August 12- 21 Chapter 9 is temporarily lost due to Dorothy breaking my computer! So here is Chapter 10. Don has his version of the broken computer and I have my version.
Sunday, August 22 - We made it to Chaco canyon. The road was not as bad as I imagined it would be. It took us an hour to drive the 21 miles from US550 to the park. 8 miles on bumpy asphalt, the rest on washboard gravel at 8 to 18mph. A ranger told us the road was in the best condition of the year.
I was disappointed in Chaco. No artifacts are on display. They are all locked up at the U of NM. Only vetted archaeologists get in there. While all artifacts are photographed, you have to pay $18 an image to get a digital copy and a minimum of a $40 research fee. I may be a skeptic, but I think the natives have the park service over a barrel and don’t want any white eyes seeing any of the artifacts. And that’s also the reason for the washboard road. They don’t want people coming to their sacred site. Maybe it’s time to return it to them?
Chaco is the largest of the several (13?) pueblo sites and has the pueblos. Most of them have not been excavated and you only see mounds of dirt. Chaco was built to impress the thousands who made the pilgrimage to trade and see it.
Over 50,000 pieces of turquoise were found in one small room. Since turquoise was highly valued why would something so transportable be left behind? Can this be the same mindset that Navahos today live in squalor, always on the government and tribal dole. That refuses to work. Do things so desired in the white world have no meaning to Natives?
The ruins are the only thing you see in Chaco. We toured Pueblo Bonito, the largest one and the one that required the least walking. It was interesting, but we saw nothing new. It’s just bigger than at Hovenweep, Mesa Verde, etc.
The message they want you to get at Chaco is that it is not a ruin but it is still alive for the Natives. OK, fine, if that was what you are brought up to believe.
One last word. If Natives find a shard of pottery they will grind it up and use it to make new pottery. That’s why they would love to get their hands on the collections at the Smithsonian, and at the U of NM.
The Whites named this Fajada Butte. Don't know what the Natives called it. It can be seen from over 10 miles away. Certainly, it was a navigation aid to Chaco.
Part of Pueblo Bonita - The largest of the excavated ruins. They think it was 3-4 stories
Think your stonework would stand for millennia?
In this section, numerous rooms were interconnected.
Having seen all we could physically see at Chaco, we left a day early.
Monday, August 23 - We headed south to Cuba and turned east on NM136, and came to rest at Clear Creek FS CG. The drive was through some of the best mountain forests we have seen in NM. The CG has paved sites, but no other amenities. We got the only site that offered some sun for the solar panels.
Dorothy caused my computer to pulled off a table and drop on the power cord bending it so it will not charge. No tunes, no pictures, and my blog for the last two weeks poof. Maybe it can be fixed in Albuquerque? I would enjoy torturing the Apple folks who design the power cords. They had a good idea with magnetic ones, but the cords on those deteriorated in less than two years. More dollars to the bottom line to replace them. They discarded the mag attachment in favor of a plug that can be easily snagged and bent.
The GPS is near broken. When the power cord is inserted the screen goes dark. It still charges, but to use it, you have to unplug it and let it run on its short-life battery. I can get another GPS, but I can not replace the file that has all the public campgrounds. It’s no longer sold.
Tuesday, August 24 - We took the Jeep east on 126 to evaluate the road as a shortcut to the Jemez area. There is a section of dirt with extremely fine dust which roils up behind vehicles and another section of one lane not wide enough for KoKo. So we will be taking the long way around the mountain.
We did find an ideal open meadow boondock site just three miles from Clear Creek. [35.97197, 106.78457 on NF264F east of Cuba in NM126] While Clear Creek was a fine CG, we were not going to fully charge due to shade from trees and the bozo across from us ran his Chinese generator from 8 to 8. You could not hear it inside, but outside it was like a buzzing bee.
Last week a young couple pulled into the CG almost dark. I heard him tell the park mistress that he just could not drive another hour. He snared me when I went outside and wanted to tell me he was from New Orleans and they had driven here in three days. Three Days! They were on their way to Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and then back home. All in two weeks. He was quite proud of his travel accomplishments. I hope his brand new Forest River camper stays together until he gets home. Tho I have my doubts. The next morning I was entertained by his putting all the stuff he put out back up. The folding chair had him puzzled. After several minutes he hit on folding the seat.
My Love Is Here To Stay sung by the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald just popped on. [I copied iTunes from my last backup to Dorothy’s laptop) That song, for me, will forever be linked It was not spontaneous, but it was not rehearsed. Maybe Johnny boned up on the lyrics that afternoon. It was a sheer joy to watch. He had enough natural talent to get him through it with some grace. Fucking no talent rappers.
Can you tell by all the words that we are boondocking without a cell signal?
Wednesday, August 25 - We headed south on US550 and hooked back north into the Jemez area. Our friends, Betty and Terry had texted us yesterday they would be at Jemez Falls CG. Just as we passed Redondo CG we got another text saying they were at Redondo instead. I think Redondo is much better, not crowded, and no reservations.
This was my worst day on the trip. I was headed downhill after lunch and by 3:30 I could no longer function, so I went back to KoKo to lay down. I stayed down and slept over 12 hours.
Thursday, August 26 - I woke up feeling much improved and we drove Valles Caldera. We knew about the place from 2007, but it was not federal then and we did not see much of it. It is a large ranch in the basin of the caldera. The last owner put in his will that he wanted it to be preserved as a working ranch. The exterior scenes of Longmire at his ranch were filmed at the ranch foreman’s cabin. If you recall the view from the porch looking out over the meadow in the caldera you know the beauty of the place.
Longmire's porch. It was built in 1918 for the ranch foreman.
View from Longmire's porch
Another view from Longmire's porch
We are at 8,200 feet and the temp has been great. Our site has sun in the front for the solar panels and shade in the rear. The trees “cut off” the sun on the panels in mid-afternoon and we have to run the genset to get the batteries back to close to full charge.
Friday, August 27 - Laundry day. We went to Los Alamos to do laundry, get some internet and fill the freshwater tank. It’s always something. Getting the batteries charged, filling/dumping the storage tanks, making sure we have propane, getting all the electronic devices charged. I was remiss in coming here without topping off the water. I didn’t think we would stay for four days, but it’s a very pleasant place and we can visit with our friends.
The GPS repaired itself!
Saturday, August 28 - Nothing much happened today. I still having “low energy days”. Pulse is always in the mid 90's. Normal for me is high 60's. Stay out another two months or head to Alabama and see what the doctors say. Will I ever be able to travel again?
Sunday, August 29 - We went down the hill, from 8,200 to 5,700 feet. Viva la warmer. We parked in a nice county park in Bernalillo. Full hookups for $25. Hope to find a power cord for my MacBook and that the bent connector is the only problem. The ac should shut off by 6pm.
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