Road Trip Day 8 - Durango CO to Bluff Utah

As I left Durango Colorado, I decided to head a little south and go to the Mesa Verde National Park to see some of the cliff houses or pueblos there.  Little did I know that to really get to see some of the bigger ones, I would have to buy a tour ticket, drive over an hour into the park, climb a rickety looking 80' ladder and crawl through 18" tunnels.  Somehow, I thought it would be an hour drive and then I would be on the road again.  Oh my gosh!  This park is fabulous!  It is about an hour drive up onto the mesa and then down again to the cliffs where the Indians built these cliff dwellings.  I think the top elevation on the mesa was about 10,000'.  The view from the mesa was spectacular.  I could see the snow covered Rocky Mountains in the distance.

This is the museum at the entrance to the park.  There was a statue in front of the museum of an Indian climbing up the sheer side of the cliff as they used to do to get to the cliff houses. My picture of the statue is not very good from a detail perspective but with the sun behind it the sky looks amazing.  This is a spire with a climber on it.  

The first stop was at the Spruce Tree House.  It did not require a tour ticket and was self guided.  The trail down to the cliff house was quite steep dropping probably 1000' down to the dwellings.  Oh my!  I was going to have to get back up that trail.  No worries!  If those other travelers can do it, I can do it!

Spruce Tree House

All I can say is that I am so very thankful that God put me in this life now and not back when these people existed.  What a harsh life! 

Spruce Tree House up close

My next stop was the Four Corners Monument.  It is run by the Indians and they charge $5 per person to go into the little area where the Four Corners marker is.   There is no where else in this country that you can stand on four states at one time:  Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.  There were some really nice Indian artwork and booths around the monument but the stuff was very pricey.

From Four Corners I headed to Bluff Utah.  Bluff is a little town of only about 150 people.  But it is situated in some of the most beautiful desert I have ever seen.  The Mormons originally settled here and built the Bluff Fort.  My reason for coming to Bluff was to have dinner at the Cottonwood Steakhouse which is owned by some friends of my sister and brother-in-law.  Rick and Diana bought the steak house 9 years ago and transport themselves from the Philadelphia area to Bluff every year from April through October.  They have a steady stream of diners from Europe and Japan and all over the world who come to see Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.  Now I can say that I have dined at the Cottonwood Steakhouse in Bluff, Utah!  By the way, it was very good!

Diana took me on a tour of Bluff just before sunset and up on Cemetery Hill the bluffs were absolutely breathtaking.

Words cannot describe it.  

I am now off to Flagstaff Arizona by way of Monument Valley.  Maybe will have time to go a little south of Flagstaff to see Sedona.  Day 9 of the Epic Road Trip has begun.  Westward ho!!