Four Corners Fun

Day 1- Twin Rock Cafe, Hovenweep National Monument, and Four Corners Monument

About a week before spring break Curtis texted me and told me he wanted to take the family somewhere for spring break. So I jumped on the opportunity and started to plan out 4 days of VERY last minute ideas and activities. In the end I decided we would go to the four corners area (where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet) and explore mostly south western Colorado and North Western New Mexico.

We took off on a Tuesday from Lindon, Utah and headed south through Moab and down to Bluff, Utah where we stopped at Twin Rock Cafe to sample the local Navajo Tacos. They were delicious topped with Anasazi beans, lettuce, cheese, meet, sour cream, and a freshly made salsa. I would highly recommend this cafe to anyone passing through the area. The view was spectacular, the service was polite, and the cafe clean.  Right next to the cafe there was a trading post but we did not have time to check it out.

There was a small shop in the Cafe where Sage and Curtis bonded over hats.

Twin Rock Cafe in Bluff, Utah

After our lunch we headed to Hovenweep National Monument (For some reason I kept on calling it Havenho which was driving Curtis crazy. But I think I've got the name down now.) It was here we saw our first ancient Pueblo ruins. To get there we drove through a Native American reservation where we saw many ponies on the side of the road. We wondered if they were wild or not. One thing is for sure, they are not afraid of cars and will walk in front of your car without hesitation. We had to hit our breaks pretty hard as we came over a hill to find a group of about 6 crossing the road. They looked at us briefly and continued to cross the road as if they had all day.

Hovenweep National Monument has a short 2 mile hike that takes you through Little Ruin Canyon to see several ruins that line the canyon rim. All of the ruins are roped off and you can not enter any of them. But the hike was fun and short (1hour) and the Canyon was beautiful. The visitor center was small and honestly not very informative and I left with a lot of questions unanswered. The ruins were neat but I did not know what I was looking at... I wish there had been a trail guide but the box where they were supplied was empty.

Hovenweep National Monument

This is the largest ruin at Hovenweep.

The trail heads down into the canyon and back up. It was a fun trail.

After our first experience with Pueblo ruins we headed to Four Corners Monument which is run by the local Navajo Nation. There is a $5 entry fee for everyone over the age of 6. Here they have a marker with all four states that share the four corners area. The funny thing is the marker is not technically in the right place. But for $5 a person you can claim to be in four states at the same time by waiting in line to get your picture taken on the marker itself. Two of our children fought over who would get to stand in New Mexico. Not sure why it was the preferred state but I found that amusing.

Curtis made sure to reenact a picture that was taken of him here when he was around 6. He was crying then so he insisted on crying in this picture too.

A rare picture of Curtis showing emotion.

The marker is not the only thing to see here at the Four Corners Monument, you can also shop for many Native American arts, crafts, jewelry and souvenirs. I could not help but pick myself up some jewelry made of turquoise and juniper seeds (the Native Americans believe that both of these materials ward off  evil spirits and the seeds protect against nightmares.) The kids enjoyed looking at what the shops had to offer. Jace walked away with a four corners skeleton key that a Native American gentleman convinced him that he could not live without.

After our visit we traveled north to Cortez, Colorado where we had reserved a motel room. It turned out to be a total dive but we made it work. At least the bathroom was clean.

Day 2- Durango and Silverton, Colorado

The following morning we got the kids in the car and traveled the 1 hour journey to Durango. There we watched the historical steam train get ready to leave for Silverton (a 3 hour train ride there and 3 hour train ride back.) We decided to drive to Silverton deciding that our children would be bored stiff with a six hour train ride.  Silverton is only an hour drive up the mountain from Durango.

On our way there we stopped at a honey factory and a natural soda hot spring. The kids chose out a few honey sticks of different flavors to try and all agreed that root-beer flavored honey was disgusting. In fact my kids preferred plain honey over all the flavors.

