RV-Junke's: 2012 West Coast Adventure, Day 10

Day 10 July 2nd, 2012:

Good evening / morning Gallop New Mexico

As you can see we are no longer at Mesa Verde…as I said yesterday today Michael and I ventured to do the other loop while Patty and Nicholas hung back at the MH. The ride to get to the “Long House” dwelling took 1 ¼ Hrs, and was extremely windy, narrow and HIGH, but Michael and I had a great time and it was wonderful to just hang with him…we BOTH missed Nicholas and Patty, and it felt weird not all being together, but in the end it was better. Patty would have freaked if she came, and Nicholas would have been BORED out of his skull! After the long ride we arrived at the Long House kiosk.

Once arriving we did a short walk to see one of the dwellings about ¼ mile away from the Kiosk…it was a small dwelling and we did not have the time to do the full walk, so the Ranger told us a vantage point so we didn’t have to walk the full ¾ mile.

It was 100 deg with no breeze and no shade. The location of the Kiosk is at the highest point on the West side, and in the middle of NOWHERE!

Once our 12:00 tour time started we boarded the tram and took a short 5 minute ride. We then walked ¾ of a mile and descended 300’…NOT EASY TERRAIN! Honestly, if this was ever privatized, it would be much easier…HA!

Truth be told, this NP is huge beautiful but OMG, they really put you in danger by not thinking things through…typical Govm’t run! Speaking of, I am a simple person, but still cannot resolve that, we killed all the Indians, drove them from their land, took their land as ours, then gave them a patch of land that is probably the most in-habitable place in the USA! When you see the landscape at Mesa Verde and Northern New Mexico, you would understand…nothing of substance could ever survive there! Ok, I’m off of my soap box…still can’t wrap my head around it, but I will get off now…

The Long House was definitely worth seeing, but getting down to it was tough, and coming up was 3x harder! At 8,000 feet elevation, and extremely steep climbs and in direct sun, not an easy task! But Michael and I were the 1st to get to the top! YEAH!! By the time we got to the top, our group of 50 was 20…30 still didn’t make it up yet.

After ANOTHER 1 ¼ hr drive back, we wrapped the MH up and headed to Gallop NM, about 150 miles away. We wanted to cut the trip to Meteor Crater in half so we could spend more time in the Petrified Forest tomorrow. The roads in NM are horrible and it was like a rollercoaster for at least 1 hr…The ride out of Colorado into NM, is very baron. Not my favorite. This is the same road we took 4 years ago and I had the same impression then. Tomorrow we head West in NM, so hopefully my opinion changes.

Today was long, but a very nice day, and the best part, uneventful…NOT! I had a fatality with one of my FAVORITE lenses, 70-200 f/2.8…this is a big lens, and while I was taking shots in the Long House, something failed within the lens that it now sounds like a Mariachi! I cried! Actually still crying…it has to be sent back to Nikon…I will be without it for WEEKS, and will not be able to take some pictures I would like to…big bummer, but as the say POOOOOOOOOOP! Lol…..

For now I say goodbye, and will speak to you on the next Blog.