Crawling out of the warm cocoons of our tents this morning was tough, but once the sun came out the temperature quickly rose back to shorts and t-shirt weather. We caught the 9:30 tour of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in the northwest hemisphere. The Anasazi only lived in these dwellings for about 100 years, from around 1190-1300 AD when all inhabitants left for unknown reasons (they had no written record of anything). The site itself was a fantastic example of engineering and ingenuity. Its builders had knowledge of convection currents, the mathematics to build circular towers, trade systems spanning hundreds of miles, etc. Walking amongst these structures was awe-inspiring.
From here we went to Four Corners which is kind of a tourist trap but a must-see for this trip. We frolicked around in 4 states for a few minutes and got back on the road. Driving through AZ we got our first real taste of the desert. There is nothing there but little shrubs and the road. The four of us agreed it was even more boring than Kansas. Eventually though, some rock formations popped up and things got more interesting. We also came across some dust devils, horses wandering around, some classic tumbleweeds, and a nice lake.
When we got to Zion Nat’l Park, the campsites were all full so we went about a mile down the road to another campsite (owned by a hotel chain). It was a bit more expensive, but we received some perks we did not expect. Upon pulling into our campsite, a woman and her family with a huge RV were using our grill (and their own). They asked if it was OK because they were cooking up 20 lbs of ribs for their 5 year old daughter’s birthday party. We said it was no problem, hoping we could score some ribs later. In order for us to get said ribs though, they made us sing Happy Birthday to their daughter. Our quartet delivered flawlessly and feasted on their leftovers; said ribs, pasta salad, and baked potatoes. Apparently they videoed us doing it, so we may or may not be on YouTube in the near future. Chalk another one up to good luck.
Red Badger Quartet??
ReplyDelete