Fifth Day - Only Post

Mileage Today: 125
Total Mileage: 1503

We slept in this morning, had a late breakfast and spent the entire rest of the day at Mesa Verde. There's not much to be said ................. you have to see it to believe it. Although I took a quick spin through the park in 2006, I had no idea how many of these cliff dwelling are in the area. We must have seen a dozen today and I'm guessing we didn't even scratch the surface.

We took the guided tour of Cliff Palace, the largest of these cliff dwellings. We had a great tour guide and his explanations of these people, their way of life, and their fate made much more sense than the explanations I heard in 2006. Nowadays they seem much more willing to admit that they really don't know much about the cliff dwellers and likely never will.

The rest of the day we spent driving the canyon rim, looking at all the lessor, but just as fascinating dwellings nestled into the little pockets on the sides of the cliffs.

This photo shows one of the canyons in the background. The size of these canyons just won't be captured on film.

When we tried to reserve a room tonight in Durango, the Comfort Inn we booked for last night had only one room left - a King Suite. They made us a good deal and tonight we're really roughing it - separate lounge area, two large flat screen TVs, and of course, a king size bed. Life is tough.

Bright and early tomorrow morning we're heading for Pike's Peak.