Day: June 27, 2006

Today, we spent the morning in back in the hot springs.  In the afternoon, we drove over four hours from Pagosa Hot Springs to Manitou Springs, which is next to Colorado Springs.

Since we arrived in the evening, we had a fun dinner at The Mason Jar and then tried to go to Seven Falls.  The elevator was out at Seven Falls and we felt that $10.25 per adult was excessive to see a lit up waterfall, so we decided to go back to the hotel and plan out tomorrow instead.

Tomorrow, we’re taking the cog railway up Pike’s Peak in the morning.  In the afternoon, we’ll take in The Garden of the Gods and some of the other Colorado Springs sights.  We’re spending two nights in Colorado Springs, but plan to leave early for Denver on the last day.

Today’s adventure started in Mesa Verde National Park, home of the famed cliff dwellings of the Pueblo Ancestors. The park is surrounded on three sides by a Ute Indian reservation, so it takes nearly an hour of driving to reach the cliff dwellings that are near the southern edge of the property. We took an interpreted tour of Cliff Palace and saw several other cliff cities. At the peak of the Pueblo Ancestral people’s use of Mesa Verde in the 1300s, 4000 to 5000 people lived in the area. To put that in perspective, Cliff Palace is the largest dwelling and probably was home to about 120 people.

In the afternoon, we drove to Pagosa Hot Springs, CO. We’re staying in The Springs Resort, which has 18 pools fed by the hot spring, plus two heated fresh water pools. We’ve enjoyed soaking in the various pools and dipping our feet in the cold river that the pools drain into. Today, the pools have ranged in temperature from 96 degrees to 114 degrees. We’ve enjoyed sampling the different pools. Our favorite so far is called Marco Polo, which was 100 degrees most of the day today, small enough to be cozy with four people, secluded, and right on the river, so we could hear the soothing river sounds.

Tomorrow, we’re going to enjoy more of the hot spring pools, then head to Colorado Springs. We’ll stay two days there and see Pike’s Peak, Garden of the Gods, and hopefully see some of the famous buildings at the Air Force Academy.