Almost Home

My trip has been a wonderful adventure that I know will influence my teaching for years to come. I am thankful to All Saints' for supporting my trip. It has been a grand adventure! Here are a few statistics  from my trip:

Number of miles travelled: approximately 5,627

Number of states: 11 (Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico) 

State capitols: 7 (Phoenix, Austin, Tallahassee, Atlanta, Montgomery, Little Rock, Santa Fe)

Number of museums visited: 17

Number of parks visited: 27

Number of geocaches found: 120

Worst traffic: Atlanta

Cheapest gas: 3.08

Best surprise stop: Ponce De Leon State Park

Regional foods: collard greens, fried chicken, grits, hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, fried catfish, beignets, chicory coffee, fried okra, bar b que ribs and turkey, fried pickles, coleslaw, gumbo, fried oyster po' boy, pralines, fried crawfish, grilled shrimp, popcorn shrimp, peach cobbler, crawfish étouffée, chille rellano, green chille breakfast burrito

Favorite memory: getting a secret visit into Dr. King's office

Thanks everyone for following along on this blog! I'm happy to be back home in Arizona, my desert home. 

The Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico

The last stop on my journey was Santa Fe. I have visited Santa Fe many times before, and I was happy to make this the last stop on my trip. In addition to being the capital of New Mexico, Santa Fe is the ending point for the Santa Fe Trail. This wagon route brought settlers west in the 1800s from Missouri and was one of two major routes many settlers used. The trail was also a vital military route used in the Mexican-American War. The picture below is taken in The Plaza, often called "the heart of Santa Fe". This city square dates back to 1610 and contains the Palace of Governors, the oldest municiple building in the United States. The Plaza is home to the Santa Fe Indian Market and it is always fun to walk along and see the jewelry, pottery, and crafts the Native American artists have created. Santa Fe was the perfect place to end my trip. 

Blue Hole at Santa Rosa, New Mexico on Route 66

Today I stopped at Blue Hole on historic Route 66. This beautiful blue pool is a popular location for scuba diving with a constant temperature of 64 degrees and a constant inflow of 3000 gallons of water per minute. The hole goes down 81 feet making it a great place to get scuba certified. Historically Route 66 was one of the main highway systems in the United States covering 2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, including a section that goes through Flagstaff, Arizona. During the Great Depression thousands of people migrated west trying to escape the hardships of the Dust Bowl. These displaced farmers nicknamed "Okies" headed to California for the promise of work. Their journey was difficult as was their arrival in California, but their work ethic and persistence eventually helped them to find a new home.  They would have traveled this road on their journey! The water in this amazing pool was cold and refreshing! This was a great find on this historic route. 

Palo Duro State Park near Amarillo, Texas

On the way to New Mexico, I stopped at Palo Duro Canyon in Texas. This canyon is approximately 120 miles long and 600 to 800 feet deep and is the second largest canyon in the United States. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sent seven companies of men to develop roads, a visitor center, cabins, shelters, and a park headquarters. Although nothing can compare to the Grand Canyon in my beloved state of Arizona, I did enjoy hiking the CCC trail, looking at the views, and geocaching. Today made me excited to visit the Grand Canyon in September with my sixth grade students and hike rim to rim with my friends in October. I'm happy I am working my way home! 

Roman Nose State Park near Watonga, Oklahoma

I decided to return to a spot that I went to as a child and spent the evening and morning at Roman Nose State Park. The park is named for Henry Caruthers Roman Nose, a Cheyenne Indian who owned the reservation allotment on the land where the park now sits. In August of 1935 men from the 2819th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived in the area tasked with the job of building a state park. The federal government created the CCC as a part of FDR's New Deal programs to create jobs during the Great Depression. This program employed men between the ages of 18 to 25 to preform public conservation work. In addition to room and board, the men were paid thirty dollars a month and were required to send twenty-five dollars back to their families. In addition to work, the men learned job skills, discipline, and they became fit and healthy. The program at Roman Nose wrapped up by 1942 as many of the young men headed into the military to fight in World War II. It was amazing to me that the work done by the CCC men 77 years ago is still beautifully in place today. I really enjoyed posing in front of the iconic entrance sign created by CCC workers as I have a picture of myself standing there as a child and one of my dad, uncle, and aunt at the same spot when they were children. This is a beautiful Oklahoma state park.

Oak Vale Cemetery Kingfisher County in Oklahoma

Today I went on a search on the red clay back roads of Oklahoma to find my great-great-great grandmother Cerrelda Butterfield's gravestone. In April of 1889, Cerrelda came to Oklahoma with her son-in-law, Joseph Kariker, to stake a claim in the Oklahoma Land Rush. She was 65 years old at the time. She filed a claim for a 160 acre farm located in Columbia Township. She sewed beautiful quilts that my family still has. Cerrelda died in 1909 at the age of 86 and is buried one half mile south and one-half mile west of the homestead. I made this part of the trip in honor of my Grandmother who died this past year at the age of 95. She wrote a fantastic family history that I used to find the location of the cemetery and the homestead.  My grandmother nurtured and supported my love of history! I love and miss her very much.

Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas

Today I was able to visit Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In September of 1957, Central High School captured the world's attention when the "Little Rock 9" (9 African American high school students) attempted to integrate the school in accordance to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education which outlawed segregation in public schools. Governor Orval Faubus used the Arkansas National Guard to keep the students out of the school and when he recalled the national guard and left the black students open to attack  President Eisenhower was compelled to call in the 101st Airborne Division to protect the students after a mob gathered to try to keep the students out. The media attention brought attention to the issue and the nine students were able to finish the school year before Governor Faubus closed all public schools the next school year. In 1959 the Federal courts ruled that school closings were unconstitutional and all public schools reopened on an integrated basis in August with three African American students attending Central High. I learned a wonderful story about a famous picture taken of Elizabeth Eckford navigating a mob of people as she tried to get into the school on the first day. A white woman in the crowd was pictured screaming at Elizabeth as she walked. That image has come to represent resistance to desegregation. Forty years later Hazel Bryan Masery, the white woman, and Elizabeth Eckford were able to talk and reconcile what happen on that day. That example of forgiveness gave me a wonderful feeling of hope. I'm so glad I was able to stop at this historic site that is still a high school today. 

Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee

This afternoon I visited Elvis Presley's home in Memphis, Graceland. Elvis was a singer, actor, and musician who is often called "the King of Rock and Roll". Elvis and his extended family lived in the house from 1957 until his death on August 16, 1977.   I was able to tour the bottom floor of the house and some of the nearby buildings including the meditation garden where Elvis and his parents and grandmother are buried. My favorite room in the house was the jungle room because it was so unique with its green shag carpet and tiki motif. I also enjoyed seeing all of the gold records and awards in the trophy room which once was the racquetball court. It was fun to learn more about Elvis and hear his music playing throughout the tour. I was surprised to hear about all the charitable donations Elvis made throughout his life, and it was actually wonderful to see all of his gold and platinum records. I'm happy to say that I have been to Graceland. 

Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee

This morning I visited the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. In 1968 Dr. King was in Memphis to support African American sanitation workers who were on strike to gain equal wages and better working conditions. The night before Dr. King's assassination, he gave his famous, "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech where he foretold his own death. On Thursday, April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. Dr. King was shot while he stood outside of room 306 on the second floor of the balcony at the motel. Dr. King was only 39 years old. Truthfully, this location had an overwhelming feeling of sadness for me. The world lost an amazing leader that day, however, I continue to be inspired by Dr. King's legacy of love.