Colorado- Environment

 

March 30, 2011

Today was another busy day.  But before we talk about the day, we have to discuss the tipi.  Ian and I (Kaylan) helped Ron put the finishing touches on it.  We put a tarp around the bottom to keep the winds out, set out the sleeping mats, and started the fire.  Since it was a new tipi, Ron had us bless the tipi and ourselves.  Cedar branches are sacred to the Native Americans, so those were put into the fire.  We then had to scoop up the smoke and do various hand motions.  It was pretty neat to learn.  We are all convinced Ron knows everything about everything.  Ian and I were shocked to hear him use the word vector.  Even though I was the one who made the contact with Ron, I was not brave enough to sleep in it.  Everyone except Jillian came and made s'mores in it.  Christine and Erin were brave (crazy) enough to sleep in it.  They said it wasn't so bad! 

This morning we met Kathy at Sand Canyon.  Sand Canyon is a really neat place full of ancient ruins.  We got a chance to see some of them along the way.  Our job for the day was to cover up trails that have been formed where they are not wanted.  People try to go off the path to see some ruins, but unfortunately the ruins are too fragile to have visitors.  We took dead trees and rocks and tried to block off the path, while making it as natural looking as possible.  It was hard work, but you couldn't even tell there used to be a path there by the time we were done!

We ended up finishing early today, and had a chance to go to the Anasazi Heritage Center.  This is kind of like a visitor's center.  There is a really nice museum in the center that gives a lot of background information on the Native Americans.  Right now we are currently making Navajo Tacos (one of my favorite parts of the trip!)  Ron's cousin's wife (take a minute to think about that one…) and their daughter Laura make the batter from scratch, then deep fry it.  Soooooo good!  Last year I ate 5 and I think I was literally on the verge of a food coma.  Christine can eat 6 without any problem. 

Tomorrow is our last day here, and another free day.  We decided we are going to go to the Arches in Utah, and hopefully do some shopping!  Tomorrow night is the community BBQ, which is always fun!  Tomorrow will probably be our last blog until we head home =[ I know some people really want pictures, but I don't think it's going to happen.  We don't have any camera cords.  I will try to upload pictures to the blog when we get home on Saturday!