The key to a successful morning...swim 'em 'til their eyes bleed, feed 'em pizza in bed with a kids movie...absolute knock out drops. Oh, and lay out their outfits for morning so when their groggy little heads pop up out of the covers at 6:30 am....it isn't too painful. At least for moms.
Today was our catch up day...a day to cram in as much as we can and still get ourselves as close to Phoenix as possible. We started the day behind (rather than being 15 minutes from Mesa Verde National Park we were about two hours away) and drove like wildfire (no pun intended) through Aztec, NM to Durango, CO and further east to the park. We arrived at about 10:00 a.m. and went straight to the visitors center. Laura purchased tickets four our guided ranger tour and Jennifer stayed with the kids through the exhibits trying to finish a few pages in our Junior Ranger packets. Then we went into the park to the museum (circa 1940) which took about 45 minutes to go 20 miles. The Pacifica got a workout today ascending and descending buttes and mountains. After an hour at the museum (part of the time we spoke French to a kind couple from France who was visiting the park after a tour of CA National Parks) we descended 200 feet to begin our tour. However, we found that our tour wasn't to begin there at one of the closest cliff dwellings but at another across the park. Nonetheless, we missed out tour and caught the next one 1/2 hour later.
At Cliff Palace, we saw the largest example of cliff dwellings at MVNP and had a great tout guide who loved to spin a yarn: Ranger Derek. We descended 150 feet using stairs carved out of sandstone in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Some where too small, some too steep, some slanted downwards, all a little dangerous if you weren't paying attention. We then were able to see firsthand and up close the grandeur of the dwellings as well as the layout of the cave. It was truly fascinating! When we finally were able to closely inspect the "kivas" or round pits that were used for religious and ceremonial acts, the youngest spawn were getting a little tired of all that history and facts and stuff. We then made our way back up yet more uneven and very narrow stairs only then to tackle 3 ten foot ladders. A little scary for those who fear heights! But once you have ascended one ladder, there is no going back!
Ranger Derek and the Hanson-Johnson gang. No one fell off the side of a cliff nor into a kiva. Although we had to institute the rule of no one shall pass Mme Hanson nor be behind Mme Johnson (a.k.a. Mom#1 and #2).
It is one thing to make the climb and totally another thing to watch your own children make the climb! Yikes! However we made it out of the cliff dwellings alive and didn't injure ourselves or one another. The water fountain was a sight for sore eyes once we ascended to the parking lot. And the bathrooms too!
From Mesa Verde we headed SW to Four Corners National Monument. Since the rebuild in 1992 it was an altogether different place since the 1970's. As the kids waited in line for a photo op, they straddled the state line between Arizona and New Mexico. They were happy until Nora HAD to stand on Utah (she wanted Colorado). Photo was taken anyway.
We left our kids in 4 different states! What would their dads say?
From Four Courners we passed through Monument Valley to get to Kayenta, AZ where we were staying. Only 2.5 hours from Mesa Verde. Wow, a light driving day? You know you've covered a lot of ground when every time your kids look out the window they say, "What state are we in now?"
So here we are in Monument Valley, purely by happenstance, and as we're driving along looking out the window we're thinking, "Those rock formations are really cool! Wonder what they are?" UMMM....those would be the monuments of Monument Valley ladies.
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