good-times-rollin

Dolores River RV Park

Dolores, CO

September 14, 2026

The view from the parking lot at Mesa Verde Visitor and Research Center

There was no way to miss seeing this statue as we approached the VC which was our first stop for the day.

It's a beautiful bronze statue that stands 20 feet tall gifted to the park by the Mesa Verde Foundation. The figure is a young ancestral Puebloan man climbing a vertical rock wall. Details include small finger and toe holds carved into the stone and a basket of wood on his back.

The artist gives honor to the daily struggles, strength, and life of the early people who lived in the region.

Title: The Ancient Ones
Artist: Edward J. Fraughton
2012

As with most VCs, Rangers are on hand to answer questions and suggest POIs on the map. It's the first time Lucy has been to a National Park. Interactive displays provide info about the daily life, architecture, and culture of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Although visitors are not allowed in the Research Center, there is a designated viewing window to see where researchers examine artifacts found here. The facility houses the park's archives and an impressive repository of over three million research objects.

Just past the VC is the entrance to the park. This is the beginning of one of the most beautiful drives in our country. It's a steep 21 mile winding road to the top of the Mesa with pull-outs all along the way. Mesa Verde means "green table" in Spanish. Ancestral Puebloans lived here for more than 700 years.

President Theodore Roosevelt designated the site a National Park in 1906. It was the first U.S. national park set aside to protect human cultural history. Mesa Verde is also a designated UNESCO site

In the clouds...elevation is 7,000 to 8,400 feet above sea level with the highest point reaching 8,572 at park Point.

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It was built by the Ancestral Pueblo people between 1190 and 1280. The site features 150 rooms and 23 circular kivas (ceremonial and community rooms).

Historians estimate it housed around 150 residents and served as a vibrant social, administrative, and ceremonial center for smaller surrounding settlements in the canyon.

Structures were crafted from hand-shaped sandstone blocks, wooden beams, and mortar made of soil, water, and ash. Local ranchers discovered the hidden canyon site in 1888.

The multi-story palace is tightly tucked beneath the towering cliff overhang.

I did remember to take the big camera for close-ups...

The canyons at Mesa Verde are deep, sheer-sided gorges carved by water that sliced the tableland into a series of dramatic finger mesas. The floor of the canyon is cool and humid with dense vegetation like Douglas firs, Gamble oak, and pinyon-juniper forests. Farming and hunting was done on the green tabletops. What a life these people lived. The landscape was everything they needed to have a rich full life and served as their pharmacy, grocery, clothing, and hardware stores. The statue at the VC comes to life when you think of the determination and energy needed to survive.

Cliff Canyon

Natural alcoves and overhangs were carved by wind and water seepage. At every stop we saw several ruins like the one below on the left side of the photo. Some of the ruins had names...some did not.

House of Many Windows
Perched on a ten foot wide ledge
The windows are actually doorways into rooms. There is evidence of 15 rooms and a kiva.

Site 364
16 rooms and 2 kivas

It was a great visit to a new to us National Park...one that has been on the "let's go there" list for a long time. We did drive the extra 12 miles out to Wetherill Mesa to see Long House...but we were standing on top of it. Even though we didn't hike to any of the ruins, I am so happy we went. Just the drive alone is a "WOW!" around every turn.

Back at Belle, we enjoyed our stay at Dolores River. The weather was wonderful! The park was clean and quiet! The staff was friendly, helpful and always shared a smile! And we loved the river walk. I'll close with a few photos I took there.

Thats a wrap for our short visit to Colorful Colorado. Until next time,

HAPPY TRAILS

and SWEET DREAMS!

Up next...heading towards home so stay tuned!

