We stopped in the darling little town of Mancos for gas and then went into the visitor center. The lady there was full of great information and gave us free brochures and we also bought some cute souvenirs. It was fun to hear her story. She and her husband had led a suburban life in Virginia and when they retired, they took their RV on the road for two years to decide where they would like to settle. They kept coming back to Mancos for the atmosphere and friendly people and finally bought there. She has been running the tourist information center for three years and loves it. She just bustled with enthusiasm.
We went on to Mesa Verde and could see the giant Mesa in the distance for some time before we got there. We stopped in the beautiful visitor center and talked to one of the Rangers.
We hadn't left Ben alone in the trailer for long periods of time and were a little concerned, so we asked what we could do in three hours. He suggested we drive the 40 minutes up to the museum and do the self guided hike to one of the Cliff Dweller's ruins called Spruce Tree House.
The ride up was breathtaking as we rounded tight switch back roads with occasional sharp drops and awesome views. We stopped at some of the pull offs to get pictures. The temperature was cold with quite a wind and clouds rolled in and out quickly. At one point we were admiring the view up a lookout path and didn't notice a fast moving bank of rain until too late. We turned and ran down the path laughing, getting wet and gasping for air. The air was thin up there!
The museum was very interesting with great displays showing what life might have been like for the Cliff Dwellers. Then we hiked the half mile down to the structures which were so impressive.
The hike back up was steep, but we took our time and did it feeling pretty happy with ourselves. We decided we'd like to come back and see one more of the ruins, this time with a ranger led tour. Pat treated us and we booked our tour for Thursday afternoon.
On the way home, Pat mentioned that she had a sore toe that our hike had irritated and she wondered if we could stop to get some Epsom Salts to soak it. We were going back through the little town of Mancos so we turned down the Main Street to look for a grocery or drug store. We didn't see anything and Bob said that rather than to waste time, we should ask someone. A tall thin teenager in baggy clothes with a backpack was walking along near us and Bob pulled over. I stuck my head out and asked him if he knew where a drug store was. He looked kind of surprised, but motioned down a gravel road and said it was right there at the end. We thanked him and drove on, but at the end, all we saw was a kind of pole barn with a green cross on it. Then as we got closer we saw the name, Bud Farm and the picture of a marijuana plant. It was truly a DRUG store. I bet that young man had fun telling his buddies about the car full of stoner old folks!
We laughed all the way home. The dogs were fine. It was my turn to fix dinner and the temperature was dropping enough that we ate inside at our little dinette. It was a fun day and we were all ready to settle in for the night.
Oh, and by the way, we did find Epsom Salts at the local market and Pat's toe is better.
Thank the Lord drug stores in Oz are called pharmacies....
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