Bobbing
Swimming
Diving
Flying...er...Jumping
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
taking a dip
Once we got back from our trip it was back to the grindstone with some swimming lessons. The girls have been doing really well this time around and better yet...they're all actually enjoying it!!
Bobbing
Swimming
Diving
Flying...er...Jumping
Bobbing
Swimming
Diving
Flying...er...Jumping
Monday, June 21, 2010
Onward
The next morning we got up early to load up and drive to our next road trip stops--Four Corners followed by Sand Dunes.
Once we got to the Four Corners monument, it was closed for construction (all the signs along the way said it was open). You see, a few years back, they realized that the monument was not actually located where the four states meet so they're hard at work re-constructing the monument.
So all of you who visited there before this year should demand a refund!! Or try again next summer. Oh well...we got to see a couple miles of New Mexico (which looked remarkably like Colorado) and decided that being close to the four corners was close enough. So we turned around and aimed for the Great Sand Dunes.
Back over Wolf Creek Pass, we noticed quite a lot of bicycle riders. Then we noticed the "Ride the Rockies" official vans here and there. Let me just say, riding the Rockies on a bike over Wolf Creek Pass is not anywhere on my to-do list, although attempting not to hit any of them definitely is. That was quite a challenge since many of them seemed bent on swooping out into our lane. Yikes!! That answered my question from a few months ago when I tried to book a hotel room in Alamosa. All the rooms were taken by very brave (not the word I used to describe them as I drove by them) bikers.
Finally, the bikers turned down one street and we followed our route down another. After awhile, we spotted smoke on the mountains in the distance. "That seems close to the Sand Dunes" I said. Sure enough, as we got closer, we could see the misty tan dunes below the smoking mountain. We hoped that it was not so close that they closed the park...
...we would have stayed in Mesa Verde a couple more days if that was the case.
But once we got closer, the smoke had died down...or at least the wind had shifted and it didn't look too bad...and the park ended up being open. Whew!
I didn't take many pictures at the Sand Dunes. I could only imagine the havoc the blowing sand would reek on my camera. The girls were thrilled by the enormity of all that valley sand blown up against the mountain for so many years. It wasn't too hot (since we were there around 5:00) but it was oh so windy. The sand stung our legs as it blew and it is so fine, it's quite a challenge to hike on! But we did our best to hike and wade in the creek before we got too hungry for dinner.
View from our hotel room patio
Wait! Come Back, Girls!
We stopped in the hotel restaurant and then went right back to the dunes to see if our sled would work (it didn't). We had the place pretty much to ourselves and we were so happy the crowds had cleared until we realized that an entirely different crowd had gathered...about a bazillion mosquitos who only seemed challenged by our feeble attempts at bug spray. We couldn't get to our car fast enough, nor could we close our car doors fast enough to keep them from hitching a ride and biting us inside the car! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
Travel Tip #51...do not attempt to hike the Great Sand Dunes after 7:00.
You will be sorry...and then you will be itchy!!!
Anyway, we finally did make it back to the hotel for bed (and Caladryl lotion).
Next morning we were up and at it again. Luckily most of the bugs slept in--although I think we smushed most of them in our car.
That morning, we had it in our heads that we would hike to the top of the Dunes until someone told us it's 4 miles one way so we were happy to go about 1/16th of the way up instead. We got great views of our hotel off in the distance and the flames from the fire before our feet felt like they were on fire too and we scurried to the cool relief of Medano Creek and then on to Colorado Springs for our last night.
Woohoo! Sand Dunes are awesome!!
Once we got to the Four Corners monument, it was closed for construction (all the signs along the way said it was open). You see, a few years back, they realized that the monument was not actually located where the four states meet so they're hard at work re-constructing the monument.
So all of you who visited there before this year should demand a refund!! Or try again next summer. Oh well...we got to see a couple miles of New Mexico (which looked remarkably like Colorado) and decided that being close to the four corners was close enough. So we turned around and aimed for the Great Sand Dunes.
