December 2019 – MacKenzies on the Road

December 31, 2019December 17, 2019

There are no Coincidences

We are preparing for Mexico and want to clean out and ship some items home. As we pass through Prescott, Arizona (running from the snow, again) we decide to grab some boxes so we can pack the items while at our next camp. Well, that’s when the problems start. The post office doesn’t have any flat rate boxes of the right size, the UPS store has boxes, but they wanted $19.95! For a box! At this point we are starting to get a little stressed…how hard can it be to find a box?

Finally, we head to Fedex, which happens to be a tiny counter in the local grocery store, and they don’t have boxes either. But, the lady at the counter directed us to Lisa in the booze portion of the store, and we finally find a few scrap boxes! So, after a couple of hours of stress, and driving around we finally have boxes!

Now, to the point of the story.

We walk out with our boxes, and see a couple of overland rigs parked near the Wee Rover. On the side of one of the Jeeps is “The Road Chose Me” and the guy coming towards us is someone that we have been following online for a number of years as he travelled to South America and Africa! Dan Grec! We have a nice chat for a while with him and two other travelers, Jen and Jared.

So, what are the chances of meeting a fellow Overlander, that we have followed for a number of years, in a tiny store in rural Arizona? Our day went from, “How can it be sooo hard to find a stupid box?” to “It’s a good thing we couldn’t find the box, or we would have missed meeting them!”

Funny how things work out, if we just get out of the way!

Update: We get to a FedEx in the next town, after carefully packing our items to ship home, only to find out you can’t ship items in an alcohol box (somethjng about special licenses). The nice people at the FedEx repacked our boxes inside a larger box and they are now on their way home to snowy Vermont.

December 30, 2019December 17, 2019

12:1 to Yuma!

The cold has finally forced us to cry uncle! We looked back at our log and it has been almost 8 weeks with the nights in the teens and twenties. We are far enough south in Arizona that the days are getting nice enough, but the nights are still cold and long, and the snow keeps chasing us! I think the Universe is trying to tell us something?

So after consulting with the Wee Rover, we have decided to cross from Yuma, Arizona into Baja for a few months of beaches and snorkeling!

We have sent in our paperwork for our visas (FMMs), and bought Mexican car insurance and World Nomads travel health insurance. We are starting to go over our maps, guides and iOverlander.

Exciting, scary, and we are really looking forward to it.

December 27, 2019December 17, 2019

Rocks that aren’t Red!

Inside the Petrified Forest National Park is the Blue Mesa, an area of blue and lavender rocks that are mind blowingly beautiful. If you ever come this way, take the time to wander the steep one-mile trail down amongst the rocks and chunks of petrified wood, or at least visit the overlook (not recommended during the hot summer months!)

December 26, 2019December 17, 2019

Critters Big and Small

A quick blog to talk about food storage…I know boring! But, traveling long term in a small vehicle that isn’t air tight, or water tight for that matter, food storage is actually really important. We have sealed the Wee Rover up as much as we can, but little critters are amazing infiltrators, if encouraged.

So, to discourage the critters wee and large (think Grizzles up north) we keep all food sealed tight with storage bags, plastic and glass containers, plastic storage bins and our amazingly wonderful ARB refrigerator. We also keep all food prep areas clean (fragrance free baby wipes are a must when traveling), and occasionally give everything a wipe down with a mild bleach solution. Knock on wood, so far we have been critter free! Fingers crossed we stay that way!

And, this isn’t just a problem because we are driving an old vehicle. We have met people in newer rigs who have been mouse or bug infested (one friend had to throw away a whole bag of dog food and another had regular mouse infestations). So, a boring topic, but if you are thinking about traveling, add this to your list of things to do…proper food storage.

Plastic and glass containers that seal tight. The yellow containers originally had cornstarch in them. They were cheap, we recycled the cornstarch and now store rice, oatmeal and such in them.

More ziploc bags inside of plastic containers in our ‘basement’. A pack of reserve baby wipes ther in the way back. I can’t stress enough how important they are for cleaning the Wee Rover, and for weeks when showers are not available.

Even our midnight snacks are kept in a ziploc bag.

Technically not food storage, but anyone who has ever used humidity soaked tp knows this is a must😜

December 24, 2019December 17, 2019

Christmas in Baja

While traveling last fall, we joked that it might be fun to spend Christmas in Baja. Fast forward a year plus later and not only are we enjoying Christmas celebrations in Baja, but we made friends with Santa! I am definitely on the nice list…not so sure about Darrin and Santa😎

We wish everyone a Happy Holiday from Mexico!!

December 23, 2019December 17, 2019

Petrified Swamp Wood in Arizona?

Imagine trees, that look like rocks, that grew and died millions of years ago while North America was still attached to Africa…that is the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.

Hot, humid, lush, green, dinosaurs…not words you associate with Arizona, but 225 million years ago, this was the environment today’s petrified trees lived in, right here in present day Arizona (except for the tiny fact that Arizona, and the rest of our continent, was actually over near Africa, you know Pangea and all that).

Picture of park brochure summarizing the process.

December 20, 2019December 17, 2019

Traversing the Navajo Nation

The 4 corners region of CO, AZ, UT, and NM is the heart of the Navajo Nation, and it is where we have been travelling the last few weeks. It is a land of rugged beauty, amazing rock formations, kind people and depressing views of a proud people who are in many ways still recovering from past injustices. We were the minority in this region, welcomed visitors to another culture and way of life.

