Day 33 (7/31) Four Corners and Chaco Canyon. (Pickles – you know, the trusty Honda Odyssey) Okay, people. Today was the worst day yet. For 33 days straight I’ve been pretty chill about this ridiculous marathon trip my humans are taking. I’ve faithfully chugged straight up steep mountain roads, around wicked hairpin bends (and even pigtail / corkscrew turns in Custer State Park), kept my humans safe down crazy steep 10% grades in the mountains, kept them cool in 125 degree heat in Death Valley, and never once failed to start, stop, and even hit 90 mph on the open road when asked to do so. I’ve eaten more bugs, dirt, and stones than I care to remember. But today, oh, today was the worst.
It didn’t start out that bad. My humans had a nice night (I overheard) at their hotel in Cortez, Colorado, at the base of Mesa Verde (ahem, another steep and winding road I safely carried them on, thank you). We both got to get wet – they in the pool, and I in a massive thunderstorm that moved through late at night. As we were leaving, I was treated to a super cheap meal – gas for $2.07! (My humans are the budget types – they were so happy! Fortunately it didn’t taste too bad, although they always give me the low octane stuff.)
We then drove 45 minutes to Four Corners – a pretty nice and mostly flat drive. Of course, they all got out and took what I later overheard were neat pictures of each of the kid humans standing in four states: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Of course, did anyone ask ME if I wanted to have a wheel in all four states? Nooo. Of course not. Gah.
From there we turned southeast towards Chaco Canyon, which I’ve heard is an important historical site for Native American cultures. On the way there, we passed by Ship Rock, a really cool and huge free-standing rock formation that sticks up 1,500 feet from the earth. Thankfully my humans decided to not take the hour detour back what I’m sure would have been crappy roads to see it up close.
But: out of the frying pan and into the fire. As we neared Chaco Canyon, suddenly the nice paved road I have enjoyed for 99% of the trip disappeared. And that’s when things started going downhill. (Well, not literally, since we were at 8,000 feet and stayed there for a while.) The paved road turned into gravel road. The gravel road, while rough, soon gave way to an actual dirt road, with huge divots, hard packed ruts, and miles and miles of washboard dirt. I felt like every single bolt in my frame was going to come out. My humans were making jokes about the Cars movie, but I didn’t think it was funny. There were even cattle on the road! I greatly preferred the bison on the road in Yellowstone — much more majestic.
After 30 minutes of this torture, we arrived at the visitor’s center, where I sat in the heat while my humans got water and maps. We then drove on a long loop in the canyon floor, looking at multiple remains of great houses built by ancestral puebloan peoples. My humans got out at Pueblo Bonito, the largest great house in the valley, and spent over an hour walking around it. Apparently it was really amazing – much larger than they expected: it covered 3 acres and was 3-4 stories high originally. It was made of thousands and thousands of smaller stones put together with mortar. Each level was supported with logs that were brought from large forests up to 60 miles away (and without the benefit of a sturdy, all purpose vehicle like me, or beasts of burden like horses – all human labor). Pueblo Bonito had over 600 rooms, mostly small storage and living areas, along with several large kivas, or round ceremonial religious spaces (and some smaller kivas as well). (The father human was sort of a know-it-all here, sad to say.)
The ruins were in pretty good shape from what I could see, although in the 1940s a large part of the canyon wall (that Pueblo Bonito is up against) came crashing down and crushed part of the ruins – 30 rooms. The father human wanted to take a hike up to the top of the mesa for a better view, but not everyone else felt like it, so they all piled back in and we returned to the visitor’s center for junior ranger badges for the youngest two humans, and then we were on our way.
Oh, before we left, the father human took time to stick another half dozen stickers on the Thule car top carrier that is strapped to me. There must be 30 stickers up there now. Every time we stop at a national park or city, they are obsessed with buying another sticker and putting it on the Thule. No skin off my back, but seriously folks – I’M the one who is taking you to these places, not the stupid Thule! Then again, it would ruin my bumper image if they stuck them on me directly. So I guess we are cool.
After the visitor’s center, I had to make the 30 minute hellish ride back over the dirt, washboard, ruts, etc., sometimes crawling along at 10-15 miles per hour. And the vibrations! They never stopped. Just pave the stupid road, humans. I snuck in a selfie with the road at a bad part – check it out below.
After that, we set our course to Santa Fe. I love cities. Smooth roads, parking garages, plentiful gas stations, beautiful cars, etc. Can’t wait! The roads to Santa Fe were lovely – there is so much beauty around here. I heard my humans say today: #beautyiseverywhere. I’m sure they were talking about me. I’ve heard tomorrow will be a long driving day — but all good paved roads, supposedly. You never can tell with these clowns.
(My humans say if you click on the pictures, you’ll see larger versions of them all.)
Fisher Family Travels 