Westward American Road Diary: Four Corners and Utah, Part 1

The Four Corners monument: where the four states of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah meet. We paid our $3, took our photos of us standing on all four states at once and left, but before we did....

At last!

I finally got to try Navajo fry bread, here on a Navajo Taco (vegetarian chili beans, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese and picante sauce), $8, which Steve and I shared even though I think it was only after 10 A.M.! Read more about it from What's Cooking America.

Off to Utah. Live elevated is right. We experienced much elevation, of body and mind.

Monument Valley.


Three Sisters to the left, which you'll hear in the Native American tradition of beans, corn and squash growing together.


Revering the grandmother. We live in a society of anti-aging, failing to understand the beauty of the wisdom that comes with growing older. I wish we valued knowledge the way we do vanity.

I've neglected my Retro Matinee Movie column lately, but I should have done one before I left on a John Wayne film. I haven't seen any John Wayne films at all, for shame!

Natural Bridges National Monument. Steve and I were here just as the park was closing and we saw hardly a soul. It was these quiet moments of nature and beauty and calm that I so crave lately and keep returning to in my mind. Modern society's always plugged in world is not for me.

A raven sits on the railing, and I thought of Colin in Ben Gadd's Raven's End. If I was a raven, this is as fine a place as any to settle.

"Time and distance surround the place here.
Step up, step up, step up.
The sky is open armed.
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull." - R.E.M.'s Feeling Gravity's Pull

After minestrone soup, a veggie burger and frozen lemonade, it was marionberry pie a la mode, $5, at Old Thyme restaurant in Kanab, Utah, then off to bed.

National Arches Park. We finally wised up here and bought an $80 a year national parks pass which grants you access that covered both of us. I've just fallen in love with the national parks. Have you been to any, and are there ones you'd like to see?

Hiking up to the Delicate Arch. You gain 500 feet of elevation in a mile and half, but the views are stunning.

On this trip, I was definitely feeling the effect of a job where I'm sitting all day, and then sitting two and half hours roundtrip commuting, and when I come home too drained to do much but sit and watch a library DVD and go to bed.

I wish I had as much energy as this jack rabbit, who was scurrying into the distance. I feel like scurrying into the distance too.

And another magical day slumbers into evening in Utah.

Westward American Road Diary: The Road to Telluride, Colorado

I can't imagine why I'm having recurring dreams I'm still on vacation and not back to congested northern New Jersey and New York City. I think I left a piece of my soul in these lands, here traveling from Silverton to Telluride.

Colorado reminded me a lot of Switzerland, where I spent some summer vacations as a child since my parents are both from there. Ouray actually calls itself the Switzerland of Colorado.

Like so many others, Ouray has a name of American Indian origin. Lydia Huntley Sigourney's reminder of this in her poem "Indian Names" comes to mind.

Sometimes you want a fancy meal at a restaurant. Other times, a cheese sandwich from the general store on the road to Telluride sounds just about fine.

Downtown Telluride was sleepy when we got there, a welcome change from the daily weekday life in New York City. Oh those mountain views.

The Coffee Cowboy stand in Telluride was my kind of place. A variety of non-dairy milks, real spoons instead of plastic, yummy coffee drinks with names like the "Lone Ranger."

My Annie Oakley latte with cinnamon and caramel made with soy milk.

This unassuming building...

the sight of the first bank robbery of Butch Cassidy. I left Telluride and much of the West wanting to learn more about the legendary figures of the region, which I know too little about.

My favorite thing in Telluride: its Free Box, which was started in the mid-1970s. This is so me! I think every community should have a space for free items to keep things out of the landfill and empower residents financially. It's not just items - wealth is being thrown away.

I took a cute pink calico-print cotton top for my mom. She loves secondhand items too. The bonus of secondhand: I get to take great vacations with my savings.

Puppy parking: cute!

Sharing a pizza at Riverfront Pizza and Suds in Dolores, Colorado. Good but nothing like the pizza you get in New York City.

Up next, I pay $3 to stand on a plaque. No really. But Navajo tacos are involved. Stay tuned.

