Indian Ruins and Bird Necks

I am so glad we stayed in a hotel. We didn't sleep very well (we meaning Caleb and me) because of the howling wind. When we woke up and looked out the window, we were greeted with a windswept, snowy landscape. Did I mention that I am so glad we stayed in a hotel?


After breakfast, we drove to Colorado to go to Mesa Verde. It was cold and windy but at least it wasn't snowing (too much.) On the bright side, I think the weather conditions kept the crowds down. There were only about 20 people in our tour group of Cliff Palace, some of them Germans. More on that later. I think that it's fascinating that 800 years ago, these people built these settlements on the side of the desert cliffs. Then I thought of Europe 800 years ago and wondered what the Pueblo Indians would have thought of those civilizations.

I wonder if the Ancient Pueblos chilled out in their kivas the way Rachel, Emma and Caleb did.

After Mesa Verde, we drove to Goosenecks State Park just in time for a gorgeous sunset.

And pictures of us in the gorgeous sunset.

We were running late and we still didn't have firewood for our camp out so we went into Mexican Hat to look for some firewood. There wasn't any for sale. Just as a matter of interest, Mexican Hat is named such because there is a rock formation that is supposed to look like a sombrero. It doesn't.

We drove into Natural Bridges at about 9:30 and it was very, very dark. We went into the visitors center to use the bathroom and drove to the campground. Because it was so late, naturally it was full. We had to drive outside the park to the overflow campsite and we found a spot to set up the tent in the dark with the aid of the cars headlights. Some person who didn't think things through very carefully, (Winnie) had turned off the engine of the car and left the lights on. Since it was cold, Emma was in the car part of the time with the heat and the seat heaters going full blast as well. Well, you can guess what happened. About an hour into setting up the tent and cooking dinner, Emma says, "Mom, the lights on the car just went dim."

I ran to the car and tried to start it. It didn't. I felt sick to my stomach and although Brad was really annoyed at first, he really didn't say much. I think he knew I felt really bad and he was kind enough to not say a word. In the morning, Brad got out of the tent as soon as he heard voices and asked for a jump. What a guy!

We ate breakfast, broke camp and continued to our next adventure.