Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning “enemy ancestors” – but today we equate the word with the Ancient Pueblo people of the Southwest.  This week, I talked about Chaco Canyon, which was the center of the population – like our New York.  If there was a pandemic, it would likely center at Chaco.  But, I have visited so many Ancient Pueblo ruins on my trips that it is mind boggling.  Here are some favorites:

Maybe we should start at the center: Chaco Canyon, NM – The Center of the Universe!

Chaco Canyon has outlying ruins that are miles and miles away – We have visited the two directly to the north – Salmon and Aztec Ruins National Monument near Farmington, NM.

One of the most interesting of the Chacoan Outliers is Chimney Rock near Durango, CO.  My heavens, I had the worst vertigo when we camped there in 2009. This is the highest of all the Chacoan Ruins and they think it was used to send smoke signals to the other sites! It was beautiful and rainy on the day I visited.

Of course, not too far west of Chimney Rock is the famous Mesa Verde National Park. I started fostering my little disabled dog the same weekend we visited Mesa Verde.  She was Dotsie in her past life, and I was trying to think of a name that rhymed, so she is Sazi Ana.

Not to talk politics (save me from that during this pandemic!), but White House Ruins at Canyon de Chelly, AZ is also part of the the system.  I miss this canyon.

Lowry Pueblo is a very interesting outlier not too far from my home.  I love this one because you have to drive through rural farm land to reach the site.  I love the figurines in the kiva – they represent summer and winter people.

Then, let’s zoom up to Utah to Edges of the Cedars State Park, where there is another Chacoan outlier.  They had a crazy large geographic area for that time in civilization.

There were other Ancestral Puebloan ruins that are not direct Chaco outliers, like the ruins at Petrified Forest National Park. I love the Agate House – a ruin made of petrified wood!

And, Navajo National Monument has Betatakin and other Ancient Pueblo ruins.

My old favorite, Hovenweep National Monument, has awesome Ancient Pueblo castle ruins.

Some lesser known Ancient Pueblo Ruins we have visited include Five Kiva Pueblo near Blanding, UT.

And, Yucca House National Monument near Cortez, CO.

I think the furthest one from the Four Corners is at Anasazi State Park in Utah – way up in the mountains near Boulder, UT.

That is a lot of ruins for one daylily.  And, that Daylily is Anasazi.  How on earth could I resist a name like this one?  She was a bitty fan when I first got her – took her a few years to bloom.  But, the first year she bloomed, she threw a double.  It was memorizing.

She usually blooms fairly early, but is a rebloomer.

She looks a bit slow to take-off this spring.  I probably should refresh her soil – the ants like her pot so I probably should take a look at the roots.

I have other cultivators that would fit with this blog, but I will wait because I am trying to savor the vicarious daylily road trip for a couple more weeks.