Cortez, Colorado
Leaving Sterling and stopping in La Junta for the night we arrived in Cortez the following afternoon. Jalene arranged for us to stay with her childhood friend Ann and her husband Chuck. The first night Chuck and I were treated to an organ and piano concert in their home by Ann and Jalene. Ann is a long time church organist and Jalene teaches piano.
The next day we were up for a new adventure. Mesa Verde National Park is a short drive from Cortez so we loaded up Chuck’s 4wheel drive and headed for the mountains. Our first stop was the visitor center where we were briefed on what we were about to see. Chuck was the perfect guide to the park because he was the one who had worked on the bus tour giving the narrative and telling jokes to the tourists like the time the passengers were disembarking from the bus in the parking lot telling them to watch out for the cougars, cobras, mustangs, vipers, wildcats and jaguars.
Our first stop was the Spruce Tree House site. The park ranger told us he prefers to call it a community instead instead of a house because that is what it is-several people living together, maybe all in the same family.
By this time we were getting hungry so we chose one of many available picnic sites. That’s why I like to travel this time of year, not so many people on the road.
