RV-Junke's: 2012 West Coast Adventure, Day 9

Day 9 July 1st, 2012:

Good evening / morning once again from Mesa Verde, Colorado!

This morning we actually ALL slept in…those that know me, know I wake up very early every morning, and very rarely sleep in…today I woke up at 9:00am…felt weird, but great. Due to the late start, we had a late start to Mesa NP (now there’s a captain obvious statement…LOL (Andrew, I think that’s the 1st one this year!)). The great news is Nicholas was feeling better, and the over the counter stuff seems to be working, so he braved the pain and joined us for fun in the sun driving through the park.

WOW, this NP park is HUGE…There are 2 paths and to do both takes 2 day, so today we did the left (East side) driving into the park, and visited several dwellings, both self guided, and then we did 2 tours. The 1st Balcony House was challenging to say the least. You walk down over 100’, then you climb up a ladder 35’, but you are around 2,000 feet in the air…very cool, scary, and daunting! We all made it, even Patty who is SO sick of all this extreme adventure stuff, she wants a beach the ocean and a cold drink, instead she has extreme sports, heights, heat, and plain old hair raising stuff! The 2nd called Cliff House, was a LONG winded tour of facts, which in most cases is not bad, but in 100 Deg heat standing in the sun…not so good. The highlight of the educational portion was when the ranger used the word “Poop”…needless to say, the kid came out of me, and I started laughing which then started Nicholas, then Michael, and OMG, at least half the group. Ok, we were all punchy from the heat, but laughed, and made Poop references for at least 15 minutes…very immature, but it felt great to be a kid again!!!!!

So PooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooP!!!!!!! :-)

Both tours yielded an appreciation for how the culture had lived, and the sheer courage to live on the side of a cliff. Simply amazing!

After the tour, we headed back home (it was an 8 hour day just to do the one side)…and were once again treated to a spectacular sunset. The most awesome site of the night was the absence of the fire! It appears they contained it today, and it was the 1st day since early June that the area was not engulfed in flames…THANK GOD for all the residence, and those that have displaced. It looks as though their nightmare is over!

Tomorrow, is back to work in the am., and then Michael and I, I think Nicholas and Patty will stay back, will hit the right side, which is more driving than sites, so we should be done in 4hrs., which after that we want to cut the next leg drive in half so we will push out tomorrow most likely to drive 150 miles or so, so I don’t have another 350 mile day….We are 2,235 miles into a 7,500 miles trip and are enjoying the sites and each other’s company more than anything I can write…it feels great to be with the family like this again…it has been a very hard year, and it is awesome to get grounded with them all, and do some laughing….

There are a TON of photos in this blog, and there are a TON that did not make it…it was a photographic candy store. Michael took MANY of these in the blog, and is really starting to learn his way around a camera!

Until the next blog…have a Blessed Day!

The drive in.....

I swear this is almost a big as the Grand Canyon...VAST!

IRON MAN NICK...with his Chest Cam!

35 foot ladder, leading to the Balcony House...OSHA who!

Just amazing...so high!

Literally 2 feet away from a 2,000 foot drop...we all look calm right?

The kids LOVED the Brave Little Toaster when they were little...this was too funny to see!

You think it is easy to get these photos.....

The next great photographer!

VARIOUS DWELLINGS AROUND THE PARK....

Looking down at the Cliff House...

we needed to traverse the side of the mountain to get down to this...the 35' ladder was easier!

Doesn't this look like a carved rock? It isn't BTW... As you come down the side of the mountain you can clearly see this...but no where else does it resemble anything.