4 Wheels 4 Girls

Tuesday, April 12, we went to Bandelier National Monument.

I usually complain when I hear that we have to get up and go. And today was one of these days–until I walked inside the visitor center.

First of all, the park ranger was really nice. She gave us our Junior Ranger packets. Then she said if we went on a hike, by the time we got back, the visitor center would be closed. So she gave Jean and Dad Ellie, Ana, Greta and my Junior Ranger patches. She said that we had to complete our packets to get the parents to give us our patches. That was kind of annoying because I knew they would make us do extra work. But the park ranger also gave ME Jean and Dad’s patches. They had to do a packet too; it was called a Deputy Rangers packet. So anyway, she gave me the patches so I would get to grade their packets and if they didn’t do it right or didn’t do as many assignments as they were supposed to, they wouldn’t get the patches. Dad said, “You’ve given them to the right person.”, to the park ranger. I was confused so I asked why. He said, “Well, you’ll… make sure we finish the packet!” And then he and the park ranger laughed.

Scaling a ladder to enter a cave dwelling at Bandelier

Inside a cave dwelling. Notice the black ceiling from ancient fires in the cave. You can see the ruins of the Tyuonyi pueblo below.

The park ranger was also very helpful. She gave us suggestions on where to go, where to hike. She suggested hiking up to the Alcove House. The Alcove House is a tiny village in a giant dent in the canyon wall. I had never been up there before and it looked really cool, especially since you got to go inside the hole homes and the big kiva.

Entering the Kiva at Alcove House

A kiva is an underground room with a ladder that went through a hole in the ceiling. Girls and women weren’t allowed; I guess there were special ceremonies or something that the women and girls couldn’t attend. I was lucky to even be able to go in them!

I begged Dad to let us go up to the Alcove House. Three thirty-foot ladders led up to a kiva and three holes in the wall, homes for people long ago. It really looked amazing and I wanted to have the adventure of climbing up such long ladders that led to a great experience. Of course, Dad said we could hike up there; he loves for us to get exercise. We grabbed our waterbottles and got ready to go. We made it up to the Alcove House with a few stops to climb up ladders into holes in the walls which were also homes.

Climbing one of the three big ladders up to the Alcove House

Jean has reached the Alcove House, 140 feet above the valley floor

On April 12, we went to Pecos National Historic Park. There were the ruins of a big pueblo which was built by the Pecos people. There was a wall all around it.

Outside the pueblo wall was a field where the Apaches and the Teyas put up their teepees when they came to trade with the Pecos. 

There was a big Kiva. A Kiva is a round underground place. You get into the Kiva using a ladder in the roof.  Girls are not allowed in Kivas. But we were allowed to go in this Kiva because it was not being used. Inside there was a fireplace. 

Stella drew this Kiva, or at least what you see from the outside.

We saw a big black beetle near a Kiva inside the pueblo ruins.  

We saw an old church and a turkey coop. The church was outside the pueblo walls.  The church ruins had no roof and most of the walls were all gone. The church has two open places. One was where the priest went. My dad says the church was a mission built by Spanish priests 400 years ago. The turkey coop was outside of the church. My sister Ellie says the coop was a big rectangle around it made of stones with a gate in the back so people could go in and out. The floor of the coop was cobble stones so it would be easy to keep clean.

Ellie drew the turkey coop

After seeing the Miracle Staircase in the cool church, we walked into the square, sort of like Decatur Square in Atlanta only different, more New Mexico-like. You have to have been to New Mexico to know what I mean. There were vendors everywhere selling pottery, jewelry, paintings, clothes, and other things unique only to Santa Fe. It was really cool and I saw some super cool beads that were shaped like little chili peppers in a shop near the square. We walked around for a bit, then stopped to look inside another church. It was really old and really cool, with a ceiling almost 40 feet high. We explored the church for awhile, then decided to head back to the RV, eat, and find a campground, which is what we did.

Stella, in front of the mighty Santa Fe River

We found a very nice, tree-filled campground with a “really good playground for playing horses” as Ellie said. We had delicious Indian food for dinner, and then I got stuck doing dishes while my sisters went to play. >:-( After the dishes I finally got to go enjoy the nice campground. We slept there for a night then moved on to Pecos National Historic Park. Read Ana’s post to find out more!

On April 11th, we drove to Santa Fe. We walked to a church. When we got inside we saw the “miracle staircase.” We heard a story about some nuns who prayed for a staircase from the chapel floor to the choir loft. A carpenter came and built the staircase using no nails, only wood. Once he was finished he left and asked for no money. People tried to figure out who the man was. When they first used it they were scared because it had no railing. They got another man to build a railing for them. We saw a picture of the nuns using the miracle stircase. The nuns were all standing on the stiarcase. We listened for a little while and then we left to go and look in the gift shop. After that we started our walk.

