Geography Lessons

The RV is packed and we have set our sites. It's Road Trip time! This trip is one we've anticipated for several months and Larry has been plotting and planning routes, campsites, and mileage to make sure we hit all the high points; National parks, spur-of-the-moment obscure corners, local highlights. We started our trip with a weekend with our RV club and then hopped on I-40 and headed west. And west. And west. It takes several days to get across this country! But along the way we learned some things.

For instance;

Oklahoma: My image: Wide open, windy, tornadoes, cowboys (thanks to the 1950's musical, "Oklahoma").

Adjusted image: homeland of Native Americans.

Teepee like tent poles are seen over most picnic areas

In the 1830's the United States began the Indian Removal program whereby they relocated Indian nations from all over the country to Oklahoma and Kansas. Before this program it was home to 7 tribes. And then 25 more tribes were relocated!

I knew about the Trail of Tears, the terrible relocation of Native Americans from their woodland regions in the east to the wide open prairies of the mid-west. But I never truly understood the size and scope of the Indian Removal Program.

Traveling through Oklahoma, there are signs of the Native American heritage everywhere.

Texas:Seeing concrete picnic tables, benches and overhead coverings brought back images of a long ago trip when I was only 12 and my family drove cross-country to visit my sister. One image that stands out in my mind is a black and white photograph of all of us standing by a roadside picnic table, one hand clamping our hats onto our heads, the other hand holding tight to a sandwich, tumbleweeds at our feet. I remember the wind that day. Whatever we put down was likely to disappear into the next county.


The picnic tables I saw this week were made of concrete, with concrete roofs overhead. The wind isn't going to blow these tables away, although it's tried its best this week! Anyone wanting to stop for a picnic lunch would be well advised to hold onto their hat and their sandwich.

Oops. Looks like the wind blew a little too hard, here!

New Mexico: Hard Scrabble Life is the only word that describes this rocky, arid terrain in the middle of the state.

Rough landscape

I-40 goes through Albuquerque to Gallup and our drive took us through some of the least hospitable land I've seen.

We never discovered the source of the really dark, black rock that we saw along the interstate. It resembled lava rock, and there is a history of old volcanic activity in a previous era.

The landscape really begins to change in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona. 

Along with the change came some questions. Like what's the difference between Mesa, Butte and Plateau?

I love the definitions I've found.

Generally speaking:

• A Butte is a small, flat-topped hill or mountain (usually higher than it is wide)
• A Mesa is a medium sized flat-topped hill or mountain.
• A Plateau is a big flat topped hill or mountain

Butte

Mesa

I guess it's all relative!

The difference between an Arroyo, a gully and a wash? Not much. They mean the same thing, a small stream or creek bed that was often dry. In the west it was called a wash. In the southwest it was called an arroyo. It depended on who settled there.

One thing for sure. Driving this stretch of I-40 has been windy! It is a wide open part of the country. The RV has been rocking along and Larry has kept a vise grip on the steering wheel. I did take my turn one day, but mostly I've been happy to sit in the co-pilot seat and just hang on.

Our goal this week was to get into the southwest and start exploring some of our National Parks, so we concentrated on driving through these states to get there. This whole week has been windy. I will be really happy to say goodbye to it. But it too, is part of this countryside. So I'll just tighten my hat and hold on tight.

And look for more geography lessons.