Masa Verde--Our First Glimpse

Our destination was Mesa Verde National Park just over the border from New Mexico in southern CO.  This is very near the Four Corners Area--the place where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico all come together. For over a thousand years native Indians have occupied this area. 

  A Mesa is a geological mass shaped like the top of a table. Mesa is the Spanish word for table...and "verde" is the Spanish word for green.  These shots are our first view of Mesa Verde taken from the visitor center.  We spent two nights atop the mesa at over 8700' staying at the very comfortable Mesa Verde Lodge.  It took about 30 minutes for our bus to drive up the steep road to the top. 

Aztec pueblo

We travelled north toward Colorado from Albuquerque.

La Fonda Hotel and Lunch

Santa Fe Saint and Cathedral

Day trip to Santa Fe

Continental Divide

We have driven over 1500 miles since leaving Seattle. Sunday afternoon we stopped to take note that we are now traveling east of the continental Divide

Glen Canyon/Lake Powell Dam

On our drive from Zion to Flagstaff we stopped at this fairly new Dam on the Colorado River. The dam controls the water flow and supplies power to the upper SW region. Again cool and windy but another glorious day.

The dam flooded Glen Canyon and created Lake Powell. It stretches many many miles NE and provides hundreds of miles of lake shoreline making it a popular recreational boating destination.

The bridge in the photo spans the river connecting traffic with the town of Page on the S side of the river.

Al is standing in front of an exhibition of dinosaur bones and tracks found in the region.