Acoma Pueblo - Sky City

About an 1 1/2 hours west southwest of Albuquerque, NM is the Acoma Indian Pueblo  - Sky City. It has been continuously inhabited since about 1300 AD, and has a mission that was built in 1629. We have been wanting to visit the Pueblo for quite and while, and this year we made plans to spend the better part of a day visiting the Pueblo on our trip back to California. The Cultural Center was informative, and it has a wonderful gift shop. There is also a restaurant located in the center, and we ate a delicious lunch after our tour of the Acoma Pueblo on the mesa. Our tour guide, Jeri, told us many details about the mesa, the pueblo, and the history of its people. There isn't any running water or electricity on the ten story high mesa, but the people still come for visits to their homes. In the Acoma tradition only the women own property.  Water is brought up to the mesa for visits. I took many pictures, and will post a few for you to get an idea of what it is like. If you ever get a chance to visit, we highly recommend it.


Sky City Mesa

Cultural Center Patio - Pueblo of Acoma Mesa in Background



Mission San Esteban Del Rey



Natural Rock Cistern



Courtyard in Pueblo Where Tribal Dances are Celebrated



Close Up of Mud and Straw House Construction Materials




Oven





Colorful Homes - Natural Sandstone Colors



Ladders are Used to Access Upper Floors



Ladder Against Brick House



Colorful Door



Recessed Stone Entry



Natural Stone Stairway Leading Down From Mesa



At the Bottom of the Mesa







Livestock Were Kept and Crops Were Grown in the Valley





Old Livestock Fencing





Jeri Our Tour Guide



Fort Reno Oklahoma

We visited Fort Reno near El Reno, Oklahoma.  It began as a military camp in 1874 during the Indian Wars.  Buffalo soldiers were stationed there, and soldiers also assisted with the land runs of 1892 and 1894.  Benjamin H. Clark, chief of scouts for Seventh Cavalry, was caretaker of Fort Reno in 1908, and is buried in the fort's cemetery.   During World War II Fort Reno served as an internment work camp for German Prisoners of War, and many of them are buried in a segregated portion of the cemetery.  The Fort is now the site of the U.S. Dept.of Agriculture's Grazing lands Research Laboratory.

It was an interesting place, and I took a few pictures around the grounds as well as a few in the cemetery.  The cemetery was quiet with the wind whispering in the grass.

Officer Quarters - Visitor Center





Chapel



 





Officer Quarters being restored



cemetery





cemetery

prisoner of war graves



Old Route 66

We have been back in California for two weeks. I've been busy and haven't had a chance to update my blog.  Our Internet connection is up and running so I thought I had better get busy.  For the first couple of posts I'm going to share a few photos of our trip.  These are along old Route 66 in Oklahoma.  Some of the really old sections of road can still be driven on, where others are allowed foot traffic.  It is fitting that we drove into the sunset at the end of our Route 66 day.



 









Parthenon - Nashville, TN

The Nashville, TN Parthenon located in Centennial Park is very interesting to visit.  The Parthenon is one of the buildings that was built in 1897 in Centennial Park for the 100 year birthday of Nashville.  There were many other building and they were made of plaster.  After the celebration that lasted for 6 months, they were all torn down except for the Parthenon.  In later years the exterior was replaced twice with concrete.  The photos of the centennial celebration are very interesting.  It would have been fun to join the 1.8 million people who attended.  There is a collection of original paintings, and a large gold gilded statue of Athena that is a replica of the Athena statue in the Greek Parthenon.

Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN

We stopped at the Ryman Auditorium this evening, but were too late for the tour.  I snapped a few pictures of the beautiful building that used to be the home of the Grand Ole Opry.  It was originally built as a church in 1891.  We'll do the tour in a future visit.

New Home For Rusty Chair

I found this rusty chair on Saturday while we were in Glendale, KY.  Well, before I left town, the chair had convinced me to take it home.  Here it is on the front porch:

This is what it looks like with its cushion.  I'll use this chair next summer under the large Maple tree in the front yard.  It is light weight and will be easy to move to the yard.

Eagles Concert

We went to see the Eagles on Saturday night, October 16 at the new KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville, KY.  What a fantastic show!  They sounded so good, and they played for three hours.  If you ever get a chance to see them, I highly recommend their show.   I bought a t-shirt that depicts their Hotel California album cover.  I snapped a close up shot of the front and back of the shirt.