Dolores River RV Campground

September 8 - 18, 2026

Dolores, Colorado

We always enjoyed our travels in and through Colorful Colorado during the full-time rollin' years. When we left Santa Fe, Dolores, CO was our next stop. What was to be an eight night stop was extended. Wouldn't you just know, the big slide wasn't budging. It worked perfectly when we pulled it in in Santa Fe just hours earlier...no skips, no unusual noise, and locked in place just like it always has. We found a mobile mechanic from Cortez who arrived on the spot. He manually let the slide out and we were encouraged it would be fixed before we left. We cancelled reservations in Gallup, NM just in case and settled in for a peaceful stay right on the Dolores River. Long story short, the slide is not fixed. It has been a bit on the cozy side the past couple of days with the slide in, but we did this once before in Tucson in 2014 with all four of the Tan Clan...no problem!

We have made the best of our stay here and have enjoyed adventures, being lazy, reading, walking, and the relaxing sound of the river. Our sight backs up to a fishing lake. And just on the other side of the berm is the river with a nice walking path. There is a pair of Great Blue Herons fishing in the pond and the river walk we do several times a day.

Cortez is a 20 minute drive for lunch and a stop at Safeway for groceries. A cold brewsky, salsa, chips and fish tacos hit the spot at Gustavo's Mexican on Main Street. It's a great choice for lunch. The city centers around a walkable, historic downtown with outdoor gear shops, breweries, and locally owned cafes. I especially liked the murals and the history.

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The Fiesta Twin opened in Cortez in 1948.

My favorite...
The Old Spanish Trail
A historic trade route that early settlers used to navigate between Santa Fe and Los Angeles

Cortez had its start in 1886 when housing was needed for workers who were responsible for irrigating the Montezuma Valley. And today, the main economy for the area is agriculture. But that is not what this "high-desert city nestled in the southwestern corner of the state" is famous for. It is widely recognized as the "Archaeological Center of America". Cortez is framed by the Ute Mountain to the west and the dramatic mesas of Mesa Verde to the east...a nice blend of agriculture heritage and indigenous culture. And tourism plays a big part in the city's economy as well.

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Visitor Center is located 6 miles from Belle. This NM protects a stunning cultural landscape with the highest known density of archeological sites in the U.S. It encompasses 176,000 acres of public lands and features more than 8,300 documented sites.

These sites offer a window into over 12.000 years of human history primarily shaped by Ancestral Puebloan cultures and their descendants.

The Visitor Center is gorgeous, full of information about the area, the ruins and culture, artifacts, archeological projects, and has an art gallery showcasing local artists' work that highlight the NM thru textiles, paintings and photographs.

We (including Lucy) made the 1/2 mile climb to the top of the hill overlooking the Dolores River valley and to see the Escalante Pueblo. The Pueblo was constructed in 1129. Escalante Pueblo holds a unique spot in modern history as the first recorded archeological site in Colorado. The pueblo was scientifically excavated and stabilized between 1975-76. During that time, excavations on the hill uncovered remarkable artifacts including thousands of turquoise, jet, and shell beads and an exquisite turquoise frog pendant.

The trail for the overlook and pueblo is at the Visitor Center. It is paved with covered picnic tables, benches along the way and lined with junipers and pinon pines.

The surrounding valley with Mesa Verde in background

Another day, we went exploring to see McPhee Reservoir.

The reservoir covers 4,470 acres when full with over 50 miles of shoreline. It extends 10 miles up the Dolores River. It is the second largest reservoir in Colorado and the largest in the San Juan National Forest.

Unfortunately, the reservoir is extremely low. Not a lot of runoff in the spring coupled with a high demand for irrigation of thousands of farming acres has used water that can not be naturally replenished.

We started a walk down to the water, but the grass was full of stickers...not good for Lucy.

On Saturday we headed to the Farmers Market in Cortez. The market began when a lady who loved to make pies...a talent she learned from her mother...set up a table in a parking lot on Main Street 49 years ago. She sold the dozen pies she took and returned the next week with more. As the months went by, farmers joined in with their own produce and the market kept growing and is still a popular spot for locals today. Joe did buy a beautiful knife and sheath made by a young fellow in Dolores. His display caught my eye first.

