Travelogue

Day 1 - Arrival on Mykonos, enjoy our private pool, and stroll through Old Town and Little Venice

Our early morning ferry to MykonosAs part of our education, Tassos (our tour guide) felt it important that we learn the modern culture of the various islands in the Aegean, and how they have evolved differently. So, during our tour we would visit four islands - Mykonos, Paros, Santorini, and Crete and immerse ourselves in each of their histories and cultures. The Road Scholar tour was not a cruise, but rather we would be taking ferries from island to island.

The first island on our list was Mykonos - and what a place to start! For more than 50 years, the island of Mykonos has been one of the most popular destinations for the rich and famous - the most famous of which was Jacky Kennedy. We were very ready to immerse ourselves in this culture.

Our private poolMykonos was a 5 ½-hour ferry ride from Athens, so we received a wake up call at 5:00 am to catch the 7:00 am ferry from Athens to Mykonos, thereby allowing us to have almost a full day on the island.

Our bus was waiting for us at the port to deliver us up the steep narrow road to our home for the next 2 nights - the lovely Mykonos Korali Hotel. The logistics were perfect. Our luggage was taken from us at the Acropolis Select, stored on the ferry, and then magically waiting for us in our hotel room upon arrival.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were brought to our room by a staff member who felt the need to explain how things worked - like the well-stocked mini-fridge. Herb was really hoping for a nice view behind the closed curtains, but when she opened them, we saw this lovely private pool, just for us. We felt like we had chosen the right door on Lets Make a Deal. I knew where Herb would be spending the rest of the day.

Old Town MykonosThis was definitely not our usual style of travel - usually I’m sleeping in the back of our 4Runner in some remote wilderness. But this was after all an educational tour, so I was willing to learn to immerse myself in the modern culture of Mykonos - and, of course, the pool.

After a two hour refreshing break, we joined our tour group to take our tour bus back down to Old Town Mykonos to wander along the waterfront. We took our tour bus because although the walk wasn’t very far, it was down a steep, narrow road with no shoulder - and did I mention that Greek drivers are a little crazy.

Alleyways of Old Town MykonosThe Old Town (called Chora by locals) is a traditional Cycladic Village, with mazes of narrow streets, cubic whitewashed houses, colorful doorways, bougainvilleas, and small white churches. And of course, the famous 16th century windmills, which I will get to later.

We walked along the lovely waterfront, lined with boutiques and restaurants, before heading into and getting lost in the maze of stone alleyways. It was hard to get too lost though, because eventually we always popped out along the waterfront.

One particularly nice section of Old Town was Little Venice, officially known as Aléfkántra. Its brightly painted former fishermen’s houses with balconies jutting out over the sea provided a colorful backdrop to the bustling bars and restaurants that line the waterfront between it and the windmills.

Church of Panagia ParaportianiThe town became more and more crowded as sunset approached, and I can understand why. It was hard to pick where to be for the best view of sunset.

We decided on the windmills, so we set off along the waterfront, stopping first to photograph the beautiful pure white Church of Panagia Paraportiani, one of the most photographed churches in the whole world.

The Church, which dates back to the 1400s, is considered a perfect example of Cycladic architecture. Its asymmetrical shape is due to the fact that it is not just one church, but rather a series of five tiny churches squeezed together - four below and one on top. At the center is the church of Agios Efstathios, surrounded by the churches of Agia Anastasia, Agios Anargyros, and Agios Sozon, and with the Church of the Virgin Mary standing out at the top with a dome.

Iconic windmills of MykonosWe hurried to get to the iconic windmills of Mykonos, just in time for sunset. I have never seen windmills like this before. These five windmills, collectively known as “Kato Miloi,” were built by the Venetians in the 16th century to mill the grain produced on Mykonos, which was then distributed throughout the Aegean and even to Asia.

No longer milling grain, the windmills are now an extremely popular and highly photographed tourist destination. We had to jockey for a position to take a photograph.

It was time to find our group again to take our bus back up the short windy hill to our hotel. Herb and I couldn't resist a glass of wine out on or poolside lounge chairs before calling it a day - and a wonderful day it was at that.

Tomorrow we would take a day trip to the island of Delos.

Day 2 - Side Trip to Delos

Approaching DelosToday we took a field trip to the island of Delos, a short 30-minute ferry ride from Mykonos. No one, except for a dozen or so security guards, stays overnight on the island, so this was to be a day trip.

Although Delos is only 5 kilometers long, it has served an extremely important role in Greek history.

Before our trip, I knew Delos as the birthplace of two very important Greek divinities: Artemis, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, chastity, and childbirth; and her brother Apollo, the god of music, poetry, healing, and prophecy. As a result, it was an important religious and cultural center from the 3rd millennium BCE right up to the 5th century BC.

Sanctuary of ApolloHowever, what I didn’t know is that it was also a thriving commercial center, with an estimated 750,000 tons of merchandise passing through the port each year during the first century BC. During that time, the population of this tiny island was 30,000. Today it is 14.

We began our exploration of the island in the commercial section of the island where many rich merchants lived. There were streets, rich houses with mosaics, and even a theater district. The island was inhabited until the 7th century CE.

Separated from the commercial center was the Sanctuary of Apollo, the religious center of the island. We passed the Terrace of the Lions, a series of four lions carved in the 6th century BCE of marble from the nearby island of Naxos. Their purpose was to guard the sacred area. These lions are actually reproductions. The original ones are in the Archaeological Museum on the island.

Terrace of the LionsFurther along, we came across some Amphoras near a stone wall. Amphoras were often used to contain funeral offering for the deceased, or in this case, probably an offering to Apollo

And, of course, there was the inevitable phallus (although this one was a bit broken), a common symbol of fertility in Ancient Greece. The rooster was also sacred to the ancient Greeks and symbolized vigilance.

Phalluses were a common symbol of fertilityWe were running out of time before our ferry (the last one of the day) was scheduled to leave, so unfortunately we would not have time to hike up Mount Knythos, the small mountain, and the highest point on Delos, that was calling out to us. This mountain is the mythological birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.

That was the tough part about being on a tour. Everything is pretty tightly scheduled so you don't have as much flexibility.

After we got back to our hotel on Mykonos, we had a bit of free time to relax and a tough choice to make - swim in our private pool or do laps in the larger hotel pool, which we had to share with other people. Good God. We were getting spoiled. Wanting to get some well-needed exercise, we chose the larger pool.

We didn't have too much time though because we were scheduled to meet at 7:00 on the hotel's outdoor reception area for a lecture on the challenges that modern Greece has faced in the last two centuries - we were Road Scholars after all.

This was where Herb almost mutinied for the first time. We love sunsets, and we love a nice glass of wine to watch the golden light before the sun dips below the horizon. The problem was that Tassos' lecture, which was held on a lovely outdoor patio, coincided with sunset. I could see Herb getting antsy as the sky began to take on a golden glow. Finally, unable to contain himself, he excused himself and went to retrieve two wines from our hotel room’s mini-fridge, so we could listen, while having a proper cocktail hour while watching the sunset. Maybe Herb wasn’t “scholar” material afterall.

Day 3 - Walk down to Old Town Mykonos and ferry to Paros

Little VeniceToday we would catch a morning ferry to the island of Paros. However, I realized that I had enough time to walk down to the Old Town to photograph it in the morning light before the crowds started filling up the streets.

I asked Herb if he wanted to join me, but he was already sitting with a cup of coffee in his bathrobe on the lounge chair by our private pool. In other words, he wasn’t going anywhere. I think I was going to have to carry him kicking and screaming off this island.

So, off I went alone down the narrow, winding, shoulderless road to Old Town. It was so lovely - no crowds, just local proprietors getting ready for the onslaught that would later occur.

I wandered through Little Venice, along the quiet stone alleyways, and back to the iconic old windmills. It was so peaceful and serene.

Mykonos had been a lovely stop. Now onto Paros.

Travelogue

Day 1 - Arrival

View of Acropolis from hotel rooftopWe left San Francisco on Saturday night at 9:00 and arrived at our Athens hotel around midnight on Sunday night. It felt like a whole day had just disappeared on us. That didn’t stop us, however, from taking the elevator up to the rooftop to catch our first glance of the Acropolis, lit up in the night.

Having accomplished that, we crawled into bed and managed to sleep for 8 hours, putting us somewhat in sync with Greek time.

Our 15-day Road Scholar tour didn’t start for another day and a half, so we would have some time to explore the city on our own. Our hotel, the Acropolis Select, was located right in the heart of things, so it was easy for us to walk everywhere.

Day 2 - Acropolis Loop, Mars Hill, Ancient Agora, and Anafiotika

Odeon of of Herodes AtticusAfter a hearty breakfast at the hotel buffet, we set off on a walk to get the lay of the land with the goal of doing the Acropolis Loop, a pedestrian walkway which, as its name implies, loops around the Acropolis. We would not enter the Acropolis today, as we would be doing that with our Road Scholar group in a few days. The crowds were a bit overwhelming.

