Holiday Inn Express Silver City

During our vist to Gila Cliff Dwellings we choose to stay at the Holiday Inn Express soley based upon the highly rated reviews on their cleanliness and good complimentary breakfast.  After our long day exploring Gila Cliff Dwellings we were all extremely eager to arrive at our hotel.  Upon arrival we entered the lobby to an extremely clean and well kept location with a very small business center off to the corner.

I personally was drawn to the amazing Native American painting that hung on the wall adjacent to the front desk.

We had booked a one King Bed Suite Non-Smoking.  

The room included a sitting area, Keurig coffee pot, microwave and small refrigerator all housed in a small wet bar area for us to prepare our own meals for the evening.

When tired from a long day of exploring it is always nice to end your day in a clean room that is comfortable enough to spread out while everyone cleans up and relaxes their tired feet for the evening.  The Holiday Inn Express in Silver City gives you just that.  Feeling fully rejuvenated when we woke up the next morning we made our way downstairs to make a selection from their great breakfast options.  Soon after we were on our way to our next adventure.

Bandelier National Monument Junior Ranger

Our exciting journey through the Indian Reservations opened up a whole new educational experience into the Native American culture.  This laid a great foundation for our entire road trip through the southwest.  As we embarked on the next leg of our trip it brought us even further back in history to Bandelier National Monument.  To take an adventure through the Ancient Pueblon history would fulfill a long time dream of my mother's to climb the many ladders to the top of the Alcove House.

We arrived extremely early so that we were able to drive our own vehicle into the park.   Bandolier National Monument is one of the few monuments that during peak season visitors who arrive during operating hours must ride a mandatory shuttle into the park.  Arriving prior to 9:00 am gave us the opportunity to drive our own vehicle into the park and continue our journey on after Bandolier National Monument through the Jemez Mountain Trail.

Bandelier National Monument is the only park I have currently found that has broken it's Junior Ranger Program into four age groups consisting of Pre K to 1st Grade, 2nd Grade to 3rd Grade, 4th Grade to 6th Grade, and Deputy level being 7th Grade and up.  Offering a different patch for each age group makes it exciting for children to return to the park often embarking on a new adventure each time they return.  We downloaded our booklet at home prior to our visit and will be walking you through our journey of Bandolier National Monument for the Pre K to 1st Grade age group. Before we even set out on our adventure we were able to compete pages 4, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 and 15.  This taught Jaxon how to respect and protect the monument during our visit, what animals live in the surrounding habitat, and what the ruins would have looked like when the Ancestral Puebloans called them home.  

Prior to our departure we picked up a trail guide at the Visitor's Center for $1.00 to guide us through this small piece of amazing human history.  As we began our journey down the main loop Jaxon kept him self entertained by playing Bandelier Bingo.  

It did not take us long to complete as for every corner we turned we were surrounded by wildlife.  

As you turn the corner looking up at the enormous mountain you see in the distance small holes not yet realizing that each one was eloquently carved out by a human being.

 As we took the 1.2 mile trail it led us past an intact Kiva and through what remained of a small village area before descending up the hill to the base of the cliff dwellings.

 When you reach the base of the cliff dwellings you have the opportunity to climb numerous ladders into a number of the homes that still are intact today.  

When we arrived in front of the Long House we sat on the bench to discuss what the difference was between a petroglyph and a pictograph while completing page 9.  This was Jaxon's first encounter with any form of a petroglyph.  It was the beginning to many new petroglyph discoveries along our quest of learning.  He now studies them with ease trying to put meaning behind each individual picture he finds.

Once we completed the leisure walk around the main loop we returned to the visitor center to walk the gardens and learn how the Ancient Publeon people used each plant in their daily lives. 

When we finished we headed back to the Visitor Center to turn in our completed Junior Ranger Book and be rewarded with an amazing Patch showing the accomplishments of our day learning through the Monuments awe inspiring historical site.

After completing our Junior Ranger Program we set out to conquer the Alcove House.  

The Alcove House trail is 2.7 miles long reaching 140 feet above the canyon.  Which can only be reached by the four sets of steep ladders and stone stairs that take you on a journey from terrace to terrace up the mountain.

In the heat of the day we began our climb.  We were extremely relieved by each terrace we reached stopping to catch our breath and drink some water before resuming our climb to the next knowing we were just a little bit closer each time.

Once we reached the Alcove House we felt a great sense of achievement as we looked down below at the people who choose not to take the challenge.  As they wait at the foot of the mountain for their loved ones they appeared to be ants.  Giving us great perspective on how life must have been for the twenty-five people who once occupied the Alcove House.  The climb they choose to make everyday to fetch water, and gather food.  

Navajo Interactive Museum

Since the next leg of our trip is all about Native Americans our first stop was to explore the Navajo Interactive Museum.  Since there was not a lot of information online I was not sure what to expect when we arrived.  While planning our visit I found the workbook by Evan-Moor History Pockets Native Americans,  it contains nine different tribes within the book including the Navajo of the Southwest.  The activities within this book are very short but cover a lot of topics that lay a great foundation to build on for future lessons.  When we arrived we were asked if Jaxon wanted to be a detective during his visit and of course that sparked his interest immediately.  We were then escorted to a theater where we watched a short video on the Navajo Indians and their beliefs on how they entered through four worlds before settling here.  It was a great introduction for Jaxon to understand their spiritual beliefs.

As we entered the museum we were overwhelmed with the well placed displays all set up in one large circle.  We were in such awe at the exhibits we were not sure where to begin.  As we did not want to miss one single thing it was wonderful to have the worksheet to guide us.  We began our journey in the center of the museum where there was a Hogan set up that you could enter.  This gave Jaxon a great opportunity to see what life might have been like to live in one as a family.  

Inside the Hogan was another short film showing how the Navajo Indians wove their beautiful rugs from start to finish.  This was an amazing new concept to Jaxon and I wanted to make sure he could appreciate how much hard work went into making these gorgeous rugs so following our visit we read the book The Goat in the Rug by Geraldine.  This book begins with a two page spread showing all of the tools that are needed to craft a rug and then tells the story of a Navajo Weaver named Glee 'Nasbah.  I highly recommend this book as it is a wonderful addition to the study of the Navajo rug making.

Upon our exit of the Hogan we found a small table where we made ourselves comfortable to begin answering the questions on the museum of mystery adventure.  

Located through out the exhibit there are signs perfectly placed as pictured below giving you clues to the answers to complete your mysteries of the museum.

Upon leaving the museum Jaxon turned in his page and got a prize for completing the entire expedition.  

Once we arrived at the hotel that evening we followed up by reading A True Book The Navajo by Andrew Santella and by completing the workbook projects for The Navajo of the Southwest located in the Native American history pockets.