We hired a private guide to go to the Anasazi ruins in Ute Mountain Park.  This was spectacular.  The drive out (on dirt roads about 50 miles or so) was amazing and worth it by itself.  You must have a Ute with you to go back in the canyons and mesas.  I have never been as far away from “civilization” as when we were these canyons and on the mesas.  You cannot hear anything except the wind and birds.  The silence was spectacular along with the views.  When you are at the top of the mesa you do not even realize (and cannot tell) that just over the trees is a drop of 1,000+ feet.

The Anasazi ruins here are very different than in Mesa Verde.  They may have been stabilized in some areas, but not rebuilt.  There are also not the restrictions on getting close.  These ruins are 800 years old and sometimes you can almost feel the Anasazi still there.  The Utes always said the Anasazi medicine was strong and they did not go back in the canyons for years because they were afraid of that medicine.

We saw what is called 45 Degree House and She House first.  45 Degree House was supposedly a storage facility and She House was a ceremonial location.  She House got its name from some bones that were found when the Utes were cutting a trail between the two houses.

At the end of dirt road we went to 4 sites.  The first site had a “tower” which the Anasazi used to communicate.  Tower after tower are in line of site down through the canyons to warn of danger (think Lord of the Rings warning system).  The ruins are just that, ruins; however, there is still a lot of structure left.  You can tell how the Anasazi cooked and lived.  There were also kivas so you can tell how they worshiped.  The last of the ruins had a 38-foot ladder.  I must admit my legs got a little queasy going up the ladder.  After the ladder though it got worse.  One part of the ledge was slopped (probably a 15 degree angle so not huge) and the slope went right off into a 70-100 foot fall straight down.  I was hugging the side.  The Anasazi went up and down on what had to have been 70-foot ladders.  I cannot imagine doing that with water on your back.

As we were leaving the park we passed some petroglyphs and the largest kiva I have ever seen.  I believe it is bigger than any of the ones in Mesa Verde.  It was really just a circular depression and there is no plan to excavate.  The path to the kiva had literally thousands of pieces of broken pottery.  You can just go off the trail and pick it up.  You cannot take it however.  I would guess we picked up 20 pieces (and left them for others to see).  You do not want to take the pottery pieces with you because it brings bad luck and I’m not so sure the Anasazi wouldn’t follow you home.  No one knows for sure why there are some many broken pieces in that area.  The guide thought it was because it was a large gathering place and no one wanted to carry the pottery home.  My dad had a better thought (in my mind) and said he thought it was part of a ceremony.  I think that makes a lot more sense, kind of like the breaking of plates/glasses in some cultures.

If anyone is in the Southwest Colorado area and is looking for something to do without hundreds of people, check this out.  You have to make reservations in advance and I would recommend not going in summer because I would bet the heat would be unbearable (our guide said 120 degrees in the canyons in the middle of summer).  Late September was perfect though.

Beaver Stadium is just at the edge of campus and it is huge.  We went for the Penn State versus Ohio State game.  On the East side of the campus is the Joe Paterno statue.  When we were there, there were some Ohio State fans that were taking a picture and putting their Ohio State hat on JoePa’s finger.  Karma is crazy because the next Ohio State fan tripped while heading to take their picture with the statue.

The hike itself is absolutely worth it.  Before the tree line you are surrounded by beautiful trees, including aspens.  The vistas you can see throughout the hike are amazing.  You can look back and see the valley with Estes Park on one side.  On other sides there are even higher mountains.  We were there in September and there was still snow.  You can still see glaciers in their valleys high in the mountains.  There are two lake overlooks, Dream Lake and Emerald Lake and from several thousand feet above them, they are spectacular.  We did not see any animals other than birds, chipmunks and squirrels.

When we were getting towards the top of Flattop Mountain, it started clouding up.  We were talking to a local hiker and she said as long as you see any blue in the sky, there should not be lightening, but the second you hear thunder or there is no more blue anywhere, get below the tree line.  She said the clouds have to be bumping together to cause lightening up there and you certainly do not want to be the tallest thing.

It is really cool to see the transition from trees, to smaller trees, to shrubs to ground cover as you hit the “tree line”.  Each region has its own sort of beauty.

The top of Flattop Mountain is actually a little hard to determine.  I was hoping for a, “here is the peak at 12,324 feet, but there wasn’t anything.  I’m sure we were at the top because there was nothing higher (except a few other peaks around us).  Right before the top there is a triangular set of logs.  I didn’t get a picture, but I believe it is a hitching post.  You don’t see those every day.

This road is a little scary because there are no guardrails and it is thousands of feet down if you went off the edge.  It is also pretty cool because every 50 feet or so there are poles stuck in the ground that I assume measure snow drifts across the road.  I can’t imagine being up there in winter.  It would be unbearably cold.

After we walked up the rocks, which in parts are pretty steep so bring your hiking shoes, we took off through the trees in the direction we assumed the trail would be.  We finally found it, but it might have been better to go back the way we started and take the trail from there.

