Travelouge: Mesa Verde

Last weekend, my husband and I took our last extended road trip of the season down to Mesa Verde, Colorado.

For those of you who were as confused as I was by the name, you can compare the picture of a green mesa with previous posts of trips to see red rock national  parks.  I LOVE red mesas.  I think the rock is SO beautiful in it's bright red shades.  I learned on this trip it's just as worth it to see a beautiful green mesa as it is to see a red one. 

I had never heard of Mesa Verde before Dale came home with the sales pitch for this trip.  Apparently, the location has ruins which were inhabited between 600-1300AD.  IN THE UNITED STATES!!  I've always been aware of the Mayan ruins down in Mexico, but I never knew that America had architectural history pre-dating the colonies!  When I think of native americans, I usually think of tipis.  Period.  The natural history museum around here has representations of native american homes made out of mamoth bones, but even so, they didn't seem built to last the centuries. 

Mesa Verde native americans made cliff dwellings, cities built from stone and mortar in coves hollowed out by the wind.  I LOVED it.  About 100 people would have lived in the little city you see behind us.

Our great college friends, the Harpers, came with us.  With them there, we laughed constantly.  They traveled up from Albuquerque, and we traveled down from Salt Lake City, almost 1/2 way for both of us!

We stayed in the lodge inside of the National Park.  A great decision on Dale's part, as the views were superb.  Apparently the whole park is set on the top of a huge green mesa, with the sea level ground looking like huge canyons benieth us.  True to Harper Hangout tradition, we grilled brats in a george foreman grill, brought rice crispie treat snacks, fudge, and veggies on Friday night, and made waffles and bacon for Saturday morning breakfast...all in our rented lodge room.  Score for us for being creative, planning ahead, and having a feast even when we don't have a kitchen!

On one of the tours, the park ranger used Dale and I as his object lesson for about an hour as he taught about what family life was like in one of these cities.  Apparently I would have been married at 12 years old, had as many children as possible, immediately, with an infant mortality rate of 50%, and died of child birth, osteoporosis, and mineral poisoning by age 25.  A full life already ended last year for me. eek!
All in all, a great weekend trip for all those fellow explorers out there!  I highly recommend it.