Our original trip route didn’t include Colorado, but we found ourselves charting a course for Mesa Verde National Park from Moab anyway.

It would be an understatement to say that it was a great idea. We took the guided tour of Cliff Palace, which, at $5/person, was the best deal we’ve seen on this trip. We came down a narrow, rock staircase and hugged the cliff as our guide gave us information about the history of Mesa Verde and the cliff dwellings. We then walked down around the kivas and dwellings and got to peek inside.

The most exciting part, however, were the three narrow ladders that we needed to climb to get back to the top of the mesa. What an adventure!