DAY 4 -
Tuesday 6/21
|
 |
After the quick Driver's
Meeting,
we headed out from
Pagosa Springs
around 9am for our 4th day of
the adventure |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
today was mainly driving and sight-seeing along the way -
passing thru Durango |
 |
 |
we past
Chimney Rock - a half-day excursion
on it's own - not to mention the long gravel road to get
to it |
|
|
|
|
|
Lunch Reservations |
 |
we stopped in
Mancos,
CO and had lunch at the
Millwood Junction - great food and
service |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
a
member which had tire issues with their Vette had
to rent a MUSTANG - however, we let them join
us for lunch anyway
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
...time to head on down the highway |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Our Afternoon Excursion
|
 |
After lunch we headed on down the road to
Mesa Verde National Park
area map -
park map |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
The afternoon was on your own - or in smaller groups
since some have more
interest in this stop than others
might. You could easily spend a couple of days in
this park. |
|
|
|
|
 |
The sculpture outside the Mesa Verde National Park
Visitor And Research Center is titled "The
Ancient Ones" |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
several artifacts were on display
inside the Visitor's
Center
...just prior to entering the Nat'l Park |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The drive to the various Cliff Dwellings
are about 45 minutes from the Visitor Center.
The views from the cliffs within park were amazing
...not to mention some fun roads |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The
Spruce Tree House (3rd largest) in Mesa
Verde. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8
kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a
natural alcove measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest
width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
This dwelling was closed to the public - you could only
walk up and around the end of the canyon for different
views |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
there were some awesome views as you drove from site to
site within the park |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
plenty of areas to sit
and cool down ...some areas had
Park Rangers
sharing information
while you sat |
 |
|
 |
The
Cliff Palace is the most famous and
largest dwelling in the park. It has over 150
individual rooms and more than 20 kivas (rooms for
religious rituals) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
enough history ...and heat ...heading back thru the tunnel towards the
park exit
...then back to Durango which is
approximately 1 hour |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
You could stay at Mesa Verde as long as you wanted heading back to Durango
on your own |
|
|
|
|
|
|
plenty of Cruiser opportunities as well |
 |
 |
the view of the mountains looked great - ready to get
back to what most of consider the prettier parts of CO |
|
|
|
|
|
Arrival at our Hotel for the next 2 nights
|
 |
We checked into the hotel, the
General Palmer in downtown Durango.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
...we parked in the hotel parking lot adjacent to the
train station
King Palace Suite --> |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
You had time to freshen up before dinner
From
our balcony, we watched as the three scheduled
D&SNG trains rolled in from Silverton |
 |
|
|
...and of course, the typical late afternoon mountain
shower |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tonight's Group Dinner Reservations
|
 |
we headed to dinner next door at the
Palace Restaurant.
The
Grand Room was reserved for our group dinner
click for our special evening group menu |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
the aroma of good food
fill the air
...and ours was awesome! |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
they wouldn't setup a large table for us - of course that
is tough with round tables |
 |
 |
WOW - AWESOME deserts!!! |
|
|
|
|
|
NEXT CURVE |
|
|