From our hotel it was just a short distance to Dionysiou Areopagitou, the pedestrian boulevard that traces the southern edge of the Acropolis grounds. There were already big lines to get into the Acropolis, but the cobblestone walkway was still relatively quiet, as it was still fairly early in the morning.

Lolo climbing the slippery marble of Mars HillWe passed the Odeon (theater) of Herodes Atticus, a large 5,000-seat amphitheater, built into the southwestern slope of the Acropolis. Built by the Romans in 161 AD, it is still used today for performances. However, it was renovated to its current condition in the 1950s. I so badly wanted to get tickets for a performance, but there just wasn’t time in our busy tour schedule.

We took a side trip from the Dionysiou Areopagitou to Mars Hill (Areopagus), the knobby, windswept hill near the western entrance to the Acropolis with great views of the Acropolis. Climbing to the top of this small hill was pretty precarious in that the stone stairs and the rocks on top are so slippery, polished smooth by the crowds of people that walk on them each day. They actually shined. Despite being rock climbers and comfortable with scrambling on rocks, I found myself slipping and even scooching along on my butt to keep from falling.

View of Ancient Agora from Mars HillWhen I got to a point where people couldn’t obstruct my view of the Acropolis, I plopped myself down and just took in the view.

Besides having a great view of the Acropolis, which looked like it was being overrun by an army of tourists, there was a more serene view of the Ancient Agora below to the north. We would visit that further along on our walk later.

Once safely down from Mars Hill, we continue along Dionysiou Areopagitou boulevard, eventually making a right onto the quiet Apostolou Pavlou, also a pedestrian walkway, which traces the western edge of the Acropolis grounds.

This part of the Acropolis Loop was much quieter, enough so to allow a turtle to navigate its way along without being crushed by Segways.

Slow traffic along the Acropolis LoopEventually we came to Thissio, a trendy neighborhood with tons of cafes and restaurants, many of which had Acropolis views.

We continued on turning east on Adrianou, which brought us to the entrance of the Ancient Agora. Since this was not part of our Roads Scholar tour, we decided to visit it on our own, with a little help from a Rick Steves audio tour which we had downloaded before leaving home.

While the Acropolis is the main show in current day Athens, it was the Agora (which means “gathering place") that was the real heart of ancient Athens. From 600 BCE to 300 AD. It was the place where ancient Greeks, and eventually the conquering Romans, came to shop, conduct business, pass laws, talk philosophy, and attend plays.

Temple of Hephaestus in the Ancient AgoraWe paid our 8 euros each and entered what are mostly the ruins of the Agora. Little survives from its height, except for the Temple of Hephaestus and a stoa that was reconstructed in 1952. Compared to the Acropolis, it was pleasantly quiet so we could wander around at our leisure while Rick Steves talked in our ears. We weren’t the only ones.

From the main gate, we strolled along the Panathenaic Way, the city’s main street, which led through the main square and up to the Acropolis. During Ancient Greek times, a Panathenaic Festival was held each summer, in which the birthday of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, was celebrated.

A kleroterion, ancient voting machine in the Agora MuseumThousands of people would parade along the Way, dancing and banging tambourines. The main “float” carried the peplos, a ceremonial robe woven as a gift for Athena, which was placed on a life-size old wooden statue of Athena Polias (“Guardian of the City”) in the Erechtheum.

We turned left to the reconstructed Stoa, a two-story high 400-foot long rectangular building with covered walkways, lined with 45 Doric columns on the outside and 22 Ionic columns in the interior (the 2x + 1 formular for columns that we would later see at the Parthenon. While once serving as a sort of shopping mall, the old stalls currently house the very interesting Agora Museum with artifacts laid out in chronological order.

One of the most interesting artifacts on display was an early voting machine called a kleroterion, a slab of stone incised with rows of slots and an attached tube. It was used to randomly select citizens to serve on the city council. In this way, each citizen would get a chance to serve (sort of like jury duty). Perhaps, the ancient Greeks had a better idea than our modern system.

Narrow alleyways of AnafiotikaMost of the rest of the Agora was in ruins except for the Temple of Hephaestus, built in 450 BCE and one of the best-preserved and most typical of all Greek temples. Like the Parthenon, but much smaller, it is a classic peristyle (row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building) made of marble in the Doric style. It was built to honor Hephaestus, the patron of metal workers

After leaving the Agora, we continued walking along Adrianou east and then south, in search of Anafiotika, a tiny, hard-to-find neighborhood of winding, narrow alleyways with tiny homes clinging to the hillside surrounding the Acropolis.

It was built by people from the tiny Cycladic island of Anafi, who came to Athens looking for work after Greece gained its independence from the Ottomans in 1821. Some descendants of the original islanders still live here in what they call Anafiotika (“little Anafi”).

Street Art in AnafiotikaIt was so much fun randomly wandering and getting lost in its labyrinth of narrow alleyways with cute houses, lots of colorful flowers, innumerable cats, and interesting street art. Plus, the best part was that we had left the crowds around the Acropolis behind and pretty much had this place to ourselves.

Every once in a while we would come to the end of a lane and be confronted with an amazing view of the modern city of Athens laid out before us, with the cone-shaped Lycabettus Hill, the largest of the seven hills in Athens, looming over it.

We stopped for lunch at the Anafiotika Cafe where Herb had his first (of many) pastitsio, a Greek version of lasagna, with a white creamy sauce rather than marinara and a hint of cinnamon.

At this point, we were really jet lagged and exhausted, so we headed back to the Acropolis Select for a well-need nap.

Back up Mars Hill for sunsetFeeling a bit more refreshed, we headed to our hotel’s rooftop bar for a glass of wine, before setting out again to slippery Mars Hill, where I wanted to watch the sunset over the Acropolis.

So off we marched again (mind you, this is still day 1) to the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian boulevard and on to the side trip up Mars Hill. This time I had sandals on rather than sneakers, so the climb up was even more precarious than before.

It was worth every bit though, as we watched the sun do its magic and light the Acropolis in a golden glow.

This day wasn’t over yet. There was still dinner to deal with, so we walked back to the Anafiotika neighborhood again and had pizza and wine at the Anafiotika rooftop restaurant.

I think that was probably more than enough for our first full day in Athens.

Day 3 - Hike up Lycabettus Hill and Evening Meetup with Road Scholar group

View of Lycabettus Hill from AnafiotikaTonight at 6:00 we would be meeting our Road Scholar guide and group for a welcome drink and introductions. That meant we had most of the day to ourselves to explore more of Athens.

We had explored much of the area around the Acropolis, except for actually going in, which we would do tomorrow, so I was struggling to think of something interesting to do. Then, during the middle of the night it came to me like a vision - that mountain with the little white church on top that seemed to be visible from everywhere was calling to me.

Making our way up Lycabettus HillAfter further research, I found out that it was Lycabettus Hill, the highest of the seven hills in Athens - almost twice as high as the Acropolis Hill. So we set off from our hotel, walked through the trendy neighborhood of Plaka, which we would explore more later, and continued through the modern downtown area until we got to the base of Lycabettus Hill.

We never did see the cable car to the top, but no matter, because we wanted to walk the winding switchbacks up to the summit anyway. Despite being the tallest of the city’s hills, it was still only a modest 909 feet high, a far cry from the elevation gains we were used to in the American West.

View of the Acropolis from top of Lycabettus HillAt the top is the tiny 19th century Agios Georios (the Chapel of St. George), which was unfortunately closed. However, the viewing platform surrounding it provided us with awesome 360 degree views of the whole of Athens, including the Acropolis, the Aegean Sea, and the mountains of the Peloponnese.

All in all the hike from the hotel to the summit and back was about 6 miles with 1,000 foot elevation gain.

Our Road Scholar tour hadn’t even begun yet, but we had already explored most of Athens’ neighborhoods.

Relaxing at the hotel rooftop barTime for lunch, a shower and a nap, before meeting with our guide and fellow “scholars,” whom we would be spending the next two weeks with. I admit to being a little nervous. Herb and I are so used to just the two of us traveling together that we were a bit apprehensive as to how we would like the “group” thing.

I felt a little like a new kid in school meeting my classmates for the first time. Would they be nice? Would we make friends? Although I didn’t think so at the time, we became a completely cohesive group (or functional as Tassos, our tour guide said) that within a few days we felt like we had known each other forever. So many bright, interesting people, and so many laughs.

Plus, we really lucked out with our guide, Tassos, an ex-archaeologist with a passionate love for the history, art, and culture of his country, who over the next two weeks would help us totally immerse ourselves in the lives (from Bronze Age to current day) of the people of Greece.

After introductions, we moved up to the hotel rooftop for a lovely dinner overlooking the Acropolis, which we would be visiting as a group the next day.

Day 4 - Acropolis Museum and the actual Acropolis

Acropolis MuseumThe next morning after our very ample hotel buffet breakfast, our group gathered in the hotel lobby to begin our short, ¼-mile trek to the Acropolis Museum. Tassos felt that a visit to the museum first, would amplify our experience of the actual Acropolis.

