Mesa Verde National Park Here We Come!

We left the Santa Fe area by 7:30 and it was the 1st time we had to "retrace" some of our previous driving routes.  We drove back towards Albuquerque to get onto highway 550 towards Durango.  No problem because that was a very good road to travel with Waldo and very scenic.

Aren't the layers and colors so pretty???

I find these rock formations so interesting...... 

.....and the mountains!

So much color on the side of this mountain!

You can see for miles!!

We did head northwest instead of driving towards Durango into some new territory for these travelers.  After driving about 5 1/2 hours (277 miles) we arrived at Ancient Cedars CG which is about 1 mile from the new Visitors Center at Mesa Verde National Park.

This CG is very nice with level, pull through sites and offers a fantastic view from Waldo of the National Park.  Set-up went well and a neighboring camper offered us some good ideas of what we should see while in this area.  The lady in the store gave us a lot of information too.  

Ken and I drove to the Visitors Center and got tickets for a Ranger guided tour tomorrow and Friday.  Both of them sound fascinating requiring climbing some ladders and going through a small "tunnel like" space.  These are the only 2 tours available due to a rock slide and being later in the season.  We also purchased our souvenir pin and sticker.

This is the bronze sculpture outside of the
new Visitor Center!

So detailed and beautiful!

After getting back to Waldo Ken did some planning for our 4 days/5 nights in this area and then it was time to grill dinner.  We don't have any TV reception (we think it might be a booster problem with us and not the fault of the CG) so we had a very relaxing evening.

I did talk to my sister, Cindy, and they are really enjoying their time at Royal Coachman in Nokomis, FL.  There is so much to do there!  Also talked to Lanie and Jamie and all is well with them and their families.

Ernie and Noela left their home in Canada today and hope to get near the US border tonight. We wish them safe and uneventful travels.