Continuing to Follow, "The Historic Ancient's Trail"

-

Mesa Verde National Park



Sadly, thanks to Covid - 19, the ranger led tours are closed. Mom and dad researched this park before coming.  Here is just one of the cool, YouTube videos about an artist in residence program. Susan, Landscape Quilter 



Mom said, "Frank Lloyd Wright would have approved of this wonderful design."


Dad and I looking over the Plaza outside the Visitor's Center


There is so much yet to see, but M & D said, we won't be able to see them all.


Edward J Fraughton, "The Ancient Ones" bronze, 2012



(After we looked at this impressive sculpture, we realized that there probably wasn't any fat Puebloans.)



The drive was very mild and deceiving at one point, like this one...




As best the archeologists and historians can surmise,  the sites scattered around this vast park date back to 700 AD. The Puebloans lived here for 700 years. Like the other Pueblo sites we visited, they really don’t have an affirmative answer to why over the course of a couple generations, they left.






I couldn’t believe it, but this park is so massive that, it took over 20 miles driving from the Mesa Verde Visitor entrance to Cliff Palace. 



M & D watched a few Mesa Verde videos, it didn’t look like there were many trails that we could have gone on anyway. This particular Petroglyph Trail that they had wanted to try was closed, but after they found this informative video, they realized it wasn't for them.



Most of the tours guided or not, are pretty ambitious; climbing up and over rocks, using steep, straight up ladders and even crawling through tunnels  We are so high up, 8,000+ that once again, my ears are feeling funny.  At numerous viewpoints, Mom’s struggling to look down over the edge; as we climb. WOW!



Along the way there are numerous stops that we could view the various architectural styles whether on top of the Cajon Mesa or in the Cliff dwellings below. 

















The famous Cliff House Dwellings





















Mom let dad check out a few of high spots without us. She was getting height sickness. Ugh! I don’t see colors well, but she didn’t look good! Dad decided to check out the museum, while mom stayed with me. 



Mostly, the best way to tell about this incredible day is to share dad and mom’s photos… 

As dad said, “For him it was a dream come true: having seen photos of this place as a kid. He never thought he would have the opportunity to visit here.”










 

For me, I found the day frustrating! I kept trying to get into or onto the above ground sites to thoroughly investigate them, and mom or dad would make me stop or get off… Darn it!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pueblo’s on My Mind...

-
Image
Ancient Cedars RV Park, Mancos, CO Today’s drive was simple. We traveled through the lush, vast San Luis Valley on Route 160.  It’s obvious the main income for this region comes from farming and ranching.  Monte Vista  with its old train station and  Del Norte  with its crane artwork were two smaller, charming towns.   When we arrived in  South Fork , we started   climbing into the mountains. This area is an outdoors person’s idea of paradise. The   Rio Grande River   and   Forest   provides loads of activities...Fly fishing, kayaking, hiking in the warmer months while skiing dominates in winter. Dad had to really concentrate with all the winding roads. When we were going slower mom put the window down. It’s really beautiful and smells fabulous with all the evergreens. Judging by the road signs, it’s not uncommon for this two lane road to be closed down with heavy winter snows.  As we climbed up to  Wolf Creek Pa...
Read more

Onto The Great Sand Dunes National Park

-
Image
As it turns out some of the route to get there were on small two lane roads like CO-24. It provided us with the opportunity of passing through more tiny towns. In between were scattered ranches and windmill farms.  At times the distance between each seemed endless...it’s amazing how many of the homes are trailers or manufactured ones. Obviously, You have to love wide open spaces to live out here. Not to mention enjoy driving miles to get anything...WOW! We saw signs for this attraction   https://royalgorgebridge.com/ . With mom’s fear of heights we passed on it. We did cross over the  Arkansas River  in Pueblo, CO though… Dad decided to pass up on  Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center  ,  this historical fort built in southern Colorado in the 1850’s. O ne of the forts that housed the  Buffalo Soldiers  in the late 1870’s.   Gradually, the plains give way to undulating rounded rises, then larger hills and before you know it, you’re loo...
Read more

Scintillating St Augustine, FL

-
Image
June 13-16 Mom called this bridge, a bowtie bridge; just for fun Mom and dad promised me a quick drive from our last camp. They didn’t disappoint! They had us in our campsite and eating lunch by 2:00 PM. Hope they can find more pull through sites!  We walked around and found a dog park with some fun "doodles" playing. I had so much fun, that I crashed afterwards!  Next morning after a long walk with mom, we eventually meandered into St Augustine Historic District.   Mom and dad wanted to eat again at the Maple Street Biscuit Company . They loved this cafe when they came on the Loop.  It’s still incredibly popular! The good smells alone made me crazy! While we waited, the storm clouds were chased away by the sun. Yeah!  While they ate, thanks to Facetime ;  they ate brunch with our son & granddaughters in San Diego. Here's Elise having her cinnamon toast. We love Facetime and Zoom!!! Clara has discovered how to "Blow Raspberries or Bubb...
Read more