The Acropolis Museum is considered one of the finest museums in the world. Unlike other museums that display works of art from around the world, the Acropolis Museum houses artifacts from just one place - the Acropolis, which looms over it from atop the hill above. It is specifically designed to complete the experience of visiting the actual Acropolis.

Surprisingly, the museum iis an eye-catching, glassy postmodern building - sort of a modern temple to house a treasure of ancient artifacts from 3000 years ago. Actually, make that 6000 years ago, because the museum was built above a neighborhood from 4000 BCE, whose streets, houses, baths, and workshops were visible through the glass floors below your feet as you enter the main building.

Acropolis Museum - 5 of the original CaryatidsAfter entering the museum, we ascended a ramp meant to represent the experience of ancient Greeks ascending the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis. More glass floors beneath us revealed artifacts and details of everyday life from the ancient neighborhood found while constructing the museum.

Moving on to the first floor, we came face to face with the Kore and Kouros of the Archaic period (7th century BC to the end of the Persian Wars in 479 BC).

Eventually we came to my favorites - the Caryatids that once held up the porch of the Erechtheion. Five out of six of the originals were here. There was an empty circle left for the Caryatid taken by Lord Elgin (along with nearly half the 150m marble frieze around the Parthenon) and sold to the British Museum in the early 19th century. The Greeks want their treasures back, but this controversy has been going on for two centuries and probably will go on for two more.

View of Acropolis from Acropolis MuseumThe six on the actual Acropolis are copies, removed to protect them from erosion. I never realized before that each of them is unique.

The escalators up to the third floor deposited us inside a virtual Parthenon, featuring the collection of Parthenon structures, laid out the way they were on the original Parthenon. Even the floor was 228 feet long and 101 feet wide, just like the real Pathenon, which we could see through the large glass windows surrounding the exhibits. Even the stainless-steel columns marked the location of each marble column on the real Parthenon.

Remains of a pediment from the ParthenonThis floor, which is totally dedicated to the Parthenon’s metopes, frieze and pediments, is the highlight of the Acropolis Museum. We walked around the frieze, where there are some original models as well as replicas of those taken (by Lord Elgin) or destroyed. All the while, we could see the real thing through the huge glass windows that wrapped around the entire floor.

Now, it was time to see the real thing.

The Acropolis has been the heart and soul of Athens for millenia, and many temples have graced its hill. What we would see today was the rebuilding in 450 BCE, when the Athenians, fresh from their victory over the Persians, decided to rebuild the destroyed buildings on a grand scale.

The Propylaea (entrance gate to the Acropolis)Pericles, Athens’ leader at the time, funneled Athens' newfound wealth from donations by allies in the Delian League into a massive rebuilding program, led by the visionary architect/sculptor Pheidias. The result is an incredible 4-building ensemble: the Propylaea (entrance gate), Parthenon, Erechtheion, and Temple of Athena Nike.

After entering the grounds, we (and crowds and crowds of others) proceeded up the steps of the Propylaea, the magnificent Classical Greek Doric building complex that served as the monumental ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis. It was designed by
Mnesicles, who brilliantly found a solution to the difficult problem of building a monumental structure on varying levels of terrain.

Long side of the ParthenonThe Propylaea is U-shaped, with a large central hallway (the six Doric columns), which looks a bit like a mini Parthenon, flanked by two side wings. The left wing, called the Pinakotheke (“painting gallery”) once contained artwork and housed visiting dignitaries.

Unfortunately, there were so many people that we felt a bit like we were being herded like cattle.

As we continued toward the Parthenon, we heard a security guard start whistling and waving to stop a girl draped in a Greek flag posing before the temple. We learned later that posing before their sacred treasures is considered disrespectful in Greece. However, there were not enough security guards to stop the dozens of high-heeled, brightly dressed Instagram “influencers” from doing their thing.

Back of the ParthenonThe star attraction of the Acropolis is the Parhenon, a marble temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. It was built between 447 and 432 BC during the height of the ancient Greece empire. It is the largest Doric temple in ancient Greece - 228 feet long and 101 feet wide. At each of its two ends there are 8 fluted Doric columns and 17 on each of its sides.The Greeks were into harmony and numbers, so the ratio of columns in all Greek temples is 2x + 1.

The Parthenon has gone through many phases. First, as the Classical temple built by Pericles in the 5th century BCE. Then in the 5th century AD, it became a Christian church. During this period, the pagan sculptures and decoration were removed and the interior was decorated with colorful Christian frescoes.

The ErechtheionThen in 1456, the Ottoman Turks took over and converted it into a mosque, even adding a minaret. An unfortunate incident occurred in 1687, during the Venetian siege of the Acropolis. The defending Turks were using the Parthenon to store gunpowder so when the Venetians hit it with a mortar shell, it caused an explosion that blew out the heart of the building, destroying the roof and parts of the walls and colonnade.

In 1801, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottomans, got permission from the sultan to take sculptures from the Parthenon. He even sawed some of them off the building. Then he carted them off to London where they were placed in the British Museum, where they still remain - a bit of a sticking point with the Greeks.

Porch of the CaryatidsThere are still a few original frieze, metope, and pediment carvings on the Parthenon, but most of them are either in the British Museum or the nearby Acropolis Museum where we had just seen them.

From our vantage point atop the Acropolis, we had a great view of Lycabettus Hill, the mountain we had climbed yesterday.

Near the Parthenon, stood the Erechtheion, a temple almost as prestigious as the Parthenon in its day. Its primary function was to house the ancient wooden cult status of Athena - the one that would receive a new woolen peplos each year at the end of the Panathenaic Festival.

The temple’s most famous feature, and my personal favorite, is the Porch of the Caryatids, where for over 2,500 years, these lovely ladies have been supporting the roof. If you look closely, each of them is unique. Their legs serve as columns, the pleated robes the fluting, the fruit baskets on top of their heads as capitals, and their hair as buttresses. As I mentioned earlier, these are reproductions. Lord Elgin ran away with one of them, and the other five are in the Acropolis Museum.

12th-century Byzantine Church of the Virgin in Monastiraki SquareAfter leaving the Acropolis we walked past a beautiful 12th-century Byzantine Church called the Church of the Virgin, located in Monastiraki Square, considered to be the entry to the trendy, touristy part of town called the Plaka, where we would be having lunch.

Despite its proximity to the more hidden and less well-known Anafiotika neighborhood, whose narrow alleyways we had explored the night before, the Plaka had a very different vibe, with high-end shops, sidewalk cafes, and family-run tavernas. This was modern, trendy Athens, while Anafiotika was still living in a bygone day.

When we got back to the hotel, we were pretty pooped, and tomorrow we would have to get up at 5:30 to catch a very early 5 ½ hour ferry to Mykonos, our first Greek Island. So, we stopped at a grocery store to buy some cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine to enjoy on our balcony.

Travelogue

Route 66, Barstow, and Home

Meteor CraterWe were exactly 1,000 miles from home, too long for a one-day drive. The first half of that was on I40 (the old Route 66) with Barstow at its end, so a perfect place to stop for the night.

To break up the monotony of driving, we figured we would stop at some Route 66 attractions that we hadn’t been to before.

The first one was Meteor Crater, the site of one of the best preserved meteorite impact craters on earth.

Around 50,000 years ago, a huge iron-nickel meteorite, approximately 150 feet wide and weighing several hundred thousand tons crashed into a rocky plain just east of what is now Flagstaff, Arizona.The result of this impact was the creation of a giant bowl-shaped cavity, measuring 550 feet deep and almost a mile across.

Lolo making friends at Meteor CraterThe crater has been privately owned by the Barringer family since 1902, when Daniel Barringer, a mining engineer from Philadelphia, became interested in the site as a potential source for mining iron. It was he that set forth the correct theory that the crater had been formed by the impact of a large iron meteorite. He formed the Standard Iron Company and filed four mining claims with the Federal government, thus obtaining ownership of the two square miles containing the crater.

Although scientific research is still done here today, it has become a very successful tourist attraction, complete with movie theater, restaurant, and gift shop. Entry prices are $22 for adults, and $13 per child (free for the under fives).

We decided it was worth a stop. After watching an informative movie explaining the impact, with lots of loud noises and bright lights, we stepped out into the observation area for our first glimpse of what is a very impressive and massive bowl-shaped depression.

Coming close to Roy's CafeWe walked outside to two other viewing areas to get a better view of the crater. The only hiking possible is along a short portion of the rim as part of a guided tour. We didn’t have much time, so we skipped that.

Our basic impression was that it was impressive, but not much more so than Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley, where we wereR allowed to walk around the entire rim and hike down to the bottom of it. Oh, and it’s free.

As we continued west along I40, Herb kept talking about wanting to see another Route 66 icon, Roy’s Cafe. To get there, we had to make a turn south off of I40 on the Kelbaker road, just south of the Mojave National Preserve, to get to a section of the original Route 66 in Amboy, California.

