Year: 2015

We visited Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. This was a day trip from our campsite in Gallup, New Mexico. Canyon de Chelly is part managed by the National Park Service and part by the Navajo Nation. There is a HUGE issue with litter and trash in the expansive park. The litter sadly comes from the locals that live on the park land and part from trash blowing in from he nearby Navajo land.  Part of the Junior Ranger program was to collect a bag of trash. We started with that as we explored the park.

We explored the many scenic pullouts and overlooks of the park.

Mom was a bit scared to stand on some of the overlooks.

It was pretty far down below to the ground and the railings looks a bit sketchy.

Emmerson and I were fearless and scared Mom and Dad by running on the mesa right up to the unrolled edges of the canyon.

The views were amazing so we decided to hike the White House Trail down into the canyon.

It was a 1.25 mile trail down and as we hiked down re started thinking about the hike back up. Dad kept asking if we wanted to continue. We did!

There were lots of shady spots to cool off and other spots in the warming sun.

We hiked lower and lower into the canyon. I started to think about hiking out more. I wanted to press on but Emmerson was getting tired. Dad and I walked another few minutes and we made it about 3/4 of the way down and then busloads of kids showed up and we called it quits and hiked back out. The elevation change from 80ft above sea level at home to the 5000+ here made it tougher than we all thought to hike out. We made it out just fine and explored more of the park.

I saw something on the map called “Spiders Spire” and we had to go check it out. We hiked down a trail and to an overlook. It was a 700 foot rock that never eroded like the areas around it.

How awesome!

 

Canyon de Chelly was really beautiful and we enjoyed our time working on our Junior Ranger books, cleaning up trash and exploring the sites. We hiked back to the car and headed to the Ranger Station.

We received our badges and took the Junior Ranger Pledge for this park.

We talk a lot about Junior Ranger badges and patches. Here is some of the collection we have earned so far.

 

 

Today drove from Gallup, NM to Arizona to visit Petrified Forest National Park. We had a time change so got there really early. I was awestruck with the views in the Painted Desert.

We hiked a lot today. I think we hiked about 5 different trails totaling about 6 miles. My grumpiness was very evident.

Even the camera can’t capture all of the beauty and colors here.

We stopped at all the vistas and looked at the different layers in the soil and rock.

One trail was a one way hike so Mom walked back to get the car and meet us at the next location. Daddy took pictures so we could remember what she looked like as we sent her off alone on the trails.

I loved the flowers and spent a lot of time with the camera today. I am hoping to get some good shots for 4H photo contests next year.

We found an owl pellet. After examining the skeleton, we think it is the remains of a kangaroo rat.

 

I insisted that we hike a trail down to the bottom of the mesa. Mom said she would go with me but informed me we had several longer hikes after lunch. We hiked about 10 minutes down and then back up. I was REALLY glad we don’t go further. It was super steep and downhill was a breeze. I was out of breath after hiking back up!

I was begging to do some off trail hiking so Mom walked with me a bit while E and Dad took a break. We saw lots of lizards and ravens and found a few survey markers.

We stopped at the Painted Desert Inn (historical) and toured the building. I was sad that I couldn’t get a banana split for 20 cents anymore.

 

Up next was a stop along historic Route 66. There was a 1932 Studebaker wearing away in the desert.

As I mentioned, I loved the flowers!

We stopped at Puerco Pueblo and saw remnants of an old community and their Kiva (ceremonial fire pit).

At Newspaper Rock there were petroglyphs etched into the rocks. Click on the below photo to enlarge and look to the left of Emmerson’s head to see some of the etchings.

The darker portions of the rock had the carvings.

The Blue Mesa trail was spectacular. We hiked down from the mesa to the floor of the valley below. The layers of earth looked blueish purple.

In the ravine areas there were exposed petrified trees. This entire place used to be a river valley and the trees were basically driftwood that floated down the river (there were no branches, just trunks). Then river sediment settled on top and the right mineral situations took place and over millions of years the rocks became petrified. As the erosion occurred the trees were exposed again and are what we see today.

I loved the little plants growing in the rock.

Even the lizards were cool.

 

Even though the petrified trees are protected in the park people still take pieces to sell or keep. We were allowed to tough and explore but not move or take.

I loved all the colors in the wood.

One of the Junior Ranger activities was to hug a piece and see how far our arms went around. They were massive! This is a smaller piece.

We stopped by the visitors center at the other end of the park and turned in our completed books. Since we completed ALL the activities we got a badge, patch and a cool pencil!

One more look at the petrified wood and we opted to wrap up as the skies were getting darker.

On the way back we stopped at a piece of Navajo land and had more fry bread! 🙂 This time it was $3.50 a piece versus the $1 at the flea market. I opted not to eat any and wanted a push pop instead.

Back to the campground in New Mexico for showers, dinner and relaxing.

Today we took the truck for an oil change at the local Dodge dealership. We worked on our handwritten journals while we waited. Once we were done we headed to the Gallup Saturday Flex Market. Boy was it amazing. Nothing like the flea markets back home. The majority of the booths were local crafts and food mixed with trunk junk sales. We stuck out like sore thumbs in an area of Mexican immigrants and Navajo Nation members.

We tried new foods like fry bread, covered in cinnamon, sugar and honey. Mom liked an item called Kneel Down Bread. It was basically ground wet corn put into a corn husk and baked. Mom claimed it was insanely yummy! They also called them Navajo tamales.

