Wild Weekend

We had a totally fun, crazy and exciting weekend. We headed out to Durango to enjoy Day Out with Thomas. While in Durango we also enjoyed the car show that was in town. We spent our first day at Mesa Verde, camped over night and enjoyed a second day at Mesa Verde.

When we first arrived at Mesa Verde we decided that there was so much to do there that we would spend two days there which actually added up to about one full day at the park.

Mesa Verde Day 2

Step House

Another self-guided tour. We were able to see most of the dwelling from the beginning our our little hike. David liked tormenting all the lizards we saw along the way. The picture with the haphazard looking rocks aren't haphazard at all, those rocks from the steps that were used and gave Step House it's name. David liked that we got to climb up a little ladder.

Mesa Top Loop Road

This driving tour, with periodic little walks, allowed us to see how Anacazi living went from a Pithouse to a Pueblo. We learned that they first lived in the alcoves as a storage area, and then a living area, then they moved on top of the mesa and then back into the alcoves. We were able to see some ruins from across the canyon. We were able to see Square Tower House, Sites One, Two & Three (which is three different pueblo communities built on top of each other), Sun Temple, Fire Temple, New Fire House, Oak Tree House, and Cliff Palace (last picture). There were a couple more that we saw but I don't remember their names. This was a great tour and allowed us to see Cliff Palace even though we couldn't take the tour (too rough for David to do).

Camping

Instead of heading back to Durango to stay in a hotel. We decided to camp for the night. We stayed at a campsite between Mancos and Durango. The site was great! There weren't very many people there and we were able to find a site that was more secluded from the rest. When we were going to bed we could hear the elk bugling. The elk and birds were the first thing we were when we woke up. This was a nice trial run for our big camping trip next month. David really loved helping to get the fire going!

Mesa Verde Day 1

Spruce Tree House

This was a self-guided tour. Spruce Tree House is unique in that 90% of the house is original, there was a little that had to be restored because a whole part of the front wall had fallen in. We were able to get a family picture of all of us at Spruce Tree House. We were awe-inspired by the ingenuity of the building. We also got to experience how effective the alcove was at protecting from rain. There was a little rainstorm while we were there and as long as we stayed close to the ruins we stayed dry. David did get a little upset because we didn't take the ladder down into one of the kivas, but we had a great time anyway.

Park Point

This is the highest point in the park. We were able to have an unobstructed 360 degree view. We could see points in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and of course Colorado. We thought it was a pretty nice view and enjoyed it a lot!

Durango Car Show

While in Durango for Day Out with Thomas we also found out that there was a car show being held. We saw lots of old cars and I have to say the the trucks were some of my favorites.

After enjoying the cars we headed out to our adventures at Mesa Verde, we word David out, he fell asleep and slept a good part of the way to Mesa Verde.

Day Out with Thomas

Saturday, June 20th we went to Durango, Colorado to enjoy a Day Out with Thomas. David was so excited to go see Thomas, he had started asking to see Thomas a couple of months ago and has proceeded to ask every weekend if it was when we would ride Thomas. It's just a short little ride but David loves it!

This year we were really excited because he wanted to participate in more activities than he had last year.

So Far Behind!

Yes, I know it's been a while since I blogged. I was a slacker last week in getting things done. Have no fear for this week will not yield the same results!

This is my son being crazy, ornery, and a climbing monkey! Dustin wanted to be able to photograph the craziness of our child. David climbed on top of our clothes line all by himself. This is a pretty regular occurrence around here, it has gotten better with the purchase of his new bike.

We went up to Greeley to help our friends the Sunvisons celebrate Haven's first birthday on June 13th. The kids had a great time at the splash park for the little while we got to spend there.