Day 6  Mesa Verde National Park

After watching our home church service via the Internet (thanks Drew!)and seeing a few glimpses our our precious Mia, we spent the afternoon in Mesa Verde National Park.  This was simply fascinating!

Around 900 AD, Anasazi Indians came to this area, followed by other tribes around 1200 AD who were later known as Ancestral Puebloans. These Indians built communities into the sides of the canyon walls underneath cliffs by shaping blocks of sandstone which they used to build walls.  The rooms are quite architecturally creative and beautiful to look at.

We were able to see 3 major communities, and Steve actually hiked down to one that is accessible to visitors.  (Another site is accessible only by ladders down the canyon wall!)

The park is huge, with many interesting sites of excavations, a museum, lodge, and restaurants.  We took a driving tour around the top of the mesa, which presented good photo ops!  Haven't seen the pictures yet - hope you are able to get a good idea of how spectacular these communities really are.

Weather today - a beautiful 69 degrees!

Tomorrow, we head into Utah to Zion National Park.  I keep wondering if we will get tired of the National Parks, but so far they have been so diverse, it has been a gift to be able to enjoy God's creation so up close and personal!

And I have a most wonderful traveling companion.  I chuckled to myself the other day, thinking about how compatible we are after 30 years!  We just love being together.  (Good thing!)

Until tomorrow, if the motel has wireless!