Barns Family USA Odyssey: Mesa Verde, Colorado

We spent a beautiful day today wandering through the Ancestral Puebloan peoples dwellings, set into the side of cliffs. We visited Cliff Palace, Balcony House and Spruce Tree House. The people who lived here 750 years ago were subsistence farmers - and how they managed to grow anything defies belief. The primary crop was corn, but it relied on rain as there was no other water source nearby except for a small spring way below the Mesa tops. The buildings utilised the cave/cliff walls and ceiling as part of the adobe structure, and were plastered and painted. In some areas the buildings were so well crafted, and the Ranger mentioned that evidence of plumb lines were found to have been in use. We enjoyed climbing the ladders and pushing through the squeezes to access the cliff dwellings, and the children and Ken went down into a reconstructed kiva (ceremonial place).

Tonight the wind has picked up and it is beginning to rain. We are sitting at the visitor centre using the laundry facilities and piggybacking on somebody else's wifi as ours is out of range. Tomorrow we head to Monument Valley in Arizona.