Monday, June 23, 2008

A Few Bumps in the Road: Chaco Canyon National Park, NM 6/22/08

This morning we got up a lot earlier - partly because I was excited about exploring so many new things, and partly because we hadn’t adjusted to the time change (gaining an extra hour). We were up at 6:30 and left the campground by 8:00. Our first destination this morning was Tecolate CafĂ©. We had seen Guy review this restaurant on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It really impressed us and we didn’t want to miss it. I had the pine nut blue corn pancakes and Ned had a breakfast burrito with Christmas (red and green) chili sauce. This place knocked our socks off. One of the best breakfast places we have ever eaten. The staff was friendly, funny and amazingly attentive. The food spectacular! This is one of the few restaurants that actually live up to the hype. We got to the restaurant at about 8:30 and were seated right away. By the time we left, there were at least 25 people waiting to get in! Our next stop was exploring the neighborhoods of Santa Fe and the Old Governor’s Palace Museum. To tell the truth I was really disappointed in the museum. Ned and I have seen our fair share of museums this trip and this one was particularly mediocre, especially considering the $8 entry fee per person. It was two rooms of placards that really didn’t tell a cohesive story. I think back on the museum in Little Rock that was fantastic – it had history about Little Rock, all the governors, an amazing country music costume display, a women’s exhibit, and you also got to view the chambers of the senate and house of representatives. Heck, the Roger Miller Museum was even better. Sorry Santa Fe, you need work on this one…We then continued to stroll thru Santa Fe, checking out all the vendors that were set-up in the plaza for Sunday morning, and even strolled by the oldest house in the U.S. We decided we had enough of Santa Fe and headed for Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos. This is the cliff dwellings of the Ancient Pueblo ancestors (used to be called Anasazi, but that term has fallen into disfavor by the Pueblo people). We had a fantastic time exploring the kivas, climbing ladders into the caves (check out the photo of me poking my head out), and viewing the petroglyphs. Of course watching the 15 Chinese Buddhist women in straw hats and long gray smocks giggling, singing, and exploring the caves was highly entertaining too. We then decided to do the long trek (4 hours) to Chaco Canyon. It was a stunningly beautiful drive thru a plethora of scenery. We went by a huge caldera, over a mountain range passing some of the first legitimate looking pine trees we’ve seen in weeks, passed by several Indian pueblos, descended to 7000 feet and paralleled the Colorado plateau over the Continental divide. Whew! We finally reached the turn-off point for Chaco Canyon. It’s 16 miles of the worst washboard road I’ve ever been on!! It was so bad that we passed a new pick-up truck that had broken down on the bumpy road. We offered to help, but they were waiting for a tow truck (how it was getting there with no cell phone service was news to me). We ventured on and finally made it to the park entrance only to realize that we had lost one bike (mine), were dragging the other bike (Ned’s) and poor Winnie had something shaken loose from underneath. The campground radio broadcast stated that the campground was full and there was no way in hell I was going to drive that bumpy ride back out the same day. So, we took inventory of Ned’s bike, decided it was ride-able and I hopped on it in search of a campsite while Ned returned to locate my bike. Turns out there were plenty of campsites (the radio broadcast was old). In the meantime, Ned located my bent bike and spent some time trying to tie up something underneath the car. We finally reconvened at the campsite, Ned jacked up the car and managed to secure what we think is the smog canister. (We donated parts of our campfire “toaster” for this). He also worked on straightening out my bike’s wobbly back wheel. Meanwhile, I worked on getting dinner together (grilled swordfish in mango teriyaki sauce, spinach salad, fresh sourdough bread, corn on the cob and if you promise not to tell the ranger, a bottle of wine). So, here’s hoping that we can take the bikes for a spin thru the park tomorrow and visit the Chaco Canyon ruins and more importantly be able to drive OUT of the park without losing any parts). Stay tuned for part 2. On the plus side, we are in the middle of the high desert with no civilization close by, and the stars are so bright you can touch them!

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