Mesa Verde and Ouray Colorado 7/3-7/5

On July 3^rd we arrived at Mesa Verde Co. On the way we stopped at 4 Corners which is the place where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado all meet up together at one point. Unfortunately the monument where they all meet is under construction so all we could do was walk around the fence through the 4 states.

There were plenty of opportunities to buy souvenirs though.

After that we drove on to Mesa Verde.

There is a national park there that has preserved some old cliff dwellings. Mesa means table and Verde means green which translates to a very steep climb to the top of the Mesa on a very curvy road. It was a great 360 degree view of surrounding area. The RV park had a great pool for the kids to play in so they could exhaust themselves. That was thefirst place that we have experienced cold nights. We all woke up freezing.

We left Mesa Verde on the 4^th of July and had to go through 3 terrifying mountain passes to get to Ouray CO. The last one Red Mountain Pass (peaking at 11,000 ft) had some very steep drop offs right out my window. I gripped the seat and prayed hard. Tim even said it made him sick.

One of many treacherous curves on Red Mountain Pass

Once we came down we were in the town of Ouray just in time for the parade. It was similar to Middletown except they were advertising their own specialties like Jeep tours through the mountains.

So we were all enjoying the parade and all of a sudden we heard the sound of a head against the pavement. It was David. He blacked out and fell to the ground hitting his forehead on the pavement. Fortunately, there was a surgeon standing right next to us who came right over and she and Tim got David back on his feet. The surgeon, I think her name was Elizabeth, was from Washington DC. Small world.

We think he either locked his knees or was dehydrated and not adjusted to the elevation. He is now fully recovered.

The town has a traditional water fight each year on the 4^thso we went to see it. It is a water fight between teams of two that are battling each other with fire hoses until one team falls down. Of course the spectators get wet as we were all surrounding the fight. I thought it was neat but the kids really couldn’t see since we got there late. So we went shopping and got ice cream. Later we went to see the fireworks. Before they start there is a parade of Jeeps coming down from the mountain with flares on them (never would they allow this in MD). All you could see were the flares. The fireworks were typical except they were fired from the middle of a mountain.

Pretty scenery before the fireworks

Today we went to the hot springs pool. It is fed by spring that flow out of the San Juan Mountains at a temp. of 150 degrees. They cool it with the local water so the pool has different areas ranging from 80-101 degrees. You can guess where I spent most of my time. Actually the favorite was the 93 degree pool. Tim found out that you can get bad sunburn even if you are entirely submersed under water. The sun is strong. Tonight we plan to have our first campfire this whole trip. So far it has been too hot, we’re too tired or it’s too windy. Let’s hope for the best. We are all feeling refreshed and energized by the minerals in the hot springs.