Blanche & Lucy are in Colorado now - visiting the Ruins.

Our first stop in Colorado was at the Mesa Verde RV Resort just outside of Cortez, Colorado.

Blanche & Lucy are sitting under the Native American Dancing Eagle at the campground.

Our campsite here was surrounded by trees for nice shade. Behind our site was a meadow with cattle grazing every day.

Blanche & Lucy came face to face with a new friend - they were totally enthralled by the cows - never barking just staring.

On the way to the Mesa Verde National Park we stopped to read signs that told us about the park and the ruins.

Mesa Verde is above 7000ft elevation - the drive up to the mesa was beautiful with many pull offs to view the beauty of the valley below.

Here are 2 more vistas of the valley below

as we climbed to the top.

The first place we stopped when we arrived at Mesa Verde was the Visitor's Center and the Museum with exhibits and dioramas which trace the development of the Ancestral Puebloans.

Since we only had one day to visit the ruins (this time around - we'll be back for sure) - we decided to visit the Spruce Tree House.  This is the 100ft descending trail to the ruins - easy going down; a bit difficult on the return trip - 1/2mile round trip. 

From the first level we had a good view of the entire dwellings.  Spruce Tree House is the best preserved cliff dwelling in the park.

Mesa Verde National Park is truly America's premier archaeological wonder.

National Geographic Traveler named Mesa Verde as one of fifty "must see" places of a lifetime, and it's easy to see why.  This is America's first World Heritage Site.

The park tells the story of a civilization's dynamic growth over 700 years.  The beauty and complexity of the homes and villages here speak eloquently of the ancient peoples who built them.  This area goes 3 rooms back - and two to (in places) three stories high.

Here cheryl looks down into a Kiva. A Kiva was an underground room which you entered into from a ladder (see below).  Pueblo people today use Kivas for religious rituals and social events.

You can see a bit down into the Kiva here.  Social and ceremonial life centered around the Kiva where family or clan gathered for a variety of group events.

Some Kivas also served as work rooms for weaving and some for sleeping during the cold winter months.  You see here a Kiva without the roof.

And here a Kiva with a roof and a ladder in the opening to climb down into.

The rangers were here to allow anyone who wanted to climb down into one of the smaller Kivas - of course I went down.

This is the ladder I used to climb down into the Kiva - here I am inside the Kiva - no light inside except from the hole above.

And here I am looking up the ladder through the hole leading out of the Kiva

These dwellings were built aroiund A.D. 1100 - 1300. After living on the mesa top for 600 years most of the Ancestral Puebloans moved into alcoves of the upper canyons like these where they built these spectacular dwellings.

By A.D. 1200 almost 5000 people were living in these cliffs.  Note the "t" shaped doorways built in these dwellings.

The cliff dwellers entered the upper rooms through the T-shaped doorway. For reasons unknown, such doorways were common throughout the Southwest.

Though it didn't show it in most of the other photos - there were many people visiting each dwelling.  They allowed people to walking anywhere into the dwelling even deep into the rooms.