Was gonna make some joke about Count Chocula, but I’m kind of sleepy.

Chaco Canyon is this place in Northwest New Mexico where they have these ruins left by the Chaco people, who abandoned them in like 1200 AD. 2,000-3,000 people lived there. It’s a cool valley. Not sure where they got food. Probably should have read more signs. One cool thing: you get to climb in and around a lot of the buildings. And the one big set of buildings is called Pueblo Bonito, which if I know my Spanish translates to “Tunaville”.

Buildings were kind of the same color as the cliffs behind them, which makes it harder for the photos to convey the grandeur. Tja.

Sometimes the buildings stuck up above the cliffs though.

The color’s a *little* different.

Some interior walls!

Window and wall.

They were, apparently, a people small in stature.

It’s basically the same ruined walls everywhere there.

Then I walked up to the mesa so I could look down on the thing.

Then if you hike a little further, you can see *these* ruined walls.

The road out of town, with sun.

It’s a cool site, seriously. I’d say it’s a little less amazing than Machu Picchu, but it’s big enough and impressive enough to deserve at least the comparison. Supposedly it’s the largest archaeological site in the US, which, yeah, I’d believe (pending a better understanding of the word “site” in this context).

• It’s a 20-mile dirt road to get there.
• They close the whole thing down at sunset.
• The ranger way over-estimates the length of time it takes to go on the hikes.

Endut.

bkd

The Natchez Trace is a trail that runs from Natchez, Miss. to Nashville, Tenn., about 450 miles. It was used most famously by late 18th- and early 19th-century traders from Tennessee and points north, who would ship their wares down the Mississippi river to Natchez or New Orleans, sell them there, then sell the barge for scrap and walk home.

About right, right?

Then they built this parkway that follows the course of the Trace, which is what we were driving on. It features the trace itself (it’s just a trail) as well as some sights.

This Indian burial mound, for instance.

BTW, it rained all day — usually hard.

Mt. Locust Stand — $0.25/night just 180 years ago.

Rocky Springs, population 0 (not counting the 999 ghosts).

Windsor Ruins — survived the war, but not the fire.

The swamp walk was the best part of the day.

Although we didn’t see any alligators.

Yes, that’s what color the water is.

Ended up staying the night in Starkville. It was a Friday night, but fortunately, Mississippi State was on the road, so hotel rooms were plentiful enough. And Sonic was better than I remembered it.

bkd