Westward Bound Day 19-20 1st&2nd day@Mesa Verde National Park May 24-26

As we traveled from Santa Rosa, New Mexico to Mesa Verde National Park, in the most southwest corner of Colorado, we gradually moved from the semi-desert to the high desert. The changes were dramatic and the landscape became more and more red.

 

  We finally reached Mesa Verde by late afternoon a national park campground. The picture below was taken from the Visitors Center, facing away from Mesa Verde.

After stopping at the Visitors Center, we began the climb up to the National Park Campground

As you can see, the views were incredible.

 When we finally reached the campground, we realized that we had booked a site that had no electricity and no water. So our condo camper quickly became a very elaborate tent. Luckily, the weather was wonderful and we were very comfy. Having a gas stove and the refrigerator that reverts to gas was a life-saver for sure. It is amazing how quickly one can adapt. The only downside was that our battery ran down the evening before we checked out so we had to jump it off.

Much to our delight, deer wandered freely through the campground.

 On day two of our stay at Mesa Verde, we headed up to explore the mesa and tour the Cliff Palace.

This was our first view of Cliff Palace, which was built by the Ancient Pueblo Indians. They farmed and lived on the top of the mesa from 550 to 1200AD.  They then moved under the cliffs and stayed for about 70 years before most of them picked up and left the area, moving south into New Mexico. Speculation is that an extremely long drought and depletion of the soil on the mesa left them no choice but to seek a more favorable environment.

 

Richard looking at ancient art work on the walls.

 

 After our tour of the Cliff Palace, we did an auto tour of the rest of the mesa and then stopped by the Museum where Richard added one more stamp to his National Park Passbook.

 The museum was constructed by the CCC during the depression and contained may interesting artifacts.

This stained glass piece was donated to the museum in honor of the legacy of the Ancient Puebloans.

I was fascinated by the designs on the ancient pottery. It was evident that these early settlers had an eye for beauty and design.

 The late afternoon ride back down to the campground was graced with beautiful views and more sighting of deer along the way.

Our evening was capped off with a band concert in the campground amphiteathre. The local band was comprised of volunteers from all age brackets and their director was a passionate lover of music.

Nothing like a little culture at the end of the day in such a beautiful setting.