April 7, 2008--On the Road to Mesa Verde

Happy Second Birthday, DeAnna!

As I started writing this, we were on the road to Mesa Verde National Monument. The road was roller coaster bumpy in New Mexico. Once we crossed into Colorado, the road smoothed out a bit. At the New Mexico-Colorado line, we came around a corner on a downhill stretch and almost hit a llama that was crossing the road. It realized we weren't stopping as fast as it would like so it finally ran off the side of road. That was one lucky llama! The Rocky Mountains were ahead of us and they were gorgeous with their snow caps! There were farms in the area so we were seeing more grass and pastures than we had seen in a while.

Our drive today took about 2 hours.

We stopped in Durango to fill the rv with gas. We were able to find it for $3.29 a gallon.

We headed west on US 160 from Durango. Along the way we passed the Hesperus ski slope. It was strange to see the chair lift so close to the road.

We stopped at the campground across from the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. It is a Passport America park, but the discount is only good for one night so we will move to Cortez for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We wish the campground was open in the national park, but this year it won't open until at least May 5.

We drove to Mesa Verde after setting up camp.

The views on the drive to the visitor center were fantastic. We could see the Rockies from one pullout.

We viewed the valley to the west of the park from another pullout.

The mesa was another sight we saw on the drive to the visitor center.

During our travels we have seen many animals--coyotes, javelinas, skunks (dead), rabbits, jack rabbits, cows, and horses. Today we added llamas and turkeys.

As we drove through the park we noticed that many of the trees were dead. Most of them had scorch marks on the trunks. We learned that there have been quite a few fires in the park since 2000. The rangers are trying to reseed areas where erosion is likely to occur, but since they have limited rain, the chipmunks, squirrels and other seed eaters are getting very fat!
At the visitor center we purchased tickets to tour the Cliff Palace which is the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde. Our tour was for 2:00. We drove through a light snow up to the parking lot where we would meet the ranger. While we waited we ate a picnic lunch and tried to stay warm.

As we ate our lunch, the sky cleared so we walked to the waiting area on the edge of the cliff. Bob got a picture of the group ahead of us as they learned about Cliff Palace.

We walked a quarter mile down to an alcove where we listened to an introductory talk about Cliff Palace. There were steps going down the cliff and ladders going up after the tour. The first inhabitants had hand and toe holds in the cliff wall. This picture was taken from the alcove while we waited for the interpreter to make his way down.

After our tour we drove the Mesa Top loop We saw Cliff Palace across the canyon. We could also see other cliff dwellings to the left and right of Cliff Palace.

As we drove down the mesa, we stopped by the campground area just to see what it looked like. We couldn't get to the campground, but there was a gift shop, snack bar, gas station, and laundromat--all closed.

Monday night we will stay cozy in the rv with the slideout in! The temperature is supposed to drop into the 20s. More blankets for all and to all a good night!