Our 25-footer.
We used the Sunday Times to decorate the interior.
Walking back from the Visitors’ Center, having gotten permission to duct-tape our mirror back on.
This structure was on the edge of the campground.
Melinda from next door, and Tom
I planned to made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast and for the drive home, but we forgot the peanut butter!
Hahahaha!
We thought we could drive to Chaco Canyon.
We rented a 25-footer. The first thing we did was back it into our next door neighbors’ stucco wall. In the process we wrecked the ladder on the back of the RV.
Neither of us had ever driven anything like this.
We had heard that the last 20 miles to Chaco Canyon were rough, but we had not really anticipated it being this rough. It took about two hours to go that last 20 miles, and by the time we got to camp everything we had packed was scattered out on the floor. It was like a tornado had picked up the RV, swung it around in the sky and slammed it back down. The mirror on the driver’s side popped off.
There is no internet or phone service at Chaco Canyon.
The first morning we opened the door, and everything was covered with snow! It was glorious.
We didn’t want to have to take the RV out again without the mirror, and then have to back it back into our little camp spot.
So we walked a couple of miles to the Visitors’ Center in the freezing cold to see if we could use their phone. We had not been able to replace the mirror, even with the camp manager’s tools.
The ranger said their phone was for emergencies only, and added that the service had been out for two days anyway. But when he picked up the receiver, the service was back! And so we got permission from the rental company to duct tape the mirror back on top of the paint once we hit the highway on the way home.
The next day was brilliant. We hit the road in the RV and spent the whole day at Pueblo Bonita. When I first walked into the pueblo, I felt its spirit. It’s massive and beautifully built. It was lived-in from 850 - 1150, and no one is quite sure why it was deserted.
I had been leery about staying in a campground. Who knows who would end up on either side of us? As it turned out, Melinda and another Tom moved in next door and I felt like Melinda could have been a good friend.
Everyone we met at the camp seemed interesting and generous. Kyle and Beth gave us a jar of homemade salsa and we loaned them a lantern so they could read at night in their tent. Someone else loaned Tom an axe and a fire-starter brick.
We had wine and chips (and Beth’s salsa) by the fire on our last night.
The sky was full of stars–I had never seen anything like it.