Anasazi Ruins

We live in a unique state. Alpine mountains, sandstone desserts, world class skiing, national parks galore...We have decided to explore this great state, so this week, we traveled to SE Utah to explore where the Anasazi Indians lived 800 years ago. Wes's brother (Owen) and his family did this same thing a few years back and raved about their experience...so we copied them. We stayed in Monticello. A little town at a high elevation with fabulous autumn scenery and amazing views of the surrounding valleys. Owen's good friend, Bryce and his cute family played tour guides and took us to some little known ruins and petroglyph panels, and fed us an awesome dinner!

A woolly mammoth. In recent years, the rock has chipped away, but our friends said it was definitely an elephant-like animal with a trunk. How would our Indian friends 800 years ago know about woolly mammoths OR elephants?

A dinosaur footprint.

A cob of really old corn (it was mini compared to ours today).

Anasazi pottery shards. Amazing! Look at the painted designs!

Caleb's collection of pottery and flint.

"Wolfman" petroglyph with our friends, Jesse, Alan and Lydia.

"Balcony House" ruin at Mesa Verde NP.

Are we crazy parents to take our 3 year old on this ladder surrounded by cliffs? The people in our tour group seemed to think so, but were so helpful and kind. The gentleman next to me climbed back down the ladder to cheer on scared Norah and offer his help.

"Cliff Palace" ruin at Mesa Verde NP. Over 100 rooms and many, many kivas (underground rooms thought to have been gathering places for ceremonies).

In one of the kivas, we saw some poison ivy growing, indicating a seep spring was near. I pointed out the poison ivy for the children to see. Norah was really interested in this plant that she was sure was named after her sister. She pointed to another plant off the trail and said, "Mom, that is poison Norah." She was serious!

What a grand adventure!