Friends,
Today has been awesome-and HOT! It’s 113 degrees outside
right now!
After staying the night at the First Inn in Pagosa Springs,
we woke at 6:15 a.m. to get an early start. Well, I woke up at 5:55 a.m.
naturally because I get overly excited to start days where I know we’ll be hiking
or city exploring. Although I was feeling ambitious, this Inn did not share the
sentiment, and waited until 7:00 a.m. to offer coffee and breakfast. There’s no going anywhere without a cup or two of coffee. It turned out though that by the time we moved all our stuff to the car and filled our
water bottles a woman arrived to prepare breakfast. Before her arrival,
however, a gentleman with a “country” accent (I can’t distinguish between
accents, sorry) grabbed the coffee pot confidently, like he owned the place
really, poured the old, cold coffee into a cup and walked out, only to return
and retell his close call with old, cold coffee to the attendant. It was
chuckle worthy-mostly because I didn’t stop him.
After coffee, we headed to Mesa Verde National Park, but as
usual, we were distracted. (Denver was actually a bit of a spontaneous stop).
Last night when we stopped at Pagosa Springs it was pitch black and freezing. We
didn’t even consider those Colorado Springs! So we stopped at the San Juan
Springs, and they were awesome! Minus the rotten egg smell (sulfur, right?),
they were really neat. As you’ll see below, I attempted to get into one but
it was far too hot. We also came across a chipmunk like creature that was
pretty cute :D Check out the rocks in the area! Hot springs are rock-altering!
Look- an American Magpie!
Upon arriving, we stopped at the Visitors Center, stamped
our Passport to National Parks, and received directions from a lovely woman who
calls herself "Mama Jo." The drive just to get into the park is about 21 miles
one-way. The road was winding, and unpredictable so we drove at a slow to
moderate pace. Here are some of our photos from the drive in!
Now, I’m going to stop right here and address Michelle. We
have not had ANY issues with her since that first elevation in the Rockies. We
go slowly up the hill, and she never goes above her usual internal temperature.
I hope this quells some of your fears.
After arriving at the Mesa Verde Museum, which we explored
briefly, we headed over to the Spruce Tree. The pueblos below were built
between 500 and 1000 A.D. by the Indians, referred to as the Mesa Verde
inhabitants in the Museum (extremely, precise, I know). The switch from
migrating for food to agriculture marked the beginning of the Developmental
Pueblo Period (such intuitive titles). The park and historic site are named
“Mesa Verde,” meaning green table, but geologically the site is actually a
cuesta. Check out the pictures of the pueblos! Note, cave-like pictures are of
the room built underground!
After visiting Spruce Tree, we took a hike on Petroglyph
Trail. According to the Museum, “petroglyphs are the most common form of rock
art[;] images are pecked or engraved on natural rock surfaces using
peckingstones, abraders, gravers, drills, and chisel-like tools.” You can see the
petroglyphs in our pictures. I loved this hike. There were a lot of narrow,
winding stone steps, but the view was incredible the whole way through. The
rocks were so chaotically distributed it was sort of amazing. However, it is
not a hike I would suggest to anyone with a strong fear of heights-you are
hiking at a high elevation the whole way!
We found a little cave!
On our way to the Grand Canyon we passed through Monument
Valley. See the pics!
Baby Rocks!
After Mesa Verde, we drove to the Four Corners Historic
Site. The Four Corners consist of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah! Four
states at once, yahoo!
The Four Corners stop was brief, and we headed to the Grand
Canyon, just three hours out.
So, I wrote the above on the way to the Grand Canyon. My,
oh, my the adventure we had once we got there!
We arrived at a beautiful hour to be at the Grand Canyon,
thirty minutes before sunset. We went to Lipton Point, Grand View, and a few
other scenic overlooks. Check out the awesome pictures! Look at that
sedimentation!
Our Hotel!
We enjoyed the beautiful sunset, and saw desert stars!
Taylor and I planned on staying just outside of the Grand
Canyon, as there are many hotels there. We took our time and remained in the park after dark at one of
the stops to appreciate the night sky at the Grand Canyon. It was so beautiful
I can’t even explain. If you get the chance, go there and stay after dark! I am
definitely returning to camp there over night as there are many campgrounds and a
bustling camp community.
Around 9 p.m. Arizona time- which is three hours behind Connecticut
and one hour behind Colorado and the neighboring states-because Arizona doesn’t
recognize daylight savings time-we headed into town to book a hotel room.
Well, friends, they were all full and the next town over was 54 miles in the
opposite direction of where we needed to go in the morning. What did we do? We
decided to drive 26 miles all the way back through the park, plus the extra
miles to get to Tuba City, Arizona (11 miles distant from our drive tomorrow,
but better than 54), sum totaling 80 miles. We had to pay for an expensive
hotel because there isn’t anything remotely cheap in this area, unfortunately.
It was a bit of a downer to be honest, but it is what it is.
Well, as we were traveling back, Taylor and I were sharing
stories and bonding to pass the time and to stay awake. Still in the park and
trying to save time, we were traveling around 60-65 mph.
Everything was kosher so far. We didn’t hold onto the stress
of our plans going awry, and we had some really great conversations.
And then... a ginormous elk casually walked into the middle of the
road and I almost drove us off a cliff.
No really, you can’t make this stuff up. IT WAS HUGE!
Thankfully he took one look at my car and turned back
instead of continuing forward. He was bigger than my car, humongous antlers and
all.
Just crazy. All my muscles tensed and I felt epinephrine
through my veins like I never felt before. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve
produced any insulin since.
The roads wind so much and are directly adjacent to cliff
edges. If you ever travel there, remember: don’t ever turn right; hit that
oncoming car before you fly off that cliff.
Anyway, it was traumatic but I learned quickly to drive more
slowly through the Grand Canyon area.
That’s all for now!
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