Bruce and Sara as National Park Rangers at
Mesa Verde National Park

The Trip to Mesa Verde....May 2-12, 2007


After returning from Cape Hatteras last fall and spending over a week cutting back trees, trimming bushes. and pulling out weeds, we decided it was time to downsize! And so in November, we bought a townhouse in the Four Oaks section of The Hills in Bedminster and started the process of selling our home in Tewksbury!

We also decided that we wanted to work again as Park Rangers during the summer of 2007 instead of going to Alaska as we had planned! Although we loved Cape Hatteras and enjoyed working there, we wanted to continue moving around, seeing more, and having new adventures; and so we started the process again of applying for positions as Park Rangers (Interpretation) and sent out over 25 applications to parks west of the Mississippi River.

Getting ready to move and "downsizing" was a project! We had lived in Tewksbury for 20 years and during those years Rebecca and Brian had grown up, we had accumulated "stuff" from Mom and Dad Schundler's home and a little more from the Frazee farm when it was sold---and in the end, we were just amazed and embarrassed at how much "stuff" we had accumulated---and most of it had to go!

We gave things to friends and friends of friends; some things ended up at the lakehouse; about five trailers loads went to the VNA Rummage Sale in Far Hills, and we renewed our charge accounts at the Bedminster and Sussex county dumps!

In March, we began hearing back from some of the National Parks, and fortunately, one of the parks that called to see if we were interested was Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado---one of our favorites! Of course, we said yes---and then the frantic process of trying to be completely ready to leave New Jersey in time to be at Mesa Verde by May 13th started. It meant finishing the downsizing and moving, setting up accounts for our new home while making all the arrangements for being away for five months, and trying to finish the framing and roofing of a totally new bathroom at the Grand View cottage (Rebecca and Brian's lake house which is next to ours on Lake Owassa.).

With a lot of hard work, many long days,and some luck everything got done.....a few days later than we had hoped.... but at least everything got done; and finally we left for Colorado on May 2!!

Hagerstown
Part of Mammoth Caves National Park
Mammoth Caves
Mammoth Caves in Kentucky

From the very beginning we had hoped that on the way to Colorado we could visit a few states and places we had never seen before. And so we went out I-78 to I-81, and then headed towards West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

Our stops (overnights) along the way were:

In the end, we traveled 2415 miles, bought a lot of gasoline, and had a great time!

Vista Linda
The campground at Vista Linda---a national forest campground not far from Bandelier National Monument
Bandelier
A view from Bandelier NM


Chaco
Chaco Canyon National Historic Park
Chaco
Chaco Canyon National Historic Park


Aztec NM
Aztec NM
Aztec NM
Aztec NM
Aztec NM
Aztec NM


Eventually we arrived in Mancos and Mesa Verde, and got settled at the Mesa Verde RV Resort just outside the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park and our home for the next five months!


Go to the next page..... First Days and Training at Mesa Verde

Return to opening page Bruce and Sara at Mesa Verde National Park


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