Driving from Canyon de Chelly to Chaco Canyon we took a road through the reservation that I had never been on before. I love new roads. Seriously, I do. I have a good memory for places I've been and I love to travel by car on roads I haven't been on before. This road was a lot more scenic and the reservation a lot prettier than by the usual route I've taken from Farmington to Gallup and then over to Holbrook and down to Payson. Anyway, we went up and over these mountains that I didn't even realize existed between Arizona and New Mexico that were covered in fir trees and really beautiful. And as you came out the other side you could see Shiprock out in the barren desert while still in the forest. And then we drove across the "wake" of Shiprock and that was neat too. I've never been that close before.
This was my hazy photo while traveling through Shiprock (the town) and there was a lovely sunset with rain in the distance and it looked really cool. Of course I am no photographer and was late getting out my camera anyway. So not so cool in this picture.
Surprisingly, we made it to Chaco Canyon. Leo really didn't want to go--he just wanted to go straight to Mesa Verde. And I called ahead knowing that the roads in can be awful and they said not to take the southern entrance unless we had a 4X4 vehicle and no trailer. So that added an extra hour an half to the trip because we had to come around from the north. Anyway, the road was way better than it used to be. They actually have a cement patch through the bottom of the wash/creek. Last time I came with Leo (years and years ago before Elena was born) we took our little car straight through the rocks and water. Yeehaw! But Chaco is one of my favorite places ever so Leo was kind enough to drive the extra hours to go. And I'm so glad! I love this place. Love. Love. Love. Yes, the cliff houses of Mesa Verde are cool because they're on a cliff and very pretty, but I love how remote and EMPTY this place is in comparison to Mesa Verde. And the Pueblo Bonita ruins are HUGE! And you just get to roam around them at will vs the guided tours at Mesa Verde. I love it. And my kids loved it. Yay! So prepare for lots of pictures of ruins and desert ridges and mesas. I love the desert too. I think that's why I love where I live so much--the rocky ridge behind me. As for our itinerary, we had Burger King for lunch because it was Jubal's birthday. And then we cancelled our reservation and got a hotel room. Leo and I were done with camping. And I love Hampton Inn. It's my favorite hotel. Just FYI. And we had eaten our beef and cheese sandwiches the night before. So we had cheddarwursts straight from the package while on the road both Saturday and Sunday.
The picture in this picture is of a place in Aztec, NM--I've also been there years ago--where they restored a giant kiva to what it would have been like. This isn't considered "good" archaeology anymore, but it's actually pretty cool because it gives you a sense of how immense the structures were that you don't get by just looking at the ruins.
End of the day and the kids were tired.
It takes a lot of work to take a selfie.
Sebastian was done with photos.
Storage pit.
One of the largest kivas.
Lizard tail, still wiggling.
The pro at work. He actually caught the whole lizard but then tried to hold on to it with just it's tail. I told Sebastian he should be a naturalist but I don't really think that's a thing anymore. What a shame. He's always catching things and then drawing highly accurate pictures of them. Wasps and spiders and stuff.
- Drive to Chaco Canyon
- Visit Mesa Verde
- Hike to Step House, Square Tower Overlook, Far View Sites
- Get tickets for early tour Sunday.
- Camp at Mesa Verde Resort (#015193)
- Breakfast: cold cereal
- Dinner: tinfoil wrapped sandwiches (roast beef, provolone, garlic butter)
And last but not least, a picture of one of my Chacos in Chaco Canyon. I would love to go back someday and hike to see all the petroglyphs (yeah, pathetic I've never done that yet) but I think Leo's had his fill for a while.
1 comment:
It does seem pretty awesome there! Your comment about Sebastian being a naturalist reminded me of the hashtag tinynaturalist that I've seen before.
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