Our motel in Mexican Hat did not provide breakfast and we didn’t see any place in this little town where we wanted to eat after last night’s dinner. So we checked out and drove the 20 miles to the little town of Bluff which did have a nice place to stop for breakfast – Twin Rocks Café. After a large breakfast (you don’t know what’s in store in these remote places) we headed south on highway 191 into Arizona where we picked up highway 160 east to Four Corners Monument where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona share a common corner. We did the tourist photos with feet in each state (well two for Rita and two for me) then headed on.
We passed through Cortez and headed into the Mesa Verde National Park. First we drove to the Park Point Overlook which, at the top of the hill, is the highest point in the park at 8,572 feet. At the top is a famous fire lookout tower with views 360 degrees for nearly a hundred miles. We continued to Far View Terrace and a small lunch. After lunch we headed further into the park to see the Spruce Tree House, the best preserved cliff dwelling in the park and easiest to approach by a steep trail. Rita and I both hiked to the cliff dwelling and we climbed down the wood ladder into one of the kivas. It was very interesting and an important history lesson on what today are called the Ancestral Puebloans.
We plan to return to Mesa Verde but for now it was time to head on to the town of Durango and our historic, haunted, and nice Hotel Strater. We checked in and waited for our friends, Keith and Mary Kay Jones, to arrive. After they arrived we first had drinks in the hotel’s Diamond Belle Saloon then walked the historic Main Street and had a nice dinner at one of the many restaurants.
No comments:
Post a Comment