Before we left lovely Monticello we stopped by the LDS temple there. It was Sunday, so the temple gates were all closed. It was also chilly, so we only got out of the car long enough to take a quick picture. The temple itself is about the size of a Mormon stake center (an extra large church meeting house).
On Monday we left for Mesa Verde National Park in southern Colorado. The southeast corner of Colorado is so beautiful; very different from the red rocks of southern Utah.
Much of the national park was still closed because it is so early in the tourist season. There was also construction going on in the park, but since we only had a day to spend there, we had time to see everything that was open. One of our favorite sights of the whole trip was Spruce Tree House, an easily accessible (for us today) cliff dwelling. No scary ladders or heights to worry about for me!
The cliff overhang is much deeper than it looks. The buildings you can see here represent maybe the front third of the depth.
Intrepid Anna Leigh carted around Auri in a snazzy backpack. She even fit the two of them down through the small square opening of a kiva in the next photo.
Owen helped Casen up and down through the opening. The covered kiva was tall enough to stand upright in, just small, round, dim, and cool.
We made a stop at the highest point in the park, at 8572 feet above sea level. The wind was powerful -- we hung on tightly to the little ones so they wouldn't blow away.
There is a fire lookout building here at the top of the world, but it wasn't occupied at the time. We could see Shiprock from here.
It was so fun having AnnaLeigh, Auri, and Casen join us for the fieldtrip. The little ones were so well behaved in spite of the drive and all of the walking. Anna told us about a local legend that said President Spencer W. Kimball took a visit to the park and while in the park he asked his driver to pull over for a minute. He looked around for a moment and then told his traveling companions the Gadianton Robbers (from the Book of Mormon) had hidden out in these canyons. I don't know if that story is a true one or not, but it certainly added to the mystique of an already fantastic landscape.
Stay tuned for more cool pics. April has been a tough month for any posting thanks to a crowded rehearsal, concert, musical production, mission call reception, and STUFF month. Phew. May is looking a little simpler. I hope to keep it that way too.
No comments:
Post a Comment