Saturday, September 2, 2017

We began the day with a short hike to the Eldon Pueblo Ruins, which is only a couple of miles from our campground.  Between A.D. 1070 -1275, the Elden Pueblo was home to people the archaeologists call The Sinaqua.  At one time the Pueblo was an importanant trade center.  However, by 1275 it was abandoned , primarily because of a 20 year drought.  The ruins were discovered in 1916 during an archaeological survey of the Flagstaff area.  Through the years different groups laid claim to it in attempts to preserve the site.  Finally it was decided in 1980 to open the site to the public and use it as an educational center for schoolchildren in the area.  The university also uses it, for educational purposes, while studying Hopi culture, archaeology, and site preservation practices.  There is a self-guided tour that we followed.  It was interesting and informative.

After lunch we went to the Historic Downtown Flagstaff. We toured the old train depot, which is also the Visitors Center and the Amtrak station.  The old downtown area has many art galleries, Native American shops, restaurants and bars.

Friday, September 1, 2017

We have arrived in Flagstaff, AZ after a short stop in Gallup, NM.  We settled into our new Rv park.  It is a very nice, small, quiet campground.  There are only 50 sites and about 90% of them are seasonal returning campers.  They come every year and stay from mid-May to mid-October.  Most of them are from Phoenix, Tucson, or Scottsdale Az. They are all escaping the heat at home

Friday, August 25, 2017

Our plan for this day was Tent Rocks National Monument.  The Tent Rocks Canyon trail is a 3 miles out and back hiking trail that runs through a slot canyon with hoodoos and striated rock formations. The trail has a 730 ft elevation gain that had me huffing and puffing.  It is also a religious site of the Cochiti Pueblo. It was spectacular!  Pops and I couldn't make it up the last steep section, but Kay did.  We got about 3/4 of the way, enough to see the unbelievably beautiful view of the hoodoos and the canyon.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves. This was probably our favorite hike, especially the slot canyon, although they have all been fun.  Just different.  I am amazed that within a 60 mile radius of Santa Fe, we have seen desert, red and yellow cliffs, granite mountains, pine forest and porous hoodoos and rock formations.  I am so grateful that we are able to have these adventures together.

In the evening, we met Michelle and Rich at a rooftop pizzeria.  Then we walked to the Plaza bandstand and listened to music.  Every Tuesday through Saturday they have free concerts there from 6 to 9pm. in July and August.  We have heard Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock and Roll, and Techno. Another fun day!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

After three busy days a row we decided we needed to rest a little.  It was a cloudy rainy day anyway.  I did a few loads of laundry and we sat around and read for awhile.  After lunch we decided that we had enough sitting around.  We went up the mountain to Black Canyon Trail. One of the problems with this hike is that you have to park at the entrance to the campground and then hike up a very steep hill to the back of the campground just to get to the trailhead. We hiked up the hill most of the way, but a camper told us we were going the wrong way.  So we went back down.  No trailhead there.  This time we took the truck up to look for the trailhead. We finally found it but you can't park there.  After a little discussion, it was decided that Kay would take the truck back down, Pops, Jax and I would start hiking the trail and Kay would catch up with us.  Kay said she needed the extra hiking anyway because we are old slowpokes.  True!  The trail is a 1.8 mile loop. The second problem we faced was that it a steep, continuous slope up. Yep, you guessed it. I got about 2/3 of the way up and gave out.  The others kept hiking and I went back to the fork to wait on them. After awhile, though, I decided to walk up to meet them coming down the other side.  We all finished up together.  

 After the hike we needed a drink.  We had heard that Coyote Cafe Cantina had the best prickly pear  margaritas .  Nope, don't believe it.

Finally we made it to Michelle and Richard's house again.  They fixed grilled steak and potatoes with a nice salad.  We went back home, happy again.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Native Americans have been leaving their artwork, in the form of petroglyphs, for hundreds of years in the Santa Fe area.  We heard that there is a site just outside of the city with thousands of these ancient pictures.  The site is called La Cieneguilla Petroglyph site.  The petroglyphs were placed there by Puebloan people living in the are between the 13th and 17th centuries.  The hike was described as a short, but steep, hike along the mesa. So we decided to try it out.  The hike was easy at the beginning, as stated. But to actually see the petroglyphs, we had to climb over and around boulders and loose rocks while climbing to the top of the mesa.  My short legs had a few problems with the large boulders.  Kay gave me a hand while Pops had to try to climb while keeping hold of Jax on his leash.  We also had to watch out for rattlesnakes. Whew!  We did find petroglyphs, though, and best of all, we found a much easier path back down.  I am not sure that I could have made it back down the way we came up.

We returned to the RV for showers and lunch. Then Kay and I went to the funky, weird, interactive museum called MeowWolf.  We spent a couple of hours there, laughing and being silly.  Michelle had to work today so she couldn't go with us.

Supper tonight is back up at the mountain house with the "kids".  We wanted to make prickly pear margarita's but we couldn't find the prickly pear juice.  Finally, Kay found some actual prickly pear fruit. She Googled how to prepare the fruit.  My very talented husband made the margarita's and the were wonderful!  Another good day!

Tuesday, August 22,2017

Today we traveled about an hour northwest of Santa Fe to Bandelier National Monument. This 33,000 acre monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans in the southwest.   It is rugged, beautiful canyon and mesa country. There are petroglyphs and dwelling dating back over 11,000 years ago. We were able to climb up into some of the preserved dwellings. Kay and Richard climbed all the way up to the Alcove House. They first climbed stairs and then 4 sets of ladders that went straight up. Pops, Michelle and I declined to climb that one.  Going up would have been okay but getting down worried me.  We just took pictures of the two brave ones. It was spectacular at Bandelier.  There are many trails in this park, but we just did the main loop and Alcove House trails.  Someday we may go back for a few more.

After we had lunch, showered and rested, Michelle and Rich came out to the RV for supper.  Then we went in town for drinks at Thunderbirds and La Fonda's Bell Tower.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Sometimes it's nice to have a leisurely morning.  That's what we did. It was a cloudy rainy morning and we knew weren't going to see much of the eclipse, so we didn't hurry. We met Michelle and Shari at Keshi at 10:00. This is a little fetish shop that Michelle loves.  Kay wanted to find out what her spirit animal is and Michelle thought that the Keshi ladies could help with that.  Kay walked around the shop looking at different animals and waiting for one to "call" to her.  Finally Mary, the clerk, had her do the card game. Kay drew a snake and Mary said it was a strong spirit.  It represented renewal, shedding the old and moving towards the new. That was really spooky because Kay just retired and is moving forward into a new phase of her life!  Goosebumps! Then Kay found a really unique snake fetish that called to her.  She also bought an Effie necklace and ring, which have the serpent design. Just for a little extra luck she bought a small pocket snake.  Pops found a stone bear carving that he liked and the artist, Salvador Romero, happened to come in while we there.  We got to meet him and have our picture taken with him.

 Shari found a stunning Bear fetish with an owl on it.  Wow, strong spirits singing! I wonder if it had anything to do with the eclipse.
After Keshi, we went to the famous Cafe Pasquale for lunch.  Everyone had great choices and we watched the day darken somewhat as the eclipse happened.  It was disappointing because you could hardly tell any difference. Too cloudy.

Later, we walked around the Plaza for awhile and then left for Michelle's house.  We were having a dinner party that evening and we had to get things going for that. We had a delicious dinner of fajitas and wine.  Shari had made a strawberry cake and we ate it with ice cream!  Ahhhh, the good life!