The majority of our Colorado-time was spent in Denver and the majority of the time there, the weather sucked. Rain and snow. I wouldn’t complain, but this bad weather stint was on the heels of their many days of sunshine and heat. That’s what we were told. The great thing though, was that the conditions didn’t ruin our fun since we had a heck of a lot friends to visit with here. We driveway-camped at the suburban home of friends Wendy, Ben and their toddler, Ian. After spending the good part of a week with them, we can assuredly say that Ian is the most perpetually joyful tot that’s ever been. So much so that I suspect he may be getting into Ben’s microbrews. Nevertheless, the kid ought to get a medal.

Unlike any other National Park, Mesa Verde champions civilization instead of nature. It contains hundreds of beautifully structured cliff dwellings, all nestled under huge rock overhangs some 2,000 feet above the valley floor. Their construction dates back 1,400 years. Thanks to their sheltered location, the structures are remarkably preserved and after scrambling down makeshift ladders, we got to walk through and marvel at some of them. Besides being beautiful, it’s fascinating to consider how they carried thousands of hand-chinked bricks into the canyon walls. Unfortunately, not much is known about the inhabitants. The knowledge we do have comes from archeologists’ findings, which indicate a few thousand people lived here for more than 700 years, then completely vanished within a generation or two. That was in the 1200s. It wasn’t even until 1888 when some ranchers ambled onto the site that modern civilization became aware of it.

Our good fortune is still holding out. All the mountain passes remained snow-free and allowed us to make a graceful exit from “Colorful Colorado.” It was less than 24 hours after we drove Wolf Creek Pass over the San Juan Mountain range that a hasty rockslide blocked passage for more than half a day. It was cleared with a combination of dynamite and bulldozers.