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07/13/13, 05/19/20

Trafalgar's Scenic Parks Explorer, June 2013 - Page K

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On June 28th, we left Moab and drove to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Per my records, it
was sunny and hot. After Mesa Verde we drove to Monument Valley in Utah. As always stops would
be made along the way. One stop would be in a town called Cortez, and an area called Bluff Fort
(Bluff, Utah). I also heard the Tour Director mention Monticello, Utah. Can't recall if we stopped there.

Moab was a small town but quaint. It appeared to be surrounded on all sides by beautifully
colored mountains.

The haze could have been from
the many fires in the area.

Another cave dwelling.

There is a trail allowing visitors to get to the
Spruce Tree House. It's an incredible structure
though some of it has been "reconstructed".
This view is of the lookout area from Spruce.
The lookout area is for those who cannot walk
to the House. Walking down was easy but
I had to make a few stops on the way up!

Used to crush grains, etc. I was told the top rock was
improvised but the white & gray slabs are authentic.

Kiva, reconstructed. I did not climb down into the kiva.
The numbers that appear throughout the site are
explained in a booklet.

"At Mesa Verde, Spanish for "green table," multistoried
dwellings fill the cliff-rock alcoves that rise 2,000 feet
above Montezuma Valley. Remarkably preserved, the
cliff dwellings cluster in canyons that slice the mesa
into narrow tablelands. Here, and on the mesa top,
archaeologists have located more than 4,800
archaeological sites (including 600 cliff dwellings)
dating from about A.D. 550 to 1300.

The sites, from mesa-top pithouses and multistoried
dwellings to cliffside villages, document the changes
in the lives of a prehistoric people once dubbed the
Anasazi. They are now more accurately called the
ancestral Puebloans, and modern Pueblo tribes in the
Southwest consider themselves descendants of
these ancestral people. Some 40 pueblos and cliff
dwellings are visible from park roads and overlooks;
some of these are open to the public."

From National Geographic's website.

Looking down from the lookout area.
Also the next 2 photos.

Kiva

Taken in the museum. For more information about the
Ute People, please click here.

Paintings hanging in the restaurant.
I think they were for sale.

Explanation of pithouse / kiva
in the lookout area.

Postcard - Mesa Verde National Park, Spruce Tree House.
Photographer - Laurence Parent.

Leaving Mesa Verde as seen from inside the bus.

On our way to Monument
Valley. Haze still with us. Look
closely at left & you can see tail
smoke from a plane in the sky.

The following photos were taken from inside the bus.

Gouldings, our hotel.
For more information
click here.

This and the following 2 photos were taken from the
balcony of our room. Red dome here is a hogan.

Vehicles that took us to our "Be My Guest" dinner,
hosted by the Navajos.

This photo and those that follow
taken from back of the truck.

Sun was beginning to set.

Where dinner was served.

The second or third truck coming to join us for dinner.

Here, and at the dinner with Happy Pappy, we were served fried bread. It reminded me of what we call on St. Croix
"arepas" or "johnny cakes". Here, and with Happy Pappy, we were served kidney beans. Happy Pappy's beans
contained bacon. These beans were sweet. Again, it reminded me of St. Croix. The tribe that served the dinner are
Navajo. At right you can see one of the passengers, Helga, learning a Native American dance. The drummer/dancer
gave us an explanation of the drum, the music and dances. It was an enjoyable evening.

More of Monument Valley on the next page. Hope you've enjoyed these photos
as much as I enjoyed taking and posting them!

Wilson Arch