Up the Hill to Mesa Verde

I live in the Mancos Valley in Southwest Colorado. The Mancos Valley sits just east of Mesa Verde National Park. If you had a really good arm you could just about throw a rock and hit the park entrance (well almost).

Here is our view of Mesa Verde.

Today my sister-in-law and I took a little drive up to see the park. So, for those of you who have never been to Mesa Verde National Park before, here's a little sneak peek of some of the dwellings in the park. If you've been there and done this, well, just ignore my blog.

Here's the view from the first view point looking back down into the Mancos Valley. I know exactly where our house and barn are, but you would need the eyes of an eagle to see them from here.

The park officials allow visitor to walk down to only one cliff dwelling without a guide. There are park officials in this dwelling to answer questions, but it's not a guided tour. Most of these close up photos are taken in and around the Pueblo Dwelling they call the Spruce Tree House.

And then there's the photos of my sister-in-law and me posing like tourists!

Did I mention that there was a bit of a hike down into this particular dwelling...and of course what goes down must go back up. There was also a very nice museum, bookstore and cafeteria back up on top. After browsing all of these we drove the remaining two loops that are designed to allow you to view more cliff dwellings and several of the more common Pueblo pit houses.

Pueblo Pit House

It's a huge park. Its size is deceiving from the park entrance. Many people go up into the park unprepared for the heat and the walking. As we were leaving the park around 3 in the afternoon there were cars just entering. I can' t imagine what they were going to see in such a short time, but then maybe they won't take time to get out of there cars. Who knows??

I Love A Parade!

Small town America, USA.
Everyone lines the streets for the annual
Mancos Days Parade
Saturday July 25, 2009

Let the parade begin....

click on any photo to enlarge....

Camera Critter #68

Oh give me a home......

Where the buffalo roam.....

To check out other interesting animals, visit Camera Critters.

Guess whose Birthday?

No Need For Words Wednesday

But maybe a little explanation.......

Between the years of 2002 and 2006 my husband and I volunteered at one of the many animal shelters in central Arizona in the United States. Each week I would photograph the new arrivals (the ones that were deemed adoptable) and post these photographs on the petfinder.com website. The lucky ones actually were able to find homes and that is what kept us going back every week to "do it all over again". It became very obvious to me that even though most of these animals had been through the worst of times, they seemed to be willing to forgive, wanting only to find someone to care for and love them. We used this saying to keep our spirits up while we did this sometimes very depressing work.......

"Saving just one dog won't change the world,
but it will change the world for that dog".

Overnight Road Trip

Toma, Maggie and I piled into the car early Saturday morning and headed up into the San Juan Mountains for an overnight visit with friends. Our friends have a little summer house in the town of Ouray, Colorado.

The road from Durango to Ouray winds up and over two very tall passes, 10,910 foot Molas Pass, and 11,008 foot Red Mountain Pass. The drive is not for the person who is afraid of the heights ... there is a lot of "edge" to look over.

Ouray is an old Silver mining community that sits between 7,000 - 8,000 feet. The reason that I say between is because one end of town begins at around 7,000 feet and the other end climbs to around 8,000 feet. It is all nestled between three 14,000 foot mountains that tower over the whole area. It is a page from its mining past even though its livelihood now relies predominately on tourism.

Jackie, Toma, Donna and Maggie!

Ouray, Colorado

Man in the box

Click on photos to enlarge......