Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Chaco Culture NHP - Mar 28-July 19
We finally left Chaco!! Shortly after our last travelogue, we took our trailer up to Farmington (to "Al's") to repair our landing legs, a propane leak, and what we thought was a leak in a holding tank. Taking the trailer up there & back over 16 miles of washboard was unpleasant enough, even if the service was wonderful, which it certainly wasn't. We did eat a tasty breakfast in Farmington, but Al's didn't seem to know what they were doing, and consequently, nothing much was done. It took about 4 hours. They convinced us that the holding tanks were not leaking, which was good since they didn't seem competent enough to want them to do anything about it. They attempted to fix the propane leak (we discovered later that we still had it), but the problem with the landing legs actually seems to have been fixed.
We discovered that the propane was still leaking when all the propane leaked out of both tanks. Cooking is pretty difficult, using only the microwave & toaster oven. Using a handheld propane detector from the park, Doug quickly found that the regulator was leaking. He ordered a new one from Travel Supreme and was able to install it himself. Then we just had to go to Farmington and get both tanks filled up again. While this sounds like a quick process, it actually took about 3 weeks total to get resolved.
We spent several days helping to sift dirt at the archaeological dig at the Pueblo Bonito site. The things we mostly found were lovely fragments of pottery (sherds), lithics (tools, usually made of chert or other hard stone, & petrified wood), bits of animal bones, fragments
of charcoal, occasional jewelry items, and items from historic times. Willie found a lovely, small projectile point. It was hot, dusty work but certainly the chance of a lifetime to help on such a project. Adding to the excitement was the participation of many of the "famous"
archaeologists with ties to Chaco. We got to dig with these people and hear them speak about Chaco, which was quite an honor. The dig concluded temporarily at the end of June, but will continue later this year and again next summer and fall.
One of the main reasons for extending our stay here was to help out with the activities to be held on Summer Solstice. Our friend Susan LeFever came for this, too, and we quickly put her to work as an additional volunteer (we're not sure she had planned to work so much on her vacation).
The first day, we took her out sifting, which she enjoyed immensely. The second day was Solstice, so we all helped with parking patrol (basically only the three of us due to incredibly poor planning!) for the crowds of several hundred people. We also got to attend all the events, starting with the sunrise ceremony at Casa Rinconada, continuing with dancers from San Felipe Pueblo at 11, 2 and 4 at the plaza of Pueblo Bonito, and a final dinner gathering with Indian Tacos for the guests, volunteers and staff.
The next day was more restful- we took one of the ranger's cars to Crownpoint for servicing and were able to visit two of the Chacoan outliers along the way. These outliers are Great Houses in the Chaco system, but not in the main canyon.
We visited Kin Ya'a, just south of Crownpoint, which is most famous for its tall tower kiva, and Pueblo Pintado, about 20 miles southeast of Chaco, near the small town of Pueblo Pintado. It is a very large, lovely site, with many rooms exposed. It is on a bluff, so it is visible from miles away.
Susan was visiting when Gracie first started to be sick, but she seemed to be better by the time Susan left. It was the next day (Saturday) that Gracie went downhill quickly, and she died early in the morning on June 26. This made for a pretty sad birthday for Doug the following week, and we continue to miss her so much every day. She was such a sweet cat, and she interacted with each of us in such special ways.
Our friends miss her too, because she was so outgoing when they visited.
Several interesting astronomical events happened during our stay. The first of these was a conjunction of Saturn, Mercury and Venus. All three were in a tight field of less than 2 degrees at their closest point. Later in the month, Mercury and Venus got even closer together, forming interesting patterns each evening.
Just before midnight on July 3/4, a probe smashed into Comet Tempel 1 as part of the NASA project Deep Impact. The Chaco astronomers were tracking the comet in advance in order to be ready to watch it the night of the impact. Those with cable were also recording the NASA feed of the event. The night of the impact, we were able to watch through the telescope, and those with the best vision (Doug, not Willie!) were able to detect slight changes upon impact. Later, it was interesting to see the NASA footage of the event from much closer.
July 4th we had a cookout and potluck for all the volunteers and staff, followed by fireworks.
July 6 we accompanied GB to the airport in Albuquerque to pick up Sara Petrillo, a new SCA (Student Conservation Association) volunteer who was arriving from Italy. We quickly became friends & possibly surrogate parents for Sara and spent a lot of time with her until we left. She speaks beautiful English & we were sorry to miss her giving tours of Pueblo Bonito. SCAs usually train for 4 weeks before giving their tours to the public.
More astronomical highlights! We got a report of a supernova visible in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), so using the CCD equipment at Chaco, an image of M51 was taken and compared with an historic photo in order to determine which bright spot was the supernova. It was pretty exciting to be a part of this and to actually see it.
We spent many extra evenings at the observatory. We were able to see Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, which means that we actually saw all nine planets of our Solar System while at Chaco this year. Of course, now they have discovered a possible tenth (as yet officially unnamed) planet, so I guess that's a goal for next year. One of the astronomers has already photographed the new planet with his own equipment (not at Chaco).
A Native American (mostly Navajo) rug auction is held at Crownpoint either the second or third Friday of each month. Since we had never been, we went with a couple of people in July. It is a very interesting event, with lots of other Native American crafts & also good food available. There were almost 300 rugs available for auction, although not all sold. If the minimum bid was not reached quickly, the auctioneers went to the next item, with the weavers returning the next month to try again. The rugs were lovely, but we restrained ourselves from buying any. Our friends bought several rugs.
