We headed to Cortez, CO and couch surfed there for a couple nights. Our primary reason for visiting was to spend the day at Mesa Verde National Park. Luckily the Cliff Palace had just opened up a couple days earlier so we were able to tour it. We then hit a number of other sites, hiked out to Petroglyph point, visited the museum and learned about the Ancestral Peubloan people that used to live in the area. The cliff dwellings were discovered in 1888 by some cattle ranchers in the area.
After Cortez, we headed to the 4 corners of the USA, where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah all meet. Ironically the actual 4 corners sport is about 1/2 mile further east that where the marker has been placed. The Navajo Indians have cashed in on it as well, since the marker is on Navajo Reservation land. There are plenty of hand crafted novelties on hand for purchase and some food as well. After the customary quick photos with each hand and foot in a different state (I know uber cheesy), we headed through northern Arizona to the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. This was the back drop for many western movies including Stagecoach staring John Wayne. We had time to do a 3 mile hike around one of the buttes, and the 17 mile dirt road scenic drive around the valley, before catching the sunset, which was breath taking. Don't worry we took plenty of photos to make you all jealous. We camped within site of the buttes, and woke up in time to see the sun rising behind them.
Luckily the weather in Utah has improved from what we experienced in Colorado. We are no longer camping in the snow or near freezing temps at night. During the day temps are in the upper 60s, and low 40s at night. This has been great weather for hiking during the day and nice and cool for sleeping. This is good news because other than a short stay in Salt Lake City we have no plans to couch surf for about 2-3 weeks. It will be camping only until we get to the farm in Monticello, UT April 24th.
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