MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK . . .

This morning we got up early. Today it was time to move farther west. It's so sad to be leaving Durango but we have much excitement for what still lies ahead. Tim and I packed and resorted everything we had pulled out over the last week. I even packed a cooler for us to have in the truck for our long ride ahead. All of our sources were giving us different travel times - two hours, one hour and even a 'route not possible' ... Huh!?

So off we went traveling west on Hwy. 160 with the Airstream in tow. We arrived at the entrance to the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado in just under an hour. Glad I packed the cooler!

At this point it was too early for our check-in and it was also lunch time. We then decided to keep driving a few miles into Cortez, Colorado to find a spot to eat lunch. 

With only a few places with parking lots that would easily accommodate our rig we first stopped at the Lotsa Pasta/That'za Pizza. It was a bust. They don't even open until 3PM. 

Second stop ... A truck stop. Oh yeah! When you see trucks there AND a bunch of local cars it must be good. The Ute Coffee Shop was supper yummy. They had anything from breakfast to burgers to traditional Mexican fare. Between the two of us we had enchiladas, tacos, a tamale, chips & salsa. My thoughts are any Mexican food here in the southwest (even if it's bad) has to be better than our good stuff back home. 

Once we polished off all the food at the truck stop we walked two blocks over to the Silver Bean. I have so wanted to visit this place forever! It was better than one could have imagined. Tim and I got our coffee fix, bought a coffee mug, muffins for breakfast in the morning and got a photo shoot in of the two Airstreams there. It really made my day. 

Finally we made it back to Mesa Verde NP. A month or so ago they sent me an offer of Buy Two Nights/Get Two Free! So luckily we were able to make the dates I picked/booked and now here we are at Morefield Campground in the park. This campground offers 250 camp sites. Of those 15 are full hook-up sites and since I had booked early we were able to get one of those sites. There is a good bit of landscape between sites here giving privacy and these sites sure look better to us than any commercial place we've passed getting here. 

Here in the park we have no cell service, so I'm not sure how often I will be able to post while here. We had to drive partially back out of the park this evening to get this one posted. 

TEMPERATURE: 78*

ELEVATION: 7,851'

(At our campsite ... there's an app for that)

MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 73

(Including all around town but just to MVNP 36)