Suprise Snows and Chilly Cakes

Greetings!

It has been a chilly day here at Hovenweep. Julia and I turned on the heat for the first time last night because the weather forecast predicted a sub 40 night. Forgetting this, I woke up at 5:00 am to the smell of something burning. I immediately bolted out of bed and into the kitchen/ living area, expecting a giant fire. But all my sleepy eyes found was the usual quiet darkness of our apartment. I told Julia of my night alarm this morning, and we examined the water furnace and the heater, attributing the smell to one of those due to lack of use over the warm months. The only consoling aspect of this escapade was my quick response. Up and out of my bedroom in seconds. Pretty impressive for 5 am!

Walking to the VC this morning, I turned the corner as I always do, but this time my eyes were attracted to something bright white in the far distance. The deep gray rain clouds clouds that were spread across Hovenweep's skies these past couple days had departed, leaving us a clean crisp breeze and a brilliant blue sky with only small wisps of clouds by the horizon. Unknown to us, while we received the much needed rain, the Abajos received their first snow covering of the season. They gleam bright and clear across the desert landscape, pure white tops with gray blue foothills. It won't be long now till all the mountains in the area have their white blankets for the winter and the slopes and trails will be open for skiers, boarders, and snowshoers alike.

Speaking of snowshoeing... Julia is going to take me! Along with her knowledge of canning fresh fruit, ballooning, south western archaeology and anthropology, along with many other talents unknown to me yet, she is also an amateur snowshoer! Steve and Dana also want to participate, so we should be getting a party of snowshoers together soon and set out for the mountains. I have a strong feeling I will be a terrible snowshoer, but I am excited to try! Snowshoeing in the Rockies! Wahoo!

Today has been minorly frustrating. The outlier roads are just packed dirt and therefore impassable when in rains. But our closing of the roads did not seem to deter some people from traveling them anyway. Unfortunately, while it may seem like entertainment for them to travel on less then dry roads with their 4 wheel drive land rover, it leaves the state of the roads a complete disaster for the next vehicle down. So, while out this morning on a rove to inspect these roads, I was amazed and hurt to find huge wheel ruts tearing the road in several places that made the road even more rough then it already is and completely uncrossable in some areas. The idea that some people could be so inconsiderate to do this to the roads with no regard for the National Park Service, the other visitors, and to us, who told them specifically not to traverse these roads, is beyond frustrating.

We did get a surprise this afternoon. A package came to the front desk which I signed for with curiosity. It was just addressed to Hovenweep, so Julia and I opened the card. It was from CNHA and thanked us for a great season. Since our lead rangers were not on duty, Julia and I felt obligated to open the box on behalf of Hovenweep National Monument. The fact that a bakery company sent the package did not in anyway influence our decision. Inside was a deliciously cold lemon cake! Of course, we couldn't just let this generosity go to waste, so Julia and I eagerly cut slices, as did Steve and Laura- our in house archaeologist. We will do our best to save pieces for Chris and Todd, but you never know with cakes. They might not save well...

In case you were curious- the apple butter turned out amazing! We made 2 and a half jars, one which will come back east with me in December. Julia was so pleased with the end result, she is already planning to make more (so Kate- you might get your own little jar). I didn't realize it would look so strange! It ended up having a similar consistency, color, and texture to sludge. While this name sounds unappetizing, I assure you the taste is the exact opposite to the appearance. It tastes like very strong apple sauce with hints of spices. It is delicious on toast.

Hope everything is well at home! Miss you loads!