Road Trip #5 - Day 4, Mesa Verde Ride

August 22, 2011
Colorado, USA

When we decided to ride to the southwest corner of Colorado, we had it in mind to ride Mesa Verde. The last time we visited Mesa Verde was ten years ago in September 2001 just after 911. We were in a cage.

After yesterday's heavy rain and thunderstorms, it was a pleasure to see bright, blue skies. We skipped breakfast and made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up the makings of a picnic lunch.

Mesa Verde is just a few miles east of Cortez on Hwy 160. We rode by the mesa yesterday on our way in but barely spared it a glance as we hustled into Cortez ahead of the storms.

Tim and Vik enjoy a ride through Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado

We spent the entire day riding the beautiful roads of the mesa, roaming through the cliff dwellings and ancient ruins. We had our picnic in a secluded spot near the edge of a canyon. It was everything we remembered and perhaps more. For certain, it was much more fun on the motorcycle. We met and chatted with people and other bikers at all the stops along the route.

Slide show of the Mesa Verde Ride (96 photos):

Alternate link to this slide show

As we rode down the Mesa late in the afternoon, we once again encountered troubled skies. We rode into our motel a bit damp, covered The Ride and after a while made the decision to walk (about 2 miles) to the downtown area in search of supper and perhaps entertainment of a local nature. Storms threatened on the horizon but skies overhead didn't look too bad. Besides, we will not melt.

Downtown, we found a biker-friendly restaurant called Blondie's Pub n Grub. It was larger than it looked, clean and quiet (it was still early in the evening) and the walls were filled with interesting biker photos. The place showed signs of a healthy night life, complete with space for live entertainment and a collection of bras hanging from the antlers of a critter on the wall. We settled on blackened catfish and beer. The meal was OK. That's all I got - OK. Blackened where we come from is more than just serving broiled fish with the blackening spice sprinkled on top. Our plates came out with a single, throw-back size catfish filet surrounded by a few veggies. We thought it was a bit pricey for basically what qualified as a plate lunch. OK means it filled the hole, but we will not visit the establishment again (at least, not for a meal).

Blondies Pub n Grub - Cortez, CO

Mural on side of Blondies

Tim at Blondies

After supper, we walked the short distance off the main drag to the Cortez Cultural Center. I had read about it online and our motel host reminded us that the center hosts American Indian dances nearly every night. We had ample opportunity and time to view the collection of Native American artifacts in the center and the Pueblo scene mural painted on the building's exterior before finding a seat to watch the dances.

The Lopez family (Catching Eagle Dancers) from nearby Towaoc performed Ute dances for our enjoyment. The father introduced each dancer (all girls) and explained the significance of the costuming as well as the historical tradition of the dance we were about to see. We enjoyed the dances and the music, finding it all really interesting. I wish I could remember the names and details of all the dances but the only ones I recall are the Fancy War dance, the Jingle Dress (a beautiful dress adorned with bells) dance, the Eagle feather dance and something about a Crow dance. As I said, the dancers were all girls. With that in mind I knew there would be some sort of interaction with the crowd, probably at the end of the exhibition. When the father started describing a mating dance I knew those girls were about to involve the men-folk in the crowd. The father explained that to refuse a maiden's invitation to dance was an insult and would require payment in the form of a horse or something like that. Get this. I knew Tim would be chosen and I knew which girl would choose him. When the lovely young lady made straight for him and put out her hand - I told Tim to get on out there because I wasn't about to hand over the Harley. Ha! (Sure, I have video - stay tuned for the mini-movie - coming soon.) After the mating dance in which Tim performed fairly well, the rest of us joined hands and danced a circle dance... Oh yeah - that works out great after walking two miles in biker boots.

By this time, it was dark but we enjoyed the long walk back to the motel where we got comfortable (out of those boots) and relaxed in the chairs outside our room with a cool beverage well into the evening.

Here are a few pics of the Cultural Center and the American Indian Dancers (25 photos) I shot more video than stills so the movie will be better.:

This days mileage = 90 miles and we made a full day out of it. Yawn!