We used La Mesa RV Park as home base for Mesa Verde. This spot was very convenient to Mesa Verde and was right in town. Facilities are no frills but clean.
We went to visit Mesa Verde in the afternoon to map out a plan for the rest of our visit. We decided to do an afternoon tour of Cliff Palace (3:30 pm) since we thought the light was best then. We decided to do the Balcony House tour the next morning.
I remembered visiting some of these dwellings 30 some years ago and wondered if I would still be physically able to get through the tour. The ranger led tour of Cliff Palace was very good and it was no problem at all for me. This is one of the most popular tours. Lots of people. The ranger makes sure everyone knows that this may be physically difficult and you should think twice if you have knee or hip issues etc. Climbing the ladders is fairly exciting as you could really get hurt if you fell off of one.
It is incredible to think about these dwellings having survived for so long and I feel fortunate to have been able to see it again.
We visited some overlooks and had an ice cream sandwich in one of the cafes.
The next day we went on the Balcony House tour at 8 am. It wasn't any more difficult than Cliff Palace. The big difference I think was that we climbed thru a small tunnel. I fit fine - it was a little hard on the knees but wasn't very long.
After that we drove to Wetherill Mesa and did the Badger House Community Trail. I was hoping to see wild (or at least running free) horses out here but we didn't. We saw several in ground incomplete dwellings which I found less interesting. You kind of had to use your imagination or look at pictures to see what they probably used to look like. There was a bathroom out in this area which was nice to find. There's also a chance you will see some free roaming horses but we did not see any on our hike.
The next day we drove into Delores and ate at the River Bar and Grill. It was right on the Dolores River - which was flowing very fast. Really nice ambiance and the food was fine. Then we went to the Visitor Center for Canyon of the Ancients. We didn't end up going to the Canyon - it was a little remote and didn't have any services (no restroom). But we did enjoy the visitor center as they had a lot of artifacts to see.
The next day we drove into Durango and had lunch at Fired Up Pizza - very good - I had a garlic olive oil base with pepperoni and I added mushrooms. We went in some of the shops and then went to Carvers Brewery. Michael got a flight and I liked the Raspberry Wheat and the Powerhouse Porter - great coffee flavor -very smooth. They also make root beer and ginger beer. I had a root beer float and tasted the ginger beer - very good.
We stayed home the next day and made reservations for our next destination, Priest Gulch RV Park and then Ouray Cabins and RV Park. We also bought tickets on the phone for the Durango Train.
The next day we went into Durango (they messed up our ticket purchase - one way was one day and the return trip was a different day) so we got that straightened out and boarded the train going to Silverton. This is an all day trip and I was pretty tired when we returned around 6 pm that night. We stopped for a couple hours in Silverton. We had brought sandwiches so we at those and spent the rest of the time looking in shops and taking pictures. It was a nice trip.
Tips for the train trip: Bring sunglasses or some type of protective eye gear if you ride in an open car to protect from cinders. Also you may want to wear a scarf on your head. Cinders fly everywhere and get all over you.
That night we went back to Carvers for dinner. I had a ginger beer (ale?) with dinner and also took a crowler (2 serving can) with me. This was my fav so far this trip.