We had no idea we would be passing this spring but when we saw it we had to check it out. 

When we arrived in Silverton we did not have much of a plan. Sage however wanted to look for peacock ore near the tracks. So we headed down Silverton Main and through a neighborhood that looked like it had not changed in over 100 years. We parked our cruiser near some tracks and let the kids out to look for rocks. They found a lot of  coal and ore but no peacock ore. Sage did however find some Galena witch is a natural combination of Silver and lead. The kids had fun rock-hounding and checking out the old train cars and tracks.

Sage won't be found in our Silverton Pictures because she was too busy rock-hounding. She just loves minerals and rocks.

After lunch we headed up the Canyon there in Silverton to see if we could find any old mines. There was still snow up there but we did take our capable off road vehicle up a small road to see what we could find. Not knowing the area we found nothing and headed back down. It was then we said goodbye to the little mining town, that looked like it had not changed since it was built, and headed back to Durango to visit the train museum.

The train museum is located at the Durango Train station. It was free and was worth every penny. Seriously though, the museum was a great collection of trains, cars, and airplanes. It has several restored train cars that you could go into and play in and it had a large train set that Jace and Ryker were enthralled with. Ryker insists that he wants his own now. Just as we were leaving the museum the train came back from its trip to Silverton. The boys loved watching it come in.

The boys enjoyed looking at the many toy trains chug down the track.

A restored caboose we got to explore.

The Durango Steam train. This was Rykers favorite part of the trip.

Boys and Trains go well together.

After the Train Museum we headed over to the local fish hatchery to feed the fish. We wanted to visit the wildlife museum there but it had just closed. The kids did however have a blast feeding the fish.

Day 3- Chaco National Historical Park

We had wanted to visit Mesa Verde National Park but the main attractions were still closed. So I had to find another park that had impressive Pueblo ruins. I chose to make the 3 hour drive down to Chaco National Historical Park in New Mexico. The park did not disappoint! I am so glad we chose to come here.

Chaco Canyon is the home to the largest Great Houses in Southern America. Over 150 ancient roads lead to this canyon and it was thought that it was used to gather for religious and economic reasons. The ruins here are multistory buildings with hundreds of rooms. When they were first discovered they found massive amounts of valuable minerals and other resources within their walls. As much as I was impressed by the history of this amazing place if you are interested in the history yourself follow this link to read more.

https://www.nps.gov/chcu/learn/historyculture/index.htm

 Not far from the Visitor Center we  did a short hike out to these petroglyphs and our first ruin in the park where we actually got to go inside the house.

 The kids enjoyed looking for each of the petroglyphs throughout the park. Jace would not leave a site till he had located them.

This is Pueblo Bonito. It is the largest great house in the Canyon. This great house was thought to be the center of major economic trade and religious gatherings. It is thought that it was built to house people passing through the area to do business and attend events. Although this house has over 100 rooms in it, most likely only 50-100 people actually lived here year round.

 Sage walking along one of the walls of Pueblo Bonito.

 In the 1940's a large slab of rock fell from the nearby cliff crushing the corner of Bonito. It was named Threatening Rock. It's no longer a threat :)

 There are a few different kinds of doors found in the great houses in Chaco Canyon. If they were shaped in the form of a T they were thought to have led to a sacred room.

 The doorways were short because the average height of a Chacoan man was 5'4". That is not too much taller than I am. Plus it was easier to build short doors.

 Look closely and you will see that there are 4 doorways aligned up with each other. Each doorway has one of my children in it.

 There was a hike that went up the face of a cliff through a slot canyon to the top of the mesa. Essentially this slot canyon is made of a rock that has separated itself from the main wall a lot like "Threatening Rock" that eventually fell on Pueblo Bonito. A little unnerving for someone like me who has a fear of heights and disasters.

 For those wondering how Curtis did with all the walking around, he did great. His leg and foot were both very sore by the end of the day but you would not know unless you noticed the slight limp he walked with. Oh and the compression sock.

