Yesterday was a day of ruins--ancient puebloans. We started with the ruins in Aztec which were interesting enough. It is amazing what those people did with no modern tools, and how long it has lasted, given the rather unforgiving climate. Beth was telling us that the last time she was in the area, they believed these ruins were made by Indians called the Anasazi , a group which at that time was believed to have mysteriously disappeared around 1200 A.D. More recent scholarship now calls the people the "ancient pueblans", saying poeple in the area are descendants.

Our first Colorado stop was a town called Durango, an old mining town. The town itself was cool but not sooo dog friendly--no restaurant would let me sit with the girls on their patio. Do you believe it? And I'm sooo good now. I would have behaved. The town still has many of their old building from the late 1800's and even the hotel--very impressive.

But the real stunning ruins were at Mesa Verde, a national park designated soley to protect these ruins. The most exciting ruins were the ones up the cliffs tucked into caves, but we learned that over the centuries that indians lived here, they only retreated to these cave dwelings for the last 75-100 years before they left (vanished), and there is much speculation among scholars as to why they made these cliff dwellings. Clare and Beth found it very interesting that with all the scholarship being done, they often heard or read things like "scholars don't know the purpose of that or the use of this or even what made them take to the cliffs. Interestingly enough, one of the reasons they think might account for the vanishing is environmental degradation--but have we learned??

The park is well designed to protect the ruins and they are indeed a national treasure.

Today on the agenda: mountains, foliage, ghost towns. I am hoping for a river or two!