Top of the World! - A Guest Blog by Annette

Mesa Verde, the green tabletop in the Ute Mountain Range of southern Colorado.Arriving here made one feel as if they were "on top of the world looking down on creation", so to speak. We entered from Arizona (after visiting the Grand Canyon) and dropped down several hundred feet of elevation as we crossed the painted desert, through the towns of Tuba City and Cortez, before we started up. An interesting detail of this ride involved time. The Navajo reserve was on one side of the hwy and the Hopi on the other side. One nation was on standard time and the other on daylight saving time. As a result, two clocks in every store!!! Then we found out later that they have no love for each other.

We went up to 7,000 feet on long switch backs and hairpin corners to reach our camp in the national forest. Mesas are like your outstretched hand. Each finger is a mesa with deep, deep valleys in between. As a result to get from one Mesa to the next one you have to travel back along the one you are on.

The reason to come here is to see the cliff dwellings, (fore runners of our condos) where the ancestral Pueblo people lived in the 800 and 900``s. And in order to see the best ones we needed tickets. By 8am we were at the line up gate and were fortunate to get our choice. The day involved a tour of a cliff village. These villages are built under overhangs, on rocks that provide a great deal of shelter. Along with seeing their rooms, plazas, and work areas, we were able to descend into a ``kiva``, the ceremonial room of the people. To get into the kiva one goes through a narrow hole onto a ladder and down about 20 ft. to look at a small round room where they sit and pray. I just pretended that it was the St. Catherines Cathedral and said a prayer for all of you. My Sunday service!!

The museum provided many samples of the pottery and crafts that these people made. Multiple dioramas showed their life style. They were farmers and had for years lived on top of the mesa but for some unknown reason decided to move. During the course of our visit here we were able to see three different cliff dwellings, each with their own beauty and challenging route to get there.

If this is not a good enough reason to visit this area, then the night sky should do it for you. Because of the limited population in this area, there are very few lights at night and the stars are totally startling in their clarity. The big dipper was always right over our heads, and as a result Len has figured on rain for the last week!! Not.

Before closing I must comment on my good fortune in being here, a trip I always wanted to make. When Shawn and Tammy said they were coming I invited myself along without any real plan to do so. That changed when Noreen told me she and Len were joining them and that I would be welcome to share their castle. So, here I am on one of the most exciting and enjoyable trips I have ever taken.

Thanks everyone.

Annette