There wasn’t much left to the town of Amboy, except a Post Office and the remnants of Roy’s Cafe and Motel - just enough to show that like many other ghost towns along the old Route 66, this had once been a vibrant and popular place to stop.

From the late 1800s until the interstate highway system diverted traffic away from Route 66, the town of Amboy had served as both a railroad depot and a rest stop for travelers.

The famous Roy's CafeOpened in 1938, Roy’s was the only stop to find gas, a hot meal, and a bed in the area. During Roy’s heyday in the late 1940s and 1950s, the town (population 150) had three service stations, two cafes, a motor court, and a post office.

Roy’s sign and cafe are both classic examples of “Googie” or (“do-wop”) architecture, a popular futuristic art movement in Southern California from the 1940s to 60s, inspired by industrial progress, car culture, and the space age. It’s characterized by geometric shapes, upswept roofs, vast glass surfaces, bold colors, neon, and the symbols of motion, such as arrows, boomerangs, and wings. It was most commonly used in designs for restaurants, gas stations, bowling alleys, etc.

The romance of a road trip along Route 66 is still alive, well attested to by the hordes of visitors that still come to this out-of-the-way, desolate place, where you can still get an ice cream and a postcard.

Buddha at Roy'sUnfortunately Roy’s Motel was long gone as a place to lay your head for the night on Route 66, so we continued on to good old reliable Barstow to spend the night.

The next day, Herb did have one more Route 66 stop up his sleeve, so rather than head west from Barstow on HIghway 58 as usual, we made a half hour diversion down Highway 66 to Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch. I don’t know where he found these places.

Bottle Tree RanchWe love quirky desert art, and this place certainly fits the bill. Aptly named, the Bottle Tree Ranch is literally a forest of large metal pipes with bottles of all different colors hanging from them, like branches from a tree. They are especially pretty when the light shines through them, lighting them up like odd-shaped Christmas lights.

Elmer also seems to have had a thing for old typewriters and cash registers, because there are several of them scattered throughout the forest.

When researching this place, I learned that unfortunately Elmer passed away in 2019, and the family just recently reopened it.

It was actually a very good start, but if we kept stopping at this pace we’d never get home.

Bottle Tree RanchOn our way back to Highway 58, we passed (but didn’t stop) at one more desert oddity - a 55+ retirement community called Silver Lakes in the town of Helendale. Seriously, Lakes?? We were in the middle of a barren desert with most people living in old trailers or somewhat dilapidated homes, but this community had beautiful homes with terracotta roofs, nice cars in the driveways, and most surprisingly boats at their docks.

That’s right, docks!! The two man-made Silver Lakes were created in such a way to have side canals running like streets along the backside of houses, so they could keep boats - just like Florida! These boats didn’t have much water to play in, but still they were boats in the Mojave Desert. Of course, I had to go on Zillow and see what these houses sold for and they were in the 300 - 500K range and you got a lot of house for that.

Ok, back on the road with one last stop at Andersen’s Pea Soup Andersen’s on I5 in Santa Nella.

Great trip, but great to be home again as well.

Travelogue

Chaco Canyon - Pueblo BonitoThis was turning out to be an educational journey about ancient and current day Native American cultures. Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, and Shiprock are all part of the current Navajo Nation although their past dates back to the Puebloan.

Chaco Canyon is a little different in that it is not part of a current day reservation and no one lives there today. In fact, there is even some question as to whether anyone ever lived there at all, or whether this was just a site for large spiritual gatherings. The lack of middens (prehistoric refuse heaps where archeologists sift through evidence of human occupancy) and burials (only 13 burials uncovered) does not seem to support the theory that a large community lived here.

Chaco Canyon - Pueblo BonitoSo there is lots of mystery surrounding Chaco Canyon.

What is known is that beginning around the mid-800s, Chaco people began building here, creating multi-story stone buildings on a grand scale. For the next 300 or so years, they quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances to build fifteen major complexes, which remained the largest buildings ever built in North America until the 1800s.

Inside Pueblo BonitoBetween 850 and 1130 CE, Chaco Canyon was a major hub for trade, administrative and ceremonial life, a meeting place where Ancestral Puebloan people living in distant communities came to at certain times of the year to gather together for what probably were religious ceremonies.

Then, around 1130 CE, the canyon was pretty much abandoned with the onset of a fifty-year drought.

Today Chaco Canyon is a World Heritage Site, as it remains one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the world. Tens of thousands of visitors come here every year, despite its remote location and need to drive miles and miles on bumpy dirt roads to reach it.

Doors pretty small in Pueblo BonitoChaco Canyon can pretty much be explored in a day. There is a nine-mile Canyon Loop drive with stops along the way to visit the various ruins: Una Vida, Hungo Pavi, Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo, and Casa Rinconada.

There are also a few hikes, the most popular one being the 5.2-mile Pueblo Alto Loop, where there is a wonderful overlook of Pueblo Bonito (the most impressive of the Canyon’s ruins).

We were so well prepared for this stop. I am a bit of a nerd and I made Herb listen to an hour of lectures on the Chacoan Culture and watch a documentary called “The Mystery of Chaco Canyon” narrated by Robert Redford.

A lot of the “mystery” surrounding Chaco Canyon includes:

What is the real purpose of this huge complex since it didn’t seem to serve as a residence?

Climbing the slot to start the Palo Alto LoopWhy did they build wide roads extending out from it, like spokes on a wheel, that seemed to go nowhere?

What was the role that astronomical observations played in their culture? There was definitely a strong interest (and incredible knowledge) in lunar and solar cycles, and many buildings are oriented to align with the winter and summer solstices.

I don’t think we are going to solve those questions today, but I am glad we learned so much before coming here, because it definitely made our visit more interesting and thought provoking.

Our first stop along the drive was the parking area for Pueblo Bonito, and Chetro Ketl, considered to be the best and most interesting of the ruins.

Starting up the Pueblo Alto trailWe headed first towards Pueblo Bonito, the oldest and largest, as well as best preserved, of the ruins. It is massive, covering over 3 acres and containing 800 rooms.

The entire complex, which is in the shape of a “D,” is divided into two sections by a precisely aligned wall which runs north to south through a central plaza. There is a giant kiva on either side of the wall, creating a symmetrical pattern. There are 30 other kivas in the complex, but the two Great Kivas were probably used for large religious ceremonies, more evidence that this site was used as a ritual center rather than a residence.

View of Pueblo Bonito from aboveIn places, the ruins were five storeys high with hundreds of rooms enclosed by elaborate brickwork and windows, with interior doorways connecting the rooms. We were delighted to find that we could wander on our own through some of its rooms.

The doorways were the most intriguing. When we stood in just the right place, they lined up to give the impression that you can see all the way through the building through multiple doors.

Closeup of Pueblo Bonito from aboveAfter exploring all the rooms that we were allowed to, we decided to do the Pueblo Alto hike, where we would be able to see the whole Pueblo Bonito complex below us in all its grandeur.

Here’s where I made a big mistake. I mistakenly thought that parking at the Pueblo Bonito parking lot would lead us to the trailhead for the hike whose highlight was the Pueblo Bonito Ruins. As a result, Herb and I kept scanning the cliffs behind Pueblo Bonito to see where we could climb up. I mean, we don’t mind a little rock scrambling, but this looked impenetrable.

Peeking through the ruins at Pueblo NuevoFinally, we looked at Gaia and saw that the trailhead was actually from the Pueblo del Arroyo parking lot, so we just forged on to that, basically adding almost 2 miles (now and on our way back) to our 5.2-mile hike. That’s a pretty big % off in hike length.

Even then, the trailhead was hard to find until we realized it was a narrow crevasse up the cliff that required a bit of rock scrambling. It was fun! For the purposes of the description of this hike, I will state the mileage from the real start of the trail rather than ours.

From atop the plateau, we followed the trail along the riml, nicely marked by rock cairns, across slickrom along the edge of the mesa. At 0.6 miles we came across some perfectly round basins (about 10 inches across?) carved into the slickrock. They were called ?. We guessed that they must have been used for grinding something.

Pueblo NuevoAfter about 1 mile we came to the junction with the Pueblo Bonito Overlook trail. This short spur trail goes to the mesa rim right above Pueblo Bonito at 1.1 miles. The bird’s-eye view of this Great House is really amazing and offers a much greater appreciation of its massiveness and grandeur.

From there we had a choice, although many people just choose to turn around at this point making it a 2-mile RT. We, however, were going all the way.

We decided to do the loop clockwise, so we headed north (away from the rim) towards New Alto and Pueblo Alto for about a mile. We ascended a wide dirt trail, which pointed out a section of Chacoan steps along a slickrock ramp that was part of a Chacoan Road.

Chacoan StairwayWe came first to the two-story New Alto structure, which was built around 1100 CE. The ruin contained 58 rooms arranged around a kiva. The structures have been stabilized but not excavated.

