5/2 - 5/8 - Mesa Verde NP, Durango, CO

 5/2 - Mesa Verde National Park 

Entering the park

View from the top.  Mountains

Spruce House - This is as close as we could get

The earlier homes/kivas

This one had a tower - for what?  Protection?  Overseeing the farming?  It is unknown.  So much is unknown

Kiva

Double decker!

So much of Mesa Verde has been burned and even after many years there aren't any new trees growing.  😒

5/3 - a quiet day of walks and going to town

So cute!

Tess showed me how to crochet and I think I like it better than knitting

My knitting project is a big fail.  I realized that I don't like the original yarn I bought, but that was after I bought the stuff on the left to possibly be a good contrast in a blanket.  Yuk.  

5/4 - Went and had a massage in the AM.  It was a great massage and one by a fellow vanner  (doesn't live in her van).  I did enjoy the massage, but it is really expensive being that I don't really notice the benefit after the actual massage.  

Then Tess, Zoe, and I did a hike on the Colorado trail along Junction Creek.  The creek is soooo amazingly clear that I desperately wanted to drink from it!  I feel like I've never seen such clear waters, but I probably have.  It was a beautiful hike along the creek, but we kept climbing and Zoe was feeling the heat and effort (I was a bit lazy after my massage too).  I hadn't brought water specifically for her and we were too far from the creek for her to get water.  I know I'm probably overly cautious, but I just don't want to get caught in a position where she really can't keep going.  Anyway, we turned around at almost 2 miles.  I don't think we were far from our destination, but we would have had to go down and down to get there and thus up and up to get back.  Zoe was a trooper as always and did great.  She certainly appreciated getting back to the creek for a drink and for me to cover her back with the cold water.

These rocks, with the green, are so cool

I'm tired, Mom!

5/5 - Cinco de Mayo - mellow morning then went into town for a walk along the Animas river and some errands.  Again reminded of the rafting that I should be doing.  Actually I'm not that interested in rafting as I had done that a bunch on the Hudson River in NY, but I'd really love to get some river kayaking lessons.  

Dragonfly made of bike gears/chains

We met this lovely dog, Jenga, who is up for adoption.  He was flagged as unadoptable due to him being hyper in the kennel and not showing well.  He is only 10 months old and just awesome!  He would make an active person an amazing companion!  I could totally see him running alongside a bicyclist or runner.  

The garden where Tess has a plot - with mountain views!

5/6 - Mellow day hanging around the house doing puzzles, crocheting, reading, going for walks, etc.  NICE!

The red rocks and Tess gets to enjoy every day!

Puzzle time!  

Smoking a cigar??

5/7 - We had planned to drive to Telluride today.  It is a Tuesday, so we figured it would be a good time to go, but the weather didn't cooperate.  It was super windy and a high of 43 in Telluride, so we decided against it.  Neither Tess nor I really knew what else to do.  We decided to just do a hike and a couple of sights around Durango.  We went to Bakers Bridge, which is basically just a swimming hole, but gorgeous and because it's cold we had it to ourselves.  It would have been a great spot for a picnic.

Bakers Bridge swimming area

We stopped at Pinkerton Hot Springs, which is literally just on the side of 550 and is so beautiful!  "Hot springs are a result of melted snow and rainfall trickle down cracks in the Earth’s surface towards it core.  After travelling thousands of feet, it reaches a point where it can’t go any further, so it begins to move back upward, using its intense heat to dissolve rocks and anything else that hinders it.  However, scientists aren’t completely sure how the Pinkerton Hot Springs in Durango, CO, receive their heat, but they’ve narrowed it down to two reasons.  Either the water is simply becoming hotter as it circulates deeper into the Earth’s core, or it could actually reach magma, which gives off an even more extreme heat."

Back in the 1800s, Pinkerton decided to make this a tourist destination and created a resort here, which is long gone now.

Love me some lupines

Cool rocks on our hike that is a big bouldering area.

Hmmm.  Not sure why she's hanging out here...  Moody girl.

Ahh, the joy of a fire.

I just love this view of the rocks in the valley near Tess' home.

Soothing herself?  But why???  

About 5 years ago there was a big fire here that got super close to Tess' home and many others.  Thankfully none were lost.  You can't see it well here, but some of these healthy trees were burned at the base.  It's eerie seeing this and how close to homes it was.  The fire fighters did a great job!!!

5/8 - This was my packing up day.  I had already cleaned the van, but not the toilet, so that was the biggest chore for today.  Due to the heat of the composting action and the cold temps in the van without me living in it, there is quite a bit of water in the bottom of the toilet from the condensation.  I dumped the water, let the toilet dry out, and did a thorough cleaning.  Doing laundry, getting ready to pack up the van tomorrow.  I'm also working on a plan for my next travels.  The final destination in Ithaca, NY of this trip is closing in.  I posted on some FB groups to get some ideas for places to stop on my way from the Badlands in SD to Ithaca and I'm getting some good ideas.  I want to take at least 2 weeks for this trip.  

Before that section, my plan has been to spend some time in middle CO, then possibly head to Billings, MT to visit with Heather who is just moving there from NYC.  I'm not sure if this is going to work out due to timing, but I'm working towards that right now.  I had been planning to head east from Durango to Pagosa Springs and then north, but it seems that winter is holding on here (the story of my travels!), so I may head to Santa Fe, NM and maybe Taos if that's not too cold/snowy...  😫

I'm excited, anxious, and sad about heading out tomorrow.  It's been so great hanging with Tess for such an extended period and I'm sad to leave her and know that it will likely be a long time before we see each other again.  I'm ready to move again, but also feeling out of practice, and then of course there is the weather that is putting a damper on things.  But, hey, maybe it will all work out better than hoped!