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Four Corners Monument

Teec Nos Pos NM

We saw this formation on the way to Four Corners.
This is the only point in the United States where four states meet. Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
Standing in four states at one time.
Sitting in four states at one time.
Authentic Indian Fry Bread.

Mesa Verde National Park

Mancos CO

Mesa Verde is home to many cliff dwellings, pueblos and pit houses. This region was home to about 40,000 people as late at the 1200s AD. Current tribes who trace their ancestors to this area include the Pueblo, Hopi, Ute, Navajo and Apache. Many still consider this a sacred place and return to make pilgrimages to reconnect with their ancestors, share knowledge and gather medicines.
Point Lookout
Pit house, circa 595 AD.
Navajo Canyon.
Navajo Canyon.
Square Tower House, circa 1200-1300 AD.
Pit Houses and Pueblos, circa 700-950 AD.
Pit Houses and Pueblos, circa 700-950 AD.
Pit Houses and Pueblos, circa 700-950 AD.
Pit Houses and Pueblos, circa 700-950 AD.
Pit Houses and Pueblos, circa 700-950 AD.
This large, deep, and impressive kiva, built about 1074 AD, is part of the last village built at this site.
Sun Point Pueblo, circa 1200s AD.
Sun Point View. This is the Sunset House.
Oak Tree House, a fifteen room cliff dwelling.
New Fire House, twenty-two room cliff dwelling.
Fire Temple, circa 1250 AD.
Sun Temple, circa 1250 AD.
Sun Temple.
Sun Temple.
Cliff Palace. This is the star of the park. With park rangers, visitors can climb down and up ladders to see and walk through some of the rooms. We saw the palace from across the canyon.
Close up of the left side.
Close up of the right side.

One night in Durango CO

We spent one night at Historic Strater Hotel in Durango, an historic mining town in southern Colorado.

The Historic Strater Hotel, built in 1887.
Lobby of the Strater.
Diamond Belle Saloon.
At the Diamond Belle Saloon, this guy played ragtime favorites all night. He was really good!
Main Avenue.
The Durango & Silverton Railroad takes passengers to Silverton on a three hour train ride along the scenic Animas River. We had planned to spend a day on this tour, but unfortunately had to cut it out to shorten the trip.
This is Chimney Rock, near Pagosa Springs CO, on the way to Durango from New Mexico.

Northern New Mexico

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…”
–Isaiah 44:24

I was surprised when we drove through northern New Mexico to see the stunning rock formations. Quite a diversity of landscapes!

Manhattan Project National Historical Park

Los Alamos NM

The Los Alamos Main Gate building. Once a security checkpoint, it is now restrooms behind the facade.
Sculptures of J. Robert Oppenheimer (left) and Major General Leslie Groves.
The Historic Fuller Lodge originally served the Los Alamos Ranch School as dining hall, community center, living quarters for some staff, and infirmary. For the Manhattan Project, it remained a dining hall, and also as housing for visiting scientists, and a community center throughout the Manhattan Project.
Ancestral Pueblo Site. In the 1200s, this site was home to a group of Tewa-speaking people who may have come from Mesa Verde or Chaco Canyon. They built structures with blocks of tuff (welded volcanic ash). This building was two stories high and contained bedrooms, cooking areas, storage rooms, and a semi-circular kiva used for ceremonies and meetings for the two or three families who lived here.
Hans Bethe’s house.
Rear of Hans Bethe’s house.
Bethe’s Living Room.
Bethe’s Kitchen.
Oppenheimer’s house.
Oppenheimer’s Living Room.