Next we arrived at the Pueblo Alto complex, which is composed of six structures, only four of which are visible. Pueblo Alto is the largest of the ruins on the rim and the only one that has been excavated. Unlike the other multi-story Great Houses in Chaco, Pueblo Alto, which was built from 1020 - 1050, was only one story. Oddly, there is no kiva in the complex. Archaeologists have found evidence of four roads from the north that converge at Pueblo Alto as do roads from Chetro Ketl, Pubelo Bonito and Penasco Blanco.

Unlike Pueblo Bonito, which had undergone excavation and reconstruction, these were true unrestored ruins - an interesting contrast to the Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Keti - very eerie and remote.

Squeezing my way through a slotFrom here, many people turn back, making for a 3.8-mile out-and-back hike. We, however, continued on, heading east. In about a mile we caught sight of the Chacoan Stairway, which I am embarrassed to admit was another uninformed miscalculation on my part. For the entire hike so far, I held onto the belief that we did not have to go totally back to the rock scramble down the crevasse by Pueblo del Arroyo.

And how did I think I was going to do that? On the Chacoan Stairway, of course, which according to Gaia was coming up soon. Herb did not hold this same belief, and enjoyed my reaction far too much when they came into view. They called these tiny nitches carved into what was practically a vertical wall a Stairway?? I couldn’t even get myself close enough to the edge to see the first one I was supposed to step on. Actually, I, nor anyone else born in this millennium was supposed to step on them.

View of Chetro Ketl from aboveThey were artifacts from the Ancient Puebloans built roads coming from the Great Houses in exactly straight lines. They didn’t care what got in their way. If the topography went straight up, so did the stairs. Sometimes, as in this case, they were wise enough to carve handholds along the side of them.

Looks like we had some more miles to go.

The trail now turned right (south) and we proceeded back towards the rim descending the mesa. At one point we were a bit stymied as to which way we were to go, but then we found a marker indicating where the trail went down a narrow slot between two large boulders, bringing us to the next bench on the mesa.

Another look at Pueblo Bonito from aboveFrom here we began heading west. Soon we came to a great viewpoint directly above Chetro Ketl, the second largest of the Great Houses of Chaco Canyon. From here we could see the internal rooms, a great kiva, and an elevated plaza with more kivas.

From there we just kept heading west. At one point, we looked straight down into the parking lot where our car was parked, but there wasn’t a Chacoan Stairway in sight, so we forged on, stopping once again at the Pueblo Bonito Overlook before finally scrambling down the narrow crevasse back to the trailhead.

Back at Pueblo BonitoFinally, back at the car, Herb pointed out that we had managed to turn a 5.2-mile hike into a 9-mile one. Oops.

It was already 4:00. We were tired and didn’t know yet where we were staying for the night, so we completed the Canyon Loop Drive and then started heading southwest towards I40, along about 30 miles of bumpy dirt roads before finally hitting the pavement of Highway 371.

We figured Gallup would be a good place to stop for the night, so we found a Best Western in the center of town, right off historic Route 66.

We struck gold when we asked the hotel concierge for a recommendation for dinner. He pointed us right across the street to the El Rancho Hotel.

Historic El Rancho Hotel in GallupDuring its heyday, the El Rancho Hotel was one of the premier hotels in the entire Southwest, and in the 1930s and 40s it became the place for the Hollywood set to stay when filming in the area. Some of the movie stars that stayed there include: Jane Fonda. Humphrey Bogart. Katharine Hepburn. Lucille Ball, Gregory Peck. Betty Grable. Kirk Douglas. Robert Mitchum, John Wayne. Jimmy Stewart. Doris Day. Rita Hayworth.

The lobby was beautiful - dark wood, colorful navajo rugs, a large fireplace, and practically a museum of movie memorabilia on the walls.

Dinner was good and since it was Cinco de Mayo, of course we just had to have a Margarita.

Nice way to cap off a great day and a great vacation. Tomorrow we would start heading home.

Travelogue

Hiking into the North Bisti BadlandsAfter leaving Shiprock yesterday, we drove an hour and spent the night in the Brentwood Inn in the town of Farmington, New Mexico, which is the closest town to use as a base for exploring the Bisti Badlands..

From everything we had seen and read, the Bisti Badlands was an amazingly unique and otherworldly land of colorful expanses, undulating mounds, and unusual rock formations covering over 4,000 acres in the high desert of northwestern New Mexico.

Bisti Badlands was the driving force of this trip - the reason we took the route we did across northern Arizona and New Mexico. All because of some amazing photos in a Photographing New Mexico book and descriptions of its extreme remoteness and isolation - exactly the experience that my husband craves.

North Bisti BadlandsHowever, with that remoteness comes several challenges to exploring it - unmarked dirt roads, no signs, no cell coverage, no services, etc. What often looked like short distances on the map turned out to be much longer because of the lack of roads connecting two places.

So we prepped by watching YouTube videos of people that had been there, downloading dirt roads, hiking trails, camping spots, and interesting rock formations on Gaia to follow when we were there, even if there was no cell coverage.

Manta RayThen there was the biggest challenge of all, which couldn’t be solved with research or Gaia maps - the relentless spring desert winds!!, and once again the forecast was for gusts up to 50 mph, very unpleasant in a sandy environment.

We had marked down places where we could disperse camp, but had no idea if the wind would cooperate or make camping a miserable experience.

North Bisti BadlandsThere were three hikes in particular we wanted to do, each of them separated by miles of unmarked dirt roads.

Since the winds tend to pick up in the afternoon, we got an early start hoping to get in at least one of those hikes while it was still calm. From Farmington, we drove down NM 371 through wide open prairie land at the eaastern edge of the Navajo Nation. There are two areas to explore off of 371 - North Bisti and South Bisti.

Stone WingsWe decided to go to North Bisti first. Herb had marked the Bisti Badlands Parking North in Gaia, so I was able to follow our progress towards it. We traveled south on 371 for 33.5 miles and made a left onto County Road 7295, which we followed until it came to a T. From there we just followed our tracks on Gaia for another quarter mile or so until we came to a small parking area.

After squeezing through a narrow barb-wired entrance designed to keep cattle in, we started walking east on a fairly obvious path on the flats. We had the major rock formations we wanted to see in Gaia as well, so we used that as a guide to finding them.

Conversing HoodoosMany of the formations are best seen in evening light, but you can’t be everywhere at sunset, but we did the best we could to capture them.

The names of many of the rock formations, such as Manta Ray, Conversing Hoodoos, and Stone Wings are so aptly descriptive that it was easy to know when we had found them, even without Gaia’s help.

Badlands on the way to King of WingsStone Wings was the first named formation we came to, but the unnamed scenery was pretty awesome as well. You can see how these large wings perched on a bluff got their name, and they were very cool. Little did I know at the time though that we would see a much more impressive wing later today on the King of Wings hike.

Next came Conversing Hoodoos, two elegant hoodoos sitting side by side on bluff looking out over Hunter Wash and theoretically conversing about it.

In Search of the King of WingsThe next one was my absolute favorite - the Manta Ray, although Gaia tried to tell us it was somewhere else and we wasted a lot of time looking for it. Fortunately, we took photos of what we thought was a really cool unnamed formation, which I afterwards confirmed actually was the Manta Ray. That sort of taught us a lesson to just look with our own eyes and find what was interesting to us rather than searching on our phones for named ones.

King of WingsAfter three and a half miles we were back to the barbed wire fence where we squeezed back through to the parking lot. It was only 10:30 and the wind hadn’t picked up yet, so we decided to implement the second hike we wanted to do in the Bisti Badlands - King of Wings.

This one and the next one (Valley of Dreams) was located in the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area, an even more remote section of the Bisti Wilderness.

King of WingsThe directions to the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness were all from the east on NM 550, but we were already fairly deep into the badlands, so we decided to navigate our way there via Gaia, which worked just fine. We went back out to NM 371, went south for about 10 miles and then turned left on dirt road 7650, which we followed for about 10 miles, before turning right onto an unsigned dirt road.

In about a mile, we came to a parking lot, but fortunately Herb had done his research and knew that there was another parking lot one and a half mile further on that could only be reached with a 4WD vehicle. This would save about a mile and a half of hiking.

King of WingsAs in the first hike in North Bisti, we parked by a barbed wire fence and had to figure out how to get around - or in this case, more correctly, under it. There were no “No Trespassing” signs, so we found a section that had obviously been used to get under before, took off our backpacks, and played limbo.

From there we headed across a rather nondescript sandy, grassy desert plain for about a quarter of a mile before arriving at the edge of the plateau where beautiful olive-colored badlands dropped down into a lower plateau. They were beautiful and already worth the hike.

Along the way to the King of WingsAs I mentioned before, there are no trails or signs as to where to go, so without the aid of Gaia, it would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find the King of Wings. Even with it, it was tough.

We were unsure whether we should stay on top of the Badlands or go down and wander through the washes, so we did a bit of both - constantly watching Gaia to see if we were headed in the right direction.

