NM Vignettes -- Chaco Canyon

Our GPS misled us so instead of a nine-mile rutted gravel road, we got to enjoy 21 miles of washboard that bounced our car like a bronco. We never had to worry about what was ahead or around a blind curve, because it was always more of that endless road.

I wish I could say Chaco Canyon was worth it, but, really, we preferred Mesa Verde. David and I appreciated that Chaco was the precursor to Mesa Verde, but the many town areas dating back to 750 CE full of kivas were not as interesting to us as the cliff dwellings.

 Or maybe it was the thought of tackling that rugged gravel road that prevented us from fully enjoying this world heritage site.

This raven seemed to be guarding the ancient site.

Whatever, I guess our one piece of advice would be to get driving directions from the Chaco Canyon site itself rather than trust your GPS. We certainly learned that lesson the hard way, and we were later told that GPS often sent people to dangerous territory. The ranger directions for the way out of the park took us to another, still excruciatingly teeth-rattling, but shorter route.