Mesa Verde,Colorado.

I woke up at my usual time, which is about sun rise now,although because I was in New Mexico it was actually 07.30 and not 08.30. I was a little stiff but not cold, so that was a bonus. I drove the few miles to the monument, not only is the monument on the only place in the U.S. where four states meet but it is also where two Indian nations meet, the Navajo and the Ute.The monument is controlled by the Navajo nation and so everyone who works there is from the community. I guess because it was mid-October but there weren't many people there, visitors or stall holders. This gave the monument a forgotten air, it didn't seem to be as "living" as the national parks I had already visited. There is an easy answer for this, the monument does not attract as many visitors simply because there is not much to do there other then taking a photo of yourself sprawled into four states. Which of course is what I did, I took the photo and headed on my way to Colorado, at the end of the gate!
My goal for that day was to go to Mesa Verde N.P. in the morning and then get to see Arches N.P. in Utah in the afternoon.I got to the town of Cortez and the park was just a few miles on the other side. It cost $10 to get into the park, but of course now I have my annual pass I just have to wave this at the park ranger with my I.D. and I sail on in. The drive into the park takes you up a spectacular road etched into the side of a mesa. Now prior to arriving here I had learned what a mesa was, there are elevated, flat pieces of land, high above the surrounding desert. When I went to Albuquerque with Jessie we went to a Pueblo Indian museum and they lived on a series of three mesas in north New Mexico. So despite knowing what a mesa I was still surprised that I had to drive up what is basically a mountain road. I am not too smart sometimes, in fact some people would say most of the time. That's o.k..
I went straight to the visitor centre and signed up for a tour. The park is most famous for the cliff dwellings of the ancient Pueblo people known as the Anasazai. These buildings are built into crevices in the cliff side, I had seen photos of them when I was in New Mexico the first time, but hadn't expected to have the opportunity to see them for myself, let alone go and walk among them. The group gathered and waited for the ranger at a canyon overlook. I got talking with two guys, Les and Tom, there are old friends from being in the air force together. Tom was in the midst of a move from Denver to Albuquerque and they were having a little down time. The ranger arrived and we started to descend down the cliff by means of a narrow,steep staircase carved into the canyon side. It was too bad, there wasn't a sheer drop that I could see, so I was fine. The ranger gave us a history of the people who built the dwellings, their various uses and how the people lived in such an outlandish place. We had a short time among the ruins, but I am so glad that I went and was able to see them up close for myself. After I had climbed back up the ladders on the other side to the top of the canyon, Les was was waiting for me, he and Tom were going to drive around the canyon rim and wanted to know if I wanted to go with them, I said yes and we left my car at the car park.
The two guys were great, it was really nice to have someone to chat with, not just to discuss what we had just seen but anything that came to mind. In all honesty there wasn't a lot to see on the scenic drive and it was quickly finished. The guys asked me if I wanted to join them for lunch and even though I knew that it would delay the rest of my day, I said yes. We caravaned into Cortez and went to lunch in a local bar filled with construction workers and cowboys. Lunch was great, I got to talk to Les about his childhood and his parents. His family had been interned during WWII and in fact his two older siblings had been born in the camp. I was intrigued to talk to someone whose family had been a part of a not very pleasant piece of history. He told me that there had been calls for Muslims to be interned in the same way after Sept 11th and in fact the Japanese American community had stood up and said "You've got to be joking right? Have you learned nothing from our experiences?" Living history is so powerful, it is so important that the memories of people who experienced momentous events should be recorded so it can never be forgotten. I know that there is a race on now to record the memories of all the Holocaust survivors before they die.
I said goodbye to Tom and Les and headed back west towards Utah. Outside a small town, Monticello, I saw a hitch hiker and stopped to pick him up. Now I know that this is not necessarily a smart thing that a woman travelling on her own can do, but it was still daylight, I only had another two hours max of driving left and he looked fine. It turned out to be totally the right thing to do, his name was Zen, he was going to the same place as me and in fact was going to stay in the same hostel. It was nice to have someone to chat with, he was hitch hiking from Albuquerque to his parents house in Montana, he was going home for hunting season. In fact when we got to Moab he was able to direct me to the hostel. I checked into the hostel and that was the end of my hitch hiking adventure, no drama, no danger. Added bonus the hostel only cost $9 a night, I would get to shower again. That alone made me happy.
My eyes lit up when I saw that the hostel had a computer, an old and slow computer to be sure, but a computer none the less. I got on and started checking email and assuring people that I was still alive. Then I realised that I could hook up my camera and external hard drive. I spent the next three hours uploading photos to my hard drive and to my photo website. Since the problem in Yellowstone I have been paranoid about losing photos and sleeping in the car doesn't help this. I don't know how low the temperature is going to drop and how this will affect my memory card. When I finally got off the computer I walked to the local petrol station, bought some beer and cookies. I am now addicted to oatmeal and raisin cookies.Back at the hostel I joined a few people outside, including Zen,and sat and chatted until I was ready to sleep. I hadn't done everything I wanted to do that day, but it had been a good day and I was back in Utah, the last state I would travel in before retuning the car. I was on track.