Hike into the Valley of DreamsUnlike our previous hike, where we navigated our way from one hoodoo to the next, the King of Wings was the only game in town. After about 1.7 miles of wandering, we arrived at the big fella, and he was certainly worth the effort.

Like most of the other hoodoos in the Bisti Badlands, the King of Wings was a large boulder balanced atop a clay pedestal. However, what distinguished it from the others is that the top boulder extends 10 feet beyond the pedestal creating what looks like a giant wing. It was pretty amazing.

Seemed like there was gold everywhereOf course we had to take photos of us underneath the wing to give some sense of scale. Also, it was fun to wander around it, because it looked so different from each perspective.

Now that we had the tracks that we took to hike here, it was much easier to find our way back to the car.

Knock on wood, the wind still wasn’t too bad, so we decided to do the third hike we had wanted to do - the Valley of Dreams.

More goldSo back we drove to 7650, made a left and continued for 2 miles before making another left onto 7870. We followed 7870 for about 3.5 miles and then made another left onto 7022, which we followed for about 2.5 miles to the parking area.

There were actually three cars in the parking lot, the first time we had seen anyone else all day. The wind was starting to pick up, but still not the kind that sandblasts you.

And moreThis hike was definitely easier to navigate because we could see in the distance a group of rock formations that we just headed towards.

Rather than spread apart as in North Bisti, or standing alone as in King of Wings, the hoodoos in the Valley of Dreams were all centered around a low, yellow hill where there were dozens of them scattered about. I especially liked the tall white formations with the golden tops. Oh, and there was petrified wood just lying about amongst them.

And even some petrified woodMany of the formations had names, but after searching for them and not finding them, or finding them and thinking the name was stupid, I gave up on that and just wandered. The one hoodoo I absolutely did want to find though was the Alien Throne, which did turn out to be aptly named.

The Alien Throne was absolutely surreal. Like other hoodoos it was formed by the erosive forces of wind and rain wearing away at the softer clay layers below a harder cap rock on top. The wind and rain must have been feeling pretty creative when they made this one.

It looked both powerful and fragile at the same time - sturdy base and cap rock that looked like it could last forever, and in between a lattice of softer white stone punctured with several windows through which you could see a bright blue sky. It was a throne worthy of the most eminent of alien leaders.

The Alien ThroneFor now, it would have to be satisfied with me, trying my best to look like it was mine from which I was about to issue edicts to my loyal followers. Then Herb told me to get down before I hurt myself. Oh well.

On our way back to the car, we ran into a group of a dozen or so people armed with backpacks and tripods. This was the same photo tour group from Japan that we had met in the parking lot earlier. They had obviously waited for the golden hour before heading out, as that is definitely the best time to photograph these hoodoos, but unfortunately for them, they had also missed the window of calm before the sandstorm. There were going to be lots of sandy cameras later.

The Alien Throne and his friendsOur next real destination was going to be Chaco Canyon, but since there was no place to stay near there, we headed back up to Farmington and booked another night at the Brentwood Inn.

Before checking in, we stopped for dinner at the Three Rivers Brewstillery, a fun place obviously frequented by locals. Herb had a boring hamburger but I went for the BLT sandwich, which was served with a fried egg on top of the bacon. I wondered why they offered a half size, but I soon found out when the waitress served my whole BLT. It was not only good for dinner but tomorrow’s lunch as well.

The beers were great and Herb and I toasted ourselves for our very fun and productive day, pulling off much more than we thought we could accomplish in a day - 11 miles of hiking over three separate very remote hikes through some of the most unique hoodoos we have ever seen - and we are hoodoo aficionados.

Tomorrow - Chaco Canyon!

Travelogue

Dike radiating out from ShiprockWe have been intrigued by Shiprock ever since we first saw it on a driveby on Highway 64 back in 2002 on a trip through northern New Mexico. Rising 1,800 feet above the flat plains of the Navajo Indian Reservation, it can be seen from as far away as 100 miles. It’s pretty surreal.

The rock, which is actually a volcanic plug, is sacred to the Navajos, who call it Tse Bit’ A’i (Rock with Wings). According to Navajo legend, there was a time when the mountain moved like a bird, transporting the Navajo away from a distant land where they were under attack, to their present home in this part of the Southwest. Because of its sacredness to the Navajo, the peak is off limits to hikers, but can be approached from nearby roads.

South side of ShiprockHerb had done his research and knew just what 4WD roads we could take to get up close to its base, as well as drive around most of it. Coming from Canyon de Chelly in the south, we had a scenic drive along Highway 13 before turning right onto Red Valley Road from which there are great views of Shiprock.

However, we got even closer by turning left onto a dirt road and drove about 4 miles to its base. Unfortunately, the wind was blasting with 50 to 60 mph gusts so we could barely open the car door to get out.

One of Shiprock's radiating dikesDetermined, we waited it out, and managed to sneak out during calmer periods to snap a few shots. Not exactly ideal conditions, but interesting in its own way, just how the sandblasting we got at Monument Valley also provided a unique perspective.

Unknownst to me before this trip, there are six volcanic dikes radiating from Shiprock like spokes on a bike. The longest and most impressive one runs southwards for 5 miles, rising up 150 feet along its narrow ridge.

West side of ShiprockWhile I huddled in the car, Herb climbed up to the ridge of that dike to get a perspective very different from the normal iconic view of Shiprock.

Afterwards, we drove west along another dike to its end where there was what seemed to be the remains of a kiva, not impossible as this is a very sacred place that could have been used for religious ceremonies.

West side of ShiprockThe wind had died down enough for us to be able to scramble up and along the narrow ridge of this dike, which provided, for me at least, my favorite view of all of Shiprock.

No matter what your spiritual beliefs, this is a very special place.

This was Navajo land so camping without permission was not allowed. Plus the wind was still an issue, so we drove on another hour to the Brentwood Inn in Farmington, New Mexico, from which we would base our exploration of the Bisti Badlands.

Travelogue

Antelope House Ruins OverlookAfter leaving Monument Valley we continued driving through the Navajo Nation to Canyon de Chelly. The Navajo Nation has its own government and laws separate from the United States. One of those laws, which I was just fine with, was strict enforcement of wearing masks both indoors and outdoors.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is actually two canyons: Canyon de Chelly, which is the south fork, and Canyon del Muerto (“Canyon of the Dead”) the north fork.

Canyon de Chelly is one of the longest continuously inhabited places anywhere in North America, and archaeologists believe that human settlement in the canyon dates back about 5,000 years. These early prehistoric people used the canyon while hunting, but did not set up permanent homes. However, they did leave etchings on the canyon walls.

Closeup of Antelope House RuinsAround 200 BCE, semi-agricultural people, known as the “Basketmakers,” began to inhabit the canyon and grew corn, beans, squash, and other crops. They are considered to be the ancestors of the Ancestral Puebloan People.

Around 700 CE, the Ancestral Puebloan peoples (Anasazi) began to build larger settlements of cliff dwellings, multi-storied, apartment-like buildings made with adobe bricks, along the canyon walls. Wooden ladders were used to navigate the various stories and to enter the round kivas, ceremonial pits. These are the cliff dwelling ruins that we see on the canyon walls today.

Mummy Cave OverlookIn its heyday (1150 CE) Canyon de Chelly had about 800 inhabitants. Then, around 1300 CE the Ancestral Puebloan just abandoned the canyon, as the area entered a drought and they sought better farmlands. It is thought that they migrated south toward the more fertile Rio Grande Valley. Their descendants are the Pueblos of New Mexico, the Zuni, and the Hopi.

The Hopi continued to visit and partake in rituals in Canyon de Chelly from c. 1300-1700 CE, and they still revere the ruins today. The Navajo arrived in the region in the late 17th century CE, and they occupy the region today.

Massacre Cave OverlookCanyon de Chelly National Monument was authorized in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover in order to preserve the important archeological resources that span more than 5,000 years of human occupation.

Today, although the monument is under National Park jurisdiction, about 40 Navajo families live down in the canyon from May to October growing corn, squash, beans, peaches and apples and grazing their sheep, cattle, and goats.

Spider Rocks OverlookThe Canyon had been closed for 477 days because of Covid, which hit the Navajo population quite hard, so they were very happy that it was reopening and they could move back down from their homes on the rim.

As with most sites within the Navajo Nation, most areas are off-limits unless you are accompanied by a Navajo guide. In the case of Canyon de Chelly, all you can really do on your own is drive along the North and South Rim drives, stopping at overlooks along the way.

Our "jeep" into the canyonYou used to be allowed to hike down to the White House ruins in the canyon, but that is no longer allowed because sadly cars at the trailhead were being vandalized. The only way to go down into the canyon today is on a Navajo jeep tour.

So, it looked like we would be doing the Rim drives and the jeep tour.

There are two hotels in the town of Chinle, but we decided to stay at the Thunderbird Lodge, within the bounds of the Monument, because it seemed more authentic than staying at a Holiday Inn. Plus they offered Jeep tours right from the lodge.

