Monday, January 19, 2009

Besh Ba Gowah


No, that's not gibberish for yummy hot cinnamon sucker from a roadside stop that I haven't had since I was a child. Its the name of one of the most important archeological sites in the Western US.

While cleaning his room the other night Gabe found a "map" he had picked up at a local restaurant that highlighted several nearby attractions and the Besh Ba Gowah archeological site was one of the places featured. When he heard I wanted to get out of town for the day, he brought me his prized "map" ( my boy really has a thing for anything even remotely resembling a map, and don't you DARE suggest he throw one of them away!) and pointed out the picture of the ruins and told me he'd really like to go to "that" place, so we did! It was a wonderful morning with perfect weather. The drive was just beautiful and was perhaps only an hour long. Sometimes its so great to be a tourist in your own stomping grounds.

12 comments:

Erin said...

How fun! Since we just moved here, we have been trying to find the things nearby that are kind of touristy. It's been fun too.

Lara Neves said...

Very cool! I have never heard of it, and I lived where you live for 3 years. I think I missed a lot of stuff though, so I'm not too surprised.

Jillene said...

How fun!! I have never heard of it but if your son wanted to go there then it must be happenin'!!

Destiny said...

I can remember playing hide and seek there at night when I was younger. By the way, that town has the BEST mexican food. It is my ultimate favorite. If you go again you really should try it.

Tana said...

Cute! I love maps but never go anywhere. I have to look this one up!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love a day-trip. Sometimes those last minutes ones are the best, too. Glad you had a good time. And glad Gabe keeps his "maps."

rachel said...

He sounds just like my son. He has maps for everything. That sounds like a cool place- I love adventures!

carrhop said...

So glad you all had a great time!
Blessings!

Just SO said...

I wish we had more things like that closer. I do try to find things close by but we've done many of them already. Very cool that you guys went and check it out.

Heatherlyn said...

That sounds totally cool. Aren't you going to tell us why the site has a strange name and what it is? That's pretty cool your son keeps maps and wants to see places on them. I hope he stays like that his WHOLE life. :)

Unknown said...

HOw cool that you actually loaded up and took him!

Looks great, I love those little day trips that don't break the bank.

Goob said...

just for heatherlyn, If I remember correctly Besh Ba Gowah means metal city ( but there was no indication why they called it a metal city...maybe because its so near the copper mine? It appeared that they used stone tools, not metal tools, so I don't know). Anyways, it is ruins of a city tht were inhabited about 700ad and then again around 1300ad (or maybe that was continuously, i'm not sure.) As you can see, I paid very close attention to the 15 min. movie....oops. Actually, I was really interested in the garden and how they prepared some of the things they grew. I mean, did they just say "Hey, we gotta eat somethign, each of you take a part of this plant and see what you come up with." Was it IronChef Hohokam style? ( or maybe Salado style, depends on which group you're talking about.)