May 9-11, 2014 Travel Day and Navajo

After I came home on Friday, we just hung out the rest of the day – the wind died down in the afternoon and it was nice to sit outside and enjoy our surroundings.

Saturday, 10th, we decided to just hang out again.  I was in one of my clean out moods so I went thru a lot of our paperwork that just seems to grow.  I did get thru my beading patterns and recipes – I have digitalized so many of them that I don’t really need the papers anymore (and yes, they are all backed up – )

This morning, 11th, we decided to move further north – we went a total of 38 miles and Andy did really well in the wind – .

The San Francisco Peaks were getting snow:

Oh-Oh – Looks like we are heading into the storm:

And, yes, we did – snow and high winds but we came thru the other side.  The topography in this part of our country is just amazing:

We are staying at the Cameron Trading Post RV Park for the next two days.  Once we set up, cleaned out our tanks and refilled with water, we headed north to Tuba City- check out the scenery:

The reason we are here is to see the Navajo Code Talkers Museum and the Navajo Interactive Museum.  Since the Interactive Museum was closed for lunch, we went to the Trading Post and the Code Talkers Museum.  That museum is small with a few displays and pictures but they have a GREAT movie about the code talkers.  Very interesting and informative.

From there we went to the Navajo Museum:

We walked in and saw the 10 minute movie on the Navajo people’s beginnings and then walked into this room – WOW!

The room was divided into the four directions of the Navajo.  Each area had movies and examples of their lives.  Here is some information:

There was one section on Navajo Weaving and what each design and color means.

There was one section on their arts and crafts – Beautiful work!  If you are in this area, I highly recommend a stop to both museums and the Trading Posts.  It would take about 3-4 hours to do it all.

Our next stop was to see the Dinosaur Tracks but just as we pulled in the road, it began to rain.  Since it is an outdoor walk, we passed this time.

Scenery on the way home:

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 38 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: CR-385; US-89

May 7,8 and 9-1, 2014 Happy Anniversary and Walnut Canyon

May 7th

Happy Anniversary to my hubby – .  Twenty six years today –  

Today was our day for shopping and getting a few things done around the motorhome.  It was a much calmer day (less wind) but colder – Brrr…

May 8th

It remained cold and this morning – May 8th – we woke to this:

Yes, that is snow on the ground.  But by 9 AM it was all gone…

Our adventures today took us to Walnut Canyon National Monument.  Our GPS took us via the Old Walnut Canyon Road which was a dirt road – very pretty.

Walnut Canyon was the home to the Sinaqua peoples.  They arrived right after the eruption of Sunset Crater, built their homes in the canyon cliffs and farmed on the rim top.  The National Monument was created to preserve the ruins and tell the stories of all the peoples that lived here.

We first went to the Visitor Center which was filled with two bus loads of 6 to 8 year olds – Oh my!.  So we decided to do the Rim Trail:

The trail gave us incredible views of the canyon.  This mountain in the center is almost like an island. When Walnut Creek flowed, it went entirely around this “island”.  The cliff dwellings were all along the creek on both sides and a number of levels.

The trail led us to the pithouse and pueblo ruins:

More information on the peoples of the Canyon:

We made our way to the Island Trail which took us to that “Island”.  It was 240 steps down – here we go:

And we saw the dwellings more clearly:

The trail hugged the hillside – this was one of the same trails that the natives used:

One of the dwellings use to be under this overhang:

Dwellings:

Very Interesting:

What a great way to get rid of the smoke – notice the whole above the door:

Great information on how the rooms were used:

Isn’t it amazing how they built these homes on the various levels – can you see them:

Another great day.

May 9 AM, 2014

I am currently sitting at Starbucks and getting my internet fix – HAHA.  All the blogs have been updated and emails answered.  My apologies to those who get my blog thru email.  There may be four blogs in one.  Still can’t figure out how to do one email per blog.

We will be leaving this area in another day or two, heading to Cameron, AZ then Bluff, UT.  I am not sure how good the internet will be so I may only be updating periodically.

Thanks for coming along with us.

Stay tuned and enjoy today!