No mask, no jeep rideBefore leaving on our tour of the Rims, we reserved a Jeep tour for 9:00 the next morning, even though the forecast was for those dreaded desert winds.

We decided to drive along the North Rim first, which goes along Canyon del Muerto, because evening light is better along the South Rim. We were surprised to find that the drive was really a highway outside the park, with spur roads into the overlooks.

Our first stop along the North Rim was Antelope House Ruin overlook. I went ahead of Herb and scanned the cliff walls for the ruin, not expecting to see much because the guidebooks say that it is in shadow all day. I was so excited when I looked at the bottom of a 600 foot cliff and saw an extensive complex of towers, vertical walls, and kivas, and it was in the sun!

Continuing up the North Rim, we turned off a side road to Massacre Cave and the Mummy Cave Overlook.

Pictograph with my favorite KokopelliWe walked first to the right to visit the Mummy Cave Overlook. Although it wasn’t in the sun, which it was supposed to be, we could still see it quite clearly. This cave once provided shelter for about 60-75 people. Altogether some 70 rooms have been uncovered at Mummy Cave, and there are also at least three kivas. There is an impressive three-story tower near the eastern cave.

Back at the junction, we walked to Massacre Cave, which is the site of a horrible moment in history when in 1805, many Navajo tribes people, including women and children, took shelter in this cave while under attack from Spanish soldiers, killing all 100 people inside. I think it's the reason this canyon is named Canyon de Muerte.

That was it for the North Rim, so we returned to the Visitor Center and headed out along the South Rim.

Petroglyph with horsesThe two highlights along the South Rim Drive are the White House Ruins Overlook and Spider Rocks Overlook.

We already knew that we could no longer hike down to the White House Ruins because of a problem with vandalism in the parking lot, but we were shocked to find that we couldn’t even drive to the overlook, as the road was blocked off. Needless to say, we were very disappointed.

We briefly stopped at all the overlooks along the way, but spent most of our time at Spider Rocks, an 800-foot sandstone spire that rises from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon.

Junction RuinsWhile we were there, a large tour bus pulled in and about 40 teenagers got out. So much for peace I thought. However, I later ate my words, when these 40 high school students, which happened to be Native Americans, and their teachers walked in total silence along the path to the rock and then listened to their teachers talk about both the geology that resulted in the creation of this incredible spire as well as the spirituality and significance of it. I found myself trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

That was it for the places we could visit on our own, so we returned to the Thunderbird Lodge for the night.

Lush greenery in the canyonThe next morning was our Jeep tour and it was already getting windy. We were pretty lucky in that the group of 19 was divided into 3 jeeps, and we wound up in one with only 5 people, making it easier to take photos along the way.

The jeep was more of a tank than a jeep. I looked it up and it actually was an Austrian 6WD Pinzgauer army troop carrier, maybe a bit of an overkill for where we would be going today.

Our Navajo guide’s name was Harold. I was hoping for something a bit more colorful, but Harold would have to do. He was great and taught us so much about the history of the canyons and the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi), Hopi, and Navajo people that called it home throughout the last millennia.

Antelope House RuinsOne of the first stops we made was to a wall of petroglyphs. Inhabitants of this canyon have been painting on the canyon walls for over a thousand years. Harold tried to explain how you can tell whether the artwork is Anasazi, Hopi, or Navajo by its content.

This particular wall had my favorite subject - Kokopelli, the hunchbacked flute player, which you can see lying on his back next to another almost frog-like human figure. Kokopelli is a kachina, or spirit, found in the mythology of the Hopi and other Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest. He’s a bit of a character, playing various roles,, including those of fertility spirit, trickster, and hunter.

The greenery of the canyon floorAnother nearby wall had pictures of horses on it. Native Americans didn’t have horses until the Spanish brought them to North America in the 1500s, so this pictograph must have been made by either the Hopi or Navajo, who inhabited the canyon after the Ancestral Puebloan abandoned it.

The thing that surprised me the most was how lush the valley was. The bright green cottonwoods against the red rock background was stunning. It’s amazing what even a little water can do.

White House RuinsWe passed several ruins including the Antelope House Ruins which we had seen from the North Rim yesterday. I recognized its kivas and three-storey tower.

One thing we hadn’t seen from above though was the pictograph of a swastika located just above the end of the wall on the left. What we learned was that Native Americans used this symbol long before the Nazis co-opted it. For the Native American, this symbol represented the four directions. It was also referred to as “whirling logs.” Because of its association with Nazis, in 1934 native craftspeople stopped using it as a design element on their pottery, rugs, etc.

However, the highlight of our trip down into the Canyon was seeing the White House Ruins, one of the most interesting and recognizable Ancestral Puebloan ruins in the entire Southwest. This 80-room complex was built by the Ancestral Puebloans about 1,000 years ago and is named for the long, white plaster wall in the upper dwelling.

Closeup of White House RuinsThe lower block of buildings at the base of the cliff provided easy access to arable lands on the canyon floor, while the upper multi-storied buildings, set in the alcove in the cliff, provided sanctuary during enemy incursions. At one time they were connected, probably by ladders. During its heyday, the entire complex had about 80 rooms and housed as many as 100 people.

My next favorite stop was Harold’s ancestral home, where he showed us the hogan where his grandmother taught him to speak Navajo.

I forgot to mention that the wind was gusting so hard that we were pelted with sand the whole second half of the trip. However, we still loved it and found it very informative and worthwhile.

Next stop - Shiprock, also in the Navajo Nation.

Travelogue

Lolo setting off on the Wildcat TrailAfter leaving Valley of the Gods, we drove an hour back down Highway 163 to the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, stopping once again along the way at Forrest Gump Point to take in the view of Monument Valley at the end of a straight line of highway. As always, there were people lined up to take their turn to position themselves on the centerline of the road.

We weren’t quite sure what our plans were for the day. There are really only two things you are allowed to do in the park without paying for a Navajo Guide to accompany you, and that was the 17-mile Scenic Drive and the 3.2-mile Wildcat hiking trail around the West Mitten. So, our plans were kind of made for us.

Herb on the Wildcat TrailThere were still two big uncertainties for the day: when would the big winds forecasted for today start and where would we sleep tonight. Camping in big winds is very unpleasant.

Unknown to us before coming here today, there is a hotel right next to the Visitor Center called The View, aptly named because of its fabulous views of the Mittens. We went in to inquire about availability, but unfortunately they were completely booked that night. She mentioned something about cabins, but I thought she was referring to the rather undesirable looking structures near the hotel, so I really didn’t listen.

Taking a break on the backside of West MittenOh well. We decided to do the Wildcat Trail hike first and then the scenic drive, because the wind was going to pick up as the day went on, and when that did happen we would rather be in the car than out on the trail.

The trailhead was near the two striated rocks that we had posed on yesterday. As we walked on the path that paralleled the road back towards the entrance kiosk, we saw a small building that said “The View Cabin registration.” To the right of that building were several rows of cabins on a bluff overlooking the same view that the hotel had. Oh my god I thought, if I had known this, I would have listened more carefully when inquiring about availability.

Wind starting to pickup as we complete the Wildcat TrailDesperate to stay in one of these cabins, we went into the registration office and found out that there was in fact availability for a premium cabin along the first row where the views were unobstructed. We were so excited that we immediately grabbed it.

However, check in time wasn’t until 3:00, so we had lots of time to kill. We were also a little nervous because when booking our reservation, her computer went down, so we really hoped that this cabin was in fact ours for tonight. She assured us it was and said we could come back around 2:00 to see if it was ready for us.

Sanctuary from the sandstorm in our cabinI was so relieved that we had a place to stay with four walls around us tonight because the forecast was calling for 50 to 60 mph wind gusts.

The weather was still calm, so we set out along the Wildcat Trail. The trail started from right near the cabins and led down a fairly steep, very sandy trail to a wash. From there it was a mostly level hike around the iconic West Mitten Butte across sand dunes and more washes, with good views of the neighboring cliffs and pinnacles.

I think most people spend their time in Monument Valley driving the scenic drive, so we pretty much had this traill to ourselves, which was nice.

Looking out over the scenic driveAs I mentioned in the previous stop, the buttes of Monument Valley are created by erosion and weathering, sometimes separating a piece of rock from the main part, forming what looks like a thumb. When this happens, they are appropriately called “mittens.”

The other thing that makes them so stunning is their bright red color, due to the presence of iron oxides.

Rain MesaWe made our ways counterclockwise around the West Mitten Butte, which looked so different when we got to the side where its thumb is hidden from view. Without its distinctive thumb, It looked just like any old butte.

When we were about three quarters of the way done with our hike and back into the deep sandy area where we would have to start climbing back up towards the cabins, the wind started with a vengeance, pelting us with sand. I had expected some kind of warning, but it had come on so suddenly.

The "Totem Poles"To avoid getting sand in my eyes, I put my head down, pulled the brim of my hat over my eyes, and tried to follow Herb’s feet along the trail.

