The Best Laid Plans (Two for the Price of One)

I can truthfully say that I very much wanted to visit the Grand Canyon a second time. I'm certain I'll do so at some point -- just not during this trip.

Yesterday was the day I had reserved for that particular brand of Grandness. I was asleep by 10 pm, and around 8 am. Unfortunately, however, I was anything but eager to drive the 80 plus miles to the South Rim. My body felt tired and achy, and lots of driving yesterday, prior to lots of driving today, just felt exhausting.

Instead of feeling disappointed, however, I decided to find out what was closer to the hotel in Flagstaff that might prove fun and entertaining. I ended up going to the Sunset Volcano National Monument and Wapatki National Monument. Both attractions are 20 miles apart, and for a mere $5, they were both mine for the day.

The lava beds were mightily impressive, yet my favorite part of the trip was still to come.

Lovely Quaking Aspen grew tenaciously in the rocky, black soil -- clearly still closer to lava chunks than true dirt.

After one stop to view the ancient lava beds, however, I decided to move on to the Wapatki ruins, but never made it. I saw a sign for the Wukoki ruins, and on impulse, turned left down the 2.5 mile road. After a few minutes, the ruin of an ancient Hopi big house hove into view. Wukoki is the the modern Hopi word for a large, multiple family dwelling.

As it turned out, I could hike a short trail to the ruins, and even climb up into and on them -- as long as I stayed judiciously on the trail. This, I was happy to do. How often have I had the chance in my lifetime to climb through the remains of a Hopi home from the 1120s? That would be never -- until now, of course. Along with these photos, I'm inspired to share my first poem of the trip, a road haiku -- or would that be road-ku? At any rate, here it is:

I see the whole sky.
Blue upon blue horizon.
For miles and miles, blue.

The ruin was unusual, because the dwelling had originally been three stories -- apparently a rare thing for Hopi architects to attempt. Three families lived in this house, and I had little difficulty imagining them there.

The view from the open plaza has likely changed somewhat in nearly 900 years, yet I'm guessing it was just as impressive then. How much have the mountains shrunk in all that time, I wonder?

At any rate, I'll leave you with a view of the whole structure -- or what's left now.

A few interesting occurrences during my trip so far: in Sedona, I stayed at the Days Inn in room 138. In Flagstaff, I stayed at the Rodeway Inn, also in room 138. No, I didn't request it, that's just the way it happened. I'm writing this from a Borders in Albuquerque, about two or three hours from Taos, where I'm staying at another Days Inn. Stay tuned for the room number!

On a more mundane note -- yet no less exciting to me -- my car has been performing brilliantly! I recorded 45.4 miles per gallon (mpg) on the trip to Mesa, Arizona, and 41. 3 mpg from Mesa to Sedona, then 40.3 mpg from Sedona to Jerome to Flagstaff to Navajo, Arizona. As I get higher (current elevation is 1 mile above sea level) I seem to lose mileage. I'm sure there's some scientific reason for that, but I don't know what it is.

Well, here's the final photo of the Wukoki ruin, for your viewing pleasure:

Take care, and may your travels prove blessed and your worries few.

~Love and Blessings,
Selene~