GREAT DRIVE Awakening early, we departed about 7:15 AM, filled DunnGone with gasoline and headed toward Mesa Verde National Park near Cortez, Colorado. The drive up US Highway 550 was very nice, four lane all the way to the Colorado border. Traffic picked up considerably near Durango, but eased after leaving the outskirts of town.

ARRIVING AT MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK We arrived at Mesa Verde National Park about 1:00 PM after a grueling 4 mile drive of switchbacks up the side of the high mesa. Kay is frightfully scared of heights and she mustered all her willpower to survive the drive. Going down tomorrow, towing the Saturn no less, will be a challenge for both of us.

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK We set up DunnGone in Morefield Campground, Ute Loop, Site 161, with full hook-ups, including sewer. The site was relatively level, so setting up was a breeze. Kay made sandwiches and Donald collected potato chips, drinks, jackets, and cameras and loaded them into the Saturn. Unfortunately, we both forgot the Federal Access Pass which would have covered the cost of any ranger led tours. It worked out okay since most involved heights and Kay is scared … of heights. We drove to the visitor center, found a picnic table, and had lunch. Following a walk-thru of the visitor center, we did a combination driving, self-guide hikes tour of the park. It is too awesome to mention each and every cultural site, but our favorites were Cliff Palace, Balcony House and Spruce Tree House. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling and is the featured site in most photographs of Mesa Verde.

Spruce Tree House is the best preserved cliff dwelling, and we were able to do a self-guided hike down to the site. Balcony House was the most challenging ranger-led tour so we bypassed the hike down to it, but photographed it from the opposite mesa top.

CHANGES IN MESA VERDE Donald visited Mesa Verde in his “former” life in the late 1970s. Many significant improvements have been made from updating the campgrounds, paving many of the trails, building a new entrance and Visitor’s Center, and vastly improving the park roads. This is a “must see” national treasure.