From Vegas to the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, and New Mexico

Well, we've reached the last leg of our fantastic trip. From Vegas we went on to the Grand Canyon. In true Lindsay and Michele fashion, we arrived in the Canyon park too late to get a campsite and found ourselves driving around the national forest just outside. Luckily you are allowed to camp anywhere in the forest that you please, so after we could drive no more we just parked, set up the tent and got ready for bed. Of course the local wildlife decided to have a curious moment, and all of a sudden we found ourselves sharing our site with a HUGE deer. I thought deer were supposed to be skiddish, but not this one. S/he came right up to our little site and walked all around as if trying to figure out why in the world two girls from new york were sleeping out in the middle of nowhere. After getting in the tent and snuggling down for bed, my eyes shot wide open as I heard the sound of hoves right next to my head. I turned to look at Linds and saw that she was as startled as I was. Then of course our little buddy decided to have some kind of deer-kegger right outside and soon there were many, many hoves to be heard. To top it off, something must have scared the group away because I woke up quite suddenly again thinking I was in that stampede scene in the lion king. Not the best night's sleep.

The next day we set out for the Canyon but out bodies being very dehydrated and sleepy, made our stay there rather short. Plus the weather was overcast and looking to rain so we took an abreviated hike and headed out towards Mesa Verde.

I must say that our drive along northern Arizona was stunning. The pancaked clay mountains had the most beautiful gradient from red to orange to yellow. In some places it looks as though the colors had been painted on in quick but determined strokes. Plus, being at such a high elevation made the sky look as though it had dropped down upon us. Just wait until you see the pictures.

We arrived in Mesa Verde, found a campsite, and had our last campfire of the trip complete with smores and long, laughter-filled conversations. Thanks to Linds I have found a new appreciation for camping.

The next morning we went on a self-guided hike/tour of some of the cliff dwellings at the park. It was amazing to me to see these houses, built in the 13th century, still standing and almost untouched. It definitely brought out the history geek in me.

From Mesa Verde we went to Durango, Colorado and had lunch along the main street. We did some window shopping, bought the latest Harry Potter book, and set out for Santa Fe. Along the way we decided to have story time so while Lindsay drove, I ready aloud the new book. So far we finished off 136 pages.

New Mexico is a little on the scary side. It had a similar flat landscape to South Dakota, but a completely different kind of barren feeling. For miles on end there were no signs of humanity--no cars on the road, no cows in the suprisingly green countryside, no homes, no power lines, no nothing. Linds and I paused our story to take a good look around and to carefully monitor our gas gauge. I now see why they chose New Mexico to develop and test the first atomic bomb.

Of course we drove into Santa Fe at night so we have no clue what awaits us tomorrow. We're going to try to visit the Georgia O'Keefe museum and get some yummy food before traveling on to Roswell. I am SO excited for Roswell and the crazies there.

Ok, I must sign off for now. We're getting very sleepy and we have a long day. I promise we'll try to put up more over the next two weeks. There's only 13 days left!!!