Our Retirement Trip

We arrived at Mesa Verde National Park on September 29.  It was nice to learn more of the history then we did during our one day stop many years ago as we were driving a car across the country to Benjamin in Los Angeles.  The mesa was home to indigenous people from as early as the 700’s to the 1200’s.  The cliff dwellings represent the last 100 years of that time period and it was interesting to see how their lives and architecture evolved over that full time.   On to the photos. The sculpture at the entrance to the visitor center Spruce Tree House - named for a large spruce that blocked the view of the cliff dwelling and was cut down.  The tree was not nearly as old as the cliff dwelling and it turned out to be a Douglas Fir. Square Tower House Cliff Palace Balcony House Fair View Communities - These are pueblos that were constructed on top of the mesa prior to the time that they moved down into the cliff dwellings. We did take a day off from Mesa Verde to...

Canyonlands National Park is divided into three sections by the Colorado and Green Rivers.  The Islands of the Sky District is north of the Colorado and the Green and is the highest part of the park.  The canyons carved by the Colorado and the Green are immense and deep.  The part of the park east and south of the Colorado is the Needles District which is where we are as I write this blog.  The remaining section west of the Colorado and south of the Green is called The Maze and is completely remote; nothing but trails and four wheel drive roads. Dead Horse Point State Park is just north of the Islands in the Sky District and is situated on an extremely tall butte above the Colorado. This was not my favorite stop.  The canyons are so tall and so wide and you’re basically at the top.  My favorite part of this stop was our drive down Long Canyon Road, our hike to Corona Arch and our drive down Schafer Trail to Thelma and Louise Point above the Colorado River. ...