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)