Mills Lake was amazing for its solitude.  There were a few hikers back there, but they were all quiet and just enjoying the sights.  The hike out to Mills Lake is not easy, but it is not terribly strenuous.  There is some altitude gain (I believe a little less than 1,000 feet), but not enough to worry too much about and the lake itself is a little below 10,000 feet so you should be okay.

The views on the trail to Mills Lake are simply amazing.  You follow a gorge cut by a glacier (hence Glacier Gorge trailhead) and it winds through trees, across rocks and around the edge of cliffs.  Much of the trail also follows a river so the sound of running water is always with you.  Because you are pretty high at points you can see off in the valley with Estes Park and you can see some of the peaks including Flattop Mountain.

All in all, this is a great medium hike with views and scenery that can’t be beat.

The park rangers were extremely nice (and there are a lot of them).  This is an easy place to get started in RMNP.

The Museo dell’Opera and Facciatone are part of the Cathedral of Sienna.  The museum has a lot of small rooms and it is not one of the best we went to; however, you have to go through the museum to get to the Facciatone.  Follow the signs to the Facciatone.  The Facciatone is a panorama view of Sienna and the surrounding countryside.  There are very narrow stairs going up to the top of Facciatone.  These steps are one-way and very tight.  If you are claustrophobic this is not the staircase for you.  When you get to the top (after the first set of stairs you are not at the top) the view is amazing.  The first landing has a great view of the rooftops of Sienna on one side and the Duomo on the other side.  Looking over the rooftops, you will see the Tuscan countryside surrounding Sienna.  I could live here.  On the first landing, make sure you find the even narrower spiral staircase.  This one doesn’t go up too much more, but it takes you to the absolute top and you must get up there.  From the top you can see the bell tower and the main Sienna square.

The Cathedral of Sienna is a gorgeous, enormous Catholic church in the middle of Sienna, Italy. The façade is extremely ornate with tons of sculptures of saints and popes everywhere. Right outside there are also two tall pedestals with the female wolf and Romulus and Remus (and you thought that was only in Rome). Inside the Cathedral my favorite part are the mosaics on the floor. These are phenomenal. The dome is also very impressive. If you just stare up at it, it gives you a little bit of an add feeling because it is so uniform. Off to the left side is a library that you must stick your head in. The library contains very old bibles, but the ceiling is a work of art itself as are the walls. Finally, the stained glass of the last supper is also amazing.

Sienna is a great little city in Italy in the middle of Tuscany. The city is located up on the top of a hill and would have been very defensible back in the Renaissance period. Sienna is dominated by two main must sees. First is the Cathedral and second is the main square. The Cathedral is a very large Catholic church. The main square is where the semi-annual horse race, il Palio, takes place. They bring in sand to cover the entire square. Apparently, people sometimes stand for 12 hours in the middle waiting for the race. Rooms that overlook the square are in high demand. If anyone has seen Quantum of Solace, the James Bond movie, the opening scene takes place in Sienna during il Palio.

The Galleria dell’Accademia is where Michelangelo’s David is located. The museum was built to show off David. To me there are 2 statutes in the world that are the most spectacular. One is Winged Victory of Samothrace or the Nike of Samothrace, which is a Greek marble statute located in the Louvre. The other is David. The detail in David is amazing. From the veins in his hands to the muscles, it is spectacular. A couple of interesting things to me are that David was designed to sit up high so the proportion of the hands and head is not accurate. It is said it would have looked more appropriate up high (note: I don’t think it looks add at all). The other thing that I love about David is that it came from a block of marble that another sculptor had discarded. Michelangelo then took it and created David. I do not understand how those Renaissance sculptors/painters were so prolific. It seems like it would take a lifetime to carve something that is 20 feet tall and huge; however, there are lots of sculptures of his all around (and they are huge) and that doesn’t even take into account the Sistine Chapel.

The museum contains other things besides David. It has several unfinished Michelangelo’s. They appear as if they are coming out of the marble. They are also extremely impressive works. Finally, the museum contains plasters which are models for marble sculptures from a variety of artists. The plasters are from some of the most famous sculptors and sculptures in Florence.

I suggest that you buy tickets in advance for the Galleria dell’Accademia. That way you do not have to wait in line. We went in late afternoon and there wasn’t much of a line, but I would still suggest prebuying so that you do not have to worry.

Monterosso is the farthest north town in Cinque Terre. We did not stay long in Monterosso because by time we got there, we were tired. We were going on seven hours at this point and we had hiked all the way up the mountain. Monterosso has the biggest of the beaches in Cinque Terre. We did not go to the beach, but it was sandy unlike the rocky beach in Riomaggiore. We caught the ferry at the beach for our trip back to our hotel. The ferry ride was pretty cool. You get to see all of the nooks and crannies of the coast and you see where the train goes in and out of the mountainside. One of the cool things about the train is that most of the track is in a tunnel. Basically, the whole way between Riomaggiore and Monterosso is in tunnel and the only way to see out into the sea is if you hike or stop at the towns. You certainly cannot see anything when you are speeding between the villages.

