My favorite National Park is Mesa Verde in Colorado. I went as a kid and never forgot that trip. I talked my parents into driving my kids and I (a 4 hour drive from St. George, where they live) and camping with us for a few days. This particular dwelling is the most famous, called "Cliff Palace."
From the NPS, "Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States."
This is the same dwelling as the one previous, with an apartment! Everything was accessed by rock climbing and wooden ladders, like these:
The boys always tried to be FIRST to climb them all.
But Katrina wasn't shy either! She loved all the ladders!
This ladder was particularly freaky and dangerous. I hate heights! I was hyperventilating when I got to the top of it, but Briana seems fine and cute as ever!
Here are Emma and Rachel holding a pottery shard that could be 1500 years old. The people tossed their garbage off the cliff walls, in front of their dwellings and many pieces of broken pottery were found at the base of each dwelling!
Rach and Katrina practicing their metate skills . . . the same way the Indian women ground corn and seeds thousands of years ago . . . on the same stones!
These "Cliff Dwellings" are so fascinating! This is a pic of my kids, plus my parents, sister Briana and brother Eric. Ten of us drove on this trip in my suburban that seats 8. It was a tight squeeze, but we had a great time.
There were cool carvings and artwork all over, but these were the coolest!
Ben enjoyed all the tight spaces and things to scramble and climb on! The Ancestral Pueblo were a tiny people, with the men as short as me (5'2" at the tallest) and the women about Josh's height (under 5').
What a cutie! There was A LOT of hiking to all these sites and Ben did great, hardly complaining at all!
In this photo, you can see that the ceiling is all black. That's left over soot from fires inside the top room, the logs sticking out supported a porch or another room.
This dwelling is called "Balcony House" because of the wonderful intact "balconies" that are so well preserved. The balconies were used to view the gorgeous vistas that these homes provided!
Like this one. What a view! This place is so great to visit, you all should put it on your 100 things to do before you die!
Kiva is a Hopi word for Ceremonial Room. Each Dwelling had a few Kivas. One had been re-constructed to allow tourists to climb down inside and check it out. Here's Ben on his way down the ladder.
This is the view from inside the Kiva. Pretty cramped quarters . . . now just imagine a fire going and everyone smoking the pipe! Yuck!
Our cute Katrina with a view of an open Kiva behind. They were circular rooms.
The cliff dwellings were protected from enemies and the elements, tucked into open caves. The citizens would climb to the Mesa top to farm and play.
On the TOP of all the Mesas, there were also dwellings. This is a Kiva from the top.
Nina and Ben pose in the Kiva.
Rachel climbing around a secret passageway!
Notice the carvings on Josh's side. Very cool.
When we left Mesa Verde, we stopped on the Indian Reservation to stand on 4 corners . . . the spot where 4 states meet each other. This was something I had remembered doing as a child and I wanted my kids to see it.
Here's my brother being in 4 states at once.
And Josh! What a great trip! Thanks Mom and Dad!
My favorite National Park is Mesa Verde in Colorado. I went as a kid and never forgot that trip. I talked my parents into driving my kids and I (a 4 hour drive from St. George, where they live) and camping with us for a few days. This particular dwelling is the most famous, called "Cliff Palace."
From the NPS, "Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States."
This is the same dwelling as the one previous, with an apartment! Everything was accessed by rock climbing and wooden ladders, like these:
The boys always tried to be FIRST to climb them all.
But Katrina wasn't shy either! She loved all the ladders!
This ladder was particularly freaky and dangerous. I hate heights! I was hyperventilating when I got to the top of it, but Briana seems fine and cute as ever!
Here are Emma and Rachel holding a pottery shard that could be 1500 years old. The people tossed their garbage off the cliff walls, in front of their dwellings and many pieces of broken pottery were found at the base of each dwelling!
Rach and Katrina practicing their metate skills . . . the same way the Indian women ground corn and seeds thousands of years ago . . . on the same stones!
These "Cliff Dwellings" are so fascinating! This is a pic of my kids, plus my parents, sister Briana and brother Eric. Ten of us drove on this trip in my suburban that seats 8. It was a tight squeeze, but we had a great time.
There were cool carvings and artwork all over, but these were the coolest!
Ben enjoyed all the tight spaces and things to scramble and climb on! The Ancestral Pueblo were a tiny people, with the men as short as me (5'2" at the tallest) and the women about Josh's height (under 5').
What a cutie! There was A LOT of hiking to all these sites and Ben did great, hardly complaining at all!
In this photo, you can see that the ceiling is all black. That's left over soot from fires inside the top room, the logs sticking out supported a porch or another room.
This dwelling is called "Balcony House" because of the wonderful intact "balconies" that are so well preserved. The balconies were used to view the gorgeous vistas that these homes provided!
Like this one. What a view! This place is so great to visit, you all should put it on your 100 things to do before you die!
Kiva is a Hopi word for Ceremonial Room. Each Dwelling had a few Kivas. One had been re-constructed to allow tourists to climb down inside and check it out. Here's Ben on his way down the ladder.
This is the view from inside the Kiva. Pretty cramped quarters . . . now just imagine a fire going and everyone smoking the pipe! Yuck!
The cliff dwellings were protected from enemies and the elements, tucked into open caves. The citizens would climb to the Mesa top to farm and play.
On the TOP of all the Mesas, there were also dwellings. This is a Kiva from the top.
Nina and Ben pose in the Kiva.
Rachel climbing around a secret passageway!
Notice the carvings on Josh's side. Very cool.
When we left Mesa Verde, we stopped on the Indian Reservation to stand on 4 corners . . . the spot where 4 states meet each other. This was something I had remembered doing as a child and I wanted my kids to see it.
Here's my brother being in 4 states at once.
And Josh! What a great trip! Thanks Mom and Dad!
7 comments:
I did not know that there was an actual marker at the intersection of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Now I know, I have to go stand on it, too.
Becky
is Emma taller than you?
That was such a fun trip! I'm so glad we got to do that together and see one of my favorite places - Mesa Verde!! Plus it was fun to have your birthday with you - that hasn't happened for a long time! Lots of good memories from that trip!
You're very right- I'd love to go here. I just thought the marker was cool, but who knew you could actually clamber all over a national monument like that. I'm pretty sure you can't jump on the beds at Mount Vernon. Great photos.
I have ALWAYS wanted to go there and now I really do for sure. It looks amazing! Thanks for sharing such cool photos!
Ok, I would love to go there. That looks like a blast!
What a fun part of your vacation. I want to go stand in four states at once too. Josh would love all the geology and history there too. Thanks for sharing more of your Utah vacation, even if you are behind. Are you going to blog about the Levie family reunion, or just the cemetary part? I would love to see your pictures of the reunion. :)
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