Our Little Get-a-Way!

We stopped in Florissant  at the Fossil National  Park on our way down to Durango. 

Cha-chink...one tick off my bucket list.  I was a little disappointed in this park.  I thought we would see a lot more fossils and petrified tree trunks.  However, I was very surprised at the size of the tree trunks that we did see!  Evidently many, many years ago there was a forest of Redwoods in this part of Colorado.  When a nearby volcano erupted, the bottom portions of the trunks were encased in muck.  The tree died and the trunk petrified.  I had no idea they would be soooooo BIG!!!!

 We stayed in the Rochester Hotel in Durango.  It is a bed and breakfast and very fun.  We were delighted to see the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in the lobby.  Even though it was not cold, I enjoyed the fresh hot chocolate as well.

 We had an upstairs room at the front of the building. 
This door at the end of the hall opened out to the front of the building.

 Our room was very pleasant.  It was furnished with period antiques.

 One of the hotel amenities is cruiser bikes.  Rod and I took advantage of this opportunity and explored the seven miles of trails along the river in down town Durango.  We had a grand afternoon on the bikes.

 We took a couple of hours to head out to Mesa Verde.  Only two of the sites were open due to the lateness of the year.  We were delighted to almost have the park to ourselves.

 I was surprised when I looked at my photos on my phone camera to see I had caught a shaft of light hitting Rod while we were exploring a Kiev. (?)

 We started our tour to Cliff Palace on this butte.  You can see the people waiting for the next tour on the terrace at the very top.

 This is the view of the site from the terrace.

 Rod, being careful not to touch the walls, peers into a tour window looking for a painting described by our guide.

 Looking up the outside of the tower.

 View inside the tower. 

 The way out.  I loved this tour!  I loved exploring in Mesa Verde.  I loved that there were not crowds.  There were four other people on our tour.  I just wished the Balcony House had been open as well.

View from a fire look out tower.  The sign said you could see 100 miles from up there so there you have it, a 100 mile view.