Mesa Verde



Can you tell I was excited?



So I finished teaching on Friday May 25th. Where were Matt and I by 3 pm that afternoon? On the road to Mesa Verde of course! We decided to squeeze in this trip before Hawaii and it was so worth it. The drive is pretty long, about 6 hrs, but it went by faster than I expected. We went straight to the campground when we arrived on Friday night, but Saturday morning we were up with the sun (after a looong, windy night) and ready to see some cliff dwellings. By Sunday afternoon we had seen pretty much all there was to see--cliff dwellings, hikes, various sites and ruins, lots of deer and wild turkey--and had treated ourselves to an amazing dinner at the lodge. We highly recommend this trip, especially for those of you with little kiddos in tow. The ranger's presentations were actually entertaining, the cliff dwellings are amazing, and the trails were very well kept. We give this place a two thumbs up.                                                                                                               



This is Cliff Palace. They estimate that about 100 people lived here, and they think it also served as a gathering place for residents of the other communities.



These next few pictures were taken at Balcony House. This place was one of our favorites!

We liked crawling through the tunnels . . .

Seeing all the "kivas". . .

And climbing ladders!



Matt at Long House.



Hoorah for camping trips and national parks!