Day 23: Moab, UT - Mancos, CO

Day 23: Moab, UT - Mancos, CO

Monday, November 9th: Now in our 3rd week of the trip and making our way home... darn! Would have loved to stay a little longer and see a few more people... OK, next time... now that we know we like this RV'ing thing. Today, we are going to see my nephew Spencer in Mancos, Colorado. Spencer just recently moved to Mancos from Denver where he is now managing, renovating and cleaning up a small motel for a friend of his.

We made our way south on Hwy. 191 to Monticello with views of Canyonlands National Park and then Hwy. 491 through pinto and red bean farms to Cortez, Colorado which is a nice town in the southwest corner of the state complete with a WalMart and only 16 miles from Mancos. We arrived at Spencer's early enough in the day that we had time to visit Mesa Verde National Park. Spencer had a nice fenced in area next to the Motel office and his place that was perfect for the RV complete with a RV sewer drain and power. We made us a few sandwiches for the road and we were off to Mesa Verde.

The Mesa Verde Park entrance is about 10 miles from Mancos and the mesa with the dwellings are another 26 miles up a steep, windy road. We stopped at the Chapin Mesa Museum and Information Center that was opened when the park opened in 1906. From there you could view and/or walk down to the Spruce Tree House... just can't believe the Puebloans made this their home. Then we drove the Mesa Top Loop where we could take short walks to the Square Tower House (complete with a 4 story dwelling), view Pithouses and Villages and then stopped at the Sun Point view. From there, we could see five different cliff dwellings which included the Cliff Palace and the Sun Temple. Mom did a great job hiking up and down the trails... and persevered with the help of strong arms on both sides.

On our way in and out of the park we saw two small herds of wild mustang, a lonely coyote roaming the upper mesa road and several mule deer. Spencer then took us in to the quaint town of Mancos... founded in 1894, with one stop light, population 1,300 and surrounded by beautiful rangeland and recreational mountains. It was built and platted as a stop for the Rio Grande Southern railroad... today, the growth of Durango has spread to Mancos, making the town something of an art colony.

Back at the Country West Motel, Spencer checked a few messages then started a fire in the living room fireplace and also one off his back porch in a nice pit. He had made his famous crockpot beef chili for us... perfect with warmed tortillas and red wine. What a perfect evening with family by the fire!

Photos: Riley w/ new wind goggles; Drew & Riley; Rubicon, Cora, dogs, RV; Spanish Trails RV park; roaming coyote; view of Spruce Tree House w/ Nana, Spencer & Cora; Square Tower House; Drew, Nana & Spencer at the Cliff Palace; Spencer's Chili, Tortillas & Wine; Cora w/ Riley & Brigit; Nana and Spencer by the fire.