Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde

The family and I took a great day trip to Mesa Verde National Park on Saturday to take advantage of free admission for Public Lands Appreciation day. The weather was perfect and the crowds did not seem to be too bad, but I have no previous experience to gauge that from. This was the first time I have visited the park and now I can't wait to return. We only scratched the surface of the park and much more awaits.

Four Corners Gem and Mineral Show

This weekend there was the Four Corners Gem and Mineral show hosted by the Four Corners Mineral Club of Durango. Every year there are tons of amazing rocks, crystals, jewelery and other neat things to see. I highly recommend going to a rock show like this where you live.

  

 

Large Amazonite (blue) and Smokey Quartz crystals (black)

 This guy is the miner who found all of these

 Thunderegg Agate

 I didn't find out the name of this neat mineral

 A large sample of Crinoid fossils

 Fishy fossils

 Trilobites!

So many things to look at!!

 The items I purchased for my own collection.

Hangin' with Louis L' Amour

Louis L'Amour was an American author who wrote western stories and tales of frontier life in the Western United States. This photo was taken on his ranch outside of Mancos, Colorado. We do window cleaning on the many structures on the ranch and my imagination tends to run off across the hills and up the buttes whenever I find myself there.

La Plata Canyon

At the mouth of La Plata Canyon,ose to the old mining camp of Mayday. Near Hesperus.

Sleeping Ute Mountain

The Sleeping Ute rests on the horizon to the right of Mesa Verde

Red Mesa Sandstorm

I was able to capture this scene outside of our vehicle as we traveled between Durango and Las Vegas. It was very windy the whole way to Nevada and, in Northwest Arizona, the wind was stirring up a lot of dust. I took this picture out of the window as we were speeding past Red Mesa, AZ

The Rock that Sails

I'm finally back after a three day trip to Las Vegas. Overall, the trip was only worth the drive between Durango and there.  I didn't get an opportunity to get very many pictures from the road, but I still got a couple of good ones.

I took this picture of Shiprock from Hwy 160, right near the Four Corners Monument. It is very impressive how large it is and from how far away you can see it. I was 25 miles away, as the crow flies and the structure looked huge.

Theme Day: Silhouette

Horses and their riders hang on the horizon as silhouettes in Blanca, Colorado. I would consider Blanca out of my range for a Durango based photo blog. However, it is within the borders of Dinétah, which is definitely part of my realm.

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On the Streets of Mancos

Mancos (pronounced MAN-cuss, like a cowboy) Colorado. About 30 miles (45km) West of Durango.
Mesa Verde is the prominent landform on the horizon.

The Spanish Trail

From Santa Fe, to Los Angeles a trade route once came through to take and bring goods. I got a shot at this Historic marker in the small town of Chama, New Mexico while on our vacation to Santa Fe.  We found ourselves following the Spanish Trail, a route set up to trade goods between the two large cities.