No Mall for Me Today: A Black Friday Message

Today is Friday, and it's simply the Friday after Thanksgiving to me. A cherished day off from work, time to sleep in, take the dog to the park, walk off that second helping of green bean casserole and corn pudding, read my book from a thrift shop, and watch a library DVD on an old television set. No doorbusters for me. Besides, I like the saying, "It's not a bargain if you don't need it." Fred and Ginger look just fine on that set, the money in my savings account from not buying a new one I don't need - even finer.

I consider if Lucy on A Charlie Brown Christmas was right after all - is Christmas run by a big eastern syndicate? She told Charlie Brown it was. His soul was dispirited by how commercial Christmas has become. Mine is too. Just another mall holiday?

"We've become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy," The Chicago Tribune lamented on Christmas Eve 1986. Looking at the cover page of the Thanksgiving edition of The New York Times in 2011 - the lead photo was people camped out in tents waiting for $200 television sets at a Best Buy in Texas, I'd say that statement feels accurate as ever. Amid the worst economy since the Depression, shopping is still a national sport and such a priority?

Angela Barton pens one of my favorite blogs, My Year Without Spending, and featured in "This is How Non-Consumers Shop" a poster: "WANTED: People to Take Control of their Money This Christmas." The poster urges us to take cash out of the banks and use that instead of credit cards, support independent shops and services, spend time instead of money. I wholeheartedly agree with all those things. I pay cash for almost everything and am not chained to a credit card company who controls my life. I'm in control of my own life. If economic hardships fall, do all those people camped out for televisions have money to get them through it?

Another favorite blog of mine (and maybe favorite title of a blog ever) is Consciously Frugal. "Frugal" - but with a conscience. Not just I want it cheap and I don't care about the impact on our fellow man, animals or the planet. In the documentary the 11th Hour, I loved this definition of frugality,

"I think we have to reintroduce an old term before the industrial revolution: frugality. Frugality does not mean poverty. Frugality means the wise use of resources. The meaning of the industrial revolution was that nature was turned into a resource that was endlessly abundant. It's not true."

Like nature, our banks accounts are not endlessly abundant. Frugality should not have a stigma. Say it with pride, not shame, "I am frugal." I do.

I resent the constant media drum that our economic good times are tied to people going to a chain store for some Chinese made television set or sweater made in a country most Americans couldn't find on a map. Someone interviewed on Fox News about a month ago had the gall to say what a good thing sweatshops are and if they didn't exist the women in them would have jobs as prostitutes. So see aren't they lucky slaving away to make the American cheap fast fashion?

I save, but when I spend, I as much as possible support independent and mom and pop shops and restaurants, main streets, charity thrift shops, farms, the arts and such. I've been making an effort to seek out American made goods when I need to buy something new. That is my declaration of consumer patriotism. I'm not a perfect consumer, and don't make the ideal choice all the time, but I am a retailer's worst nightmare: a consumer that asks questions. Consumers stopped asking or caring why things aren't made in the United States and about the conditions of the people who make them, which is why you rarely see a made in the U.S.A. label on what all those Black Friday shoppers are purchasing, and have to look for a vintage clothing item for a union label.

Ben Stein gave a commentary a few years back about what makes for a "good" holiday season and he creates clarity on what really matters most. I'd like to see headlines like "Record Donations to Food Banks" instead of one about record demand, or "Animal Shelter Adoptions Up" instead of how many people are disposing of their pets. That would be a pretty good Christmas to me.

Thanksgiving Traditions: Macy's Balloon Viewing and More

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you and your family are enjoying your cherished traditions today. Here are some of my favorites of the season.

I've lived in New Jersey not far from New York City my entire life, but have always watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade from the comfort of my couch. The past few years I've attended the Thanksgiving Eve balloon viewing event, where you can see the famous balloons being inflated around the American Museum of Natural History across the street from Central Park. I love this event. Everyone's eyes are filled with wonder and a smile is on just about every face. We need that more!

Balloon super stars!

Saturday morning happiness for me as a child: a bowl of cinnamon Life cereal and The Smurfs.

The Energizer Bunny was one of the few balloons fully up.

I can't believe I missed A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving this year. I love when Peppermint Patty invites herself and the gang over and Snoopy and Woodstock make a feast of popcorn and buttered toast and they're all disgruntled.

I admit it: I can't wait to see The Muppets movie.

Tim Burton has a new balloon in the parade this year. It wasn't inflated at all, so we'll have to picture it.

