Jan 11 - Our native American tour continues to Mesa Verde and Monument Park.

Funny, I didn't consciously think the tour would be through Indian country, but it's turned out that way.  We went to Durango and spent the night after we left Taos, our destination being Mesa Verde.  I'd been there years ago, but John had never seen it.  

 Our drive to Mesa Verde took about 45 minutes, we saw incredible mesas and enjoyed the snow (on the hills, but not on the road).  It was overcast but still beautiful.





MV is where is an archeological preserve of the ancestral Puebloan people.  The preserve is the nation's largest and consists of 600 cliff dwellings.  It was occupied from 600 A.D. until about 1300.  We couldn't go into any of the sites because of the time of year, but we took the loop drive and were able to see almost everything. 

This picture is of the Cliff Palace the largest dwelling in the park, it was a shame we couldn't tour it.  I have to agree with the brochure, winter is a special time in the park, the snow really gave us a sense for what it could have been like to have lived here in the harsh weather.  On the loop road we met a young man and his dad - they left the park when we did and were planning to see Monument park and get into Flagstaff that night - one of those 12 countries in 4 days types of tours.  We lost them on the road so we don't know if they ever made it.  They wouldn't have appreciated it at that speed I can promise you. 

On our way to Monument park we had to stop in Four Corners for John.  He said he'd always wanted to go, but I'm not sure why.  I think it was because he could be in 4 states at one time.  So here is his $6 shot which is what the Indians charge to go in.  

The drive out of MV was spectacular - the Mesas were fabulous and we enjoyed the vistas on the horizon - just beautiful country that neither of us had ever seen before. 

From there we hustled in to a small town called Kayenta where we spent the night at a Hampton Inn.  The food there was great.  I had the Navajo taco - it was like nothing I've ever had - and I could only eat half of it.  It was a treat.  And John had the green chile stew with Navajo flat bread - he said both were terrific.

Kayenta is at the crossroads of Hwys. 160/163 - in Navajo Nation and not far from the entrance to Monument Valley.  That night we had another dusting of snow but boy did it make the monuments spectacular! Apparently John Ford filmed a lot of westerns here with John Wayne - it really did look familiar, but so much bigger in person that you can see in the photos.  

 

We left Monument Valley so glad we'd made the time to come through; I can't recommend it enough.  The Navajo have a tough life, many live in single-wide trailers, some are still in Hogans, and a few are lucky enough to be in a small tract house - their annual income is about $22k so they're living at the poverty level.  They certainly live in beautiful places, but their life it pretty hard.  Those we met were extremely friendly and hospitable.  

We arrived in Sedona, AZ about 4:30pm and got settled into our hotel.  It wasn't particular nice (a La Quinta) so we moved the next day over to a Best Western which was much nicer.  Tuesday was a low-key day, we were tired from the travel and decided this was a perfect place to lay low.  We looked around town a bit (a tad touristy in the downtown area), but the setting is amazing - we're surrounded by red rocks and incredible views.  We'll take photos tomorrow, today was camera-free.  

Tonight after our first workout in over 3 weeks, we went for Mexican food at the Casa Bonita - we had organic margaritas!  If you like, try their recipe: 3 parts Tierras Silver Organic tequila, 2 parts Triple Sec, and 1 part fresh squeezed lime juice - YUMMY!

We've taken so many pictures I can't share here that I'm going to upload them to Picassa after I've weeded out the bad ones.  I'll post a link here in the blog and on my Facebook page for those who want the detail.  More on that later when I'm not vacationing :-)