Bright and early, cheerful and excited, we headed out for the Four Corners Monument. “What a cool blog post this will be,” I thought to myself, “Chico the traveling dog at this remote destination. One of his feet in each of four states. That’s just neat.”

But there was a snag in the plan.

A big snag.

It’s not a flashy monument.

So I got to stand in four states at once, but the guy with four feet couldn’t play the game.

Chico got to sniff around at the edges.

Pretty much the middle of nowhere, with room for a dog to explore and not too many spiky things growing. Because nothing is growing.

And then we turned around, drove back through Cortez, and went east to Mesa Verde. The cliff dwellings are famous, but I learned about ancient dwellings on top of the mesas as well.

This statue was outside the visitor center. To use the light at that moment, this was the only shot I could get, it certainly gives a dynamic picture of how hard it was to get to and from those cliff dwellings.

Again, the majority of the park is off-limits to dogs, and the accessible areas are strictly on-leash, but when I clarified that policy at the visitor center, the ranger mentioned a place in the park I simply must see.  “A place that most people don’t go,” he said. “Greatly under appreciated, you and your dog will like it there.” Nice guy. When we went there, there was someone else, but not until we were returning to the parking lot, on leash, occupied poop bag in my hand, correct as can be.

There were views.

There were things to sniff.

Cliff dwellings. This is called the Oak House and dates from 1250.

It inspired use of the timer.

And the panorama feature.

There were these ancient cliff-top building foundations.

And more views that even a dog could appreciate.

On the way out of the park we saw wild horses.

But not for long. “No pictures please.”

On the way “home” I ran into a store for a minute, and there was a customer there with a little dog that reminded me of a mini-Chico. OK, not so much the nose, but the coloring.

And the tail and “britches” in back.

I used a dog cookie to get the little fella to hold still, and made a new best friend. It’s my cookie bag that does it, I don’t take it personally.

Another night in a cheap motel and the next day we headed for Telluride, CO, where I have a young friend, out on his own for the first time. This kid and his family have some history in the town, and are always saying how neat it is. So we went to see what the place is like.

Back to snowy mountains.

Pre-Telluride pee stop.

Snow is so much nicer on the paws than thorny desert floor.