Today is Easter Sunday and a day off for us just having worked 4-straight. In this life, a holiday is just another day. We did go into Holbrook this morning for breakfast at a Denny’s Restaurant and to do some much needed grocery resupply.

Today, no church. No organ preludes with trumpet fanfares. No evaluation of the pastor’s sermon. No ham dinner with family. No naps on the couch. Well, maybe that last one I may have snuck in. But today is just another day. Shannon was kind of in a funk remembering all the Easter Sundays in one of her past lives in which she was very busy with music preparations and offerings all through the past week culminating in the triumphant organ prelude with trumpets and trombones at sunrise. As close as she got to reliving that experience was singing Easter hymns while out walking the dog early this morning.

We did Face Time with Rhys sans grand kids and daughter-in-law; so, connected with family. Rhys described how busy and involved he was at church with a Good Friday drama, setting up sound systems, prayer vigil, and services. Just like old times for his Old Man. So we lived the season vicariously through Rhys.

Our volunteer schedule is still 4 days on and 3 days off. The park extends its open hours from 7 to 7. The non-profit group that runs the bookstore and pretty much the visitor centers hired more staff to accommodate the longer hours. The number of bookstore staff was doubled up this week for training purposes, and for awhile volunteers were not welcomed in the visitor centers. It frustrated our NPS handlers, but we all worked it out and ended up doing more roving rather than sitting in the visitor centers. This was much more fun and productive. We talked to lots of people yesterday. And, we can’t discriminate against anyone. I even had to talk to folks wearing Green Bay Packer shirts.

This past Monday we participated in an organized hike led by archaeology staff. We left the ridge where the park road runs and hiked down into the Painted Desert in search of a habitation site that can only be visited if accompanied by archaeology folks. The group size was about 20 people. Participants had to sign up ahead of time and the size of the group was limited.

This is the typical terrain in this part of the Painted Desert. It is difficult to predict where an habitation site might be. A pueblo was situated at this point anywhere from 900 to 1350 CE. During that time the climate was little wetter and cooler, and the people could survive by farming. Today, it is difficult to picture how and why they settled in this spot.

This was a good hike for Shannon and I. In fact we could count the time we spent on the hike as volunteer time. The hike was a combination of exploring and discovery, and part mini-lectures by the archaeologist.

One thing about the trip that we have not seen before were pottery shards. We were surprised by how common place the shards were. They were lying on top of the soil, and in one area in particular were fairly concentrated.

The hike was advertised as a hike to see petroglyphs. We have seen plenty of petroglyphs elsewhere in the park and elsewhere in AZ and NM. However, we are always open and excited to see new ones.

We enjoy this park because of its great variety of things to experience. Petroglyphs, pottery shards, and ancient habitation sites are just a small part of this park. Anytime we can get extra-curricular activities such as this hike is a bonus.