Mesa Verde National Park

I was about Norah's age when my parents took me to Mesa Verde and it made quite an impression on me. This was my third visit to the park and I was still astonished. I hope Norah will always remember this trip - we will have to go again for Alice and Freya. When we toured Cliff Palace Alice actually asked me "When are we going to do the fun parts?" And when Freya became impatient in the backpack she called Bryan "bad daddy" ha! Poor Alice was a little on the small side for all the walking we did and yet too big to be carried. Norah had a great time and enjoyed both asking and answering the park rangers questions. I didn't take a lot of photos of the dwellings because it was hard to get shots without tourists and there are better professional photos online than I'll ever take. - but I couldn't resist taking some of Cliff Palace. It is always fun meeting other tourists on park visits. We chatted with a gang of Indian Motorcyclists who had traveled from Illinois for a rally (or a convention? I can't remember). I had never heard of this brand of motorcycles before but they are the best looking motorcycles I've ever seen and the riders were also the best looking motorcyclists I've ever seen. They were classy group. There were several self described biker-girls who declined to be photographed with Alice and Freya but proudly let us pose with their bikes.I was watching this raptor swoop over and over again from Balcony HousePark Rangers are so friendly! We had a great time chatting with this one during Balcony House
An example of a seeping well - the Ancestral Puebloans main source of water Peering into a Kiva at Long HouseBeing sworn in as junior rangers - I doubt any Mesa Verde junior ranger has been more informed than Norah!

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