Dietz Summer Road Trip

First successful night of camping, and a campfire was under our belt! We woke up this morning at Fenton Lake State Park in Jemez Springs, NM. It got considerably cold here last night, sleeping bag, throw blanket, and sweatshirt. But it was so quiet, no traffic, only the sounds of nature! Which would soon be replaced by the sounds of wincing pain because this morning was the day to change the dressing on “the finger”. Again, no showers here so we loaded up the truck with everything except for the first aid kit and the materials the hospital gave us to change the bandage. We prepared the picnic table Operating Room in case it started gushing blood again. The bandage successfully came off. After about 30 minutes of trying to get the clotting gauze off with tweezers (this is what the childhood game of Operation has prepared us for), it came off. Neosporin went on, and so did a new bandage! Ok we were good to go! We exited Fenton Lake through a town called Cuba, the opposite way we came in the day before. It was mentioned in a previous post, but its worth mentioning again we just bought our brand new 2015 Chevy Colorado in late February. I think its safe to say that today we finally broke it in. The road out of Fenton Lake was 23 miles of white knuckle driving up and over a mountain on a dusty and bumpy road. The truck, and all of its contents, got a fine later of dirt over it all. It was like were we in one of the commercials showcasing its off-road ability. Money well spent. Ahhh, God Bless America! We got out of Cuba and onto a road well travelled. And upon the horizon we saw this. We had to stop:

A gas station Casino! Yes we had to stop. We strolled right in, pass the Red Bull display and Subway counter and into the Apache Nugget. No players card needed here people. Slipped a dollar in, lost it in less than a minute and left. You have to spend big to win big, and there were people in there defiantly testing that theory. We had been waiting to see one of these, and once we did, we saw them EVERYWHERE. Had we stopped at them all we probably would still be on our way to 4 Corners. Our first stop of the day was to be the Four Corners Monument. Driving there you pass through Navajo Reservation land and through a place called Ship Rock. It is all relatively flat land with the exception of this formation that rises up that, as the name suggests, looks like a Rock. It was created probably 3,000+ years ago by Volcanic Breccia and has since eroded down somewhat. (Sidenote: this information we did NOT know beforehand. However, when you are in the car for hours at a time you have a tendency to look this sort of information up and read it to the other person who is driving. Maybe because we are both teachers, but we always what to find out what something is? How old is it? Where did it come from? So lots of google searches. Ok, we can continue now). So image what it might of first looked like. We pulled over to the side of the road to get a good picture which I’m sure does not do it justice. About 15 minutes later we arrived at the 4 Corners Monument. This is a spot where the straight borders of 4 states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah) all come together. You pay $5 (cash only) and get to drive right up. There is a monument on the ground that you can wait in line to get your picture taken at. Like any good tourist, we do. Ok it was our turn, Danielle was finally going to break in the selfie stick!! We pose with John in Arizona and Utah and Danielle in Colorado and New Mexico. Its so bright so we snap the picture, see the long line of others waiting and move on hoping we got it. Once we got into some shade we realized the picture was of the sky and nothing else. We forgot to switch the camera around to get us in the picture! With the line even longer now we decided to just stand on the little platform area and get a picture of us in the same area of 4 states. Its all the same right?

So you can tell it was bright. And hot. We walked the perimeter of the monument area where members of the Navajo Nation had some craft tables set up. We bought a few things, our favorite being a clay hand etched and painted Christmas Ornament, and didn’t mind buying a few extra times since the money would go to members of the Navajo Nation. Last summer we both completed a 3 week long NEH Summer Institute focusing on Cherokee, and spent a good deal of time with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. (shoutout to our NEH teachers reading!) Because of that we have such a greater appreciation and understanding of Native American Tribes and Culture in the US, however different they may all be. Back in the truck and only about 1 hour to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. It was a quick drive and we rolled right in around 3:30pm. At the advice of our friend Christine, and also a  random park worker at Carlsbad, we went straight to the ticket counter and bought tour tickets. Tomorrow we will be touring Cliff Palace and Balcony House, along with some other self guided stuff. We will be here for a few days staying at Morefield Campground which is on National Park grounds. We found our spot, took our time and un packed. After being in the car for a few days and in a different place every night we needed some time to reorganize. We also needed to stop at a grocery store for some items. So we headed into Cortez, the closest little town, and went to the Main Street Restaurant and Brewery, where their motto is “Avoid Heart Attacks, Drink Beer”. We followed order and got a few local brews which they call “Mesa Cerveza”. We also enjoyed some pretzels, Green Chile Stew, and Rocky Mountain Trout.

Afterwards we went to Wal-mart, headed back to camp, finally got that much needed shower, and started a little fire. No bears. Everything ended so well today and we are so pumped to be touring the Cliff Dwellings tomorrow! #roadtrippindietz