Mountain High Knives
Brennan makes all the blades by designing and hand-forging high carbon and Damascus steel.
He also creates the grips and leather sheaths in his shop. The knife Joe has is the one in the photo. Brennan said the grip is made with resin and a pinecone.

I bought a small vase of flowers and a loaf of sourdough bread from a sweet couple whose toddler was quite the talker.

I couldn't help myself...

On the way home we stopped at Kelly's Kitchen in Dolores. What a nice surprise that was. Kelly's is one of two businesses (the other shop is a Kokopelli Bike and Board Shop) in the old Exon Mercantile Co building on Central Ave built in 1906-07.

This building began as the town's first general store and meat market. Locally milled timbers and quarried sandstone blocks were used in the construction. The Mercantile operated continuously for six decades at this location until it closed in 1967.

Kelly's Kitchen is on the left side with the red umbrella and a nice patio. Made from scratch breakfast, lunch, and specialty coffee are served Wednesday-Sunday from 7:00am to 2:00pm.

Menus are picked up just as you enter the door and your order is placed at the counter...just like Cafe A la Carte in Tucson. You take your number find a table either inside or outside where your food is served.

Joe enjoyed biscuits and gravy with two eggs over easy.

I ordered the Garden Benedict with breakfast potatoes. Yummy and I ate every morsel.

Whatever you choose, save room for a cupcake and or a scone or at least plan to take some home. Scones are made daily and cupcakes once a week. The almond scones are wonderfully rich, buttery, nutty perfection. The chocolate cupcakes are divine melt in your mouth goodness and one is not enough!

When googling things to do here, Mancos, CO was mentioned as a place of interest. Homesteaders and ranchers began settling the fertile Mancos Valley back in the 1870s. They supplied beef, timber, and grain to nearby mountain mining camps. The town grew as a commercial hun and a stop along the Denver, Rio Grande, and Southern Railway. Today, this small town known as the "Gateway to Mesa Verde" maintains the feel and looks of its early Western character. And cattle drives still move through the main streets alongside a vibrant community of local artists, galleries, and craft beverage makers. That would be a sight to see!

Mancos CO,

There is a lot of talent in Mancos. Galleries featuring textiles, glass art, paintings, sketching, photography, pottery, embroidery, metal, wood, and jewelry.

The Raven House is a small cooperative gallery showcasing the works of several local regional artists. They rotate days working and Helen just happened to be the artist "on duty" when we went. Lucy and Helen were instant best friends. And as the story goes she had a pup named Lucy that she loved dearly. She had done a sketch of her Lucy sleeping on a cushion that was hanging in her section of the gallery that we are taking home with us. Helen was so touched and so relieved that her Lucyhas a place in our home.

I had researched lunch spots and Moondog was our choice. It has a nice little outdoor patio and pups are welcome. There are actually two Moondog locations. The other one is in Key West, FL...a bit far for a day trip. The building that houses Moondog Cafe and Bakery is in the historic Bauer Bank Building built in 1905. It is the oldest surviving commercial masonry building in the Mancos Valley.

The building has been sitting next to the Manco River for along time.

So not only did we enjoy a delightful and tasty lunch, we were serenaded by the sound of rushing water from the river.

Yep, that's another Eggs Benedict...this time with locally caught trout smoked in-house with thin sliced radish, dill, capers and hollandaise.

The mural inside Moondog...

Hard Pressed
2020
artist : Brad Goodell (a local artist)
Depicts an antique apple cider press and workers
Painted on the exterior wall of Fenceline Cider...
Fenceline Cider is a craft cidery and neighborhood taproom. It focuses on upcycling wild, heirloom and historic apples from abandoned orchards around Montezuma County into dry, comples craft ciders.

A few sniffs and a potty break...

The drive to Mancos form Belle is 21 miles. It's a nice drive with lots of pastures, mountain views, and barns. We passed by alpacas, cows and horses and as hard as I tried I got no photos of them.