4 Wheels 4 Girls

Natural Bridges, I always mispronounce it because I call it National Bridges, has 3 large bridges. We hiked to two of them. The first one was called Sipapu. (My mom says that Sipapu means “from the underworld, where the the puebloan people believe that humans came from). It was a very, very long hike. We had to go down steep hills and rocks that weren’t very stable and rickety, rickety ladders. Before the path that we used was in place people had to climb across a log and down a really tall evergreen tree to get to the bridge. But it was worth it to go because it was so beautiful.

Sipapu Bridge is the second largest natural bridge in the world, but you can't tell from a picture

Greta is under Sipapu Bridge

We also hiked to the oldest natural bridge in the park. That was a short hike. I did it with Daddy and Stella while Mom and Ellie made dinner. When we got back to the RV, I was very hungry.

Owachomo Bridge is the oldest at Natural Bridges

After Mesa Verde, we went to buy some groceries and then Mommie told Dad, “yes, you can take the girls for subway sandwiches”. We love subway sandwiches because they are so bacony and mayoney and pickley, and HUGE!! Mom and Dad let us get HUGE footlongs which is great because I am not very big but usually I finish mine before everyone else, except Greta.

We all got footlongs!

And then we went to Four Corners where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico all come together in one place. But we were sad because the gate was closed when we got there so we couldn’t stand exactly at the spot where the four corners meet. Mom and Dad tried to encourage us to be happy and believe that we were already on Four Corners but close enough wasn’t good enough so we were still sad. 🙁

Four Corners was closed. And, we are standing on a... cattle gate!

On April 14 we went to the Great Sand Dunes. Driving there we saw a lot of deer crossing the road and on the side of the road. Then we went to the Vistor Center and got our Junior Ranger packets. After we finished our packets, we went to hike up to High Dune, one of the tallest dunes that we could see. It was hard to walk sometimes because the sand was loose and thick so we had to turn our feet sideways, like a duck, to get anywhere. Dad says the top of High Dune is 650 feet up. It was a long walk and it was very tiring. My favorite part was coming down. We ran and rolled all the way down.

When we got to the bottom we (me and my dad) went to see if we could find the deer in the forest near the Visitor Center. I saw some deer prints so we followed them and then we saw some deer and some deer scat too! They were mule deer. They are named that because they have big ears like mules. I thought that they were white-tailed deer because of their white butts but I was wrong.

My dad took this picture of me and the deer we saw in the forest behind me, but you can't see the deer

I had the pleasure of hiking with Luciana to the cliff dwellings at Bandelier. Van and the girls moved quickly ahead of us, anxious to climb up the infamous series of 30 foot ladders and walk through the ancient homes in the cliff alcoves. Luciana wasn’t so sure about the climb, in fact, she was pretty clear that she wasn’t going to be doing it. She wanted me to wait at the bottom with her and look for beavers in the creek. As we approached the dwellings, Van hollered from the top of the first ladder that he would go up and down quickly so he could hang out with Ana while I went up. As it turned out, that wasn’t necessary. As we got to the first ladder, Ana said “I think I’ll go up” and off she went. Any hestitations that I had about going up myself were put aside as I followed her.

Halfway up a 30' ladder

I kept close to Ana as we climbed, holding tight to the rungs of the ladder, ready (somewhat unrealistically) to catch Ana if she slipped. We surprised Van and the older girls as we approached the top. And we were thrilled with making it there. It was an amazing sight, the dwellings themselves and the view of the valley from them. Going down was a bit more nerve wracking, for me at least, Ana seemed to have no problem at all.

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

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

On April 7, we went to the Acoma Sky City Pueblo, on top of a mesa. It is called the Sky City because it is so close to the sky.

Look close, and you can see some square buildings along the top of the mesa. The path up to the top is a dark line on the right side.

Mesa means table, in Spanish.

I met a guy. His name was gary. He was very very funny. He was our tour guide to the Acoma city on the top of a mesa. It was very fun.