After the flea market we just poked around to see what we could find. We opted to drive across the border into Arizona and visit the Navajo Nation. We toured the visitors center and learned all about the “Long Walk” as the Navajo were taken from their land to Fort Sumner and then their march back to their land after the treaty was signed.

On the reservation was a National Zoo! Everything was free. 

We enjoyed the Forked Hogan.

We saw lots of animals that the Navajo hold dear. The coyote was one of my favorites.

They had an albino raccoon.

The bobcat was taking a nap in the tree.

Emmerson loved the Mexican Wolves.

We found silly places to have our photo taken.

 

We stopped back at Genaro’s for dinner again tonight. Last night it was awesome and I had a huge sopapellia and fried ice cream after my cheese crisp dinner.They have amazing food. 

I thanked the Kokopelli for a rain free day.

After dinner we all helped tidy up the travel trailer. E and I were in charge of dusting and putting things away.

We are staying fairly clean and organized. Mom seems to go non-stop. This is our kitchen. There is a nice sized fridge on the wall opposite the stove.  Above is the dining area  and pantry. 

Mom and Dad have a separate bedroom. Mom was working on blogs and laundry all evening.

Our general living space. With the slide our we have a decent amount of space. E and I sleep in the bunks on the left (they are full sized beds) and the bathroom with toilet, shower and tub is behind the closed door. There is also a sink and cabinet outside the bathroom. We are making it work. We have to declare intentions before entering the bathroom and make sure no one else needs a quick trip. Most of our shows have been in campground facilities but we are starting to use the shower in the camper more.

It looks small but it seems to work. Dad and Mom did a lot of organizing up front before we left to make sure it all worked well.

On our way to our next campground in Gallup, New Mexico, we stopped at Grants Mining Museum. It is a mock up of what the uranium mines would have been like. We had an AMAZING tour guide named Mr. Jack. He grew up working the mines and later was in leadership. He even won an award for safety and keeping his 150+ men mine accident free for over a year! WOW!

We got to check out the mine train.

We learned how air flow as crucial and how the mines had different levels. Apparently before 1978 if you needed a drink in the mine you drank the water seeping through the rock which was later ruler unsafe due to the uranium content! Many people lost their lives in the mines.

We learned how they built back hallways to enter when blasting occurred so they could have fresh dust free air.

We saw the actual equipment used in the mining process. This is a rake to drag out the mined material.

 

We learned how the mine cars could hold 5 TONS of material! I figured the rock was heavier than elephants. There is NO WAY 5 elephants could fit in the cart!

They even had a check in and out board to make sure who was or wasn’t in the mines that day.

Some people had to walk over a half of a mile in the mine tunnels to get to their assigned working spot.

The tour guide found this fossilized dinosaur bone with crystals growing inside of it when he was younger. He donated it to the museum.

We learned about yellow cake which was the refined uranium.

Off we go again to El Morro National Monument in Bluewater, New Mexico.

We walked the Inscription Trail and learned how El Morro was a resting place for travelers heading west. It was first visited by the Native Americans, then Spaniards, the Americans.

The mountain was beautiful.

The reason people stopped is behind us in the this photo. WATER! There was a natural collecting pool that was shaded by the mountains.

Some of the rocks looked like they would fall right off!

Petroglyphs from the first people to pass by El Morro. Most are made by arrow point or a stone hammer.

Up next were the Spaniards. Their inscriptions were more elaborate and usually had the year they came by. The first recorded with a date was in the early 1600s!!

We worked on and earned our Junior Ranger badges.

 

We are staying in Las Vegas, New Mexico at a KOA Campground. Our site is on the edge of a hill and the winds are strong. We had the playground all to ourselves and thought that the campground was fairly empty.

We started out the morning early with a trip to Fort Union. We learned about the Santa Fe Trail and how the military set up forts to protect the land that the US was claiming. We learned that this was the largest of the forts. The walls were made of brick and covered with adobe. A lot of work as gone into preserving the site.

I was in a bad mood most of the morning. I think I am just tired. Thankfully I bounced back once I was out in the fresh air.

Up next on our day was Capulin Volcano National Monument. We visited the Visitors Center to pick up our Junior Ranger books and head up to hike the rim. We opted to start by hiking down into the crater and having lunch. I wanted to be able to say I ate lunch IN a volcano! Obviously this is no longer an active volcano.  

Down down down we go. The weather was windy and about 35F! We were cold but enjoyed the hike.

We warmed up on the rock wall as Emmerson wrapped up his lunch.

Up next was hiking the 1.25 mile rim of the volcano. The wind was howling. Due to the elevation, apex 7900 feet above sea level, we took request brakes to catch our breathe and warm up in the sunny spots.

The walkways retained a fair amount of heat so laying n them became a wonderful treat. We were the only nuts hiking the rim this morning!

The storms were rolling in as we hit the half way point. If you look careful you can see the black truck in the parking lot to the left of us in the photo.

As we were heading down the volcano it started to SNOW! We turned in our books and earned our junior Ranger badge and also a patch for hiking the rim!

Off for more exploring in the SNOW! There were hundreds of pronghorn in the fields we drove by. They were too far away for photos. But the snow was hitting the car and sticking!

A group of mule deer was feeling very photogenic and allowed Mom to snap a few photos.

You can see the snow was starting to coat the grasses.

We went to lower elevation and stopped at a old haunted hotel called the St. James Hotel. Lots of “bad people” stayed there. There were even bullet holes in the ceilings and rooms were people were shot and killed. It was fun but we didn’t stay long. On the way our we saw more mule deer.