Hovenweep National Monument

Lunch & lessons on the go.
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Without a long drive to a new destination today we could relax after breakfast. The boys had a long english lesson with Mrs Bates, played on the motels climbing frame and made friends with a cat.

Later, after a reasonably short drive we arrived at Hovenweep National Monument, another centrally run national park. As with the other it runs a junior ranger programme and the ranger in charge gave the boys a workbook to complete along the 2 mile hike around the park. Hovenweep is an ancient village built around a small canyon about a thousand years ago and what  remains of the dwellings form the basis of the park. Stan and Archie loved the programme they completed in Arches and this one was just as engaging. They learned about the ancient people and how they lived, the culture and the wildlife. I however was not that impressed, convinced, without any historical knowledge at all, that a thousand years ago in Shrewsbury we were far more advanced than these so-called Puebloans, but managed to refrain from telling the ranger, so at the end he was still happy to present the boys with their certificate and badge.

Back in Bluff, waiting for our friends from the UK, Charlie and Elodie, to arrive from Vegas (they are travelling with us for a week, poor sods) we tested out the only place to eat that hasn’t closed for the season (any excuse), in preparation for my birthday tomorrow . The Twin Rock ‘cafe and gift shop’ was fine and even I had to make use of a doggy bag for my second burrito. I was surprised though to learn from our waiter that Utah licensing laws do not allow you to order another alcoholic drink until you have finished the previous one. Strangely this law is to reduce binge drinking but forced me to chug my beer to get another one - should have consulted the British shouldn’t they!

As I write this C&E still haven’t arrived, hope they didn’t blow the hire car money on lobster dinners and lap dancers.