Whoot, Whoot

Monday was another rainy day. I decided to just hole up and pay bills, laze around and just basically enjoy the day. I had Katie, Joe and their dog Libby over for dinner. Miko got a little irritated at Libby when Libby moved right in and commandeered her toys, but other than that, it was still a harmonious, pleasant evening.

Tuesday I decided that I should get out and about and knock off a few National Monuments. Again, both monuments allowed dogs to visit also so Miko and I headed out the door together.

First up was Tuzigoot (said TWO-see-whoot – the whoot cracks me up). Tuzigoot is the remmantf a Sinagua village built between 1000 and 1400 A.D. It is on the top of a hill. I was a little disappointed because most of it has been rebuilt by the National Park Service which means it is more contemporary, just a replica. The site itself is real, but it was almost like the soul was gone. The interesting thing about this particular setting was that these rooms were all built with no doors or windows. The way people would get into these rooms would be through holes in the roof.

Next up was Montezuma Castle. This was a five-story, 20-room dwelling built sometime between 1100 and 1300, so pretty much the same era as Tuzigoot. This place is built in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. This particular ruin has not had hardly any reconstruction done to it. It is remarkably well preserved. It was really impressive and rather moving to see this structure. I was in awe about these ancient people building something like this.  Nobody knows why these people here and also at Tuzigoot abandoned these homes.

Back at the ranch, there had been a little excitement. Joe had been taking Libby, his golden retriever, for a walk while he rode his bike. A huge Rhodesian Ridgeback was off leash and ran out and attacked Libby. Joe jumped off his bike, threw the bike at the dog and then picked up a rock. The owner of the attack dog came out and secured his dog. Joe got the camp host, they talked to the owner. The owner apologized and admitted to Joe that this was not the first time that the dog had attacked another dog. Joe told the camp host that he wanted to file a report with a ranger and he wanted the dog's owner either to leave the park or get a ticket. This was late in the day, so the camp host said that the matter would be taken care of in the morning. Early the next morning, the attack dog and his owners quickly left the campground. There was no excuse for this to have happened. All dogs are supposed to be on leash and especially seeing as how this dog was known to be vicious, he should have been very much kept on a short leash instead of being free.