Yesterday was a perfect whilst we were at work. Would 2 nice days in a row be possible?? I was betting on it as the Weather Channel predicted 12-15 mph winds from the south (I now know that means the sustained part of the winds and not gusts).

Got up at 6 am and piddled around a little. Saw that the temperature was 51 degrees and determined that this meant early departure was feasible...about an hour earlier than was expected. In any event maybe leaving at an earlier/colder time might pay off as afternoon winds here don't get any milder as the day progresses. After I headed out found that the watch in my tank bag had stopped. Went ahead and started my new GPS for the correct time but later realized that my previous trip had not been cleared so total statistical data for this journey would be incorrect.

Up old US 66 and turn on 550, same starting route as to Bandelier. Got to my favorite speedtrap town on San Ysidro and took the advantage of slower speeds to do the old "take everything out of the tank bag and put it in the chest area of the leathers" trick again. It was cold and getting colder as I headed west, thought about turning back but some valleys were warmer than others. One "warmer" valley put me past the point of no return.

About 90 miles after leaving home I decided to fill up in the town of Cuba. After nearly running out of gas last week I now use 40 mpg as my conservative mileage for fueling. Zipped up 2 back vents in my leathers that stemmed flow of air and made it more comfortable. 10 miles after leaving Cuba passed the continental divide at 7380', by definition the rest of the trip to Chaco would be downhill.

40 more miles west on 550 and finally the turn to Chaco Canyon. 21 miles into the park total - 5 paved and 16 on dirt. This road is full of ruts and washboard. If you want to go there - take a stout truck, rental car, KLR or someone else's car. After your Ferrari makes this trip it'll never be the same. I'm almost convinced the Park service keeps the road this way to limit access to the park. Surely that is why it's not paved. I saw no evidence of a "washboard road surface mold" in the park but they could have hidden it. The KLR (and I) ate it up.

The parking lot was three quarter's full. There must have been university tours today given the age of most of the visitors and the presence of college vans. When the KLR pulled into the parking lot everybody took a look. Guess a motorcycle was the last thing anyone expected out there. Three people came up to talk to me about seeing this type of bike before. I've never had anyone express interest in the bike before on this tour. Most probably because there has not been any people at most of the I've parks visited this winter/spring!

I've been here at least 8 times before. All pics are of Pueblo Bonito because it is the most accessible and the most famous. It would take at least 2 days to view all the ruins and take all the hikes.

Some of the major ruins. The rocks behind could fall at anytime, no doubt made rent at the rear of the complex cheaper.

If you want to go to your grave thinking that you live among the smartest people to ever live and that our ancient ancestors were dumb........then never come here. Even if you discount the astrological stuff being touted lately about this place, these folks had it on the ball. They were ingenious, even though they didn't have metal tools or the wheel. On the other hand - they made this place without metal tools or the wheel!

There are at least 6 major ruins similar to the one above that are featured in the park, each with a different style of rock construction. Pueblo Bonito was inhabited from 800 to 1200. Then the inhabitants vanished. This was the centerpiece of the Anastasi culture. All roads to other Anastasi sites spoke out from Chaco Canyon insinuating that this was the central "capital" of the culture.

On special days , like the Harmonic Convergence (remember several years ago when a bunch of the planets were in line), the park service will let you go into the main kiva at Pueblo Bonito so that you can "get the power" or something. Many "new agers" come for this stuff. Native Americans are not too fond of "new agers" using these sites for "new age" purposes.

I did manage to drop my digital camera onto several well placed stones, no doubt placed there by natives in 800 AD just for this purpose. Pictures are not as clear today, probably because individual bricks are hard for the camera to auto-focus on?

Some gusting crosswinds on the way home, mainly at the crest of hills. Ran into my first batch of bugs this year. Wiping my visor with a glove got rid of the spots but left smears. After taking off my leathers at the house there were many species to identify.