Howdy from Akela, NM

Run Stats:
Day: 421
Miles Completed: 1456.7
Miles to San Diego: 643.3
Avg Miles/Day: 3.5
Marathons Completed: 55.6
Longest Run Streak: 15 days
Shoes: Skora Fit/Skora Tempo
Playlist Favs: Storybrand Podcast, Beatles Revolver Album

Run Reflections: Sometime this weekend, probably tomorrow, I'll be rolling through the area of Akela Flats, NM. My running has been a little off and on since my last post but I'm currently on a 4 day running streak. The weather here has gotten warmer (into the low 80's a couple of days) and it's staying lighter longer which helps too. I've been continuing to try out some of the strength and mobility tips from The RUN Experience and that has added an element of "new" into the mix. One tip had me jogging while trying to hold my arms straight out in front of me. This probably looked kind of funny to my neighbors but it was interesting to see how that change put an additional load on my core.

Bible Verse of the Day: "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38-39 (NLT)

Akela, NM: Located 30 miles west of Las Cruces, Akela is identified in the web site ghost towns.com as one of the over 400 ghost towns in New Mexico. The site identifies that: "Akela is a railroad name chosen in the 1880's by some railroad official or the relative of an official, and the reasons for such choices are not known. Akela might be identified, however, as the leader of the wolf pack in killing's mowglia (jungle book) stories. A post office existed here from 1922 to 1941."

Besides being about 30 miles beyond Las Cruces (a convenient distance for a next post), I found two things of interest about Akela and the area of Akela Flats that I thought were worth sharing. First, this area of New Mexico was once the home of the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache. These Indians, whose ancestors include Geronimo; lived here until 1886, when they were forcibly removed and held as prisoners by the U.S. Government for 28 years in Alabama and Florida before being moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

This group, who came to be known as the Fort Sill Apaches, have never given up in their desire to return to their homeland and, in November 2011, a lawsuit settlement gave them a reservation proclamation for their land in New Mexico. There has been controversy since then as the tribe is seeking to build and run a casino in the area of Akela Flats. Per the tribes web site fortsillapachenewmexico.com, "It is our peoples' desire to settle in New Mexico" and "The Tribe aims to be a responsible member of our local economy by creating jobs and generating new income." I have included a picture of the current apache homelands entertainment center which is basically a rest stop/diner along I-10 and the likely location of the new casino if it is eventually approved.

As you might imagine, not everyone in the local Akela area, and probably within the Tribe itself, is interested in having this casino built. Reading about all this reminded me of the latest John Grisham novel, The Whistler, which is a story set right here in the FL panhandle about the tensions and influences (good and bad) associated Indian reservations, casinos and the local economy/government.

On a lighter note, another thing I found in the area of Akela Flats was Bowlin's Akela Flats Trading Post which, according to their web site, bowlintc.com, is a family run business that "has taken pride in serving the traveling public with Southwestern tradition and hospitality" for over 100 years. They offer full service facilities and extensive selections of gifts, souvenirs and outstanding Indian homemade jewelry. I've included a couple of pictures of this colorful stopping point but didn't get copyright permission for an additional picture of a road sign advertising fireworks. Their web site indicates that, by the mid 1990's, the company had covered with southwest with over 3,000 billboard faces in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma.

This reminded me a lot of a similar roadside attraction that used to capture the attention of my brother, sister and me as we traveled along I-95 in the summers to visit our grandparents. Ours was called "Pedro's South of the Border" and (what I recall is) they advertised a little bit of everything that would be of interest to small kids with repeated road signs every few miles. In our car, I'm thinking the question "Can we stop at Pedro's" probably came in a close second to the traditional "Are we there yet" question. I'm not sure we ever did stop there, but I have fond memories of looking for their signs and the fun of those family trips. I'm glad places like this still exist. Wikipedia has a write up on Pedro's if you're interested.

Speaking of family, today is my mom and sister's birthday so I want to give a shout out to both of them - love you guys!!!

That's all for this week folks. Thanks for tuning in and hope you all have an awesome week!

God Bless,

Pat