Mesa Verde, Colorado

On Thursday we visited Mesa Verde, Colorado. Once you enter the park, it is a 15 mile, 1 hour drive up the mountain to get to the visitors center. The views were awesome, but the passengers (okay, mostly Ang and Jenna), we a little stressed about the distance of the road to cliffs, which was a little too close for comfort. But Scott did a good job and we made up and back with no incident :-)

The Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde were created by Ancient Pueblonians who lived in the years 500-1,500AD. They are AMAZING! We visited Cliff Palace on a guided tour. You had to climb down and back up 100 feet, which included 4 different ladders. But that wasn't a problem for these little monkeys. 

Later we took a self-guided tour of Spruce Tree House. There we were able to climb down inside a kiva, which was believed to be used for religious ceremonies.

We also took a little hike and visited the museum.

 After a little hard work, Jenna and Rylan were sworn in as Mesa Verde Junior Rangers. They were really excited and received an official badge.