Blue, and Red or Green

A couple of days ago I left Marc and Sara in Phoenix and headed out on Blue Highways to the land where the eternal question is Red or Green.
(note photos below got double loaded. Editing is awkward)
Starting in Fort McDowell, I headed northeast on Hwy 87 to Payson.  There must have been 5 mountain passes along the way.  Mean while the Sonoran Desert sugaro cacti grew larger and more numerous until they gave way to juniper and pine forests.  At Payson I turned east on Hwy 260 to Show Low.  We paralleled the Mongollon Rim.  An escarpment/cliff that runs for hundreds of miles and defines the high plateau of northern Arizona and New Mexico.  Eventually the Blue Highway sidestepped its way up to the plateau.  On the rim I wanted to stop for lunch and the view but the snowy viewpoint was closed.  The pine forest was a mass of hundreds of shallow ponds of snow melt.  Slowly the forest opened up to mixed pine and juniper again, but not without signs of some massive forest fires.  Trees layed higgledy piggledy across floor of the now barren forest.
From Show Low I turned onto Hwy 60.  The trees gave way to range land and barbed wire fencing as I crossed the border in the New Mexico (first time in NM!).  By Quemado there was signs of basalt under the thin soils and I felt like I was in eastern Oregon.  From there I took 36 and 117 into Malpais National Monument.  Here the basalt flows are only a few hundred years old.  The road is squeezed into the narrow gap between the edge of the raw basalt and sandstone bluffs.
I camped in Joe Skeen campground for free with about 6 other campers.  A long day of driving, but not a freeway in the whole day.  I cooked up some red lentil pasta.  I combined it with a sauce of tomatoes sauteed in olive oil, spinach, ground pepper, tomato paste and parmegano reggiano.  The wind picked up and the temperature dropped quickly, so I went inside the Alaskan to read and plan out the next day.  Before going to bed I went out once again to stare and the starry starry night.  By then the wind had stopped.
Tuesday March 26.  I went to Acoma Pueblo to their history and pottery museum.  The original pueblo is on a mesa top and has been continuously occupied since about 1100 BC.  They claim they moved there from Chaco Canyon.  I had my first red or green question (this is the New Mexico State Question (like state tree, flower, etc).  Did I want red chili or green chili stew.  I had the green that included corn and green squash and a bit of a picante bite.
Motoring on I drove 2.5 hours on freeways (but on the alignment of the original route 66) thru Albuquerque to Santa Fe.  I have stayed two nights at the Chimayo Hotel done block of the central historical Plaza.  The historical hotel is wood framed with adobe and has a central courtyard.  Very quaint.  I have taken on the Red or Green question 4 more times now.  Pozole, enchiladas x 2, and chili stew.  The restaurant in the hotel specializes in Chimayo chilies (no "mass produced" Hatch Chilies for them).
Wednesday March 27 was museum day.  Georgia O'Keefe, Native American Art, and Folk Art museums.  The walk to the later two was 2 miles each way, so I got my milage in (at 7000 ft elevation).  Santa Fe is not big on sidewalks so there was a lot of gutter walking.  Still, it was pleasant enough.  As I got back to the plaza, I was tempted by a shop with several Two Grey Hills rugs.  Very fine weave and patterns.
Tomorrow I head for three nights at Georgia O'Keefe's Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, NM.  Back to camping in the Alaskan and hiking.  Plus I have a guided tour/hike to places she went to paint.