Day 46 - Mesa Verde road

What a day!  We planned to go to Mesa Verde National Park as they did in the first National Park-to-Park Highway Tour in the 1920's, but we also planned to go to Hovenweep National Monument.  Big MISTAKE!

After breakfast we decided we'd go to Hovenweep first.  GPS said Cortez, NM and that's where we were so we headed that way.  It sent us down some roads that looked like someones driveway!  It told us we were there...nothing there but some guys putting in a waterline.

OK, backtrack to town and Highway 160.  There is the sign for Hovenweep, so we turn out the road.  And we go and we go and we go.  I asked the GPS again for directions.  Now it tells me it's 88 miles away and in Utah!  No, it can't be.  Yes, it is.  We found out later that it really is in Utah, but has a Cortez, CO address.  About 40 minutes into this trip, we turned around.  There was no signage to tell you how far it is to the monument.  We passed.

We did find another National Monument on this road, though, and it wasn't on my list of National Monuments.  It's called Canyon of the Ancients.  A lot of it is closed right now for reconstruction, but it looked like a great place to hike--when it's cooler.

About this time I noticed a "portable outhouse" and had a need to go.  Here's the name of the company:

Just toooo funny at the moment!

We get back into Cortez and make the obligatory stop at WalMart.  It's almost lunch time, and although we're tired of chicken, what did I pickup for lunch?  Chicken.

Back to the RV before Mesa Verde and David has fun with his lunch!

At least it was a whole wheat tortilla!

Mesa Verde!

As in most of the National Parks this summer, they, too, have road construction going on.  Going up the mountain, there is one section of the road that is paved and the other side is gravel and dirt.  One of the lanes is closed and they have a pilot car to take the vehicles on the one lane open. 

On our stop up the hill, we met Taleah.  She's a charming young woman working the Stop/Slow sign.  We asked her if she'd like a bottle of water and we were rewarded with her beautiful smile.  She's recovering from a fall in a house where she fell through the fall.  She's almost 100%!

Here's what the construction looks like in most parks:

Lovely, huh!  I know it needs fixing and they're getting federal funds, but it's discouraging to the visitors.  We decided to go as far as the fire station lookout and go back down.  We could see gathering clouds on the horizon.

We drove on to the pullout.  Here's David and Chrissy.  Note the elevation!

We also found beautiful wildflowers here! And lots of interesting trees!

Indian Paintbrush

Lupine

More lupine! The brown part of a building is the rest area here.  I hate to admit it, but a bit of poetry came to me:

"When lupine last by the outhouse bloom'd"

With apologies to Walt Whitman.

Orange flower?

OK, enough photos and I didn't put them all in!  Back down the mountain!

That road is the one we climbed up.  We decided not to go to the cliff ruins.  Just too far and late in the day to try and make it down the mountain before the rain hit.  But wait...one more picture.  That is looking toward Durango, CO.

We make it down safely and head back to Cortez and the KOA.  It's a beautiful campground.  It's also where we met Kim and Jeff Barnett of Kansas City.  They were camping in a pop-up with their two beautiful children.  Jeff works for Garmin and I got to see my next Christmas Present.  It's a Garmin Nuvi 1370 (I think that's it).  It shows the terrain in 3D.  That is something I've been interested in for some time.  It would have been very helpful.  We really enjoyed meeting them! 

Most of you know I have a really warped sense of humor.  Here's the welcome sign to Cortez:

 It's just outside the Cortez Cemetery.

What's on the other side of the sign?

It faces the cemetery!  It just struck me as terribly funny!

Tomorrow we're off to Albuquerque, NM!

See ya down the road!

Jenny :)