Part 2 Mesa Verde

 All of the drives through the park were long and winding , but the views from the top were amazing. Could not have picked a prettier time of year. 

I was surprised at how non- mesa- like they were. These were Not flat- topped places.  More like forested canyons and mountains. Well, they WERE forested before the forest fires de-forested them. But there is no flatness to them. Granted, they are not flowing with water, but there are seep springs in some of the areas.. and the residents built hundreds of coffer dams to help retain water for the dry farming they did. Anyway, lots of history.

After we enjoyed our picnic at Wetherill Mesa Ranger station, we hiked in , and hiked THROUGH the next site called Long House. About the same size as Cliff House, but we got an up close and personal view of rooms and even the seep spring. It was really cool.

Climbing ladders. 

Way way  up high are walled rooms, too.

Inside the alcove.

A seep spring

 Right at the back of the alcove. There was even some current standing water.

Grooves in the ground caused by grinding corn.

The walls up behind the far people are original.

 Two layers or floors. Tiny doors.

It was neat to be back up IN the alcove. 

Living quarters had T-Shaped doors. Living as opposed to storage areas.

A chimney opening on a kiva roof. Which is a floor.

The view down the canyon from the cliff dwelling at Long House.

A nice overview. Right,

And Left. Big, huh?

Don't forget to look up. There's stuff way up high, too. Very high. But roofs would have been higher when it was complete and populated. Still, tall ladders would have been needed.

Funny shapes in the floor of the "Plaza".

These are ladders we went up to get in.

Strangley, for Mid-October, wildflowers were still blooming on the Mesa top. 

We also saw a couple of wild horses, deer, and Chipmunks.

We stopped at a few overlooks on our drive out of the National Park. Unfortunately, the visitors center closed at 4 pm. We hadn't stopped on our way in .

Dinner for us was in Cortez, Colorado at Dairy Queen. Mmm ice cream ( for dessert). Hotel was the Super 8. Kind sized bed and comfy temperature. Last night's room in Durango was stuffy unless the air conditioner was running, and it was so loud it woke us up. All. Night. Long. 

Since we were so tired all day and since we arrived way early at both of our tours, we took naps in the very comfy truck. It might have looked silly, and Mike kept snoring and waking himself up, but it was what we needed to get us through our long day.