Mesa Verde. (glorious)

Woah. Mesa Verde was a major thrill. I've had the plan in the back of my head to travel there for years. In my head it was a kind of desert Atlantis. And although the majority of my daydreams are much more ridiculous/beautiful/unreasonable than real life, Mesa Verde lived up to the hype. The weather was beautiful, the park rangers hilarious, and the fellow travelers both kind and exotic. 

Our lovely friend Jo inspired us/said it was okay that we walked the ruins in our bare feet. (To more effectively empathize with the ancestral puebloans that lived there more than 1,400 years ago.) And even dubbed us the "Barefoot Maidens." Needless to say, both Cassidy and I were quickly endeared and insisted on taking some photos with her.