We are now into our 12th year of my retirement, Sandy retired in 1998, and things are still looking good for wanting to get out and see our vast and beautiful country.
"CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE"
After touring Walnut Canyon we headed northeast to Canyon de Chelly National Monument, (pronounced shae with a long a) on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation by the town of Chinle. We spent the night at the Cottonwood Campground and although we did not take a picture of the campground, it is apply named.
Tuesday the 13th: We did not have enough time to take a Navajo tour into the valley so we drove the north rim and the south rim stopping at all the overlooks along the way. Next time we will take the valley tour to be able to get closer to the ruins. The only way touring is allowed in the canyon is to hire Navajo guided jeep or horseback rides.The earliest known people were called the Archaic and they inhabited the area from 2500 BC to 200 BC. Then came the Basketmaker people from 200 BC to 750 AD. The Pueblo were here from 750 AD to 1300 AD and built most of the ruins located here. Then it was the Hopi who inhabited the area from 1300 to 1600 AD. The Navajo entered the canyon around 1700 and have been in the area ever since.
There are 3 overlooks on the north rim and 7 overlooks on the south rim. The following pictures are from some of these overlooks.
Antelope house overlook.
The Running Antelope ruins are located in the right center of the picture, just out of the shadow. These ruins are named after the antelope drawings attributed to the Navajo artist Dibe Yazhi (Little Sheep) who lived there in the early 1800’s. Excavated in the 1970’s, the site has an unusual circular plaza built in the 1300’s.
Massacre Cave overlook. 115 Navajo were killed in the winter of 1805 by a Spanish military expedition.
Mummy cave in Canyon del Muerto. It is one of the largest ancestral Puebloan villages in the canyon and was occupied to about 1300.
Rock Canyon.
White House overlook.
As you can see the White House was appropriately named. It was built and occupied by ancestral Puebloans about 1,000 years ago.
Sliding House overlook.
The Sliding House Ruins are above the slide shown at the right side of the picture.
This almost looks like a model that someone made.
Face Rock Overlook.
Notice the difference in the rock structure above and below the ruins.
Spider Rock overlook.
Spider Rock is an 800 foot sandstone spire that rises from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon.
Once again weather changed our plans to drive east through southern Colorado through Cortez and Durango. Our route took us back down to east I-40 and the up on I-25 past Pikes Peak by Colorado Springs, Co. I drove up Pikes Peak back in the 80’s and I think next time I’ll take the trolley up.
We pulled into Sandy’s parents place on the 15th and the next morning we had our own South Dakota alarm clock sitting on a hay bale in the field next to us.
It was Sandy’s Mom’s 86th birthday on Sunday so Saturday we went out for dinner at Maverick’s to celebrate.
Dave, Erwin, Dalles, Sandy, Cindy and John.
We left SD on Sunday so we could get a day of rest on Monday before we hit the road on Tuesday for a 615 mile drive to White Pigeon, MI. We have an appointment at Quadra Manufacturing to have Big Foot levelers installed.
It’s Sunday the 11th which is Mothers day so hi to all the mothers out there. It’s time to leave and head towards home. After everything was put away, loaded up with water and dumping the waste tanks we went out by the highway and waited for Ron and Jane so we could go to Rock Springs for breakfast. Was that place was so busy at 9:30, we had to wait 45 minutes to get seated. The breakfast was good but the banana cream pie we bought to take with us was mediocre at best. After saying our goodbyes to Ron and Jane we headed north to Flagstaff where we plan on staying north of town at the Bonita Campgrounds which is a National Forest CG near Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument. After getting set up in site 32 we relaxed, played some dice and had supper. There is no cell service and we could not get a clear shot of the sky for satellite TV.
On Monday morning when we woke up it was 28 degrees outside. I don’t think it’s going to be shorts weather today. We are sitting in the back watching the sunrise through the pine trees. After breakfast it was off to visit Walnut Canyon National Monument just east of Flagstaff. Walnut Canyons cliff dwellings were built between 1125 and 1250 AD. The Canyon builders, the Sinagua (Spanish for “without water”), had to carry and store their water supply into their dwellings as the stream below did not flow year round. The Sinagua homes remained largely undisturbed until the 1880’s when the railroad brought souvenir hunters into the ancient dwellings. The visitor’s center onsite tells of this story. Even though you must walk 240 steps down to see the dwellings it was worth it. Oh! And 240 step back up, it was good they had lots of rest areas along the trail which is at an elevation of 7,000 feet making it a little more difficult for us who are not used to higher elevations.
Some of the cliff dwellings viewed from across a canyon.
This area is called “the island” and has cliff dwellings all around the perimeter. It was believed that they moved around to different dwellings as the seasons changed. Either to stay cooler by being in the shadows or warmer by being in the direct sunlight.
How many steps do we have left? She’s still smiling.
The railroads brought in hundreds of people who destroyed many of the dwellings and pillaged the artifacts which included pieces of cloth, pottery and food remains. They even dynamited the walls to get more light into the dwellings.
The Sinagua built their fires against the back walls. The blackened areas and the smoke followed the roof to the front where they had small outlet vents. Even so, I would believe it had to be quite smoky in there.
Me standing in front of the entrance and a small vent hole of a dwelling. Note the short entrance door.
Sandy is checking out some of the ruins.
Here are a few pictures of the flora and fauna in the area.
This little guy tried his best to camouflage himself.
Today, Wednesday May 7th, we finished the trek to Phoenix and got settled in and then went over to Ron and Jane’s for Ron’s famous meatloaf supper. After supper Sandy was saying that this was the first time we had been in the desert when the Saguaro cactus were in bloom. Sandy said she wanted to get a good picture but that the blooms were too high off the ground to get a good picture. Then Jane says grab your camera, I know just the spot, so off we went for a short walk. Thanks Jane. We also saw 2 coyotes wandering around on the golf course.
After we returned from taking cactus pictures Ron gave us a demonstration on making large bubbles.
Here is a short video of Ron’s bubble attacking Sandy.
Jane prearranged our first party at the new RV. She and Ron along with two other couples who also own Lazy Daze RV’s brought food and grills for a cookout on Thursdasy evening.. It was great fun to see everyone again. One couple, Karl and Deb, bought our 2011 Lazy Daze last May.
Here are Dan, Paula, Karl, Deb, Dave, Ron and Jane.
Here Jane and Dan are enjoying a beverage of choice. Jane, that doesn’t look like a margarita glass to me.
Karl is making a point to Dave, Sandy and Ron.
Jane, postulating, preaching…… oh! maybe just plain talking.
Ron giving Dave, Dan and Karl a lesson on grilling a hot dog. Just kidding.
We went to Ron and Jane’s on Friday where their daughter Allison came over and made dinner for us all. She brought over Kobe beef patties and we had the best hamburgers ever.
On Saturday Karl and Deb invited us over to their house for a visit, and afterwards we went to Harold’s in Cave Creek (the wild side of town) for supper. It was fun to sit and visit with the owners of our 2011 Lazy Daze. It sounds like they are having a lot of fun, and more fun to come when Karl retires this fall.
After we posted our last blog we got a response from Ann and Rod who bought our first, 2005, Lazy Daze in July 2007. It was good to hear from them and it sounds as if they are anticipating retirement so they can hit the road more often.
We have been so fortunate to have met so many nice people while traveling in the last 7 1/2 years.
