Mesa Verde National Park

We spent a great deal of time this year learning about the ancestral Pueblo people, aka the Anasazi. We read books, watched documentaries but with Mesa Verde "close" I wanted to bring the experience to life.

Day three was spent hiking, relaxing at the rec center and getting a feel for MVNP.

We were told in e-mail and at the time of ticket purchase that Cliff House and Balcony House may not be the best suited tours for a toddler. It left me with a few choices:

A. I could go on the tour and risk needing to turn back, knowing Athena would not be happy with this decision.

B. We could skip the tour and miss out on an experience I knew Athena had been looking forward to or

C. I could barter with Athena to come back with Jay on a longer weekend.

None of these seemed like great options but I chose option A. As a parent it has always been difficult for me to accept I can't do something and I don't like allowing my kids to get in the way of living each others lives. I had the Ergo so I bought the tickets and decided to try.

We started with the Cliff Palace tour which is the "easier" of the two "hikes." Lex wanted to walk so I went with it. She hiked the entire way. Lindsay, our guide and archeologist, said she was the first toddler he has had hike the tour. He was informative and inclusive to the youngest tour participant, Athena. He asked her to lead the group and she did. Athena takes her Jr. Ranger duties seriously;) He was great at answering her questions. It seems rare that guides have the ability to customize a tour experience for all participants. We were happy to have stumbled into his group.

Some adults are seemingly surprised children are capable of walking. At least I discovered some of the adults on the tour were impressed by their walking skills;)

The following morning we did a tour of Balcony House. The ranger, Eric, invited Athena to help him lead the hike. This hike was definitely not recommended for toddlers, alas Lex did this again and I have an ergo if I needed it;) At the start of the climb into the dwelling there is a 32 ft ladder which was exciting to Lex... At first. Being two she has missed the "do not look down memo." She asked to be put on my back but I told her no and said, "You are strong enough to do this, you are smart and know how to do this and you are brave. It is your turn to be brave. You can do this and I will do it with you. We can do the hard things together." She breezed up with no issue following. 

Most of the people on the tour thought I was crazy for doing this with two small kids alone but all seemed genuinely surprised the girls did so well and were so respectful.

Following the tour we decided to explore the Spruce Tree House which has a recreated kiva a person can explore, a mano and matate to teach how the people would grind corn and rangers to interact and educate the people in the area.

Lex was asleep on my back from a long morning of hiking so I could not go into the kiva (BOO!) and I was a little nervous about letting Athena go down without me. I trust her but I'm not always sure if rangers appreciate that trust and a few rangers were nearby. Also, while my child is generally respectful of historical sites, you never know... A sweet German woman heard us discussing this and offered to take Athena into the kiva (and take pictures.) She was kind and I was thankful for them to reach out. Athena is now insisting on learning German:)

Spruce Tree House! 

Inside the recreated Kiva

Mano and metate

A ranger specifically pulled Athena aside to teach her about where the food was prepared. This ranger was amazing. 

Where the ancestral people would have cooked their meals. 

Overall, I would rate our experience in the Cortez area as a 9 out of 10. The park rangers at MVNP are AMAZING with children. Many times while we were exploring the rangers would approach us, interact with the girls and take the time to teach. We have visited twelve national parks this year from Rocky to the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone and the Mesa Verde Rangers win the award for the BEST RANGERS. We are absolutely recommending Mesa Verde to our friends!

A note from Athena: I really like Ranger Lindsay! He is an archeologist and knows a lot about the stuff. He discovered a new cliff dwelling and said that if you throw a rock and look for it you will find an artifact before you found the rock. We tried it and found pottery and I never found the rock. I found lots of lizards too! But you can't touch them and you can't take the pottery and that makes me sad. I want to come here again this year. It is a good field trip.

We hit the road...

We hit the road on May 28th and I can honestly say it was one of the best parenting experiences I have yet to live.

I worried a lot! I was very confident in my ability to do this initially even though I would be solo with two kids. A lot of other women worried, so much so I thought, "Maybe, I am crazy?"

Day one was a lot of driving, we left our home in Boulder County and drove to Cortez, CO where we would spend the next few days camping. It wound up running around nine hours when all was said and done. On the way we stopped at a few spots along rivers and waterfalls to shake our sillies out but we were tear free and excited. At this point I had wished we were not so structured.

Has anyone bothered to put a tent up in a desert wind and sandstorm? It hurts! An RV would have been nice in that hour! The only thing missing was a tumbleweed. We camped at Hovenweep National Monument in "Cortez," which happens to be around an hour from the city considering it is located in Utah. The drive to the monument is gorgeous with fields of red clay crop irrigation and cattle grazing the fields.

*** A small note: Cows in the SW do not smell nearly as bad as Nebraska and Michigan cows. I wonder if it is the diet of the animals or the amount of cattle per acre? Large green pastures vs. small fenced in "pens?" This is something I may look into if I'm ever bored and able to sit still long enough to do so.

The two mile loop at Hovenweep was so easy a two year old could do it... (my two year old) We apparently started this hike around six in the morning courtesy of the sun and my cell phone being dead.

A sunny morning for a hike.

Hovenweep captured Athena's attention. She was caught playing archeologist by an archeologist who told me she was doing the same thing as a child. She was digging up bones of the Mayan people (AKA sticks) and evaluating what the bones could tell us about the people who once roamed these great, "Mayan ruins."

From there we visited the Anasazi Heritage Center in Cortez and the Aztec Ruins National Monument in New Mexico. The AHC was no disappointment. It connected how the paleolithic people adapted to life as farmers over time. A lovely retired couple volunteering at the center suggested we make the trip to NM to visit the Aztec Ruins where their son works as a ranger. It helped expand the idea that the pueblos were not only used by the Ancestral people but other tribes, like the Aztec and as many as 14 tribes trace their origins back to the area of the cliff dwellings. It also established the idea of trade routes.

Our next stop for exploration was Mesa Verde National Park!

A note from Athena:

We went camping. It was lots of fun and we tog to play. We went for walks and explored. I likep Hovenweep but I really likeb going to New Mexico and learning about Aztec people. We leaned that they traded stuff from South America. I want to go live there. Mom says later because dad has to work.