RUN FOR THE WALL Jean and Larry: May 11, 2023

May 11, 2023 - Day 5 to Ontario

Brrrrrr.... it was cold this morning, 38 degrees. Layer up again!!! Almost turned on my heated gear.

NOTE: to see the pictures on a full screen, click the picture and it will be the size of your computer screen.

Headed out to go to Mesa Verde National Park from Durango. Beautiful day!!!

First stop up the mountain. Yep, up we go again. 8400 is how far we climbed today.

Some of the roads.

Look at this. It was one of the signs. While building this road there were several times cars fell off the edge.

At the top there was a fire in 2002. So sad to see all the burnt trees. Strange after 20 years, you do not see any new growth.

Pueblo was the group that built the homes in the stone.

Fun Fact:

The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who have in common their style of living in towns constructed of adobe, stone and other local materials; their buildings are constructed as complex apartments with numerous rooms, often built in strategic defensive locations.

Here is one of the examples.

As we get ready to leave the parking lot. We see these ranger cars with the hoods propped open. What is this all about? Larry happened to see one of the rangers. Seems there is an animal called a "pack rat". It is about the size of a mouse. They get into the engines and build nests. They like dark, dry places. SO they leave the hoods open to keep light in there. This seems to keep them out.

We went to another area in the park. Here is an example of a gathering place.

Amazing. Hope you can see the details.

This is the valley where we saw the Pueblo communities in the wall.

Heading down that mountain. This is where we have to get to.

Here again is one of the roads. SUN is OUT!!! yeah, and it felt a little warm but still in the 40s.

We leave the park and head for Mexican Hat and Monument Valley. The colors today could not be better.

Then blue sky and white clouds. Here are a few pics.

Here we start entering the Mexican Hat area.

Look at the design in these mountains. We have seen lots of different formation but the colors here are zigzag and multiple colors.

Here is the Mexican hat. Right in the middle of the mountains below.

Zoomed in view. It looks like at any minute it will fall off.

Another pic of the same mountain range as we drive further. It looks like someone painted it.

Do not blink, you will miss the town.

Fun Fact:

With a population of less than 100 (21 as of the 2020 census), Mexican Hat is not exactly a place you go to cut loose. The small community is mostly known for San Juan River trips and the nearby rock formation that lends the town its name.

Now we enter Monument Valley. Does this scene look familiar? If you watched "Forrest Gump", it is where he decided he was finished running.

You remember in my earlier posts that I mentioned you have to be very alert to animals. Most of the road we travel, there is a fence near the road to keep the animals out. Well, this sign means there is no fence.

In 2016, we were traveling with Ken and Jenny, and they wanted to take us to restaurant below. It is about a mile off the main road. Ken is leading, then Jenny, then Larry and me. Ken hollers over the CB to us to watch out for the cows. Seems there was a dog chasing about 10 cows right for the road. Cows can run pretty fast when being chased. Ken was ahead of them so they would have missed him. It looked like the rest of us were going to get it. All of a sudden, a red pickup truck came down the road between those cows and us. I have never seen cows make a 90 degree turn so fast. Larry looked into his mirror and did not see the truck going down the road. It just disappeared. Divine intervention!!!! It was not our turn to leave this earth. The good Lord must still have plans for us.

Going past this today, Larry and I were on extra alert for any running cows. Hahahaha

This formation I was told is like angel wings.

This is a glove.

Ron saw this and called it a "Wittle Guy" (Little Guy). Our daughter has a son, and she calls him this. So, Ron named it "Maddex, the Wittle Guy".

Larry saw this one and said it looked like a whale coming out of the water. Ok I can see it.

One last one. Larry called this one the Laying down Camel. Humor him.

Here is the "head" zoomed in. Ok I can see this part.

As we leave monument valley there are a lot of horse. They are behind the fence. Thank goodness.

Love the colors.

Dinner time. Found a cool restaurant: Big Johns BBQ.

Smokers out front. It smelled so good.

We gained another hour so Ron suggested we go over the Glen Canyon dam. It is connected to Lake Powell. Lake Powell is currently 24% of full pool. It is 177 feet low. WOW. This is not good since it is used for a lot of the power in the area. It looks like a mini Hoover Dam.