Mesa Verde Day 2

Yesterday was a great day hard to believe we could top it but did just that today. Started with a self guided tour of Step House a mile and a half walk to the ruin site.  One of the smaller sites we visited. Followed by Longhouse Tour which is the longest and second largest site, second to Cliff Palace. A two hour tour which covered the site as well as a detailed explanation of the life style of the cliff dwellers. Ranger again was outstanding.

Completed our day with stopping at a couple of pull outs to view the valley below and a last stop at the visitor center.
The visitors center itself is very informative which is where a majority of the Mesa Verde artifacts are stored.

Tomorrow off to Paige AZ.

Mesa Verde Day 1

Picked up our tour passes prior to setting up camp in Cortez. Secured passes for Cliff Palace and Balcony House Day 1 both hour tours, and Long House Day 2 which is a 2 hour tour.

Both tours Day 1 require desending into the canyon and then various stages of the tours require climbing ladders and maybe crawling on your hands and knees. The Rangers did an awesome job of presenting each site providing details of the life styles of these native americans.  It's hard to imagine these dwellings were hand built covering a span of only 75-100 years...

After completing both tours we also drove the Mesa Loop a self guided tour.  It was a long day....

Drive to Cortez, CO

Pretty uneventful day driving to Cortez Colorado. The drove took us through Taos N.M. Outside of Taos is the RI Grande  Gorge, A-dog was impressed but is scared of heights, but brave enough to pose for a picture. We did see some big horn sheep. Drove onto toward Cortez via highway 64 another gorgeous drive that took us over 10, 000 feet.  Arrived in Cortez, stop at Mesa Verde and got our tour tickets. Checked in at the Westview RV park a brand new park. It's very nice but really too modern for my taste...putting green, pickle ball, horse shoes, club house, heated patio with live music Fri. and Sat. night...kind of feels like a retirement home..oh well the the showers are very nice! We pulled in and setup in a major thunder, thought we would wait it out, but no chance, so headed into Cortez and had a great supper at the Main Street Brewery. All ended well.

Taking it Easy

Just kicking back for a couple of days visiting Alex,  doing laundry, catching up on some reading and a good nap! Did a little site seeing in Cimarron and I do mean a little..not much here.  Big claim to fame is Cinnamon was a Santa Fe Trail Stop Over and Philmont Scout Ranch is located 4 miles south. Philmont is the largest youth camp in the world. All of our boys have done treks and worked there. Spent part of Wednesday there just looking around. It's the off season so the place is errily quiet....Alex is employed by Philmont and is currently working in the Philmont museum/library. He gave us a tour and we met him later in the day at The St. James Hotel for supper. Great evening.

Blue Lake to Cimarron N.M.-Ron's turn..

Well the stay at Blue Lake was a short one! Only one night, good while it lasted Ron down with bronchitis and combined with the high altitude wasn't a good combination. A short drive to Trinidad CO. to find a Convienant Care..quick stop, washed the car and trailer and off to Cimarron to visit Alex.our son and probably the highlight of the trip so far! He probably doesn't  think so though. Found a small and quiet private camp, not much to look at from road, but turned into a real gem! Pool RV park, Because I wasn't feeling well she checked us in and the owner came to door in her bath robe! It was 4 PM! Only camper there! One full timer and that was it...full hook ups if needed. Very clean baths and showers and laundry facilities. Will spend a couple nights here, resting and doing laundry and plan the rest of our trip...and bugging Alex.....

Pueblo CO to Blue/ Bear Lake CO

Fully rested and on the mend we depart for the high country! Bear Lake and Blue lake are a high altitude no facilities camp at 9,500 feet.  A 4 mile gravel road awaits us and approx. 2000 foot climb. The highway to the turn off is listed as one of the most scenic drives in America and winds through the Spanish Peaks in Southeastern Colorado.  I had been to this site several years ago with my father and so returning because of the great hiking.

Dodge City to Pueblo Colorado

Well after a long day on road the trip to Pueblo wasn't too bad, planned to make this a one night stop which turned into two.  Missy suffering from bronchitis and needed an extra day to recoup in preperation for a high altitude camp the following day. Stayed at a great place the Pueblo Lake State Park, Arkansas Point Camp Ground. After some electrical problems ended up in site 39 with a great view of Lake and marina.  Provided a.great opportunity for a couple of side hikes in the bluffs surrounding the camp site. The first night we were invited to a family reunion of some camping neighbors. In exchange for us taking their family photo we received a great evening meal.