Four states in four days.

After Albuquerque - New day, new state! We drove through what felt like days and days of mineral streaked buttes and mesas, undulating out of the desert at random angles, some riding on top of hardened lava flows, some white from gypsum deposits. Destination: Mesa Verde, Colorado. We arrived late, so parked at an RV park within view of the mountain access road, behind a barn, with two friendly horses that we fed carrots. It was a beautiful sunset on the butte, and in the morning, a fantastic twisting, ascending drive to the upper rim of the canyon.

Driving around the canyon, we stopped at every overlook to see the old Indian cliff dwellings. To imagine people actually living there, perched atop the canyons, in natural caves, was amazing. We wandered around the Anasazi pit-dwellings. We had a picnic of grilled ham and cheese and guacamole at a lookout from where you could see 8 different cliff dwelling, each housing a 15 - 30 person village. We climbed down wooden ladders into sacred ritual pits. We tried our hand at smashing grains. It was spectacular. We went to sleep exhausted after all the walking and driving.

New day, new state! We planned our route South to through Monument Valley, in the Navaho Nation, Utah. More buttes and mesas and monuments, different colors and angles and shapes than New Mexico or Colorado. Before the sun set, we parked up next to the Cottonwood River, lulled to sleep by the gurgling water running through yet another sacred Native American valley. Peaceful. . .

The next morning was a new day, and another new state! We drove over the border and into Arizona. Headed straight for the Glen Canyon dam and Lake Powell. The RV park, inside the National Recreation area, was absolutely beautiful, but it was the worst experience we have had so far at any park. The first thing we did was head for a much needed shower, which we had to pay $2.00 in quarters for. Nicole enjoyed her 15 minutes, but met a furious Mary Lou on the sidewalk, growling, "Did you have hot water?" Hers was ice cold. When we found our site, we realized that, despite tons of open spots, they put us right behind the bathroom units. And, the sewer plug was stuck. So, we just picked our own spot, with a great view, plugged in, grabbed a bottle of red wine, and headed down to the lake to watch the sunset. Sigh. . .


Click here for photos!