Colorado Day #4

Day four was what I had been waiting for:  A visit to Durango, the Four Corners and Mesa Verde National Park where the Indian Cliff Dwellings were.  I was so pumped about the Four Corners, I could hardly wait.  First, we stopped in Durango and watched them load the train that runs from Durango to Silverton twice a day with lots of people.  We decided not to do it because it was a six-hour roundtrip ordeal.  We had already spent three hours with the Pikes Peak cog, so we passed.  It was neat to watch it though.  We did a little shopping at the old downtown and bought some treasures.  We continued on with our trek with plans to return to Durango for supper.

We drove through some pretty pitiful areas.  And by pitiful, I mean they looked depressed and poor.  I kept telling Jay that I expected Cousin Eddie to pop up any minute.  I know that sounds harsh, but we went through several miles of nothing, and then there would be some trailers and some junk.  Their yards were a mess.  It's so different than Illinois.  Probably one of the things that gets me the most is the lawn/yard.  Here everyone mows their yard and manicures it to perfection.  Out there, not even close.  I suppose maybe it is silly that we spend so much time on ours.  They're probably thankful if they have enough moisture to have grass so they don't trim it!

We went through an Indian reservation area and of course, there was a casino out in the middle of nowhere.  Finally, the Four Corners was up ahead.  I really don't know what I had envisioned, but I was super stoked about standing in four states at once.  We pulled in and there was a pay booth.  Okay, we were a little surprised, but we paid the $3 per person fee and went through...there were a couple fair-food type stands sitting off to the right with some porta-potties (again, not really what I had pictured).  Right in front of us, there was this long line of doorways.  We were baffled.  What in the world were all the doorways?

Ah-ha, of course, flea-market booths were all along each of the four boundaries of the monument.  The monument was nice, but we just could not get over the flea-market atmosphere and  food stands.  And that was it.  It was super un-interesting.  We got together and stood in each of the four states.  We have our picture.  We made it to the Four Corners.  As we walked out of there, Lane said, and I quote, "Well, that was a rip-off."  Jay and I just lost it.  Lane pretty much said all there was to say.  Out of the mouths of babes...

After the major disappointment, we went to Mesa Verde National Park.  What a drive that was up the mountain!  Once we paid to get in, she told us it would be 15 miles up the mountain...that doesn't mean it will be 15 minutes like it is around here.  That means about 45 minutes of driving.  But it was soooo worth it. 

The Cliff Dwellings were awesome!  They were so neat.  We took a really nice trail down to this one called the Tree House.  This picture on the right was where we started out on the trail.  I could not wait to get over there!

Do you see the circular hole?  That was called a kiva.  Madolyn kept telling Lane it was where they sacrificed people, but really it was like their living room or gathering place.  They could get down there in groups, there was a firepit in the middle and they would cover the tops.  They would use a ladder to get down inside.  These kivas were everywhere.  This wasn't one big mansion, this is where several families lived, like a whole village of people.  We couldn't crawl around too far inside, but there were a couple areas we could climb up to or walk back into.  Lots of miniature ground squirrels zipping around here too.

Madolyn & I climbed down into a hole.

Me inside the hole which wasn't very big.



After we checked out the Cliff Dwellings thoroughly, we got in the car and drove back down the mountain and to Durango for supper.  We ate at a simple little place called T's Smokehouse.  I had some of the yummiest salad dressing, a tomatoey vinegarette, and ate a nice big cheeseburger.  Our bellies full, we went back to Pagosa Springs for the night.   It was a very full day.  Although we were very disappointed at the Four Corners debacle, we can now say we have been there.  Durango and the Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings made up for the "rip-off."