10-07-08 Tuesday (Silly Questions)

We setup one of the owner's to come let Dasher out as we journeyed to the Chaco Ruins. It was a service she provided for $5. We packed a lunch and some drinks and away we went on our 1.5 hour drive.

It was the usual New Mexico scenery on the way. We reached the road to Chaco and it was a 21 mile road. 13 miles of it was compacted washboard dirt roads. There were no places for food or beverages so it was a good thing we packed up lunch.

A sign at the beginning of the road showed an AM station to tune in for information. It was a little about the ruins and some questions they haven't been able to answer. I think they answered their own damn questions.

1- Why did the Chaco settle here with so little water and a short farming season?
2- Why did the Chaco leave?

I think question 2, lies within question 1. I have a back up answer though. I think it's because the road sucked, was too long and there weren't any grocery stores nearby. I'm sure this civilization would have enjoyed a refreshing Slurpee after a long day of manually moving rocks and what not.

We arrived, a bit shaken up, and headed to the Visitor Center. We found out we had 30 minutes until a Ranger led tour began. We ate half our lunch and drove to the meeting site. The guy had worked there for 20 years and was amazing. The ruins were amazing. It's almost a let down though, that there are so many theories about this civilization, so many unknowns. It does leave room for our own theories though. Jim thinks it was a giant mall with housing above it. The largest structure is the Pueblo Bonito Great House which had 150 rooms and was occupied from the mid 800's to the 1200's. It was planned and built in stages. At it's final build it rose 4 stories high with 600 rooms!