Surfin’ U.S.A.

Not everybody has an ocean across the U.S.A.

So if you visit Colorado, come on and go my way

You’ll see them carrying sandboards, sliding down the dunes

I hope The Beach Boys won’t mind that I went and stole their tune

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a really fun place. When we camped here there were tons of families having a great time playing on the dunes. It looks a bit like snowboarding to me and it’s probably harder than it looks. Dad and I contented ourselves with running up and down the dunes (which is also harder than it looks).

We’re really enjoying exploring Colorado.

Semiquincentennial

I do like big fancy words…

Today the United States of America celebrates its 250th anniversary! I’m very happy for this great land we live in and I’m very proud to be an American. It’s one of reasons I like to travel around to see and experience as much as I can of it. Dad and I are staying in a hotel in Alamosa, Colorado tonight. I don’t think we’ll hear any fireworks because there are very intense restrictions due to the extreme fire danger we’ve seen lately. Nevertheless, we’ll celebrate.

Dad (the historian) noted that both Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day exactly 200 years ago. It was precisely 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Strange Currencies

One thing you see a lot of in the desert Southwest is cryptobiotic soil (also known as biological soil crust). It looks like lumpy red clay but it’s actually made up of thousands if not millions of microorganisms that are important to the ecology of the region. You’re not supposed to walk on it which is why you see lots of signs around here imploring hikers to stay on trails and not wander off cross country.

I’ve heard about some people getting excited about “investing in crypto.” I’m really not sure what they’re talking about, but it sounds a little weird to me. My investment in crypto is simply my decision not to step on it.

A Murder Of Crows

After some more smoky diversions, Dad and I ended up camping at Natural Bridges National Monument (not part of our original plan). Luckily, the wind was blowing the smoke away from us at camp. There was one point on our drive where we could see flames on a distant hillside.

Now, I love this whole part of southeastern Utah with its canyons and ancient ruins to explore. But it came with an annoying add-on: a whole bunch of black crows cawing and carrying on nonstop in the campground which was otherwise quiet and peaceful.

I guess you can’t really tell a crow to chill out, can you?

Enclave

Northeastern Arizona is sometimes referred to as “Indian Country” because of the sizable reservations of the Hopi and Navajo nations located there. Historically, there have been disagreements between the tribes stemming from the way lands were broken up by federal government policies. These days the tribes get along pretty well. We got a chance to travel through both on this trip (our first time on Hopi lands), ending up at the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Navajo territory. In my humble opinion this place has the most beautiful of Southwest canyons. (Dad agrees with me.)

Interestingly, the Hopi Reservation is an enclave, completely surrounded by the Navajo Nation. Dad explains it this way: Hopi is to Navajo as Lesotho is to South Africa. Geography nerds will understand.

Fun fact: we kept changing our clocks on this day because the Navajo observe Daylight Saving time, whereas the Hopi have thrown in their lot with the rest of Arizona, using Standard Time the whole year around.

Tenting

I’m very proud of the camping skills I’ve developed over the years. Dad and I have a bunch of routines that help us efficiently set up and pack up our campsites. I help with those tasks every step of the way, but I’m also flexible. Dad has a slightly different procedure for setting up a tent in a high wind (lots of that in the Southwest). He gave me praise for following his instructions perfectly.

Speaking of tents, ours is being held together with duct tape at this point. It’s probably our last season with this one. My long time readers may recall that our last tent gave out on the road during the summer of 2016, so we purchased the one we have now in Utah. Most tents last around ten years with moderate to heavy use, so do the math. Dad is hoping to “muddle through” (his words) with this one for the remainder of the season. We’ll see…

Citadel

If you’re interested in Native American archeological sites, I highly recommend Wupatki National Monument in Arizona. Although most of these structures were abandoned around 1300 C.E. (for reasons not completely understood), they have been protected and preserved for posterity. My personal favorite building is the Citadel. It’s on top of a hill and has a commanding view of the surrounding plateau. Good for defense and for generally seeing what’s going on.

We ended up here as smoke refugees from our campground nearby during the afternoon. By the time we got back to camp in the evening, skies were (sort of) clear. We’ve had lots of good luck on this trip.