Aztec Ruins National Monument

Original Ceiling (900 years old) at Aztec Ruin

After leaving Chaco, we headed north to visit Aztec Ruins National Monument. Our timing was excellent; we got there just in time for the first ranger talk of the summer. In ancient times, a major road connected Chaco with this complex. The monument was completely misnamed, this is an ancient Puebloan habitation and has nothing to do with the Aztecs, but it got that name, because the original discoverers knew no better. The architecture was very similar to what we had seen at Chaco, though this complex was occupied a little later and longer than Chaco. What made the visit worthwhile was the recreated Great Kiva. Great care was taken to recreate it – the colors match the plaster that was found, the roof was duplicated, as well as the major features. What probably was not done faithfully was the height of the ceiling. Reconstructed Great Kiva
We continued on our way through Farmington to Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Highway 191 here was very scenic with large red bluffs on either side of the road, cliff like in the east and rounded in the west. By the time we reached the Canyon, it was almost 5 PM, so we’ll do most of our touring tomorrow. We met a couple next to us, with St. Marten license plates, so we had to ask: did you float it across the Caribbean? They’re actually from Florida and on a 6 month tour of the U.S. and Canada. They should be with us during our tour tomorrow.