Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

The high plateau of southwestern Colorado has given us a reprieve from the dry dusty conditions of Arizona and New Mexico. Blue skies have been following us for weeks now. Spring weather is warming the mountains just as it was heating the desert. From Taos, New Mexico we headed for the beautiful mountain town of Durango, Colorado with an overnight stop on Chama which really introduced us to our new terrain. We’ve finally left the dry, dusty deserts of Arizona and New Mexico and are traveling in the land of cows, horses, green pastures, babbling brooks and snow-capped distant mountains that accent the skyline. This is Colorado. Rivers and streams are gorged with snow melt. Birds and bugs are out in abundance. We are cleaning our windscreen after most driving days to clear the array of splotches and splats that collect there. Most amazing is the bright yellow splotches – usually larger than most. We’ve yet to identify what the bug might be before they enter their after-life on our windscreen. Entering Durango, we all commented that it is a lot like Washington State (but without the rain and low gray clouds). With a river running through the center of town, an historic old part of town complemented with more modern shops, a small population, access to great biking, rafting, skiing and hiking, nearby farm land, and a definite “outdoors living” feel, Durango has so much we like in a small town. It has even won Doug’s vote as the most livable small town we’ve visited so far on our journey. More amazing, our Seattle-loving Rose has commented that she "could live here" (high praise, indeed). We spent 3 nights with friends on their 10-acre farm just south of town and used the days to look around. A morning mountain bike ride to the nearby reservoir created an excellent home-school moment as we watched hundreds of Dragon Fly larvae crawling out of the lake. On this warm Spring morning they would still themselves on a rock, break out of their larvae shells, dry themselves in the sun, then fly off. It was great! On Mother’s Day we visited with new friends, Chris and Vicki, who once lived on the west coast and now called Durango home. With them we enjoyed an excellent barbecue and captivating conversation while the girls tried out badminton in the backyard. Vicki had recently returned to mountain biking as her main recreational pursuit and Chris was busy getting their 10-acre property north of town ready for organic fruit growing, having spent the last few years conditioning the soil. Both work as consultants in the energy efficiency space so there was a wide exchange of ideas. The night was capped with a visit to Chris’s “boys” room where we all tried out his collection of classic pin ball machines. Hungering for another hot springs experience, we spent a large part of Monday at “Trimble”, a hot springs and spa located just 7 miles north of town. With a heated outdoor Olympic size pool and two smaller (and hotter) pools set at the base of the hills, it was easy to spend the day paddling around and enjoying the surrounds. We imagined how much fun the place must be when it is snowing. Denise enjoyed a 1-hour massage as our Mothers Day gift to her and came back out to the pool as a smiling limp noodle to spend the rest of the afternoon with us swimming and soaking. Leaving Durango yesterday, we headed to Mesa Verde National Park (less than an hour away) and were surprised to find their campground closed. We opted to visit the park for a few hours, camp nearby and will return for a longer visit today. Last night we stayed in Cortez – about 9 miles east of Mesa Verde. We’ve been told that the very popular “Phil’s World” mountain bike trail is near Cortez so are planning to do a family ride in the next day or so. Cortez is another cute small town. There is an amazing city park just across the road that includes soccer fields, a skate park, swimming pools, courts and lots of open grassy space. We’re still discovering the town but like what we’ve seen so far. At Mesa Verde we squeezed in one guided tour and were thrilled to be climbing ladders once again to see thousand year old cliff dwellings. The real fun was crawling through a small entrance/exit tunnel created by the ancient Pueblo people as a means to protect their homes. This was followed by a steep cliff climb as we scaled our way back up to the car park. We have planned another Park Ranger guided tour today then will visit other parts of this huge park on our own using the self-guided tour books.