Mesa Verde National Park

On our way out of Moab we spotted a sight so Amazing, so Breathtaking that mere words cannot do it justice... ladies & gentlemen, I give you........

That's right! The natural wonder that is a 5,000 square foot house built into the side of a mountain. What's even better is that the interior was decorated in the 1950's, complete with mint green & peptobismol pink accents, and what's even, EVEN better is that there was a petting zoo complete with wallaby's and ostriches...

It was a little slice of Americana... & with it being Ross' birthday and all, I think he deserved something special!

Mesa Verde

We drove from Utah to southern Colorado & stopped at Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde was created to preserve the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblans. They built both cliff dwellings and houses atop the mesas. We only had about 4 hours to spend at the park and wanted to see as much as we could. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for any long hikes but we were able to take a 1/2 mile walk to Spruce Tree House.

Not much information is known about the Ancestral Pueblens (there are no written records and a lot has been destroyed). The cliff dwelling you see here was made of sandstone, and the mortar was made of dirt & water. The living rooms were about 6ft. by 8 ft. and fit about 2 or 3 people. Archaeologists think that they began to build these dwellings once they stopped being nomadic & began to farm. They were also skilled at basketry and pottery which they traded with other villages.

We got to climb down into a pithouse at Spruce Tree House. There was a small nook for food and wood storage and a ventilation hole for the smoke from the fire.

Navajo Canyon View: The Ancentral Pueblans used these canyons like highways, climbing up & down as a part of their daily lives.It was such a beautiful day!

Square Tower House

Look closely & you'll see Cliff Palace.

Here it is a little closer. See all the people? If we had more time we could have taken a ranger led tour of it, but they don't let you go down there by yourself. We're actually standing across the canyon at an overlook.

Mesa Verde was truly an incredible sight to see... very awe inspiring to be in a place that many Native Americans consider sacred. There were a few "ugly Americans" here, not treating it with the reverence it's due, sad for them really, that they didn't get it. But we were absolutely blown away by it's beauty & the sheer ingenuity it took to survive on those cliffs!

We wish we could have stayed longer but it was time to hit the road toward Taos!

We were lucky enough to see a rainbow on our way out of Colorado, maybe it was Colorado's way of saying, "See you again soon!"

We stopped in Durango to have a birthday celebration for Ross at Carvers Brewery... delicious food & berry cobbler for dessert... yum!!!! This leg of the journey was going to be the one & only time we traveled at night. I'm sure we must of driven through some of the most beautiful scenery from Durango to Taos, but we didn't get to see it. We pulled into Taos at about 1:00 a.m. and were ready to crash!
Next chapter, Taos N.M. and the Tate family!