Wednesday morning we headed out to the Mesa Verde National Park. We stopped at the visitors center at the entrance and paid for the 2:00 tour for the Cliff Palace. It was only about 10:30 so we should have plenty of time to go the 20 miles to the Palace, but we got there just in time. We did a quick tour of the only CG that is inside the Park, not bad, and we actually found a mule deer having a snack. Back on the road, some beautiful sites, scenery with lots of turns and scary drop offs, with not enough guide rails!! Out next stop is at Park Point Overlook which is at 8572 ft., out of the car and head up the hill the last 200 feet, by this time neither of us can breathe, our hearts are racing and we need to just stop and catch our breath. I head out to the point, the snow covered mountains are 24 miles away, and the picture of the mountains way off in the distance are 90 miles away....wow. We then head up the road and stop at the diner, grab a burger then out the door to check out the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling. We didn't get to hike down to it, we are running out of time to get to our tour. Back in the car, up around the Mesa Top Loop, stopping at the Pithouse and the Sun Point View, then back down the road and turn onto the Cliff Palace loop. Arrival time about 1:40 - 1:45, quick bathroom breaks, grab a water and we head down to the tour starting point. The ranger gave a little speech about the place, then made sure every one had had lunch and are hydrated, then off we go. Down narrow staircases, up ladders and around corners on narrow thin walk ways. The tour was great and I am sure there are more pictures attached then you all want to see, but I have added them all. After the tour we start back down the mountain, a few more stops and overlooks, then back home to rescue Rudy. The poor thing, it's almost 5:00 and he has been in his kennel since 10:00am, but he survived. We realized that you need two to three days just to do the self guided tours and check out all the pull offs and overlooks. Dirty rice for dinner, and an early night to bed.
Mesa Verde, Colorado Photos:
Thursday we head out about 9:30 heading up the road about 200-250 miles. We head out of Colorado and hit Route 191 in Utah for the long trek north. On our way we admire the scenery, when this rest area up ahead catches our eye, so we pull in. It is called the 'Hole in the Rock' and is a 5,000sf house blasted and carved out of solid rock. We actually did the tour and it was a beautiful place and very impressive, done in the 1950's. It even had a fire place in it, with a chimney that was 65 feet high, drilled through solid rock. Great stop, easy place to spend a day and tour the grounds. Back on the road, heading to our scheduled overnight stop in Helper, Utah called Blue Cut CG. We pulled in one end and drove right out the other...oh my goodness, and this place had pretty decent ratings and we didn't even want to stop and get out of the moho. Our options are 50-60 miles up the road to get to another CG or head back down the road about 10 miles to Wal-Mart in Price Utah. We head to Wal-Mart, but, before we get there we pass the Legacy Inn and RV Park, it has a lower rating than the one we just came from, but we pulled in to check it out anyway. Nothing fancy, it's just a gravel lot, with small trees, electric, water and sewer, so we checked in, found a place to park, pulled out the chairs and had burgers on the grill. By night fall, 3 more RV's pulled in, so we weren't alone. It was quiet at night, so all in all a good decision had been made. |
| Not enough guide rails |
Today we didn't get on the road until about 10:00, we are headed to Vernal, Utah and it's only a little over 100 miles away. So off we go, but unbeknownst to us, we are heading up this winding, steep mountain climb, with not near enough guard rails for me. It was 6 miles up and 6 miles down with a 8% grade and too many switch backs. We were in third gear up and down and were grateful we got the new breaking system for the car, but the views were spectacular and breath-taking, but we were both amazed at the amount of double tanker rigs and trucks we passed, but we just chugged along and made our way over Indian Mountain, highest point as we crested the hill, 9414 feet. We made it down the other side, when Brad spied a little pull off and parked. We walked for about 1/2 hour, had cheese and crackers for lunch and were on our way. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful and we found our CG with no problems. Not a fancy place, but there is grass and trees, something we haven't had in a long, long time. Out for a quick, not so great meal, back home a long walk for the dog and us, blog time, another walk and I think I hear the bed calling us now.
Diane and Brad
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| Grass and Trees....YEA!! |
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