Mesa Verde and Durango - Day 61

We woke up to snow this morning in Cortez! We were a bit afraid that Mesa Verde would be closed, but....it wasn't; in fact, it was free, probably because of the weather. The blue sky and the snow in the canyons was incredibly beautiful. The entire mesa was not open for the season, so we could only do one of the loops, but it was amazing. We saw the mesa-top dwellings and many of the cliff dwellings. In the photos below, you can see a photo with a small niche and then, a closeup of the bird's nest.

After spending the morning at Mesa Verde, we drove the 46 mile drive to Durango where we had a reminiscing time. We found the house in Wildcat Canyon where we spent a summer in 1985 and attended a computer class at Fort Lewis College. We also drove around the campus and up the Animas River towards Purgatory. We found that the old Griegas Mexican take-out place had moved out of town on the road to Silverton. We did not, however, eat there. If we were staying another day, we probably would have. Anyhow, we checked into the old and grand Strater Hotel and are in a Victorian room with antique furniture and decor. It is beautiful.

We found a Mexican restaurant where we had eaten at before, Gazpacho's and had a lovely lunch. Then, we strolled Main Street. We decided that we needed to do a laundry and found a laundromat on the Animas River Waterfront Bicycle Path which goes for miles. It did not exist when we were here in the 80's. So, while the wash was being done, we biked, first one way and then the other.