After leaving Canyon De Shelley we did stop to see another site of Indian cliff dwelling. It was Walnut Canyon, just outside of Flagstaff. There were ruins all along the canyon wall, but they were not very impressive. It seems that the site was a place where whites used go to have picnics, and while picnicking, they would dynamite the Indian ruins in order to let more light in so they could search for Native artifacts.
At Sunset Crater National Monument, we saw the recent volcanic crater which erupted 800 years ago. Along with the crater there were several Indian ruins. One of the really interesting things we discovered at the Wupatki Pueblo ruins was a blowhole. There was a square opening in the ground about the size of an open book, in the center of a rock platform. The opening led to a huge unseen underground cave. Air would either blow out or suck in to the cave through the hole, depending upon the barometric pressure the atmosphere. Luckily for us it was blowing out forcefully, when we were there. My wife held a scarf above the hole, let it go, and it blew straight up into the air.
Back in Phoenix, we visited with Marcia and her family. Marcia was an old friend from my early university days. I hadn’t seen her for twenty-five years, and was a bit apprehensive knocking on her door, but we had a really wonderful visit and they took us out to eat at a fancy Mexican restaurant and then out to a touristy suburb where there was a craft sale.
We had previously made a reservation at the La Quinta Inn for the night, but Marcia who was a psychologist, gave us coupons for the Wyndham Inn, an upscale motel. We cancelled our La Quinta Inn reservation, and opted for the opulence of the Wyndham. With Marcia’s coupon, the night only cost us $24. Well that isn’t quite true, because the next morning at the free breakfast, my wife got herself a piece of toast, that wasn’t really part of the free breakfast cost us another $3.
Our 1996 Arizona road trip had been an awesome experience for us and we were able to see so many beautiful and interesting things which left us with a myriad of wonderful memories.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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