Bandelier National Monument

Robbie and his dad took me out to Bandelier to look at old Indian habitat and meeting areas. There was lots of cool stuff to see.
I'm down in this hole in the ground where they used to do something but I can't remember what they used the little rooms for. We actually climbed up a long ways on some wooden ladders to get up to where this was and then you could climb down into the little room to see what it was like. It was just real small.
While we were at the top this was the view over the whole canyon. It was pretty remarkable. It was over cast that day but it turned out to be a good thing because it would have been too hot otherwise.
Mr. Chalmers taught Robbie and I that Ponderosa Pines smell like vanilla if you get up close to them. I personally thought it was more of a Rum Vanilla but it was cool either way. And when it rains up here that smell gets all in the air. It's almost like there is a giant rum vanilla candle being burned somewhere near.
The sides of the mountains is where the Indians would build habitats and the large holes that are at the bottom of the mountain are where they would live. This whole mountain actually isn't a regular mountain. It was formed from ash that settled and compressed from a volcano that exploded in the area way long time ago. It's interesting because you can tell when you touch it and pound on it that its a totally different material that what you are used to a mountain being. It almost felt hollow. It was easy for them to carve out dwellings because this compressed ash was so soft but sturdy enough to support them. It didn't smell different though. It was just a diffirent feel to it.