Wednesday morning we had a leisurely breakfast before heading back down the road to the Fairgrounds in Durango where our site was empty and we could set up. We were basically in a parking lot beside their maintenance area – no shade and lots of trucks in and out all day and evening.
After a bite of lunch, we headed into the town for some shopping. Paul got the propane tank refilled while I headed to the grocery store – this time a Walmart where I could pick up a few household items on our list.
Thursday morning Paul headed out before 6:30 to get in line at the Ford express oil service for an oil change for the truck.
I got breakfast ready and packed a lunch so we could head out for another scenic drive when he returned. Unfortunately he wasn’t first in line so it was about 9 am before he returned.
This time we headed south of Durango on a back road for part of a drive called “Tracks across Borders”. Our main destination was the Chimney Rock National Monument we had passed earlier in the week.
At certain times of the year, the moon rises between the two rocks. It was felt this may have held some significance to these peoples.
Some excavating has discovered parts of the stone structures built by this group. The ancient Puebloans were creative capturing rain water when it came, but likely had to make daily trips down 1000’ in elevation and travelling 2 miles round trip in order to keep their supply of water. This group only lived about 50 years in this location before moving on to other regions of the four corners. There were a couple of trails where we could see these remnants. Paul did the longer one while I made it around the shorter one.
Tomorrow, Friday, we head out and go north up the Million Dollar Highway to our next stop.
Following Joyce & Paul's Travels in Retirement 