I am a new blogger! I am learning to be a better blogger. I am reading, studying and trying diligently to create a blog that is worth reading. With that said I will share my blogging frustrations. Grrrr!
I am not a good photographer, and have been relying on my phone as a camera. The weather has not been so hot the last few days, rain mud, and rain and mud. However, we were camped in Canyon De Chelly which is perhaps the most spectacular place for blogfodder, and I lost all my photos due to no cell towers in range, and no pictures stuck. Sad for me because, literally everywhere ones gaze falls is a unique and interesting point for "the blog," or in other words, blogfodder. Isn't that a great word? I made that up and will have y'all know that if you ever hear that anywhere in the blogosphere, that it was stolen from me! OK, the point is, I need to work on taking my own photos, and posting them for your viewing pleasure, and because a picture paints a thousand words.
Also, I am mindful of copyright laws and fair use considerations, and I don't want anybody swiping my new word, or my photos. I am working on all these blogging glitches!
What I must overcome is that I lost all the photos that I took at Canyon De Chelly and now my post will be text heavy! I will describe for you a few of the things you won't see on the website linked below.
A professional photographers look at Canyon De Chelly http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/canyon_de_chelly/national_monument.html
Lance and I were camped in the private campground on tribal ground, the Spider Rock Campground. It was an atypical camping place, unlike anything I have ever experienced and how I wish you could see what we saw while we were there.
The campground proprietor, Howard. a really nice Navajo man of about 60, rents out hogans for an authentic Navajo experience! We met folks, Jim and Jan that rented a medium size hogan,at $41.00 per night. They gave us a tour and I will describe it, since my photos didn't make it! It was one small, circular room, about 10 feet in diameter with an add on cubical entryway, about 2 feet by 4 feet, with a door that looked like it had been salvaged in 1958. The door fit poorly and allowed for skylight around the edges, and that is a plus, since there are no windows.There was no lock on the door, just a hasp and eye hook. Jan noted that it could be locked from the outside only, the same way that one would lock up the shed in the backyard! She was a good sport!
The floor was made of compacted dirt, the bed was a 3/4 size roll away frame with a foamy for a mattress. There was a well weathered apple crate turned on it's side used for a night stand, and it even had a dime store oil lamp sitting precariously on the top, or was it the end. At any rate, there was a doily under the lamp. There was also three peg hooks beside the door to hang your coats. And the best part was a tiny, black, cast iron stove with the door remove, or perhaps it had fallen off the same way that the front left leg had done, only it had been replaced with an oil can.
Jan had zipped together their sleeping bags and carefully spread them out on the foam rubber mattress, but they still hung over the sides and grazed the dirt. There was a small floor mat beside the bed. Jan also placed two plastic wine glasses on the top of the stove, with a park brochure as a coaster. The duffle bags holding Jan and Jim's gear were sitting one atop the other on a spindly chair with peeling paint, and a partial seat, perfect for holding the luggage.
All the walls were made of cedar boards, placed vertically with red mud caked and daubed in the cracks. It looked like it needed to be attended to often to keep the mud in place and the hogan cozy. The roof was a sheet of corrugated aluminum with a foot of dirt on it. Weeds, brown from last years' summer sun, were still upright, adorning the roof and adding to the thatchy, rustic feel of the place. There was a hole in the middle of the roof to let the stove pipe out and the sunlight in.
The bathrooms were actually out houses made from scrap lumber that had been nicely grayed by the elements. The walls held out neither wind nor rain, and the maze-like configuration of the entrance made doors unnecessary. Hand lettered signs and posters bore instructions about the do's and don'ts to ensure the user has a good outhouse experience. A pitcher of water was available to assist in the flushing action of the porta potty that was repurposed to a simple outhouse stool. (The ladies room is the only one I have personal knowledge of. I assume the mens was in worse condition, for obvious reasons.)
Jan and Jim were a lot of fun. We went hiking with them along the rim trail and spent several hours scanning the red rock cliffs, all 700 vertical feet of them, with binoculars, looking for ancient dwellings perched along the ledges and in the cracks. I surely hope that they contact us, Jan and Jim, I mean, because we would like to keep in touch with them. They made noise about visiting us in Ecuador next year. I gave them our blog info and contact numbers so we will see if they are serious. Jan and Jim! If you read this, contact me! They left early the next morning and I wonder how they fared in their hogan...and if they stayed dry in the rain storm that pelted the campground.
Attn: Does anyone have a photo of a hogan from Spider Rock Campground? If you would be willing to share I would love to post it!
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