My favorite time of the year is "vacation time".
I look forward to my yearly vacation every single year.
But picking a spot is often difficult.
It's hard to find something that I'll enjoy and the rest of the family will too! AS children grow older, it can be even more difficult! (you'd think the opposite would be true - but it isn't'!) You can't keep going to the same old boring theme parks, or beach towns that everyone else goes to.
You want something new and interesting to liven things up.
You want something that not many other people have done so that you can talk about it without boring people to death! I suggest you take a look at the Mesa Verde National Park.
Now a lot of people tend to shrug off National Parks as boring but this one is completely different.
It's actually really cool.
Before we get into that though, let's talk logistics for a minute or two.
Mesa Verde is the absolute biggest archaeological site in America.
The entrance to the park is located about 10 to 15 miles east of Cortez Colorado.
So now that you know where it is, WHAT is it? Imagine a dusty Mexican ruin.
Think clay walls and sand...
you won't be too far off.
Mesa Verde is a cliff palace, or cliff dwellings or houses might be a better way to describe it.
They were once inhabited by the Anasazi people, known as the ancestral Puebloans (remember those old commercials that told you to send away for your free kit from Pueblo Colorado back in the 80's? no?).
These people built their houses in shallow caves...
and then abandoned them later.
We've found them and excavated them.
Actually they were found around 1888 by some explorers.
The place was looted pretty well before the world sort of figured out what was going on.
We didn't even actually get around to naming it a National Park till around 1906! Still, even if the place was looted way back then, there's still a ton of stuff to see and do here.
You can explore the buildings themselves, see wall art and things like that, and generally take in the beautiful scenery.
In our modern era, it's easy to overlook places like this but if you're interested in history and ancient places, then Mesa Verde is probably right up your alley.
It's a great place for both adults and children and I highly recommend you put it on your list of "must see" places.
You can spend your vacation anywhere in the world.
It's cool to know that we have such a preserved histories site right here in our own backyards.
I look forward to my yearly vacation every single year.
But picking a spot is often difficult.
It's hard to find something that I'll enjoy and the rest of the family will too! AS children grow older, it can be even more difficult! (you'd think the opposite would be true - but it isn't'!) You can't keep going to the same old boring theme parks, or beach towns that everyone else goes to.
You want something new and interesting to liven things up.
You want something that not many other people have done so that you can talk about it without boring people to death! I suggest you take a look at the Mesa Verde National Park.
Now a lot of people tend to shrug off National Parks as boring but this one is completely different.
It's actually really cool.
Before we get into that though, let's talk logistics for a minute or two.
Mesa Verde is the absolute biggest archaeological site in America.
The entrance to the park is located about 10 to 15 miles east of Cortez Colorado.
So now that you know where it is, WHAT is it? Imagine a dusty Mexican ruin.
Think clay walls and sand...
you won't be too far off.
Mesa Verde is a cliff palace, or cliff dwellings or houses might be a better way to describe it.
They were once inhabited by the Anasazi people, known as the ancestral Puebloans (remember those old commercials that told you to send away for your free kit from Pueblo Colorado back in the 80's? no?).
These people built their houses in shallow caves...
and then abandoned them later.
We've found them and excavated them.
Actually they were found around 1888 by some explorers.
The place was looted pretty well before the world sort of figured out what was going on.
We didn't even actually get around to naming it a National Park till around 1906! Still, even if the place was looted way back then, there's still a ton of stuff to see and do here.
You can explore the buildings themselves, see wall art and things like that, and generally take in the beautiful scenery.
In our modern era, it's easy to overlook places like this but if you're interested in history and ancient places, then Mesa Verde is probably right up your alley.
It's a great place for both adults and children and I highly recommend you put it on your list of "must see" places.
You can spend your vacation anywhere in the world.
It's cool to know that we have such a preserved histories site right here in our own backyards.
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