Jun 10, 2015

Left early this morning to get to our booked tour of the monument valley at 1pm only to find when we got here all tours had been cancelled because of flooding which wasn't much of a surprise given all the rain we had on the way.



We had breakfast looking out over the canyons of Mesa Verde and decided the hotel was aptly named 'Far View Lodge' this is the view from the dining room.



We got to drive down the mountain in the dry but this was the weather rolling in from below as we descended. We got our waterproofs on at the bottom and before we were finished the mountain was covered in cloud and we were only a couple of kilometers before the sky opened up.



A quirky stop, 4 Corners where we stood in 4 states at the same time Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Between the access road and the corners was a 20m stretch of mud, oh dear. Apparently the current monsoonal rain is the first in 6 years so no locals are complaining so we sucked it up as well.



Finally a shot of something magnificent out of the clouds. The sights had been incredible and somewhat to this point and pointless to photograh as great huge irregular shapes were wreathed in clouds and difficult to distinguish. Even so, they were magnificent.



The Mexican Hat for obvious reasons.



Monument Valley on our arrival.



Finally clearing a bit an hour later.



And a shot further around up to the hotel.



This was John Waynes's favourite spot. Self Explanatory. Sharen and Ken found his cabin but we don't know if it was a holiday spot or from one of his movies.



The things you do when you're killing time waiting to get into your hotel room.



Off to find the stretch of road from the Forest Gump movie when he was running across America.



And this was where he 'stopped runnin I half knelt down in the road to take it without getting run over and managed to convince a couple of Japanese tourists to get off the road before they were skittled as well. They took some convincing.

 

And finally in our hotel room at 4pm and this is the view from our room. Don't think we will see the stars tonight ...another feature we booked for. Ya gotta laugh.

Bits and Bobs:



We had our first actual room key last night and thought we might get another since we are in a type of Park tonight but not so.



Norm decided on a mixed grill last night and got a small game hen, jumbo shrimps and rattlesnake sausage. Made me shudder just hearing it.

Last Night's Accommodation:



Far View Lodge, Mesa Verde National Park, Mile Marker 15, Inside Mesa Verde National Park, Mesa Verde, Co, 81330
Quirky rooms but comfortable and a sense of the remoteness without being austere. Beautiful dining options at the restaurant and accommodation units spread around site so not conscious of the numbers here. Bed comfortable, free parking and wifi.