This is the overlook we hiked to of Pueblo Bonito. You can see how massive it is. All the houses were shaped in a D format. The round holes you see are Kivas. These were used for large gatherings and religious ceremonies.

 This was the largest Kiva in the canyon. It was located near the southern gap where the roads ended. The Southern gap reminded me of the entrance to the great valley in The Land Before Time. Notice all the little shelves in the Kiva. These were thought to have been possibly used as places to put offerings to their Gods. I like to think it was used as a silent auction room and the shelves are display boxes. In one of the houses near this Kiva they found the skeleton of 3 macaws! They were thought to have been brought up from South America as items to trade!

By the end of the day the kids were worn out!!! We learned so much and walked a long distance. No one knows why the Chacoans left this Canyon. But when they did they left all their valuables and sealed the entrance to their biggest great house. However, The Dudley's left with their valuables, their 4 children, and left due to exhaustion.

Day 4- The Aztec Heritage Center and the Canyon of the Ancients

Day 4 we packed up and started to head home. On the way home we bought some Anasazi beans, visited a rock shop, spent some time in the Aztec Heritage Center, and hiked to ruins in the Canyon of the Ancients.

The Aztec Heritage Center is worth a visit. Not only is it very informative, it has hands on displays that both the children and adults enjoyed.

 At the Aztec Heritage Center not too far from Cortez, there was a paved trail to a small house overlooking the valley. Jace and I hiked it by ourselves while waiting for the center to open.

 The Aztec Heritage Center was a delightful place to learn more about the ancient Pueblo People. The kids got to grind maize.

 The children also took turns weaving a rug. Hands on activities such as these really help the kids to understand how life was like for these ancient people.

 On our way home we visited several ruins in the Canyon of the Ancients. This particular kiva was neat because it still had the original timber used to support the walls.

 Another picture of a ruin found in the Canyon of the Ancients.

 This is Painted Hand Ruin. This was one of my favorite canyons! It has such a peaceful feeling! There was so much domestic evidence of a family living in the area. I found a rock that was a neat rock and I thought to myself, "I bet they loved this rock too." Sure enough there was evidence all around that area that they spent a lot of time on that rock making pots and weapons.

 This is why they called the area Painted Hand. Do you see them? Btw, my kids are not touching the ancient paintings or the rock near them.

 And Finally we arrived at our last location. Sand Canyon which was home to more ancient Native Americans. The hike was beautiful!! Red Rock, Cliff dwellings, wonderful preserved flora.

Sand Canyon was so beautiful, but it did take a turn when Ashton went missing. When we realized he was no longer with us we started to look for him. Ashton does not have a great sense of direction and is often oblivious to what is happening around him. So by the time he realized we were no longer with him he had hiked in the wrong direction for maybe 10-15 minutes. There was a wind at the time so our calls were not heard by Ashton when we were looking for him. We thought that maybe he had  hiked back to the car so I ran ahead to see if I could catch up with him. He was not there. I started to panic. I ran back to Curtis who insisted that I take the rest of the children to the car and wait. If he did not show up by 6pm I was supposed to contact authroities. Then he set off on his very sore foot to find Ashton. Eventually, using his Search and Rescue Skills, he was able to find Ashton. A biker who I had talked to had actually found him and waited on the trail for us to catch up to Ashton. He had indeed taken off in the wrong direction. When he found himself lost he sat down near a marker on the trail and waited making plans for survival if needed. When Ashton and Curtis showed up at the parking lot both Sage and I, who were already crying, burst out into hard tears scolding and loving Ashton all at the same time. This was the last picture I took of him before he went missing. I'm so thankful that it was not my last picture of him ever.

Some of you may have noticed that my children wear hats with pins on them. Each time we go to a national park, monument, or historical site they get to choose a pin to put on their hats. We started this about 3 years ago.

In the end we had a great trip. We arrived home around 11pm at night safe and sound.