We went to the Mansion at Judge’s Hill this weekend for dinner. I had never been to the restaurant. I had only been there for a wedding reception so I knew that their little courtyard was very pretty. Dinner is in the main house and it is beautiful. The ceilings are very high and very pretty. We went on a Friday night pretty early so there were not many people in the restaurant. The food was terrific and not too expensive. The wait staff was also very good. In the main dining room, there were some paintings that I loved. If anyone knows the artist please comment.

One tip on parking. There is a parking garage on Rio Grande which is one-way north bound from MLK.

After looking at a lot of Italy travel planning books, Fodor’s Essential Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice & the Top Spots in Between is the one I went with. We carried this book everywhere. It doesn’t have a lot of details about any one location within a city, but it has plenty to whet your appetite. We used the book to plan some of our days and to make sure we didn’t miss anything big. The book breaks out each region of a city with the highlights in that region. This is very useful for efficiency if you are someone who doesn’t like to backtrack. It still takes quite a bit of planning to make the most of your time. I am someone that likes to plan routes so I had a mental picture of the order and direction we would take to hit the most important things on my list.

The book also has some restaurant recommendations that we used a few times. Every restaurant we tried was excellent. Note: we never had a bad meal in Italy so, the Fodor’s recommendations could have been random and I bet the food would have still been good. Note #2: truffles taste like dirt. I don’t like pasta with truffles.  To me, truffles taste like dirt.

On the sites to see Fodor’s highlights certain “attractions” and when we were near one we made sure we got to that highlighted site when we could. This is my favorite book for European travel planning (at least for Italy travel planning).

When we finally got to Vernazza after our long road hike from Corniglia, we decided to eat lunch. Vernazza was definitely the most crowded of the villages in Cinque Terre. I think there was a tourist bus that had let people off. We went down to the cove/beach/port to eat lunch. We ate outside overlooking the beach on one side and the sea on the other. It was spectacular.

After lunch we decided to take a little break and go to the beach. We found a rock in the water and were able to sit there and just soak in the sun and atmosphere. We didn’t get in the water because it is just way too cold.

Next, it was off on the trail to get to Monterosso al Mare. At least, it was off to try and find the trail. We left the beach and walked up and down from the train tracks to the beach a couple of times before we found the trail. It was not marked very well. It is about 300 feet from the train tracks towards the beach and it is an alleyway. There was a sign, but it was very faded.

As you go up the trail from Vernazza make sure you look back towards the village. There is a perfect picture of the beach with its cove and the village with all of its colors. If the sun was in the right place, this could be a postcard. Actually, our picture looks like a postcard and the sun was not right for a picture.

The trail on to Monterosso is pretty narrow most of the way and it was much more crowded than any other part for us. This could be because it was early afternoon. There are a lot of places where the trail is single file and it is hard to pass. There were also a lot of slow walkers so there were parts that were a little frustrating. As we were getting close to Monterosso, there was a little stand in a lemon field where the farmer was selling fresh lemonade. I mean really fresh. He took 3 lemons per cup and squeezed them right there. Talk about refreshing! But as we were drinking our lemonade, all of the people that we had so carefully passed, went right by so we were stuck behind slow walkers again.

Corniglia is the middle village in Cinque Terre. It is the only village where the ferry does not stop. It is a pretty small little village that is very high up on the hillside. To get down to the water (which we did) it is hundreds of stairs. We tried to count, but it was so many we lost track. When we got to the water, there was a really pretty stream that poured into the sea. It was in a jumble of rocks and I decided it would be fun to go across the rocks to the stream. The rocks looked dry…but they weren’t. They were extremely slippery. I slipped and fell right on my tailbone and almost knocked both my wife and myself into the water. That would have been cold.

There really isn’t much to do in Corniglia so we hiked on to Vernazza. This is where we ran into a little snag. The normal trail to Vernazza was closed for repairs so the helpful attendant told us we could take the road. So off we went, up and up and up and up and up. We ended up following the road for probably 4 miles and we finally got to the top. We had a map so we were planning on taking one of the minor trails.

We got about 500 feet down the trail which was very steep with switchbacks (oh and nothing over the edge except a long way down) when we came to a railing “protecting” you from falling. The problem was two of the five posts had fallen off down the cliff. At this point we turned around and headed back to the road. We then continued to follow the road all the way to Vernazza. It was a long way. I estimate 7 miles or so. Luckily, we were at the top of the mountain so it was mostly downhill. At one point it was so steep that we were basically falling forward running.

We did the Crockett Falls/Crockett Gardens portion of the Good Water Trail at Lake Georgetown.  It was very secluded.  If you make it to the falls, make sure you go past the sign that points to who knows where.  The falls is a little farther up the trail.  I went off in the direction of the sign, but there was nothing but stickers and an overgrown path.

Also, make sure that you do not stop until you get to the falls.  There is a wall on the trail that looks a little like it is the end (i.e. you have to go over/through it), but the trail keeps going on the other side.

A lot of the trail was shady, but it was hot in the unshaded portions.   Take some water if you go in summer. We went about 5 ¼ miles round trip so the falls are a little over two and a half miles from the trailhead.