Back over Wolf Creek Pass, we noticed quite a lot of bicycle riders. Then we noticed the "Ride the Rockies" official vans here and there. Let me just say, riding the Rockies on a bike over Wolf Creek Pass is not anywhere on my to-do list, although attempting not to hit any of them definitely is. That was quite a challenge since many of them seemed bent on swooping out into our lane. Yikes!! That answered my question from a few months ago when I tried to book a hotel room in Alamosa. All the rooms were taken by very brave (not the word I used to describe them as I drove by them) bikers.
Finally, the bikers turned down one street and we followed our route down another. After awhile, we spotted smoke on the mountains in the distance. "That seems close to the Sand Dunes" I said. Sure enough, as we got closer, we could see the misty tan dunes below the smoking mountain. We hoped that it was not so close that they closed the park...
...we would have stayed in Mesa Verde a couple more days if that was the case.
But once we got closer, the smoke had died down...or at least the wind had shifted and it didn't look too bad...and the park ended up being open. Whew!
I didn't take many pictures at the Sand Dunes. I could only imagine the havoc the blowing sand would reek on my camera. The girls were thrilled by the enormity of all that valley sand blown up against the mountain for so many years. It wasn't too hot (since we were there around 5:00) but it was oh so windy. The sand stung our legs as it blew and it is so fine, it's quite a challenge to hike on! But we did our best to hike and wade in the creek before we got too hungry for dinner.
View from our hotel room patio
Wait! Come Back, Girls!
We stopped in the hotel restaurant and then went right back to the dunes to see if our sled would work (it didn't). We had the place pretty much to ourselves and we were so happy the crowds had cleared until we realized that an entirely different crowd had gathered...about a bazillion mosquitos who only seemed challenged by our feeble attempts at bug spray. We couldn't get to our car fast enough, nor could we close our car doors fast enough to keep them from hitching a ride and biting us inside the car! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
Travel Tip #51...do not attempt to hike the Great Sand Dunes after 7:00.
You will be sorry...and then you will be itchy!!!
Anyway, we finally did make it back to the hotel for bed (and Caladryl lotion).
Next morning we were up and at it again. Luckily most of the bugs slept in--although I think we smushed most of them in our car.
That morning, we had it in our heads that we would hike to the top of the Dunes until someone told us it's 4 miles one way so we were happy to go about 1/16th of the way up instead. We got great views of our hotel off in the distance and the flames from the fire before our feet felt like they were on fire too and we scurried to the cool relief of Medano Creek and then on to Colorado Springs for our last night.
Woohoo! Sand Dunes are awesome!!
Farewell Mesa Verde
Not wanting to miss a moment of daylight, we ate a quick dinner and then drove the Far View Loop again and stopped at all the pit houses and Pueblos tucked in along the way and even caught a surprise glimpse of Square Tower House tucked behind a canyon overlook we had seen the night before.
Square Tower House
We stayed out as long as we could before they closed the road at sunset. It was really hard to go back to our lodge and bid farewell to such an amazing place!
I hope you enjoyed this small glimpse into one of my new favorite places!
I know we did!
Square Tower House
We stayed out as long as we could before they closed the road at sunset. It was really hard to go back to our lodge and bid farewell to such an amazing place!
I hope you enjoyed this small glimpse into one of my new favorite places!
I know we did!
After a quick cat nap, we were ready to venture to the other side of Mesa Verde. The ranger at the station told us to allow 2 hours driving time from Cliff Palace to Long House on the other side of the park, but 45 minutes later, there we were. What to do, what to do? They had a covered pavilion/tram-stop with a small snack shop but we didn't feel like sitting there for an hour for our tour to start. So we checked the trail guide and decided to tackle the 45 minute hike to another self-guided site...Step House.
Along the way we saw quite a few lizards of a couple different varieties, German tourists taking photos of squirrels (no squirrels in Germany?) and some crazy birds called "Swifts" which swoop all over the place there--including right by our heads! Kept us on our toes!
