Mesa Verde and Moab, UT

When we went to Mesa Verde we saw a lot of cool cliff dwellings and artifacts. Mesa Verde means “green table” in Spanish. The Ancient Pueblo Indians lived there in  1200 A.D.  They had all different kinds of temples. We saw the Sun Temple and the Fire Temple. Where they had their religious ceremonies is called a kiva. A kiva is a big hole in the cliff dwelling that has an air vent with a big stone in front of it to keep air drafts out. They also had a firepit that had a smoke hole in the top, which is also how they got in and out of the kiva.

There was also a museum there that had artifacts. We got to go into one of the cliff dwellings called Balcony House. We climbed up a big ladder to get inside. We had to crawl through tunnels and use the footholds in the rock. Everything was original, even the wood. My favorite part was going through Balcony House because it was really adventurous. I had a really fun time.

The big ladder leading us up into Balcony House

Dad and me standing inside Balcony House

This is a view of Balcony House from across the canyon

Dad standing next to the grinding stones where they made cornmeal.

The kiva where they had their religious ceremonies.

The ladder on the way out

A cool tunnel they had to crawl through.

This is Cliff House, the largest cliff dwelling. Over 100 people lived here.

This is a dwelling called the Sun Temple.

In Moab, we got to stay in a really cool campground with teepees and a really big see saw. But my favorite part was when me, Anna, Mom and Dad went to Arches National Park. We saw all kinds of cool arches and petrified dunes. Arches are formed by wind leaving big holes in the rock. My favorite arch is Delicate Arch and it’s one of the most famous arches. We went climbing and me and Anna played on the rocks. We drew our own petroglyphs on the rock. The difference between a petroglyph and a hieroglyph is that hieroglyphs are like sentences with symbols and petroglyphs are telling a story with drawings.

It was really fun being in Moab because there was really cool sandstone and lots of lizards. The lizards are really fast and I tried to catch them. There was one really big one. Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me because they keep saying to keep my hands out of the holes and places where lizards hide. They say the snakes are poisonous here and we’re not in Vermont anymore. In Vermont I catch snakes all the time.

I would like to go back there some day and spend more time. I want to catch the lizards with better gear. 

Climbing up to Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch

Me and Delicate Arch

Having a rest after our hike up to Delicate Arch

Me and Anna getting fossilized

Those are petrified sand dunes behind me.

Petroglyphs

Double Arch

Exploring the canyon

There was this cool tee pee at our campsite.