Mesa Verde Memorial Day

A couple days after Brooklyn's graduation, our family hopped in the car for our annual post-Memorial Day camping trip with NomiAnn and Papa Kay. This year was extra fun because the Wilhoits were able to join us.

Originally our families planned to travel to Yosemite, but many of the roads were closed due to snow.  At the last minute we changed course and headed to Mesa Verde.  There are some pretty vistas as you get higher on the mesa.

By the time we arrived NomiAnn and Papa Kay had set up an amazing camp for our group.  Here we are enjoying some Thai salad, courtesy of Callie.

Tutoring Anders in the fine art of banana boats.

Smoke follows beauty, Papa Kay.

Hammock city.

Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing a kid in a tent. We are actively raising future generations of campers.

Either Papa Kay and NomiAnn are happiest with family, or else they do a darn good job faking it.  Thanks for reserving the campsites and helping this to happen, Papa Kay!

These gents have so much fun hanging out together.  It's always a great when you like your brother-in-law.  

We love our cousins too.

We still missed Zoe and Talia.  At least Anders made good use of the doggy door.

The next day we went for a hike from our Morefield Campgound.  The Knife Edge Trail follows a historic section of park road that is far less intimidating than it sounds.

Quite relaxing, right Eila?

Naturally Annie was off catching grasshoppers.

So many great little hikers.

Such a beautiful day too.  You know, most people only visit the ruins at Mesa Verde, but I'm grateful we experienced this corner of the park as well.

Some of our crew wanted a litle more hiking so we did an additional loop after and found this cute little baby lizard.  Pretty sweet.

Always love hiking with my girl.

Meanwhile, the rest went and checked out the Visitors Center.  I don't know how the exhibits were, but the architectural design looks great.

Imprompte ending to a great day: the Little Mermaid on a big screen in Cortez, Colorado.  Plus, five dollar tix on Tuesday!

For breakfast the next morning we repurposed a few of the ingredients we didn't use for chicken pot pie and enjoyed hashed browns and dutch oven biscuits with our scrambled eggs.  Yum!

Happy smiles everywhere!

Some smiles were dirtier than others.  :)

It's getting harder and harder to get my teens out of the tent in the morning.

Also, the grown-ups might need some hammock lessons.

That afternoon Papa Kay treated our entire crew to a 700 years chartered bus tour.  Thank you!  It was such a great way to get into the park and see the different sites.  The tour guide was excellent, and even our littlest campers stayed interested.

The covered kivas were nice, not only because they protect the exposed heritage sites, but also provide shade for the people.

Looking out over the Balcony House and Cliff Palace.

Most of our group headed down to Cliff Palace, but Papa Kay the hero stayed behind to rescue the phone NomiAnn left in the outhouse.  True story.  Thank you, Mr. Anonymous!

This 150 room complex was constructed by the Ancestral Puebloans all the way back in the 1200s.  Even though we'd been here before, I felt just as awestruck as the first time.

I love how it looks like Jason is giving the rangers a tour.

Climbing out with big grins.

A few more photos, just because this blog doesn't have enough.  In case you're wondering where Talia is, she was still enjoying Europe with her Aunt Christy and Uncle Ben.

Hydration matters, especially in the desert!

After the tour, we drove back and visited a few of the Far View Sites, including the Far View House and Far View Reservoir.  I believe this is Coyote Village.

Per google, this spiral petroglyph is part of Pipe Shrine.  To be honest, they are all cool, but all look pretty similar to an outsider like me.  I'm just grateful we could experience them!

Back at camp, it was time for another fire.  No matter what the season, the desert gets pretty chilly at night!

Since Jason and Adam had to leave a little early to get back to work, Callie and I shared a tent with all the littles on the last night.

I woke up in the morning to discover munchkins had rolled everywhere.

As for Annika, she'd gotten cold and climbed into Callie's sleeping bag.  Plenty of snuggles, but certainly not a restful night for my sister!

Wilhoits, I hope you'll still camp with us again. You can even have your own sleeping bag.  

Papa Kay and NomiAnn, thank you so much for making this happen!  We love this tradition.  I know it was a little extra stressful this year, both between changing locations and hitting a coyote on the way home.  After eight weeks of waiting for your parts, may poor Raven soon make it home from North Platte.  With everyone there though, this year was extra special too.  Thank you!