Joe and I set up camp at the camp ground. Or maybe I should say that I set up camp and asked Joe to help. It was on this portion of the trip that I coined a new phrase. It is called Stupazy. I have seen the phenomenon too many times in the past but I didn't know what to call it. It is when a kid acts like he is stupid so that he can get out of work because he is lazy. I am not saying Joe is bad or that he isn't a normal twelve year old boy. I am just defining the syndrome. Eventually we got the tent set up. We cooked dinner. We took showers at the campground host center. That was great. I got the fire started with no boy scout juice, just good fire making skills. I have watched Bob build fires enough that I can do it too. We made s'mores. We skipped the singing and the Park Ranger's lecture. We had a great evening. There were a lot of mule deer milling around the campground. In the morning we packed up all of the hard work we did while setting up camp and headed out to the phenomenal Ancient Pueblo features of the park.
Joe on top of a Mesa. The Ancient Pueblos farmed on top of the mesas and lived in the cliffs below.
Mesa Verde is in remarkable shape. Many of the original timbers are still in place. When it was discovered in the late 1800's many people in the United States rallied to keep this national treasure from being ransacked by souvenir hunters.
I was glad Joe wasn't a whiner. Hiking down to some of the sites was strenuous. There were so many visitors from other countries. When little French children whine they sound cute. When Italian children whine they sound amusing. I was kind of surprised that so many foreign women were hiking in skirts and sandals. There seemed to be some American teenage girls wearing sandals too. I guess they did not get the memo that this was the Southwest on August 1st. Close toed shoes may be ugly and hot, but when you step on a rattle snake they offer a measure of protection.
1 comment:
I love the word "stupazy." I wish that I would have thought of it!
Post a Comment