DAY 4 - Tuesday 6/21
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 | After the quick Driver's Meeting, we headed out from Pagosa Springs around 9am for our 4th day of the adventure |  |  |
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| today was mainly driving and sight-seeing along the way - passing thru Durango |  |  | we past Chimney Rock - a half-day excursion on it's own - not to mention the long gravel road to get to it |
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Lunch Reservations |
 | we stopped in Mancos, CO and had lunch at the Millwood Junction - great food and service |  |
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| |  | a member which had tire issues with their Vette had to rent a MUSTANG - however, we let them join us for lunch anyway
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 | ...time to head on down the highway |  |  |
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Our Afternoon Excursion
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 | After lunch we headed on down the road to Mesa Verde National Park
area map - park map |  |  |
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The afternoon was on your own - or in smaller groups since some have more
interest in this stop than others might. You could easily spend a couple of days in this park. |
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 | The sculpture outside the Mesa Verde National Park Visitor And Research Center is titled "The Ancient Ones" |  |  |
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 | several artifacts were on display
inside the Visitor's Center
...just prior to entering the Nat'l Park |  |
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 | The drive to the various Cliff Dwellings are about 45 minutes from the Visitor Center.
The views from the cliffs within park were amazing
...not to mention some fun roads |  |
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 | The Spruce Tree House (3rd largest) in Mesa Verde. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth |  |
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 | This dwelling was closed to the public - you could only walk up and around the end of the canyon for different views |  |  |
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 | there were some awesome views as you drove from site to site within the park |  |
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| | plenty of areas to sit
and cool down ...some areas had Park Rangers sharing information
while you sat |  | |
 | The Cliff Palace is the most famous and largest dwelling in the park. It has over 150 individual rooms and more than 20 kivas (rooms for religious rituals) |  |
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 | enough history ...and heat ...heading back thru the tunnel towards the park exit ...then back to Durango which is approximately 1 hour |  |
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| You could stay at Mesa Verde as long as you wanted heading back to Durango on your own |
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| plenty of Cruiser opportunities as well |  |  | the view of the mountains looked great - ready to get back to what most of consider the prettier parts of CO |
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Arrival at our Hotel for the next 2 nights
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 | We checked into the hotel, the General Palmer in downtown Durango.
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 |  | ...we parked in the hotel parking lot adjacent to the train station
King Palace Suite --> |  |
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 | You had time to freshen up before dinner
From our balcony, we watched as the three scheduled D&SNG trains rolled in from Silverton |  |
| | ...and of course, the typical late afternoon mountain shower |  | |
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Tonight's Group Dinner Reservations
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 | we headed to dinner next door at the
Palace Restaurant.
The Grand Room was reserved for our group dinner
click for our special evening group menu |  |
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 | the aroma of good food
fill the air
...and ours was awesome! |  |  |
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| they wouldn't setup a large table for us - of course that is tough with round tables |  |  | WOW - AWESOME deserts!!! |
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NEXT CURVE |
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