Grace's Fall Break - Trip to Chaco Canyon - Days 7 - 9

On Friday morning we packed up and left Chaco Canyon.  

Here are Felicty and Gracie dressed for a Land Rover Safari Adventure. 

We headed toward Farmingtion, NM, when my parents realized that Aztec ruins was just another 10 miles up the road.

This is kind of weird. The band of blackish/greenish rocks.  I have never seen this before.  It is especially interesting because they plastered over it.  So, why did they do it?

The people of Aztec had two Great Kivas.  One of the Great Kivas was reconstructed and we were able to go into the kiva.  It might have been what kivas looked like a 1000 years ago.  There are three types of Kivas.  Great Kivas, Keyhole Kivas, and Housed Kivas.  Great Kivas are really big.

  This is an original ladder from Aztec ruins.  I always thought of the Sante Fe ladder, but these were very common in both Aztec and Chaco.  In Chaco there were no ladders left, because they were scavenged for firewood.  Another thing that makes me sad.

After visiting Aztec Ruins we went to Four Corners Monument.  Four Corners is where Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico all meet in one place.

It was really fun.  You can say "I'm in AZ, no wait, NM, no wait, CO, no wait, UT, no wait, I am in them all.


After Four Corners we headed to Canyon de Chelly.  We got there after dark and camped at the campground.

We drove the south rim of Canyon de Chelly the next morning and I heard all about the time my parent's got to camp at the base of Spider Rock.  Maybe someday I will get to do that.


Our next and last stop was Hubble Trading Post.

We were lucky enough to get to go inside the Hubble House.  Here I am in the entrance way.

This is bread oven.  I think they said they baked 250 loaves of bread a week in this oven. 

 Cool Barn!! Sometimes they had up to 10,000 sheep here!  I bet that was stinky!!

Here I am with my 6 Junior Ranger Badges and patches.

The last night we spent at our friend's cabin in Show Low, AZ.  We are so glad we could stay there in comfort and hot showers after 8 long days in the Dormobile.  Thanks Tom and Jane.

I had an awesome time.  On to our next adventure!!!

Grace's Fall Break - Trip to Chaco Canyon - Days 3-6

Chaco Culture was the main stop on our trip.

On the first day we went to Una Vida. It is one of the first great houses built in Chaco Canyon. Now it looks small, but in the 900's it was very big!!

On the second day, I hiked 8 miles to see the Supernova pictograph. 

On the way there was a Petroglyph side trail.  We took it and here are some of the Petroglyphs. 

The square is a Kachina.  I think this is really cool!!

Under the Supernova Pictograph there was a petroglyph of Halley's comet. The hike was long, and my mom got lots of blisters on her feet to prove it.

On the bluff above there were ruins called Penasco Blanco.

On the third day, we went to Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo de Arroyo, and Casa Rinconada. 

Pueblo Bonito

Pueblo Bonito is the town square. It is Huge!!! It was first to be built and the last to be completed. On January 22, 1941 a rock face fell on an 8th of Pueblo Bonito. Here are some pictures of Pueblo Bonito!

 This is a drawing of the different stages of building at Pueblo Bonito.

 The famous curving doors of Pueblo Bonito.  Awesome!!

 This is the original wood ceiling beams in this one room of Pueblo Bonito.  The room has original plaster, but the park service plastered over it, because people were vandalizing it.  There was a lot of that kind of stuff here.  It made me sad.

This is a rare corner door.

Chetro Ketl

Here is the "Great Wall" at Chetro Ketl. Which is another great house about 1/2 mile from Pueblo Bonito.

These are original mosaics that are blocked off, but a nice park service ranger came by and opened the door to the room, so we could get a better look.  He told us there were several other examples in the park, but they have closed them off to visitors for safe keeping.

Casa Rinconada

My favorite of all the ruins!!!

Casa Rinconada is a Great Kiva. On the summer solstice a light shines on a niche on the wall. A Great Kiva is a ceremony room sort of like a church.

Pueblo de Arroyo

 This a "tri-wall" or triple walled kiva.  They are rare and only a dozen have been found in the four corners area.  This is the only one at Chaco.

