On Memorial Day Weekend, Barbara and I went to a few of the sites here in the northwest upper mesa in New Mexico. First we went to Sky City, which is an Acoma Indian village on top of a tabletop mountain, originally built in the 1100s, and rebuilt after being destroyed by the Conquistadors in the 1300s. It has a dominant Catholic mission building, which is more of a tourist site now than an operating church. The people in the graveyard in the front of the church are buried in layers, so over the years 4 layers of parishoners have been buried. No pictures were allowed of the graveyard or inside the church. Some people live there year-around with no electricity, plumbing, or fresh water. Others just have their "summer homes" there. The pictures are of views from the city, some strange construction, and an adjacent mesa, much like Sky City with no town atop it. The only way up there until 1993 was a pathway and stairs cut into the rocks.
Next we went to the Bandelara Volcano and Ice Caves. The Volcano erupted about 10,000 years ago, and spread much of the lava which is around the Grants area. There are 15 volcanos which erupted in the general area of Grants. My pictures of the Ice Caves came out badly because of the lighting, but I have one from the rim of the volcano.
Last, we went to El Morro. It is another dominant mesa, which has a box canyon in the middle of it (awesome), Anazasi ruins, which originally had over 700 structures on top of the mesa, and the famous Inscription Wall, where travelers back to the 1300s have carved their names and dates into the rock. There is serious concern that the weather and wind will eventually erode these inscriptions, and they will be lost. I took several pictures, but only posted one of the more clear representations. There were some that were indeed better, but less dramatic.
So we had a great time, and hope to visit more of the state before we go -- less than 2 years left!
John & Barbara
