After we all got ready pretty quick, we left to go to Paquime for a good portion of the day. I was super excited!!!! I love Paquime!
Paquime is ruins of an ancient city from the early 1300BC. It was the largest and most culturally complex settlement in northern Mexico and southwestern US. It had imprints from the pueblan and Mesoamerican cultures. Here is a tid bit about life at Paquime:
Life at Paquime
The Paquime people established their community on the west bank of the Casas Grandes River, a small stream which flows northward then eastward into an inland lake, draining the desert basin and range country at the northeastern end of the Sierra Madre. In a sequence poorly understood by archaeologists, the people raised several clusters of multistory terraced buildings and a number of religious monuments. They constructed the building walls of mud, or adobe, applying and smoothing the "cement" a handful at a time, a tedious construction method which yielded graceful curving corners. They built the roofs of heavy supporting timbers, or vigas, which they covered with small straight branches, or latigas, and plastered earth. Collectively, the buildings housed perhaps one thousand six hundred rooms. The largest building covered nearly a full acre.
The people of Paquime raised corn, beans, squash and other crops; hunted buffalo, antelope, deer and other wild animals; and harvested agave, nuts, prickly pear cactus fruits and other wild plants. They raised domesticated birds, crafted high quality ceramics, wove textiles, created exquisite jewelry, may have manufactured metal products, and apparently developed and sustained a widespread trade network.
At its height, several thousand people lived at Paquime, spanning nearly one hundred acres. Deeply spiritual, they spun a web of influence across the hundreds of hamlets and villages that lay within their cultural sphere."
So we all explored it and the kids had a blast being there. It was super windy the whole time which made it really cold and once again, who didn't bring the winter coats? Yup, me! Anyway, Lili was absolutely fascinated with being there. She was the only one who wanted to know more. She had a TON of questions, to say the least. Just ask her anything you want about it and she will tell you! She kept saying, "but Papi, in 1475 did they...." and she'd continue on with her question. She kept saying 1475 because one of the informational signs said that date and it really stuck with her. We all had a really nice time there. It was cool to hear the stories from Quique and Mami from when they grew up there and how they'd play at the ruins and find artifacts there.....way before it became a historical attraction. They would play hide and seek in there all the time they said. How cool is that?!
I just can't believe how well preserved it all is still. There is so much more that hasn't been unearthed/excavated there. Just imagine what they'll find if they ever do excavate it.
Then we all went into the museum to look around. That was amazing! There was a scale of what Paquime would have looked like in it's prime. There were scale houses too. It was so fascinating just thinking about how people lived there and the history of it all. It's simply amazing!
After we left Paquime, we went to JoAnn's house, Mami's good friend. She invited all 19 of us for lunch. She made the yummiest lunch for us all. It was so delicious, even Mateo had 3 helpings of her chicken!!! Now you know it was excellent if Mateo ate it! We all had such a nice time being there. Thank you JoAnn for opening up your home to all of us!
After we left JoAnn's, we all stopped on the side of the road to say our goodbye's to AnaLaura, Carlos and kids. They were going straight back to Chihuahua right then. It was hard to say bye knowing it will be so long before we get to see them again. It was so wonderful being with them so much. Thanks AnaLaura and Carlos for all the sacrifices you made to be with us while we were there and for all your help with the baptism. We love you all so much!!!
We got back to the house and I started doing laundry and packing. It took forever!!!!!! We'll be leaving pretty early I guess, so good night!
Oh, the only other time I was at Paquime was on our 1st wedding anniversary. Now we were there for our 11th anniversary. Thanks Poppet!