Today, our route took us to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de shay) just inside the Arizona border with New Mexico. The canyon was spectacularly beautiful with remains of cliff dwellings, and green fields of farming on the canyon floor, including a John Deere tractor plowing a miniature field way below us.

We stopped at a couple of overlooks to view the canyon and cliff dwellings. Both overlooks were empty except for a single vehicle at each. At the first we met Douglas Yazzie; painter, grandfather, boxing champ, and historian. We spent almost an hour listening to stories, and the history of the canyon. Douglas was an amazing impromptu tour guide and his paintings were beautiful so we couldn’t resist breaking our rules about ‘acquiring stuff’ and bought two.

At the next overlook we met Lathan, and he was just the opposite of Douglas. A quiet gifted young man who came to the overlook to sell his wares in an effort to help his mother make ends meet. He was so sincere about trying to give us our money back because he couldn’t make change, that we told him to keep the extra. In exchange, he made us take a dreamcatcher to bring the Wee Rover and us good luck in our travels.

Beautiful country, really nice people and some nice mementos of an area we enjoyed traveling through. We will definitely make our way back here some day.

Douglas Yazzie can be found online if you are interested in purchasing beautiful watercolors.

A very talented young man trying to make a living. We enjoyed talking with him and supporting his artwork. We will display these pieces in our home when we return.

The curved alcoves are home to cliff dwelling ruins.

A closer look at the ruins in one of the alcoves.

I know…more red rocks…but aren’t they beautiful!

December 19, 2019November 28, 2019

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover

National Parks and Monuments aren’t normally our first choice, mainly because of the crowds. We prefer the smaller, out of the way places, where one can sit and really absorb in relative peace.

While visiting the small park at Hovenweep, we encountered an older woman who at first, to be honest, was quite loud and annoying, just the type of people we try to avoid. She was spouting to anyone within hearing distance how much she knew about the southwest and ancient ruins…we gave her a wide berth only to run smack into her!! Darrin, being nicer and more social, answered her call to engage in conversation. Much to our chagrin, she turned out to be a very nice woman who actually was a wealth of information. She and her husband had not only worked at Mesa Verde, but had written books for several parks in the area. The old “don’t judge a book by its cover” smacked us in the butt.

What is the point of all this rambling?

During our conversation with her, she told us the best part of Mesa Verde was the Mesa Top Loop…and she was right. This loop takes you from early Pithouses constructed as far back as 600 A.D. to the above ground Pueblos and Cliff Dwellings dating to the 1300’s. It was an incredibly fascinating loop through history. I don’t know her name to thank her for the advice, perhaps the universe will make her ears burn every time someone reads this.

We enjoyed our visit to Mesa Verde, but as usual we prefer the smaller parks. If we were to visit again, we would come about a month earlier so we could tour one of the cliff dwellings. We were too late in the season.

The original pithouses were shallow, 2 rooms consisting of the living area and storage area and were covered with wood and thatch. They were cool in the summer and warm in the winter with a central fire and rooftop ladder. Made of mud plaster and wood, they needed constant repair.

The next version of the pithouse is deeper, has some rocks added for structure and a fresh feed vent hole in the back.

This dig site shows 3 stages of building evolution: an original foundation of mud plaster (front), a foundation with a single rock wall (far back), and the newer double wall construction (middle).

Diorama constructed by the CCC in the museum shows the transition from pithouses (tranformed into kivas) to above ground pueblos.

Another diorama showing a cliff dwelling. I love these little miniatures, reminds me of the movie Night at the Museum!

December 18, 2019December 18, 2019

Ghost Berries in the Canyon of the Ancients

Found a sweet little spot above the Lowery Pueblo in the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument on BLM land and decided to lay over for a rest day. The hammocks went up, we hiked the rim of the canyon, and ghost berries were processed! Someone made a fort!

These little cacti were everywhere and stuck to clothes and shoes. Darrin accidentally sat on one😖

Juniper or Ghost berry pits/seeds are used to create jewelry. We were told they are collected in the spring after the squirrels have eaten the berry flesh. We decided not to wait for spring and the squirrels and opened a few up.

Nice and cozy. We are still on the border of cold weather.
We have got to stop finding cool places and get south!

Our own canyon rim view 25 ft from our camping spot.

Lowry Pueblo was a small ruin built on the top of the mesa instead of in a canyon. Like the other ruins in the area, it was abandoned around 1300.

Remains of a large kiva which would have been used for community activities and important ceremonies. The stone platforms inside are thought to represent summer people and winter people and contained holes for four wooden beams which supported the ceiling..

A long reach down inside the kiva to show the amazing stone work.

December 17, 2019November 13, 2019

Hovenweep

Another beautiful day in southern Utah and another National Monument preserving the Ancestral Puebloan ruins. The structures here date about the same as the Navajo Monument we visited earlier in the week, but are different in that they were built into canyon-heads instead of under a pre-existing cliff in a canyon.

Time and erosion have taken most of the buildings that were constructed on the sandstone leaving only those built on the more solid rock. When viewing the ruins, you need to use your imagination to fill in the lost buildings that would have connected these remaining structures, creating a small city network of rooftop paths and ladders from the canyon bottom up to the mesa rim.