The Kofford Family relocates to Colorado after 40 years as Californians. In December of 2007, Grandma Lorraine is diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer. Sadly, she passed away on Dec. 26th, 2008 after a year long courageous battle. Follow our journey as we keep Lorraine's memory alive, and as we learn to appreciate that each day we are given, is a gift to be enjoyed!

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
~Maria Robertson

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings...

Hello again!

We drove home last night from our family road trip and had a few more sights to show you in case you ever want to come to Colorado for your own road trip! Of course we hope you will come see us, but then you won't want to miss these incredible sites! Besides the fascinating Royal Gorge and the Great Sand Dunes, we also stopped at Mesa Verde near the Four Corners area.

Aren't these cliff dwellings amazing? The Hopi and Puebloan Indians lived here over 1200 years ago! There are kivas, tunnels, "doors and rooms", fire temples, and these communities were home to over a hundred people at a time. They lived here for around a thousand years and then all vanished. Many speculate that once they learned how to farm they moved on to the Arizona area, or a catastrophic drought could have forced them to leave their home. Many things are a mystery as to how these people lived so archeologists are still digging and studying the grounds today.

We were able to walk into some of the dwellings and the kids enjoyed exploring how life might have been like a thousand years ago! Tom and the kids climbed into a "kiva" to experience how tight these ceremonial areas were. Just fascinating!
Ashlyn climbing into a reconstructed kiva. Life in AD 750 was not easy!

An area used to grind corn and grain...now this was hard work! And, I thought I didn't like to cook!
Ceremonies to cure the sick, pray for rain, and to stay warm were all held in these areas.
The remains of an ancient people....discovered in 1880 by cowboys traveling west. The blackened areas are smoke damaged from all the burning fire pits and cooking that the people did daily.
Hiking amongst poison oak...I sure hope we didn't bring any home with us! We visited the museum where there were baskets and pottery, and our kids were amazed at how hard the people worked to make the most basic of kitchen supplies! This was also a great opportunity for Kyle to see the ruins in person as he learned about Mesa Verde in school this year. (The teacher in me always likes it when a trip can be educational too!)
Beautiful canyons and cliffs as we drove down the mountains from 8,000 ft. These views were just stunning!

Now lets travel forward a thousand years to our next stop....Telluride!

5 comments:

mommax3 said...

AMAZING!! We have no idea what "hard" is :) I love exploring these types of areas. My oldest would love it!

Kim said...

You are so close to many amazing sights to behold. I love seeing it through "your lens" and feel like I have been with you on the trip. Can't wait to see what Telluride has in store.

Anonymous said...

WOW WOW WOW!!! I am so amazed by those cliff dwellings, I would never want to stop looking at them. Its just so fascinating, how long things can last, what their lives must have been like...and to still be able to see it today. You got the greatest pictures too! I love all the sights and scenery you have shared on your trip. I'm so happy for you guys to have this shared experience. Precious memories for the kids, and you guys too of course. :)

Anonymous said...

I love seeing it through "your lens" and feel like ......
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Julie
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Traci said...

that was fascinating! i love historical places like that... makes me want to come to colorado! ever been to williamsburg, virginia?