WILD WEST SUMMARY

TRIP 4

Day 1 - We got to Taos in the afternoon and toured the historic pueblo. We then continued on to Santa Fe.

Day 2 - Our first stop was the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, built in the 1700s. We strolled through the old downtown to the beautiful cathedral which contained the oldest Madonna in the US. At the Loretto Chapel, we viewed the mysterious spiral staircase. After seeing the oldest house in the US (around 1200), we took a tour of the capitol building with its huge art collection. Next was the San Miguel Mission, the oldest active church in the US. Then was the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public building in the US.... hmmm, I'm detecting a theme! We did a final stroll along Canyon Road, a nearly one-mile long area dedicated to art studios.

Day 3 - We did a short visit to Petroglyph National Monument (there are over 20,000 petroglyphs carved into the rocks here) then continued on to Petrified Forest National Park where we made many short stops, including the Painted Desert, the old inn, historic Route 66, old pueblo ruins, more petroglyphs, and lots of petrified wood.

Day 4 - We did several nice long walks through the petrified forests. The colors were amazing in the sunlight! We also visited the Agate House, built long ago using chunks of petrified wood. We took a ranger tour at the museum to learn more about the geology and fossils. After a couple visits to local rock shops, we drove out to the Hubbell Trading Post, a historic old settlement. We arrived at Canyon de Chelly and set up camp. We spent the evening chatting with our campsite neighbors, Rudolph and Tilly.

Day 5 - We hiked down to the White House, one of the old cliff dwellings. Upon arriving back at the top of the canyon, we met Rudolph and Tilly, so we toured several of the overlooks with them. After they left, we continued seeing many more. We even attended a couple of ranger talks.

Day 6 - We stopped at the Four Corners on our way to Mesa Verde. We set up our tent then hurried off to tour the Step House and the Long House. The drive back down the mesa at dusk brought out all kinds of animals! We did a couple outlooks then called it a day.

Day 7 - Dawn again brought with it more wildlife. Our first stops were the Far View Sites and the Megalithic House. We then took a tour of the Cliff Palace (the most famous of the cliff dwellings). Then we did several overlooks and the Balcony House. We visited the museum then saw the Spruce Tree House. We made numerous stops along the Mesa Top Loop trail, ending in the Sun Temple. We then left the park and grabbed a motel in Cortez.

Day 8 - We headed to Durango, and after viewing the wonderful museum, we took the steam train up to Silverton. We were given a bit of time to wander through the mountain town, then caught the train back down again. We drove to Pagosa Springs for a night in a motel.

Day 9 - We wandered about downtown Alamosa for a bit then made our way to the Great Sand Dunes. Of course we couldn't resist a quick stop at a UFO tower! We set up the tent then headed out into the sand for an evening stroll.

Day 10 - We set out for the highest dunes. Regan had rented a sandboard and therefore had a much faster way down than I did! We then drove home.