Day 4, October 9
A whole day with only one objective – to visit Mesa Verde NP. There was time for lesisurely coffee and breakfast waiting for gray skies to lift. Once in the park, the Idiots were pleased to find that it was active with visitors, but not overwhelmingly busy. Some potential visitors have been deterred by reports of closures. Almost all of the park buildings are shuttered – the exception being the bookstore. One major attraction – the Cliff Palace road loop – has been closed for over a year for road construction. Tours of the ruins are severely limited.
Was a major detour to visit Mesa Verde – again! … with such limitations - worth the journey? Idiot She was still recovering from her second hip replacement and Idiot He uses oxygen, so there would be no hiking. The Idiots were only going to be able to drive about 20 miles to the end of the main road, then turn around and return.
For those not familiar with Mesa Verde – 40 miles of park driving does not translate as a 40 minute drive. If one was not sharing the road with any other vehicles... and if one was a good mountain road driver... and if one was not stopping to see anything... the entire loop might take 90 minutes. For the Idiots – it was 6 hours! Mesa Verde is one of Idiot She's favorite places on earth. Oh yes – it was worth it!
First stop was the National Park bookstore. It's a worthwhile stop, especially for the sculpture “The Ancient Ones”, created in 2012 by Edward J. Fraughton. It towers over the entrance plaza – very impressive.
Idiot He once again noted how much Americans love Native Americans... lots of oohs and aahs over the sculpture... but they only seem to love Natives if they are ancient and dead.
The Idiots checked out the displays... then Idiot He explored the surroundings and fall color while Idiot She stood in the line for limited, masked-only admission to the bookstore. Been there – got the sweatshirt.
The rock of Mesa Verde is natural art... and the fall colors were an appetizer for what was to come...