Step House is a site with an older "Pit House" (AD 620) next to a later cliff dwelling (AD 1226). Nice to see they recycled locations and foundations...so environmentally friendly of them!
Those two read every...single...sign along the way!! They were our tour guides (once they caught up to the rest of us!)
Step House
Colorful little fella
We hiked back up to the tram-stop just in time for the 4:00 tram ride to Long House and a surprise greeting from a herd of wild horses (escaped from the nearby Ute Reservation). I think I had a touch of altitude sickness so I opted to stay behind to have some water, shade and snack. Stay tuned for pictures of Long House and the herd of wild horses on Emma's blog...she only took about 7,000 photos of them!
After a bit I was feeling better so I took a 'short' hike by myself to a group of sites called Badger House...more pithouses and kivas. The trail was a bit spooky as it meandered through the burnt out forest.
All those Harry Potter trees and the thought of mountain lions, wild horses and the spirits of ancient Puebloans lurking about made for an interesting hike. But I survived and made it back in time to meet back up with Bob and the girls who were brimming with details of their adventure.
Our tour was the last one of the day so we drove back to our lodge, stopping along the way to take in the sweeping vistas--you can see into forever!
Along the way we saw quite a few lizards of a couple different varieties, German tourists taking photos of squirrels (no squirrels in Germany?) and some crazy birds called "Swifts" which swoop all over the place there--including right by our heads! Kept us on our toes!
Step House is a site with an older "Pit House" (AD 620) next to a later cliff dwelling (AD 1226). Nice to see they recycled locations and foundations...so environmentally friendly of them!
Those two read every...single...sign along the way!! They were our tour guides (once they caught up to the rest of us!)
Step House
Colorful little fella
We hiked back up to the tram-stop just in time for the 4:00 tram ride to Long House and a surprise greeting from a herd of wild horses (escaped from the nearby Ute Reservation). I think I had a touch of altitude sickness so I opted to stay behind to have some water, shade and snack. Stay tuned for pictures of Long House and the herd of wild horses on Emma's blog...she only took about 7,000 photos of them!
After a bit I was feeling better so I took a 'short' hike by myself to a group of sites called Badger House...more pithouses and kivas. The trail was a bit spooky as it meandered through the burnt out forest.
All those Harry Potter trees and the thought of mountain lions, wild horses and the spirits of ancient Puebloans lurking about made for an interesting hike. But I survived and made it back in time to meet back up with Bob and the girls who were brimming with details of their adventure.
Our tour was the last one of the day so we drove back to our lodge, stopping along the way to take in the sweeping vistas--you can see into forever!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
next
We climbed up out of cliff palace (one set of skinny sandstone steps carved (by rangers) between two boulders, two wooden ladders and one metal ladder, to be precise)...all of us wishing our tour could have lasted a bit longer. Sigh.
But lunch and a short hike down the trail to Spruce Tree House pepped us up again.
From signs along the trail we learned which plants the Puebloans ate for which bodily ailment and which plants to avoid...poison ivy & juniper berries making the most lasting impression in our minds. We kept our eyes peeled for more snakes and tarantulas rumored to be in those parts. We saw neither of those but once we got to the ruin, we were able to climb a ladder down into a covered kiva to get a taste of ancient life.
Enter Ancient Kiva Here:
Inside
(the ancient Puebloans were not tall folks...the benches lining the walls behind the girls (found in all Kivas) were for the spirits of Puebloan anscestors who came for the ceremonies--a good way to keep the ghosts comfy and up and out of the way!)
Spruce Tree House is a self-guided tour so we were able to linger there a little longer before returning to our lodge for a little R&R & a quick drive to the other side of the park for an evening guided tour of the next sites on our list...Long House and Step House.
But lunch and a short hike down the trail to Spruce Tree House pepped us up again.