The "Miracle Stairway" in Santa Fe, NM

In the morning, we had a contest: How many flat tires?

The goathead thorns really messed up our bikes. When I pulled a giant thorn out of my bike’s back wheel the night before, I could hear the air poofing out. It was really scary and we weren’t too close to home; my tire was losing air fast.

My Poor Bike

So in the morning, we had the contest. How many flat tires were there really? I guessed seven. Someone, I’m not sure who, said all. In my mind, I had a small panging that they were right. But I also knew that couldn’t be true. So I was confident with my guess. Do you think I was right? What would you guess?

We counted up the wheels that were flat and guess how many there were? Seven! Just as I had guessed! For me, Ana, and Dad, every single tire was flat, plus one of Greta’s. But Ellie’s, Jean’s, and the other one of Greta’s worked great!

So the contest turned out well for me since I won, but not so much for Jean and Dad, who will have to buy all the new tires….

On April 10th, we went for a bike ride into Albuquerque to a bookstore as a reward for our hard work. The ride was very windy and what made it worse was that we were riding against the wind. When we got to the bookstore, it felt awesome to go inside away from the wind and read in the warm store. The store was called Under Charlie’s Covers, and I found lots of great books, although I only bought two. I’ve already finished one!

Here are some of the books we are reading right now.

The bike ride home was somewhat disastrous because of these evil, money-eating thorns called goatheads. Read Stella’s post to find out more!

After many busy days of travel and exploration of national parks and beautiful places, we needed a break. So, we settled into a cozy campground for a few days to sit, rest, work, catch up on school, breathe, stretch, clean, relax, and, unfortunately, do our taxes.

The first order of business was to clean a dirty camper. Jobs were assigned and completed (a heartfelt Thanks! goes out to Stella for treating us all to a very clean bathroom).

Doing schoolwork at the dining room table

After three days, our bodies are rested, our camper is clean, our taxes are done, and we are ready for new adventure.

When we were at Petroglyph National Monument, we went on a hike up a volcanic ridge to see petroglyphs which were on lava rocks along the ridge. It was a nice sunny day, but we had a problem which was the wind. While hiking up, I lost my sunglasses three times. As we were hiking up, we saw lots of petroglyphs and the trail twisted and turned all over the ridge and I had no idea where our camper was once it was out of sight.

Hiking the Boca Negro Canyon. That is Stella's head amongst the boulders.

On the way back down, there was a sandy trail and then the hike got a little less fun because the sand was blowing into our eyes. Stella saw a roadrunner, a bird common in New Mexico, that hops and runs instead of flies, even though it can fly.

The petroglyphs are carved into volcanic boulders.

After Petroglyph National Monument we went to Trader Joe’s, which is now my favorite grocery store. What I love about it is it is decorated like a beach and I am into tropical stuff. The food there is delicious and we got so many yummy meals, such as shrimp dumplings, four different kinds of pizza, indian meals and bread, and lots more. We also got some kumquats, which are one of my favorite fruits.

On the way back to the campground we had the pizzas, which were delicious. By the time we got back, we were tired from a long, eventful day.

On April 9, we went to the Petroglyph National Monument, in New Mexico. My mom and my dad did a senior ranger program and then they got their badges and got a postcard. Then they did the senior ranger pledge. It was very fun to watch to watch them do that, because I had never seen an adult get a ranger badge like we kids do.

My dad got a patch and a pin at Petroglyph

My mom giving the senior ranger pledge for the first time.

A petroglyph is a picture hammered into a rock. They call it the Petroglyph National Monument because there are 20 thousand petroglyphs on rocks in the park. The bird on a petroglyph usually has a beak and a tail that goes all the way around, like this:

My drawing of a bird petroglyph

Saturday, April 9, Ellie, Ana, Dad, and I went on a bike ride into Albuquerque city. At least we started to.

When I got on my bike, the wind was so strong that I almost blew over. We went up to the trail and started biking. By the time we made it ten feet, we were all tired and our legs ached like crazy. Each time I peddled, I only made it about half a foot. We were riding right into the wind.
Suddenly a HUGE, and I mean huge, gust of wind hit me. Since I was leading, I got most of it. Most of it was sand, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to pull over to the side and rest. Plus, I couldn’t see anything with all that sand in my eyes. Dad told us to turn around and go back to the RV. The ride back was glorious, though. We could go as fast as we wanted because the wind was pushing us.

I would take a picture to show you how windy and sandy it was, but nothing would show up except blurry sand. Anyway, you’d feel like you have sand in your eyes. Just like me, sadly.

So when we got back, we ate lunch which was turkey and cheese sandwiches and the fruit salad Ellie, Ana and I made. It was pretty small, the fruit salad, which only had apples, bananas, and oranges, but it was still really good.

Well…. I guess our supposed-to-be-fun bike ride turned out to be a fail!