A rainbow of balloons lined the railing and were handed out by Girl Scouts.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I had a bite at one of my favorite vegan eateries in the city, Cafe Blossom. A cup of fennel puree soup, $4, and black eyed pea cakes (yukon potato, red pepper coulis, chipotle aioli), $8. I love fennel but never think to make a soup with it.

More balloons were inflated after my meal.

I don't know who was more excited, the parents or the kids.

Every year for my November birthday, my family sponsors a turkey from Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey project for me. I've visited their shelter in Watkins Glen, New York and know the excellent work they do to provide a refuge for animals who escape factory farms, and their efforts to end cruel confinement systems like battery cages for egg-laying hens.

My turkey, Elizabeth, who was rescued from severe neglect in 2010, declares, "This Thanksgiving, give a turkey the royal treatment!"


On Sunday I attended a "Gentle Thanksgiving" event in Wayne, New Jersey, where vegetarians, vegans and even many a meat-eater enjoyed a completely vegan meal. The God's Creatures Ministry event was $30 a person and the proceeds go mostly to help people pay for veterinary bills. In these hard economic times, something that many might struggle doing. Tofurkey and all the trimmings...

Vegan pumpkin pie and apple crisp.


I've visited the Bergen County Historical Society's events often in person and shared them on this blog. Here is a video of a recreation of the First Thanksgiving feast. I'd love to sample the corn grits and stewed pumpkin.

Westward American Road Diary: Durango and Silverton, Colorado

I'm even not sure what state I was in - New Mexico or Colorado, when I had this plate of biscuits and scrambled eggs with coffee. All I know is after being in the desert, we found ourselves driving through snow on the road to Durango, Colorado, bathrooms and food were scarce, I was grateful to see the glow of a restaurant and an "Open" sign. We chatted with the owner about everything from hunting (not my cup of tea, of course) to why there are no toll roads when they are everywhere in the New Jersey-New York area. Want to go across the George Washington Bridge, that will be $12.


I was so sad to say goodbye to Santa Fe, and wished we had more time in New Mexico, but I loved our next stop just as much: Colorado.

Upon the recommendation of a coworker, we stayed at the charming Apple Orchard Inn, a bed and breakfast 15 minutes from Durango's downtown and about an hour away from one of the area's main attractions, Mesa Verde. The cheerful Granny Smith room was $90 a night (the off season rate) and the second night was half off since the hostess was running a special Monday-Friday. I just love a bargain.

And I adore a house with a porch, do you?


What a treat: Eggs Benedict! Mine had no ham of course. Served with fresh baked goodies and before this a yogurt parfait to start.

The charming patio.

Onto Mesa Verde, exploring abandoned cliff dwellings.

Imagine living here.


Observing the reflection of the mountain in the lake as we drove along, I thought of Forrest Gump's words when he ran cross country and remarked of the landscape it was hard to tell where the Earth ended, and heaven began.


Our hostess Kathy recommended Ken and Sue's in town for dinner, and it was a great choice. After sharing an iceberg lettuce wedge with tomatoes and blue cheese dressing, I had the butternut squash manicotti with arugula and red onions, $20, off of the night's specials. Ended with a hot spiced cider which warmed body and soul on a very cold night.


There's a famous train you can take between Durango and Silverton, the latter an old mining town, but there were only full day excursions running and the tickets would have been $80+ each, so we opted to drive instead. Besides, we didn't want to miss breakfast! A veggie scramble and a homemade cherry scone.

Landscapes shifted constantly on this trip. From deserts to trees painted in gold...

to a winter feel emerging.





Walking through Silverton, we met a woman visiting a friend who lives in town. She said you have to be very comfortable with "self." I'll be honest: lately I've been dreaming of hibernating for the winter surrounded by books, candles, fireplaces (too bad I don't have a fireplace!) and large pots of soup. True hibernation. Maybe the bears are onto something. I didn't realize how burned out from harried life I've become until this vacation.

What events has this old building witnessed? If it could talk...


We were so full from breakfast still, but chilled from the morning, so I was called into the Brown Bear Cafe for a little something.

Sitting at the bar, enjoying a hot chocolate.

The historic Durango Silverton railroad pulled in, as we pull out to our next stop: Telluride.