Our days continued to wind down at Chaco. We managed to monitor all the rock art sites for a second time in order to get all the files up to date, then worked with the coordinator for Chaco so she could pass the task along to someone living in the area to continue through the year. We made plans to meet friends Pat & Dennis Wood at Riana COE campground in Abiquiu, NM, on July 20, so that became our official departure date. We had a goodbye party in the Chaco library on Thursday and also a potluck party on Sunday night. We were very sad to leave our good friends at Chaco. We plan to return next year from August-October.
We discovered that the propane was still leaking when all the propane leaked out of both tanks. Cooking is pretty difficult, using only the microwave & toaster oven. Using a handheld propane detector from the park, Doug quickly found that the regulator was leaking. He ordered a new one from Travel Supreme and was able to install it himself. Then we just had to go to Farmington and get both tanks filled up again. While this sounds like a quick process, it actually took about 3 weeks total to get resolved.
We spent several days helping to sift dirt at the archaeological dig at the Pueblo Bonito site. The things we mostly found were lovely fragments of pottery (sherds), lithics (tools, usually made of chert or other hard stone, & petrified wood), bits of animal bones, fragments
of charcoal, occasional jewelry items, and items from historic times. Willie found a lovely, small projectile point. It was hot, dusty work but certainly the chance of a lifetime to help on such a project. Adding to the excitement was the participation of many of the "famous"
archaeologists with ties to Chaco. We got to dig with these people and hear them speak about Chaco, which was quite an honor. The dig concluded temporarily at the end of June, but will continue later this year and again next summer and fall.
One of the main reasons for extending our stay here was to help out with the activities to be held on Summer Solstice. Our friend Susan LeFever came for this, too, and we quickly put her to work as an additional volunteer (we're not sure she had planned to work so much on her vacation).
The first day, we took her out sifting, which she enjoyed immensely. The second day was Solstice, so we all helped with parking patrol (basically only the three of us due to incredibly poor planning!) for the crowds of several hundred people. We also got to attend all the events, starting with the sunrise ceremony at Casa Rinconada, continuing with dancers from San Felipe Pueblo at 11, 2 and 4 at the plaza of Pueblo Bonito, and a final dinner gathering with Indian Tacos for the guests, volunteers and staff.
The next day was more restful- we took one of the ranger's cars to Crownpoint for servicing and were able to visit two of the Chacoan outliers along the way. These outliers are Great Houses in the Chaco system, but not in the main canyon.
We visited Kin Ya'a, just south of Crownpoint, which is most famous for its tall tower kiva, and Pueblo Pintado, about 20 miles southeast of Chaco, near the small town of Pueblo Pintado. It is a very large, lovely site, with many rooms exposed. It is on a bluff, so it is visible from miles away.
Susan was visiting when Gracie first started to be sick, but she seemed to be better by the time Susan left. It was the next day (Saturday) that Gracie went downhill quickly, and she died early in the morning on June 26. This made for a pretty sad birthday for Doug the following week, and we continue to miss her so much every day. She was such a sweet cat, and she interacted with each of us in such special ways.
Our friends miss her too, because she was so outgoing when they visited.Several interesting astronomical events happened during our stay. The first of these was a conjunction of Saturn, Mercury and Venus. All three were in a tight field of less than 2 degrees at their closest point. Later in the month, Mercury and Venus got even closer together, forming interesting patterns each evening.
Just before midnight on July 3/4, a probe smashed into Comet Tempel 1 as part of the NASA project Deep Impact. The Chaco astronomers were tracking the comet in advance in order to be ready to watch it the night of the impact. Those with cable were also recording the NASA feed of the event. The night of the impact, we were able to watch through the telescope, and those with the best vision (Doug, not Willie!) were able to detect slight changes upon impact. Later, it was interesting to see the NASA footage of the event from much closer.
July 4th we had a cookout and potluck for all the volunteers and staff, followed by fireworks.
July 6 we accompanied GB to the airport in Albuquerque to pick up Sara Petrillo, a new SCA (Student Conservation Association) volunteer who was arriving from Italy. We quickly became friends & possibly surrogate parents for Sara and spent a lot of time with her until we left. She speaks beautiful English & we were sorry to miss her giving tours of Pueblo Bonito. SCAs usually train for 4 weeks before giving their tours to the public.More astronomical highlights! We got a report of a supernova visible in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), so using the CCD equipment at Chaco, an image of M51 was taken and compared with an historic photo in order to determine which bright spot was the supernova. It was pretty exciting to be a part of this and to actually see it.
We spent many extra evenings at the observatory. We were able to see Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, which means that we actually saw all nine planets of our Solar System while at Chaco this year. Of course, now they have discovered a possible tenth (as yet officially unnamed) planet, so I guess that's a goal for next year. One of the astronomers has already photographed the new planet with his own equipment (not at Chaco).A Native American (mostly Navajo) rug auction is held at Crownpoint either the second or third Friday of each month. Since we had never been, we went with a couple of people in July. It is a very interesting event, with lots of other Native American crafts & also good food available. There were almost 300 rugs available for auction, although not all sold. If the minimum bid was not reached quickly, the auctioneers went to the next item, with the weavers returning the next month to try again. The rugs were lovely, but we restrained ourselves from buying any. Our friends bought several rugs.
Our days continued to wind down at Chaco. We managed to monitor all the rock art sites for a second time in order to get all the files up to date, then worked with the coordinator for Chaco so she could pass the task along to someone living in the area to continue through the year. We made plans to meet friends Pat & Dennis Wood at Riana COE campground in Abiquiu, NM, on July 20, so that became our official departure date. We had a goodbye party in the Chaco library on Thursday and also a potluck party on Sunday night. We were very sad to leave our good friends at Chaco. We plan to return next year from August-October.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 8:38 PM 
