Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park Adventure

DesertDale and Kitfoxgal went on a tour of the Mesa Verde National  Park.  It turned out to be a A1 adventure.  Plus Kitfoxgal even got lunch at a Mexican restrant in Cortez.

The Cliff Palace had some 100 people living there.  A very large settlement with a 150 rooms.  It is believed  to have been a social, administrative sit with ceremonial use.   The people had to be small, as the door ways was only about, big enough for a man no taller then 5'5".   Most  the people lived to the age of 32 to 34.  Over half of the children may just have lived to 5.
 

Sandstone, mortar and wooden beams were the three primary construction materials for the cliff dwellings.  Each sandstone block using harder stones collected from nearby river beds. The mortar between the blocks is a mixture of local soil, water and ash. Fitted in the mortar are tiny pieces of stone called "chinking." Chinking stones filled the gaps within the mortar and added structural stability to the walls. The people decorated with earthen plasters of pink, brown, red, yellow,

Sandstone, mortar and wooden beams were the three primary construction materials for the cliff dwellings. The Ancestral Puebloians shaped each sandstone block using harder stones collected from nearby river beds. The mortar between the blocks is a mixture of local soil, water and ash. Fitted in the mortar are tiny pieces of stone called "chinking." Chinking stones filled the gaps within the mortar and added structural stability to the walls. Over the surface of many walls, the people decorated with earthen plasters of pink, brown, red, yellow, or white -- the first things to erode with time.

DesertDale did have the pleasure of take this photo of the Cassin's Kingbird .  They often perch in the open and they  sometime chase birds much larger ones.

Desertdale took this Cassin's Kingbird in San Diego, visiting his daughter.

Enjoy life.  Kitfoxgal