Day 13 and 14: Canyon De Chelly and Monument Valley

The Southwest is one of my favorite places on earth! There is so much space and freedom. We could be staring at a vastness of nothing, and all of a sudden, be headed straight for a mountain of red rock. It really is incredible and surprising. We went to Mesa Verde and toured the Balcony House, which is the most strenuous tour offered. Visitors have to climb a 35-foot ladder into ruins that are thousands of years old. There is also a tunnel to the exit, where we had to climb up another three sets of stairs right next to a sheer dropoff to the canyon below. I'm always a little jealous of the Indians, cause I mean...they lived in caves, and had a great view every morning. How awesome is that?! Anyway, it was a really fun tour, and I'm glad we went. The next day we went to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de shay) and went down another strenuous trail. We've been here before, and have always loved this place. The only bad thing about this hike:



"If I could make a simple suggestion: Bring TOO much water! If you do not, you will stop 12, eeehhh...13 times, and wish you had a margarita!" -My 10-year-old cousin Samuel's wise words.



Anyway, I can't even describe the beauty of the Southwest. From the giant red rock formations, to the ancient ruins and petroglyphs. All of it is gorgeous!

We spent the night in Goulding's, Utah, in Monument Valley. Someone just driving down Highway 163 would never imagine there would be anything for miles. But there is, and it just sort of pops out of nowhere. Goulding's is a lodge, restaurant, grocery store, movie theatre, gift shop (of course), and museum. That's it. In the middle of nowhere. They offer Navajo-led tours through the valley, so one can get close-up views of some of the most famous formations in the world. Most of us may not realize it, but Monument Valley has starred in scenes from Forrest Gump, Thelma and Louise, Back to the Future III, and numerous John Wayne films, not to mention the many commercials. It was really fun to actually be there.



We just found out about the oil hitting our beaches back in Mississippi. Why can't everything remain as untouched as it does is here.

Day 9 and 10: Albuquerque, NM

We've been to three museums in the past two days. But unless you are actually visiting them, they aren't that interesting to hear about. So I'll just list them, and describe the main themes.

• The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. (Pretty straight forward...Art, History.)



• New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. (This is a really cool museum, because it takes you through every phase of Earth's existence as science sees it, with a special exhibit on computer technology.)



• We tried to go to a rattlesnake museum, but it was closed. (All live snakes.)



• The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. (The main emphasis here was, of course, World War II and the Cold War, but it was also interesting to see how nuclear technology has impacted medicine through the years.)

As you can see, there is a lot of science and technology to be had in Albuquerque. That's not the only thing though. Like I said in an earlier post, the people in Texas are really nice. So are the people in New Mexico! When we were riding down from our room, a Hispanic guy was rushing to catch the elevator and John held the door for him. The ride down wasn't that long, and we were about to get off when the nice guy handed John a scorpion he had made out of copper wire. I was sort of wondering if he had just finished making it, or if he just liked to carry it around in his pocket. Anyway, it was obvious the man didn't speak much English, so we thanked him as best we could. I thought it was really sweet of him to do that, because it had probably taken him at least fifteen minutes to make. But people are nice, even if you do not know them at all.