Jamie and Laura

Today we spent the day in Mesa Verde National Park. We saw dozens of Ancestral Pueblos six months ago on our trip to Texas, but nothing we saw then can hold a candle to Mesa Verde. Unfortunately, we weren't able to tour Balcony House because those tours didn't open until after Memorial Day, but we were able to go on the Cliff Palace tour. It was amazing. Another fantastic day.... read more

Today we had the whole day to explore Natural Bridges National Monument. We saw all three bridges, did some hiking, and checked out the Pueblo ruins. It was really interesting to learn how the bridges formed, and of course it's the scale of everything which is awe inspiring. The pictures just never do these things justice.... read more

Today was another magical day! We started our day with a drive along scenic Highway 313 on our way to Dead Horse Point State Park, and then spent the rest of the day at Arches National Park. We did two major hikes: a long steep hike to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint (not to the arch itself) and a long, less steep hike to Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch, and Tapestry Arch that ended our day with a glorious sunset. What a day!... read more

We spent today in Capitol Reef National Park. I had never been here before; it's a pretty amazing place! I discovered that it got its name because some of the early European settlers had been seafarers. They saw the mountains as a giant barrier reef, and named it the Capitol Reef because there was a large white dome of rock that reminded them of the US capitol building. I have included too many pictures because I failed when I tried to winnow them down. Enjoy!... read more

What a great day we had today! So many interesting and beautiful things to see, and we did some great hikes. I also had a near death experience at Mossy Cave. I was standing by the cave chatting with some other hikers when a rock about the size and shape of my foot hit the ground right beside me with an astounding amount of force and a noise like a pistol shot. I knew that things fall quite fast when dropped from a height, but that is a very different thing from experiencing that speed in an object that landed two inches from my right foot at the speed of a bullet. I have new respect or signs that tell me to watch for falling rocks (there was no sign there, and if there had been ... read more