Palatki Ruins, and Slide Rock

This morning, Andrew and I headed down the (quite long) dirt road to the Palatki Ruins and pictograph site. These dwellings are from the 1100's and were made by ancestors of the Hopi Indians. The National Park Service operates a small visitor center and guided tour to both sites.

This two-story dwelling, located high up on the face of the cliff, probably housed around 15-20 people

The ancestors of the Hopi were farmers and hunters, hence the pictographs denote mainly animals and images of plants

The Hopi believed that snakes represented their ancestors, coming back from the underworld

This is a pictograph of a young woman, the ceremony denotes she's of marriageable age

After the ruins, we had lunch at the European Deli, right in town. It's owned by a Polish family, and it was very good! I had a Roast Beef sandwich with Bleu Cheese and a horseradish sauce on it, and a cup of an Organic Zucchini and Garlic soup and Andrew had an Irish Rueben. We had Limonata and (real!) Fanta to drink, and a Milka bar for dessert :)

After lunch, we headed up to Slide Rock State Park. The water was COLD but it was still really cool. I can see why it's so popular. We hope to come back here in the hot summer months to take full advantage.

And, tonight - we ordered pizza from Famous again - Mexican tonight! - and ended the night by watching the Bears/Lions game. It's not over yet, but it's not looking good for Da Bears, who - by some strange turn of events - I'm rooting for... Yikes! 

Good night, and Good Luck Bears!