Steven and Betty RV Adventures

This morning we are attending to household tasks like doing laundry, emptying holding tanks, paying the balance due at the office (we arrived last night after they had closed the office), emptying trash, etc. At the office I shot a photo of a mannequin dressed as a cowboy (see photo below). The man at the office said that it had a colorful past at the Buckhorn Saloon & Opera House up the road a piece (in Pinos Altos). Drunks used to talk to it often. It finally found a home here in the office of the RV park. Dogs do not take much of a shine to him. At first I thought that that is what happened to customers waiting in line so long.

New home after a colorful history at the Buckhorn Saloon.

The elevation is over 6,000 feet here. I can feel it walking around the property. Used to be a working ranch long ago before becoming an RV park. I shot a few photos of the area (see below).

In the afternoon we headed over to the national monument. What we did not know heading into this experience is that one must drive 44 miles at 15-35 mph (2 hour trip) on mountain hairpin turns along the edge of cliffs without safety rails in order to reach the national monument. The cliff dwellings were nice, but not THAT nice. I have been to Mesa Verde National Park, and later in our journeys we shall visit other cliff dwellings, including another visit to Mesa Verde. This drive makes getting there the major event of the day, as everyone there could attest. It overshadowed the cliff dwellings. We took another route home that was not as bad but was longer. A very remote area.

The trail that leads from the parking area to the cliff dwellings takes about another half hour, including a climb up what the park ranger said amounts to climbing the stairs of an 18-story building. Then once at the dwellings, numerous stairs, ladders, etc take you to various rooms of four dwellings. A very precarious walk and climb. Needless to say, we are tired and sore now.