It was only about 1:00 when we made it up to the cabins, but we decided to stop in the office anyway, in the hopes that our cabin was ready. Unfortunately, it wasn’t, but she said she would text us when it was, so we continued on back to our car and sheltered there.

The "Totem Poles"Finally, around 2:30 we got our cabin keys, and fought our way through the sandstorm with our luggage to the comfort and coziness of what turned out to be a really lovely cabin. There was even a separate bedroom with two bunk beds. I couldn’t help feeling nostalgic for the last time we had been to Monument Valley 20 years ago when our boys were just 11 and 13, and how much they would have loved this cabin.

The wind was now blowing so fiercely that the cabin was actually shaking. Plus our view of the Mittens was becoming more and more obscured by the blowing sand. However, the wilder it got outside, the cozier it felt inside.

Sandstorm in Monument ValleyI began to wonder if we would be able to do the Scenic Drive, but around 5:00 we decided to give it a try. At least we would be protected from the elements.

As we drove through the gate down into the Valley, we couldn’t help but laugh when reminiscing about the last time we had traveled this scenic drive back in 2002. For some reason back then, I had gotten it in my head (I think from a Utah Mountain Biking Guide) that we should mountain bike this loop rather than drive it.

Sandstorm in Monument ValleyThe Navajo woman at the entrance kiosk, as well as my 11- and 13-year old sons, were quite skeptical of using this mode of transportation along a 17-mile sandy road, but I was determined. Ever since our boys were little, we had always tried to encourage them to push themselves and go the extra mile so to speak.

So, off we went down the steep 500-foot descent onto a sandy washboard road, along which we spent the next few hours cycling the loop.

All the while we were pedaling, a constant flow of cars went by, kicking up clouds of the dry red sand. We must have been quite a spectacle because people were waving and cheering us on. I tried to let their cheering drown out the whining which was now coming from my younger son.

"Three Sisters" through the stormBy the time we finished the ride, we were totally covered in a thin coat of red sand, and probably could have passed for Navajos. I think it was a great ride, and the only way I would have wanted to see it. They wouldn't admit it at the time, but I think they thought so too.

I have no regrets, and to this day, our sons are two of the most adventurous young men you can find. Perhaps, it was because of that day - probably not, but I like to think so.

Today, we would have an adventure of a different sort - battling the elements from the comforts of the inside of our car, hoping that we could at least open the car doors to get out and take a photo or two. I think we were destined to not experience this drive the way the millions of other visitors do.

After the stormThere are eleven stops along the Scenic Drive:

• The Mittens and Merrick Butte (which we saw from the Visitor Center Overlook and our cabin)
• Elephant Butte
• Three Sisters
• John Ford’s Point
• Camel Butte
• The Hub
• Totem Pole and Yei be Chei
• Totem Pole and Sand Spring
• Artist’s Point
• North Window
• The Thumb

Sun peeks out along the end of our driveFortunately, we had gotten some photos of the red rock “mittens” yesterday, because today they were cloaked in a cloud of sand, barely visible at some points and at others, when the wind temporarily died down, set against a bright blue sky.

Rather than being disappointed, both Herb and I thought that seeing the buttes this way was even more interesting than seeing them in their normal iconic state. So rather than the classic shots of stunning red buttes, we photographed them under very different atmospherics - more eerie and mysterious.

Back at our cozy cabinWe made it back to our cabin, happy that what could have been a wash out day had turned out to be a fantastic one.

The next morning it was still very windy, but it was going to pretty much be a driving day for us anyway as we made our way to Canyon de Chelly.

Before leaving we took advantage of our Free Breakfast at The View hotel, which was quite hearty and in fact did have a fabulous view.

Travelogue

Algatha Peak near KayentaAfter leaving the Grand Canyon, we headed east along Desert View Drive and then northeast on 160 towards Monument Valley. However, today we would pass right by Monument Valley to explore some less famous destinations: Goosenecks State Park and the Valley of the Gods.

When we got to the town of Kayenta, we were hungry so we searched google for a place to eat. After being sent on a wild goose chase to a non-existent BBQ place in a Navajo housing development, we looked on Trip Advisor and found the Amigo Cafe, near the junction of 160 and 163, which we would be taking north towards Monument Valley.

Quick stop in Monument Valley - more tomorrowThe cuisine was both Mexican and Navajo, but we both chose the Navajo Tacos which were absolutely delicious. Much better choice than the non-existent BBQ place.

After lunch, we took a little side trip on a dirt road off of Highway 163 towards a large rock formation that Herb had spotted back when we were driving up Highway 160. Herb insisted it was Shiprock, but I had to break it to him that we were in Arizona and Shiprock 100 miles to the east in New Mexico. That’s why I do the trip planning and documenting.

Forrest Gump Point - Run Lolo RunThe rock was actually called Agathla Peak (also known as El Capitan), and to Herb’s credit, like Shiprock it was a volcanic plug with jagged edges, created by a powerful gaseous explosion. However, Shiprock is much larger - but not large enough to see from 100 miles away. It was pretty darn cool just hanging out there on the side of the Highway.

We were driving right by Monument Valley, so we decided to make a quick stop to find out a little more about where we could stay the following night. The man at the kiosk told us that the pass, which was $20 per carload, was good for two days. In that case, we would buy it now and take a quick drive to the Visitor Center Overlook.

Goosenecks OverlookI’ll talk more about Monument Valley tomorrow, but for now we drove to the Visitor Center where there is an iconic view of three landmark buttes: West Mitten, East Mitten, and Merrick.

Without getting too technical, these and the other buttes in Monument Valley are made of three principal rock layers. The hard protective layer on top is Moenkopi Formation, the middle is softer de Chelly Sandstone and the base is Organ Rock Shale.

They are created by erosion and weathering, sometimes separating a piece into what looks like a thumb. When this happens, they are appropriately called “mittens.” Their and the valley floors' red color is due to the presence of iron oxides.

Valley of the Gods Scenic DriveBetween the Visitor Center and the gates for the scenic drive, there are two round boulders with vertical striations that serve as an excellent foreground for a photo of the Mittens. It’s a little corny and cliche, but that didn’t stop me from posing atop one of them.

Time to move on now. We had other things to see today, but we would be back tomorrow to drive the 17-mile scenic drive.

About 12 miles north of Monument Valley along Highway 163 (now in Utah), the speed limit is reduced, cars come to a stop alongside the highway, and people wander out to the center of the road. Fortunately, we had done our homework and knew that this was Forrest Gump Point.

Evening in Valley of the GodsIt was in this very spot along a long straight road that leads to a majestic view of Monument Valley where Forrest Gump decided after running for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours to just suddenly stop and sit down in the road.

In honor of that fabulous scene, today people express their own awe with the beauty at the end of that road by sitting, jumping, doing handstands, or whatever floats their boat on the yellow dotted line in the middle of the road. Of course, we had to stop as well. How could we not?

Our next stop was in the town of Mexican Hat, obviously named for a rock formation shaped amazingly like a Mexican Hat.

Evening stroll in Valley of the GodsAt the junction of 261 and 316, we took a 3.5-mile side trip to Goosenecks State Park Overlook, paid our $10 entry, and gazed down 1,000 feet at several huge river bends meandering through a deep canyon formed by a series of stepped cliffs and terraces. It is so twisty that it takes 5 miles to progress westward just 1 mile on its way to Lake Powell.

We had thought about camping here, but the bluff was quite exposed and it was already getting windy, so we decided to move on.

Getting ready to settle down for the nightContinuing north on 261, we passed the entrance to the Valley of the Gods (for now) and drove through a series of switchbacks to a place called Moki Dugway where there is an incredible view of Monument Valley towards the south and the Valley of the Gods about 1,000 feet below.

From there, we continued up the dirt road to Muley Point. After 3.7 miles we came to a view of the goosenecks of the San Juan River.

After another mile and a half we came to the end of the road at Muley Point from which there was a wonderful view of Monument Valley, as well as a 360 degree panorama of the Navajo Mountain, the Henrys, and Sleeping Ute Mountain.

Herb the Happy CamperWe returned down the road from whence we came to head toward our final destination of the day, and hopefully a place to camp - Valley of the Gods.

The Valley of the Gods is a smaller and less visited version of Monument Valley in that it too has red rock, isolated sandstone buttes and pinnacles, and cliffs rising above the desert floor. And, it has something that Monument Valley doesn’t offer - overnight camping.

We set out on the 17-mile scenic drive through the Valley, keeping our eye out for a good spot to camp for the night. The road was a bit bumpy in places, but definitely okay for 2WD cars.

Valley of the Gods in morning lightThere were quite a few vehicles already tucked into camping spots for the night, so we kept our eyes out for a place with nice views to spend the night. About half-way around the drive, we pulled into a spot, but soon moved it when we realized that the high butte to the west of us was going to put us in shade much earlier than if we just moved another 100 yards down the road.

We spent a lovely evening wandering along the road photographing the red rock formations in the evening light.

The next morning, we drove the remainder of the scenic loop and then headed back towards Monument Valley to spend the day.