From Kayenta to Mesa Verde National Park

Far View Lodge Mesa Verde National Park

A day without highlights. The family is asleep, thanks to time conversion till 9.00o´clock. Obviously, I am the only one who is pursued by jet lag. Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Kayenta is available until 10.00 a.m. and we make it through 12 minutes before just to find out that the buffet was already cleared. A little bit frustrated by not otherwise felt work ethic of the Navajos we cook tea in our room (kettle / coffee machine in good British tradition in every room) and eat the rest of our Walmart Donuts.

Then we croos the border from Arizona to Colorado and again almost the complete range is uninhabited. Since the second day we have the advantage of very relaxed driving, there is little traffic and the roads go straight often for miles. Today, we are accompanied Tom Petty, yesterday in the western backdrop of Monument Valley, of course it had to be Johnny Cash. The greatest difficulty on this route is the problem of the navigation device, which produces both before and in the National Park Mesa Verde some error messages, until we turn it off.

We also learn about the extensive construction program in the national parks that we should be accompanied even longer. The highlight is the closure of one lane over a longer distance with complicated procedures including pilot vehicle (so no one gets lost?), Which generates waiting times of up to 30 minutes until the light turns green again.

In the only town on the way - Cortez - the children receive the promised redeemed a favor and we use a Drive-Thru. The opinions if Wendy's is better or worse than McDonalds, is 2:2 along the generations. It is certainly too much for all of us and the little Diet Coke contains 0.62 liters. Then there are the middle and the big one.

The Far View Lodge - our hotel for today - is located in Mesa Verde National Park (http://www.mesa.verde.national-park.com) near the Visitor's Center. There are beautiful wooden row houses with private balcony, but without too much comfort. Just today we would want a TV, but we hear at least at the bar, that Germany has been defeated by Spain 1-0. Viva Espana! Our mood is much better, although we have brought just before light rain to the desert. Our involuntary Rainmaker Magic will also work in the New World.

The ancient Anasazi Indian dwellings from the 11th to 13th Century, that are special about this park, work for us only moderately interesting, and we are through in two hours. For this, we notice once again how open the Americans are for superficial contact. In about 60 minutes of visit we spoke with about 10 people on German ancestors, forest fires on the plateau, the time in the Army or the (alleged) difficulty of the path to the dwellings. Three minutes of climbing a little slope is obviously already a major problem to many overweight Americans, and they want to assure themselves if they can also manage the way back. Smaller-Cola cups or less often eating at McDonalds could also be a recipe in the medium term.