 These mealing bins have metate's in them.  The women would sit down with feet against the wall and knees against the mealing bin and grind corn. 

Chacoan Stairway

Chacoan stairways were carved into rocks.  They have found many stairways around Chaco Canyon.

Chaco was Awesome!!!

More to come - Aztec Ruins, Four corners, Canyon de Chelly and Hubble Trading Post

Rover Diva Grace Goes to Virginia by Grace

I flew from Phoenix to DC, all by myself.  For a two week visit.  Flying alone is fun!  But stressful for my parents.

I visited my Aunt Jenifer, Uncle Will, Grandmother, Grandaddy and my cousins, Claire and Trey in Virginia.  My Grandparents live in Clifton, VA.  My Uncle Will is a pilot in the US Navy.  They are stationed right now at Virgina Beach.  I spent most of my trip in Virgina Beach. 

My Granddaddy has some old Range Rover's but they don't run most of the time.  

Here we are at a Japanese restaurant. Yum!!!

Earlier in July, I went to San Diego with my parents and swam in the Pacific Ocean. So, I've been in both the Atlantic and Pacific ocean in the same mouth.  
Cool!! or maybe Wet!!

It was my first time on a bogey board. 

It was so fun!!!

We went to Colonial Williamsburg.  Both Claire and I own Felicity, a colonial American Girl Doll.  We wanted to bring our Felicity dolls, but Trey wanted to bring something too.  So, he brought Master Yoda.  It is kind of funny to see him running around Colonial Williamsburg with a Yoda =)

This is a horse just like Felicity's.

We found out that this house is what the Felicity books were based on, but not used much in the Felicity movie. 

Here is Felicity's house that was used most of the time in the movie.

We decided to give our toys a shoulder ride.

Me and Claire got mob caps, just like Felicity!

Trey got a three corner hat.

I had lot of fun in Virgina.

New Years in Death Valley by Grace

Over New Years 2010 my family and I went to Death Valley.  

Death Valley got its name when people when through it during the 1849 gold rush.  They were not ready for the massive heat and died.

We met up with 6 other Land Rover Owners and one Volvo thing in Saline Valley for the trip.

 This was our campsite the first night. I was so excited that there was another girl, her name is Rachel.  Rachel was 5 years old.

 

At the first campsite there were hot springs. Ahh!

 

Rachel and I at the Salt Flats.

Rachel and I overlooking the salt flats.  

Lippencott Pass to get here was really rough and bumpy. But this view was worth it.

 The Racetrack!!!  

It is called the racetrack because rocks look like they move/race across the dry lake bed.  What is really happening is when it rains it gets all muddy, and then the wind blows, and the rocks move.  They make ditches by sliding across the mud.  Very interesting!

  

Teakettle Junction

Just one of those weird things that happens in the desert!  But fun to look at. 

Rachel and I playing on my DS in the Dormobile, because there was snow on the ground and it was freezing outside.

 

Ubehebe!!! (yew-beh-HEE-bee)

Ubehebe is a crater in Death Valley it is where one tribe believes humans came out from the earth.  

Ubehebe became my Dad's new favorite word, and he calls himself "Mr. Ubehebe"  We all enjoyed saying it over and over.  Even now we find ourselves saying it and laughing.

Here we split up from the rest of the group.  They headed north and we headed south through the park. 

 

This is my favorite picture from the whole trip!

 

This is where we camped the 3rd night.  It is Mesquite Springs Campground.  

Pretty picture of the Dormobile.

 

Do you ever wonder where 20 Mule Borax is from?  Well I had never heard of it.  But this is where it came from.  Here is a picture of me with one of the wagons that was pulled out by the 20 mule teams.  Funny enough it is actually 18 mules and 2 horses.

 

New Years Eve!!!

On New Years Eve I tried to YoYo in the Dormobile.  I wasn't very good. 

 

I got a Junior Ranger Badge.  I am a Junior Ranger in Death Valley. 

 

Devils Golf Course is a real devil.  I would lose my ball for sure.

Badwater Basin!!!

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.  

It is 282 feet below sea level, and we didn't even get wet!

Cool Salt Flats

The salt flats were geometric shapes with salt growing on the edge.  

After this we headed home, it took us two days to get back to Tucson.