But first, here's the full moon from last night.
And here it is as we are leaving our campsite at 6:25 am. Brrr. It was 18 degrees as we started out. Again thank goodness for our furnace.
A beautiful sunrise.
Phil standing in all four states, CO./NM./AZ./UT. It's the only place in the U.S. where four states meet.
We arrived at 9 and more and more people were coming as we left.
Four states here meet in freedom under God.
On a windy road, lots of switchbacks to Mesa Verde (Spanish for green table) National Park.
Looking down into the valley from Park Point Lookout 8572 ft. elevation.
Spruce Tree House, the best preserved of the cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde has a rich cultural history. The Ancestral Puebloan lived in this region from 600 to 1300.
The Kiva was below the circle stone in center.
Phil going down the ladder into the Kiva.
The Kiva was the ceremonial room.
Square House.
The Indians lived on the Mesa top for 600 years before building and living in the cliffs. They only lived in the cliffs from 1200 to 1300.
It is amazing to try to comprehend how they built their dwellings on ledges like this.
Mesa on top, where they grew crops and hunted; cliff dwellings and deep canyon below. Hard to imagine how they got up and down.
Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling, 150 rooms.
The Park includes over 4,500 archeological sites, only 600 are cliff dwellings.
Pit house built about 575 AD. Earliest inhabitants were the Basket Makers.
Remnants of stone buildings.
Very interesting Museum. The Indians made Chewed Bread.
Evaporated salt.
Things we use that were first used by the Indians. (part one)
Part two.
We stayed at A and A Mesa Verde RV Campground. It was an older campground, very quiet. There were only two other camping vehicles. Clean bathrooms and showers. I did our laundry. Imagine in the busy season it is crowded. We would stay there again.
Location:Cortez, CO.
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