The Acoma people in Sky City were trading pottery. Much of the pottery was handmade, and I wondered how they made it. On the pottery there were different animals that meant different things. I think the bunny meant that everyone was happy. Or the dog. The lizard was for the lizard clan, which is not around anymore. I got some pottery. I got a blue bird. Their art was very amazing.

I learned a lot from Gary about the Acoma people. I learned that the women own the houses. If a woman divorces her husband, she takes his clothes and saddle and sets them outside the door.

Gary told us about a race a long long time ago. There was a woman with a pot of water on her head and a man with a sheep on his back. They raced down from the top of the mesa, along one of the steep, rocky paths, and the man tripped and fell on the woman and they both fell and died. The Acoma people believe the man and the woman are still racing together on the path.

I learned that the Acoma had ovens. They looked like igloos sitting outside the buildings. The Acoma use the ovens to bake bread and cook corn. Not everybody had an oven, so they had to use other peoples ovens. They would pay with part of what they cooked in the oven.

It was very windy and sandy up on the mesa. Sand flew in my face. It was still fun. We walked down from the mesa. It was cool and amazing going down. Also, I was scared, but that didn’t ruin it. It was still cool.

Now I am sleeping at a campgroud. I am really writing in my journal. It might be confusing.

On April 4, we went to the Canyon de Chelly in the Navajo Nation in Arizona. We went with Kenneth. He was a Navajo person. We got to ride into the canyon in his car. We got to drive through in the water. It was very fun. We went out side and took a break and looked at jewelry. It was very very fun.

The sky is so blue, the cliffs are reddish brown.

It was cool seeing Anasazi houses. They looked very small but actually they were very big. They were very high up on the side of a cliff. They used a ladder and climbed the rocks to get to them. They lived there around the time that Jesus was alive, or a little after.

April 3rd, we drove through a place called Monument Valley, in Utah.

Monument Valley

We saw big mountains. They were shaped like different people and things. I saw a lot of shapes and designs. Everything looked cool and I loved it. I love seeing out my binoculars. We went through a little town. We saw a dog and almost hit it. It was crossing the road.

I am a Junior Ranger. A Junior Ranger is a person who keeps the parks clean and beautiful. A Junior Ranger also helps people if they have a question. You become a Junior Ranger by learning about all different national parks, filling out a booklet, and saying the pledge. What I like best about being a Junior Ranger is getting badges. Being a Junior Ranger makes me feel happy.

I went to a national park and I got a Junior Ranger vest with everything I need. I have a pocket and it can hold my camera. I can carry our food, too. My pockets are big, small, medium, and large.

Me, the Junior Ranger

We drove through a town in Utah called Mexican Hat. There was a rock that looks like a hat sitting on top on another hat.

That rock looks like a hat on a hat.

It looked really cool and fun. I was very amazed.

On March 31, we went to the Grand Canyon. I saw big rocks when we got there, and I couldn’t wait til the next day because we were going to get to hike down into the Grand Canyon. It was very cool. I thought one of us would fall off, but we didn’t. It was very rocky, beautiful, and colorful. When I started the hike, I looked down and it didn’t look like a long way to go, but it was a lot to go. My dad said, “Don’t drink so much water. Save it for the walk back up.” We got to the red rocks and those are the oldest rocks in the Grand Canyon. [editor’s note: the rocks at the bottom are actually the oldest, at 2 billion years; the red rocks we reached are more like 350 million]. We stopped at Cedar Ridge.

Along the trail in the canyon

Then we started to hike back up. We got some trail mix on the way. Then we got to a shady spot and had some more trail mix and then we walked on. It was very hot in the sun. We stopped along the way and a squirrel nibbled Ellie’s finger. Mama came down and met us along the trail near the top. Greta pointed her out. I didn’t see her and might have run into her. I drank all my water and then we made it up to the top.

Me and Ellie saw the mules at the top. One almost got out.

We stayed at a campground that did not have a pool. I wish it had a pool.

When I was dreaming, I dreamed I was going all the way down to skeleton point with my kids. I think Skeleton point is a campground.