged for making calls in Mexico.

What it must have looked like, 1,500 people moving along.

Michael was a little bummed but we had a great time going on the walk (a lot like walking the great wall of China) and talking with people along the way. The weather was pretty darn good – not too hot and there was just enough wind to cool us off.

Placards of dry information, the soul has been lost. The entries from Coronado’s diary have been removed.

Some nice Canadians we met on the trail.

A great read and amazing how the journey impacted food in Europe.

We left and headed back into Sierra Vista. Love the adobe type homes here. Very pretty. Once we got into Sierra Vista we vacuumed out the car and then had it washed. After that we went to lunch. Michael wanted to go to Golden Corral. For some reason he fell in love with it when we were visiting with Uncle Claude and Aunt Gail last year. Buffets are not my favorite. Anyway, we ended up going to Golden Corral and it was pretty good. They have tons and tons of veggies. I mostly had a large salad and a baked potato (and a few small desserts). Michael had some good old comfort food, no dessert.

We left and drove to the nearby Fry’s Supermarket and got some water and cereal. We are now hunkered down in the room and desperately trying to get caught up on the blog. That was our day. Hope yours was great!