Mesa Verde National Park

Today we woke up in a National Park, so it was nice to be able to start our day trip without an hour or so drive to the destination. We let Brandon sleep in, and the rest of us saw deer hanging around 2 campsite away.

It was a cold night, but it would have been colder if the clouds didn't cover the Sky. We were all dressed pretty warm so we didn't wake up freezing.

Our first stop was back down the mountain 6 miles to the visitors center to get Brandons junior ranger booklet.

The hikes here are all very long and there is really only 3 hikes that we were able to do with the kids. There was a lot of stopping and getting out of the car to see the pueblos, pit houses and cliffs dwellings. The day started out cold and windy but warmed up enough to wear jumpers and not jackets and the wind relaxed.

The cave dwellings are impressive. We didn't go on any of the guides tours as they were all an hour plus and didn't think it was going to be a great idea with the kids. We did watch a 25 minute introduction movie at the museum and both kids sat through it all. Brandon answered his questions in the junior ranger booklet from what he learned at the museum. Brandon got another junior ranger badge to his selection at the end of the day.

Near the end of our visits and a 45 min back to the tent site, we saw 5 deer grazing on the bushes next to the road.

Brandon got to scooter a bit and we all had a nice walk to the general store after our dinner of pasta and cleaning the dishes in the sink in the heated laundry area.

It's an early night tonight, as its getting windy and most nights kids aren't in to bed until 9pm each night.Read more