Saturday, April 19, 2008

Whee~Haw











The last 2 days have been a world wind! Sorry I didn't write yesterday, but after being gone and coming home and doing laundry, I was pooped!! We headed out to the Museum of Natural History, along with every school kid in Albuquerque, honest, there must have been a million kids there, but were all handled well, and it was fun to watch them while we were looking at stuff. They had skeletons of HUGE mammals and birds, as well as snakes, spiders, butterflies, fish, you name it! They had a replica of the machine that was on Mars, and Bill got to play with the camera part, and see STUFF, nuthin' really, just the walls, but he had fun! Hopefully I can get some pictures on here to show you some of the things we saw, it was quite interesting and fun as well. BUT...... today was much more interesting! We went to Bandelier National Park, we got a Sr. card for $10 in Oregon, so it was free to get in, then we walked the Main loop trail, up the side of a hill and back about 2mi. What a hoot! We walked a trail that took us past a large Kiva, where the Indian people got together. It at one time had a roof of hard earth, like plaster, you would have gone down in it by ladder, smoke from a fire went out the main entrance, but on the left side there was a ventilation pipe to bring in fresh air, pretty smart huh!Then we went past the TYONYI (don't ask me to pronounce it)Village, where just the bottom half was still there, they usually kept food there, kinda like a pantry , and would you believe they also kept Turkeys? Me neither, but the feathers were used to weave into blankets, socks and other warm clothing, , they weren't selling any, phooey! (right, peeeew), but if it worked for 'em, so be it! Then we climbed up the sides of this amazing cliff and looked into the cavern like structures there, I can't even imagine, but like the other place I told you about in the petrified forest, I could just SEE the younguns running all over those cliffs! The little cavates,(cave-eights) had black ceilings that we were told were done on purpose to harden the volcanic tuff and made it less crumbly! You entered them by ladder, not me baby, but Bill went into one. They were built on the South facing canyon wall to get more sunlight in the winter. What an extra ordinary people, don't ya think? We drove all through the park, and the beauty was amazing, (again) Ha! After that we headed for Jemez Indian Reservation, but didn't realize how late it was, so after church tomorrow we are going up there again and stop at the Museum and HotSprings, and the town in general.


One of the biggest things we noticed about this area, is the diversion of people and the places they live in. You will see a beautiful house, and right next to it a shack, each person sorta does their own thing, NOTHING like Oregon,you see very little grass, or fancy smancy yards, but some of the houses are amazing! There is so much more I could share with you, but Bill accused me of writing a book, so will try to get more pictures on. Wish me luck. Love to ya and goodnight, we are completely DONE IN!! Smiles, Arlette & Bill too, and bent out of shape Sassy. (she couldn't go to the dwellings with us, sob) PS We saw the wiener mobile in Santa Fe, cool!!!




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