Today we decided to take the dogs and drive "100 miles" to an place called Chaco National Historical Park. We headed off and followed the signs until we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere. After reviewing the maps at hand we turned onto a San Juan County "road" to try to cut across to the area where the entrance to the park was supposed to be. We followed this beautiful dirt path for about an hour when it started raining so we pulled out the manual to figure out how to use our four-wheel drive in anticipation of the mud to come which thankfully never materialized. We finally had the bright idea to use our GPS we call Nadine and she had us turning left and right on unnamed roads through the New Mexico flatlands. We finally happen upon a sign showing the way to Chaco Canyon and we think we are finally home free... the road then takes a turn and we are faced with a river to cross! Thankfully we now know how to use the four-wheel drive and we roll across nicely.
After almost four hours we enter Chaco National Historical Park and believe it or not it was worth it! A whole Indian civilization lived in this canyon and there are tons buildings and Kiva's. We then take a hike to a ruin site which was supposed to be 1.5 miles in with Pteroglyphs. This hike took us an hour with Calcite pulling us along so there is no way it was only 1.5 miles. The promised Pteroglyphs were never found. I guess a thousand years of mother nature can erase a lot. Peg had suggested making sandwiches for the road, but I didn't think we would be gone for six hours... next time we are definitely bringing sandwiches!
We then decide to use Nadine to get us home and she has us going on more dirt roads and saying the trip is going to take 3 hours. We decide to try our hand with the map and stay on paved roads..... it still took us three hours, but at least we were moving 70 to 90 miles per hour - we do love our BAT. We arrive back at Suni tired and ready to cook up a quick meal, only to find our propane has run out. Thankfully we have two tanks. It is now time for a cocktail and a good night's sleep as we head out to Sedona tomorrow.
Love to all.
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