Grants, New MexicoApr 11, 2009
|
|
El Morro National Monument, New Mexico
Inscription at Inscription Rock, El Morro National Monument, New Mexico
Inscription at Inscription Rock, El Morro National Monument, New Mexico
4/11 – 4/16
It took us two days to drive the 426 miles to Grants, New Mexico. Our first stop was the lovely parking lot of the Home Depot in Show Low, Arizona. That day we took SR87, SR287, SR79 and US60. The drive through the Salt River Canyon on US60 was beautiful. During the stop at Home Depot our friend Joni LeBlanc drove down from Taylor to visit us. The next day we continued to Grants on US60, US191, SR61 and SR53. It always amazes us how the terrain changes when driving into New Mexico from Arizona – just like the descriptions in a Tony Hillerman mystery. At lunch time we pulled over and had a delicious Wal-Mart roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, snap beans and a strawberry shortcake for our Easter dinner. Along the way we stopped at El Morro National Park, but the campground was just too small and unlevel for us. Our final resting place was the Blue Spruce RV Park which became the hub for our explorations of the area. While in Grants we:
>drove back to El Morrow National Monument. Took the park hike which first brought us to Inspiration Rock. Since the rock is located near a water source it became a historical collection of graffiti. Travelers that carved on Inspiration Rock include Spanish explorers, officers and soldiers, early settlers and railroad workers. The hike continues to the top of a Mesa where we saw some ancient Atsinna pueblo ruins. This was a great stop.
>drove to the town of Zuni which is an active Indian pueblo. We visited a couple of craft stores but everything was quite expensive. Most of the homes in the town had what appeared to be clay kilns in their yard. We found out that these clay structures where actually bread ovens.
>visited the Grants Visitor Center which contains many exhibits about the local area.
>Went to the New Mexico Mining Museum in Grants. Great museum detailing the history of uranium mining in that town.
>toured Sky City, the Acoma pueblo. Since the 1100’s the Acoma Indians lived on this 370 foot high Mesa. Until the late 1950’s they had to walk up the mesa to get to their homes since there was no road. There still is no electricity or running water. The pueblo has about 300 homes but only about 10 are lived in year-round. The Indians provide an excellent tour of this pueblo.
