Mesa Verde, Colorado

NOTE: I have uploaded 63 more picture from the last 10 days. Be sure to click on the link on the right to view them.
Friday, September 28
We awoke to the pitter-patter of raindrops in the RV…… and Bailey screaming that her stomach hurt. For some odd reason Bailey’s stomach was upset throughout the night but she was feeling much better at 11 am after a morning nap. This was a real blessing because her health was going to determine if Sheri or I would stay back and miss the guided tours of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park. The park is nothing like the other parks. It has a historical feature because of the cliff dwellings which were built 800 years ago. It is amazing how well preserved the dwellings are. In fact, they have wooden logs imbedded in the walls which are still entirely intact after 800 years. The boys really enjoyed the tours because access to the dwellings requires climbing some long ladders and crawling through tunnels. Sheri, on the other hand, was more scared today than I have ever seen her. One particular exit requires climbing on a near vertical wall with foot notches cut out of it. Sheri has gained a fear for heights as she has had children and she was trembling up there. The height and dangerousness of the climb was scary, but the three children just casually climbing up the rock and the 4th child hanging off of my back made the fear unbearable. The ancient Pueblo people used little notches they cut out of the rock to rockclimb in and out of their dwellings. We had a small scare today in the RV. The temperature rose fairly rapidly so I pulled over to check out the situation. The coolant was low so we added some water and traveled to Durango, which is about 35 miles from Mesa Verde. Another blessing from above….the RV didn’t have any temperature problems after that. Something really neat happened today. As we exited one of our tours we saw a car that had Virginia plates "BORN X2". Sheri and I know we had seen this plate before and suspected we had seen it at our church in Winchester, Virginia. Sure enough, the city decal on the windshield was Winchester. We wrote them a note and waited for about 45 minutes, but didn’t see them. What a small world to see someone familiar about 2500 miles from home.

Thursday, September 27
This morning the kids gave us a problem so we sent each one to their own state. That’s right, one in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. We didn’t have their rooms to send them to, but we did have 4 states to send them to. Casting the joke aside, the kids didn’t give us a problem today (other than the standard problems), but we were able to have each one of our kids in four states. Have you ever wanted to be in two places at once. Today, we were in four places at once. However, I must say that if you are ever in the Grand Canyon, don’t think you need to go to four corners. It’s really only worth the visit if you are in the area. The reason that four corners exists is because there is desert wasteland for miles. I don’t think anyone wanted to fight for the land. Actually, they had given all of this land over for Indian Reservations. It’s not good for cattle grazing, crop farming or anything else. It’s a real shame they forced the Native Americans into land that is useless. It makes you appreciate why folks like Crazy Horse refused to go and died for their stance against the US government. I think that is why states like Colorado allow casinos on the reservations. It’s a good source of income for the reservations and it provides jobs.
After 4 corners we traveled to Wal-Mart in Cortez, Colorado and then onto Mesa Verde National Park. The kids are really looking forward to the tours of the cliff dwellings tomorrow. In order to tour them you have to climb up a 32 foot ladder and then crawl through a tunnel. We are staying the night in the park at the campground. It sure is nice to be close to everything. All of you non-campers are in luck, they have a lodge here too. Don’t let camping be the reason you don’t visit the national parks, most of the good ones have lodges, many of which have fantastic views.