Mesa Verde - Cortez, Colorado

This is actually after we've been in the park.  Otis is
recovering from his trauma.

Today was our first National Park Adventure!  We visited Mesa Verde, ancestral home of the Pueblo people.  Amazing to see how they built houses in the cliffs.  According to the visitor information, they lived in pit houses originally (550 AD) and then gradually developed the cliff dwellings that are built into the sides of the cliffs around 1200 AD.  The pit houses are exactly what they sound like, pits (most of them circular) dug into the ground.  As time progresses they eventually made the walls taller and taller.  They used wood and mud (wattle and daub) to build the upper walls and roofs.  I seem to remember the information saying that they aren't sure why they abandoned those types of houses and moved to the cliff dwellings.  The dwellings are so high up, I can't imagine what it must have taken to build such extensive structures. But they are very protected and allow for them to build up - something they couldn't do with the pit houses.  The newer dwellings are made with rectangular bricks so maybe it was just they figured out how to make the bricks and realized they could stack them and make rooms, etc.  (They are the original Legos?)

This is one of the first cliff dwelling ranchers discovered
 in Mesa Verde back in the 1880s.

At the Cliff Palace they believe that 100-150 people lived there in the surrounding dwellings and the Cliff Palace was a gathering place. One section of it is a ceremonial (religious?) area. The religious/ceremonial structures are called kivas.  (Don't quote me on any of this stuff - I'm trying to remember everything I read - lol!)

Only when we came back to the RV and I read the whole brochure did I realize that where they grew crops was ABOVE their dwellings.  I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me then. They only thing below the dwellings jumbles of rocks and valleys full of shrubs.  They would have to build them up above to make use of the flat areas.  Apparently, they began to grow corn, beans, and squash - and so began the transition to a type of agriculture moving them from a strictly hunter/gatherer people.  They believe that the Puebloan people actually came across the Bering Sea land bridge and made this area their home for about 750 years.  What a journey!  I see all of this and know I wouldn't survive a day if I were transported back in time.

This is Cliff Palace the largest of the dwellings.  

Prior to getting to the dwellings, we stopped at Park Point Overlook, the highest point in the park at 8572ft.  What an amazing view.  They have a watch tower up at the top that serves as a lookout point for wildfires. It used to be staffed year-round.  Now it's just during fire season. I was wondering if they needed volunteers.  Peaceful up there.  I think it said you can see 100 miles away - it's FLAT!  We could see Ship Rock faintly off in the distance.  It would have been clearer but because of pollution and smoke from fires, it was just faintly visible.  It looked like a magical castle in the clouds!

One of the Kivas just to the right of Cliff Palace.

So what added to the remarkable trip is that at the first campground they had a kennel where we could put Otis. So Otis, unbeknownst to use when we got him, has separation anxiety.  SERIOUS separation anxiety. We left him alone in the RV one time last year and he literally ripped out a window screen and tore the covering and screen off the front door. A couple hundred dollars of repair work in a BRAND NEW RV.  The time before that he managed to claw and scratch the heck out of the door separating the main area from the bedroom area. Needless to say, we can't leave him in the RV unless we put him in his kennel and that seems cruel if it's over 3 hours or so. So for $17.00 and a mass of paperwork about him and his shots, we got to leave him in a slightly larger kennel with a bed and water and a bag of snacks. They caretakers took him out periodically to let him run around. He got to listen to non-stop barking from his roommate - another unhappy pooch.  I hope Otis didn't bark the entire time like that guy was doing - ugh! The roads in the park are all windy and turny with switchbacks and I just know he would have barfed had he been with us. We even got to stop in a cafe in the park and have lunch.  I will now look for a kennel in all the parks we visit.  We bought him some calming snacks and spray - we'll have to use some on him so he doesn't freak out as much.  He was SOOOOOO happy to see us when we went to get him.  Now he is exhausted from the stress.  His new name is "superfreak". What a dog!  I so hope Zion has a kennel too.

Our KOA here is pleasant.  We are at about 6000 ft so we are relatively cool.  It was 50-something when we got up this morning but it does heat up quickly.  They also have a 3-acre dog park where Otis can run and play with other dogs as well as a mile long trail around a small lake.  Lots of opportunity to wear him out!

Tomorrow we are off to Utah and Monument Valley which is located on Navajo tribal land. I didn't realize that this area actually crosses the Utah/Arizona border.

Time to start dinner. I never stop thinking how lucky we are to be able to travel like this. Most of the people we see are old/elderly.  Kids Jade and Mya's age are relatively rare.  We see a lot of grandkids with grandparents or young families. Probably no one wants to lock themselves in a vehicle with two teenagers!  But because we've been doing this since they were little, they are actually quite agreeable as long as we do "stuff".  Sitting around and enjoying the view is not their thing. Keeps us young.