Mesa Verde to Page ARIZONA.

Track - Intro. The XX

"Well me don't swim too tough, so me don't go in the water too deep." Bob Marley.

Day 71.

 Left early again and enjoyed more spectacular views as daylight broke in the mountains. Arrived at Mesa Verde by 8am. The brand new welcome centre was located at the foot of the mountain and we bought tickets for the tours. It was then another hours steep drive up into the national park where the cliff dwellings were located.

Amazingly, about 1400 yrs ago, the ancestral puebloans had built elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of canyon walls. They were discovered by some cow ranchers looking for lost stock in the 1800s and they were estimated to have been vacant for 500 yrs. Our tour was great and really interesting.

It was also quite challenging as it involved four 10ft ladders and steep descents with both boys in tow and temperatures of 37 degrees. More puffing and panting but it was definately worth the effort.

We had a picnic lunch and a look around the museum and then watched dylan take his oath as a junior ranger, very moving.

We were completely and utterly over driving by the time we reached our stop off for the night in Bluff. The scenary was spectacular and we ate out at the local cafe to celebrate and as we were exhausted and couldn't be bothered to cook. Again we hit the hay nice and early.







  Day 72.

 We awoke feeling very refreshed and pottered about in the RV park for a couple of hours. We left Bluff all set up, briefly in the wrong direction, but eventually on route for Monument Valley.  It did not disappoint. The towering columns of sandstones were scattered across the horizon in all shapes and sizes including one called the Mexican Hat.

We seemed to cross in and out of Utah and Arizona several times before we arrived in Page, our stop off for the night. We enjoyed an afternoon in the indoor pool and hot tub.

Dylan was very pleased with himself as he did his first full width of the pool. We had a connection for a while but it completely disappeared by the time evening came and so our planned internet-based-research session was cancelled. Once again we opted for our blind-venturing-into-the-unknown-technique. Had a nice mexican meal in the RV.