We went to three larger sites, Spruce Tree House, Balcony House, and Cliff Palace. These were Americanized names. The cliff dwellings were like apartment complexes. The balcony house had balconies for people to hang out on, and the Cliff Palace was the largest in the park.
The circular areas are called, "kivas." They were multi-purpose rooms, used for everyday living and ceremonies to. Back in the day, they had roofs on top, and people would climb in through a ladder.
Each kiva had a fireplace and a clean air passage in the ceiling. Also, you may see a softball size hole in each room, known as a see-pah-poo. These were ceremonially dug in the kiva to represent the story of how the Ancient Puebloans came to this world. They came with the help of a bird and I think a chipmunk, through the worlds of fire, ice, and water. This land was known as the perfect world.
They were great craftsmen, even placing little chips of sandstone in the mortar to strengthen it. Also, they would use the water that escaped from the sandstone, but could not penetrate the shale to drink and use in their dwellings.
Pretty neat. How many houses do we have that have been around for over 600 years?
On the way home we drove straight across Kansas, and we stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. It seems like a cool city. We then cruised through parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland. In KY, we saw a retirement home for older thoroughbred race horses. Pretty cool. We got back in the early hours of Friday morning.
It was a great trip. Now we're glad to move to a new place and continue our lives together!
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