The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
Visiting The National Buffalo Museum and Frontier Village was a memorable and moving experience. Before entering the museum there is a small frontier village with a few shops that sell arts and crafts made by the local tribes of the Sioux and the Lakota. I got a really great pair of handmade buckskin moccasins that I love so much I am afraid to wear them for fear of ruining them. Isaac got a little drum that … [Read more...]
The Crazy Horse Memorial was an absolutely complete disappointment. This is the mother of all tourist traps. My suggestion is to keep your fanny pack zipped, and pass on this waste of time. It’s a “work in progress” that hasn’t progressed in the last 20 years. When we approached in the car and were told the price and saw the memorial carving, I turned my car around and left. There are far more interesting … [Read more...]
New Mexico is known as The Land of Enchantment and after visiting here we can see why. The desert colors in the natural landscape are beautiful, but it goes much deeper than that. There is a spirituality here, an unexplained peacefulness and harmony that is difficult to explain but yet you feel it all around you. It is the beauty in small things and the simple things that somehow gets magnified in the New Mexican … [Read more...]
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center was our first stop after an early morning flight and a great place to start our introduction to the region and connect with our theme, Cowboys and Native American Indians. The Center was founded to preserve and perpetuate Pueblo culture, and to advance understanding by presenting their accomplishments and evolving history with dignity and respect. It was boiling hot so it was … [Read more...]
Old Town Albuquerque is just a great place to walk around and explore. There are tons of nifty shops with all kinds of handicrafts made by local artisans. One item we became obsessed with on our trip were "fetishes". These are little animals carved out of stone or natural substances like horn or bone. They are carved by Native American artisans of the various local tribes like the Zuni or the Navajo. … [Read more...]
A little off the beaten path is the Taos Drum Factory, was both a fun and interesting stop. After learning about the Taos Indians at the pueblo, we understood a little about the role the drum plays in their culture. At the factory we learned how the drums are made and saw a huge variety of them, some tiny and some massively huge all with interesting an unusual shapes. Walking into the warehouse we immediately smelled … [Read more...]
Exploring the Taos Pueblo is to step back in time and to understand the lifestyle of the Taos Indians who occupy the structure today. The pueblo stands as the largest surviving multistoried Pueblo structure in the United States and is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been … [Read more...]
How cool is it to simultaneously be in four states at once! You can do just that at the Four Corners National Monument which is administered by the Navajo Nation. Beware, it was about $3 per person to enter and the concessioners have a tendency to up their prices just because. After posing for photos on the monument marker we decided to peruse the stands. I wanted everyone to taste Indian Fry Bread to add to our … [Read more...]
Mesa Verde National Park, (Mesa Verde being Spanish for green table), offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people, the Anasazi, who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300. Today, the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. Be prepared to hike … [Read more...]
I am so glad we took the time to visit the Ute Indian Museum because I had never heard of the Ute Indians before. We learned all about their history, their arts and folklore, and their daily life. As we took our time wandering around, we were mesmerized by the beautiful examples of the fine bead work on a variety of items that Utes used in their daily life. We saw and amazing feather headdress worn by the chief … [Read more...]
