for Jack's 10th Birthday

Ruthie came up with the great idea to take our grandkids where ever they would like to go.... for their 10th birthday.  Jack, being the oldest, tried out this present........he wanted to explore "Indian ruins."

So we flew in and out of Albuquerque, rented a SUV, and headed to the ruins...the ancestral publean areas.  Starting first at Aztec National Monument we walked though a reconstructed Great Kiva, as well as the surrounding buildings.

Next to Mesa Verde National Park....but instead of motorhoming or camping, we stayed at the Far View Lodge.  A great location for our two days exploring all of the cliff dwellings.  Also some great dinners on the terrace of the lodge overlooking the canyons.  Jack was a happy explorer, wearing his backpack and climbing the ladders, hiking the trails, and checking out the petroglyphs and the abandoned buildings.

Next to Durango for a couple of days of R&R.  Jack took his first raft trip down the Animas River.  He loved it while we bounced off of rocks and floated down stream.  His favorite is when he stood on the front tube as all us paddlers started spinning the raft.  Plop!  In the river Jack went....fun!  The following day we took the Silverton-Durango old steam train.  We all enjoyed the 3.5 hours up to Silverton, then a nice lunch before the one hour bus ride back to our hotel.

Now for the big adventure.........Drove our SUV to Chaco Canyon.  Included 16 miles of dirt roads with some heavy washboard.  On arrival we set up camp for two days and then went exploring.  Chaco is an amazing place.  The native Americans build huge building complexes, one over 600 rooms.  Build prior to 1250 AD, and still pretty intact.  The morning we were leaving, we woke up to lightning and thunder!  It was really loud bouncing off of the canyon walls.  We rushed to break down camp and head out before the dirt road became impassible.

Whew........we made it.  Then a stop at Sky City, the Acoma Pueblo, where we toured the pueblo up on the mesa (the oldest continuously inhabited housing area in North America).  Jack checked out many of the vendors set up with their crafts as we toured.


A wonderful eight days with Jack!