From signs along the trail we learned which plants the Puebloans ate for which bodily ailment and which plants to avoid...poison ivy & juniper berries making the most lasting impression in our minds. We kept our eyes peeled for more snakes and tarantulas rumored to be in those parts. We saw neither of those but once we got to the ruin, we were able to climb a ladder down into a covered kiva to get a taste of ancient life.
Enter Ancient Kiva Here:
Inside
(the ancient Puebloans were not tall folks...the benches lining the walls behind the girls (found in all Kivas) were for the spirits of Puebloan anscestors who came for the ceremonies--a good way to keep the ghosts comfy and up and out of the way!)
Spruce Tree House is a self-guided tour so we were able to linger there a little longer before returning to our lodge for a little R&R & a quick drive to the other side of the park for an evening guided tour of the next sites on our list...Long House and Step House.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Amazing
For the sake of not boring you (and not embarrassing myself), let's just assume that you know that I think that everything at Mesa Verde was AMAZING. I'm going to try not to describe everything as such...nor use any other word I might find for "amazing" on thesaurus.com. The cliff dwellings, the artifacts, the pit houses, the theories behind community placement, kiva design theory, and construction were all well...amazing. Mesa Verde is my kind of place and I was utterly and completely...amazed!
That being said, I'll continue the story of our adventure.
The next morning, we rose early to beat the crowds and the heat. We started the day by visiting the museum by Spruce Tree House where we watched a video about the history of the Puebloan people and their lives (in a nutshell). It was...never mind.
By the time that was over, it was time to head on over to Cliff Palace for our tour. A couple of the girls might have been more excited about climbing the ladders and hiking along thin sandstone ridges to get to the cliff than the actual ruin but that's ok by me!
(As a side note: we learned that when the park opened in 1910, there were 250 guests/year. Just to give you some reference as to the crowds, there were 57 people in our 9:30 tour group alone and they run tours all day, every day!)
Anyway, we got to get up close and personal with the outside of Cliff Palace which is probably the most famous cliff dwelling and is shown in all the post cards or ads for Mesa Verde...and for good reason.
Julia learning how they ground corn
Emma looking through a door (supposedly there were no windows--only doors on all these structures...I'm not sure I buy that but who am I to argue?!)
Ceremonial Kiva--fresh air would come down into the covered kiva through the square opening (and vent/duct no longer there). It would then be diverted left and right by the upright rectangular slab so the fire in the fire pit (round hole) would not be extinguished.
Those are the original wooden beams (and 4 stories high)
That being said, I'll continue the story of our adventure.
The next morning, we rose early to beat the crowds and the heat. We started the day by visiting the museum by Spruce Tree House where we watched a video about the history of the Puebloan people and their lives (in a nutshell). It was...never mind.
By the time that was over, it was time to head on over to Cliff Palace for our tour. A couple of the girls might have been more excited about climbing the ladders and hiking along thin sandstone ridges to get to the cliff than the actual ruin but that's ok by me!
(As a side note: we learned that when the park opened in 1910, there were 250 guests/year. Just to give you some reference as to the crowds, there were 57 people in our 9:30 tour group alone and they run tours all day, every day!)
Anyway, we got to get up close and personal with the outside of Cliff Palace which is probably the most famous cliff dwelling and is shown in all the post cards or ads for Mesa Verde...and for good reason.
Julia learning how they ground corn
Emma looking through a door (supposedly there were no windows--only doors on all these structures...I'm not sure I buy that but who am I to argue?!)
Ceremonial Kiva--fresh air would come down into the covered kiva through the square opening (and vent/duct no longer there). It would then be diverted left and right by the upright rectangular slab so the fire in the fire pit (round hole) would not be extinguished.
Those are the original wooden beams (and 4 stories high)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Purple Mountain Majesties
Here is the start of our latest Great American Road Trip--our Mesa Verde/Great Sand Dunes Adventure!!
It all began with a long...(very long) drive...6 1/2 hours to be precise! As usual, the girls entertained themselves beautifully while I talked myself out of jumping out of the car window around hour #4. I'm not great with long car rides and we figured out that my sanity limit is right around that mark--which is great for planning our next trip!
