The drive was desolate in parts, but quite beautiful in parts as well. Sloping hills where you can see for miles covered in shrub brush, and jagged mountains and buttes in various shades of red, tan and brown in the distance. We planned to drive just under two hours to make our first stop at the Four Corners National Monument. We pulled up to see a large sign 'CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION.' More four-letter words ensued. Seriously? I checked the official site a few weeks earlier and no mention, but apparently I looked too early. As we stood gaping at the sign, another RV and three cars pulled up, with the very same reaction. Ok, at least it wasn't us. Not that the monument is a big thing to see, but it's not really a place on the way to anything that you'd happen to pass by! Sonnie decided to poop right in front of the gate which I thought was perfect, though, I did the good deed and bagged it. No, I didn't leave the bag there, though I thought it really stated perfectly what I was thinking.
We drove on to Mesa Verde driving through the cute little town of Cortez. The RV park we made a reservation at is 1/2 a mile from the Mesa Verde park. We pulled in and got settled. It's really cute and has some nice amenities. After dry camping for the last two days, I'm looking forward to a nice hot shower with water pressure! Ahh.. the simple things. I walked Sonnie around the back to the pond and he explored to his furry little heart's content. Have I mentioned just how happy he is? Smiling up a storm.
We grabbed a bite to eat then went to the Anasazi Heritage center. I have to say, I was really impressed with what a beautiful little museum of artifacts they have there, all ecavated from sights in the Canyons of the Ancients BLM land nearby. There were cases and cases of pottery, pottery sherds, bones, tools, baskets, etc. as well as a replica of a room where the native americans who inhabited the area might have lived. It exhibits life on the Great Sage Plain. There's also a trail behind the building leading up to the Escalante Pueblo ruin with a beautiful panoramic hilltop view of the surrounding areas overlooking the McPhee Reservoir and looking out on the Mesa Verde range, as well as many other mountains, some snow capped.
We watched the short movies offered, and headed to the Lowry Pueblo, a ruin around 30 minutes drive from the Heritage Center. It was amazing, though the woman at the Heritage Center warned us that they had put a 'roof' on top, which caused and uproar among the locals. Of course it was to preserve the ruin, however, it really looks awful! The pueblo is a 40 room structure (native american condos!) with eight kivas and a reconstructed Great Kiva. It was about the size of Wupatki near Flagstaff, for those who have seen that ruin, however the rock is a tan color and not the same vivid red. It was really a beautiful pueblo and there were diagrams of how it might have looked when it was inhabited. I believe I read it was inhabited for over 150 years.
There's over 6,000 archaeological sites in the Canyons of the Ancients, and three nearby pueblos. Hovenweep National Monument is on the other side of it, though I don't think we'll have time to see it. We headed back to the RV park where Sonnie let us know just how unhappy he was with being left alone. Neglected. I decided to do some laundry, we'll make some dinner, follow up on e-mail (I LOVE having internet when I travel!) and relax a bit.
Tomorrow we're going to explore Mesa Verde National Park, which should take a good bit of the day. I'm looking forward to seeing the ruins, enjoying the warmer weather (it should be in the low 70s and hiking a bit. Oh, and that nice long hot shower!!!
Cheers!
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