On the bright side, we got to see lots of cities and towns we've only seen on the evening news weather maps...Del Norte, Pagosa Springs, Cortez, Durango and the famous Wolf Creek Pass, until finally we saw the sign we'd all been waiting for..."Welcome to Mesa Verde National Park!" We immediately checked into our lodge, dropped off our stuff and headed out to explore!
Our first stop was the Spruce Tree House overlook. It was after 5:00 so the trail leading down to it was closed but it's almost more impressive from across the canyon--we got a birds' eye view along with all the turkey vultures circling overhead.
(1200 AD)
As we walked back to our car, we were greeted by a couple of gopher snakes lazily slithering by...quite a shocking surprise for the girls!
Then we drove a bit to visit another group of sites--remnants of a village dating from 1000 AD. We saw the amazing sandstone reservoir they made for collecting water for their crops, kivas for worship and ceremonies, and apartment-like dwellings--complete with pottery shards still visible around the grounds.
Below-ground Kiva--part of every Puebloan dwelling/community
Pottery shard (yes, still there and not currently in my pocket)
Julia loved the carving on this brick
We beat the sunset with a view of the next morning's coming attraction--a tour of the majestic Cliff Palace...
It all began with a long...(very long) drive...6 1/2 hours to be precise! As usual, the girls entertained themselves beautifully while I talked myself out of jumping out of the car window around hour #4. I'm not great with long car rides and we figured out that my sanity limit is right around that mark--which is great for planning our next trip!
On the bright side, we got to see lots of cities and towns we've only seen on the evening news weather maps...Del Norte, Pagosa Springs, Cortez, Durango and the famous Wolf Creek Pass, until finally we saw the sign we'd all been waiting for..."Welcome to Mesa Verde National Park!" We immediately checked into our lodge, dropped off our stuff and headed out to explore!
Our first stop was the Spruce Tree House overlook. It was after 5:00 so the trail leading down to it was closed but it's almost more impressive from across the canyon--we got a birds' eye view along with all the turkey vultures circling overhead.
(1200 AD)
As we walked back to our car, we were greeted by a couple of gopher snakes lazily slithering by...quite a shocking surprise for the girls!
Then we drove a bit to visit another group of sites--remnants of a village dating from 1000 AD. We saw the amazing sandstone reservoir they made for collecting water for their crops, kivas for worship and ceremonies, and apartment-like dwellings--complete with pottery shards still visible around the grounds.
Below-ground Kiva--part of every Puebloan dwelling/community
Pottery shard (yes, still there and not currently in my pocket)
Julia loved the carving on this brick
We beat the sunset with a view of the next morning's coming attraction--a tour of the majestic Cliff Palace...
Cliff Palace
Since the park rangers frown on people scratching "we were here" on the Mesa Verde ruin walls (Cliff Palace in this case), I thought posting a photo online would be just as effective! We were there!!
More photos to follow...stay tuned!
More photos to follow...stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
birthday hike
Bob didn't get around to golfing on his birthday today so he decided a nice family hike would be a good substitute birthday celebration.
So we loaded up the car, picked up Karen along the way, and headed up to Genesee...our favorite easy kid/dog hike. We made it to the top and back and then down and back up another trail, had our juice bags and granola bars, watched some deer spooked by Sara's loud panting (and children's busy chatter), collected a few pine cones and finished up the trip with a yummy Quizno's lunch (kids eat free!!)
Woohoo! Happy Birthday to Bob!
So we loaded up the car, picked up Karen along the way, and headed up to Genesee...our favorite easy kid/dog hike. We made it to the top and back and then down and back up another trail, had our juice bags and granola bars, watched some deer spooked by Sara's loud panting (and children's busy chatter), collected a few pine cones and finished up the trip with a yummy Quizno's lunch (kids eat free!!)
Woohoo! Happy Birthday to Bob!
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