Mesa Verde National Park

8/9/16

Dear B-,

How is school going so far? If I remember correctly, you started school yesterday. I'd love to hear about what's happening.

Yesterday, ,I thought about you because I was only a few hours away from Albuquerque. I went to Mesa Verde National Park. Have you ever been there? In this park, you can find ancient Anasazi villages built up on the sides of cliffs.

These villages were so high up that the Anasazi could not just use stairs or ladders. Sometimes, the pueblo people cut footholds (places for your feet to go) into dead trees they propped against the cliff walls. Sometimes they cut footholds into the cliff walls. Sometimes they even used some sort of a rope. It looked so difficult to climb that high.

Also at this park, you can find ruins of homes that were built before the cliff villages. These older homes were not built on cliffs.

The cliff villages were from about 800 years ago so you can imagine how old these earlier homes were. I should probably mention that the earlier homes were in ruins, but the cliff homes still looked pretty good. That's because they were protected from wind and rain so they could last longer.

I will send you a couple of pictures when I get home from my trip.

I hope your first week of school is going well, and I look forward to hearing about it!

Your teacher,

Ms. Elaina

Durango, Colorado

8/8/16

Dear NH,

How's it going? Are you planning or packing for your road trip yet? I hope the preparations are going well.

Yesterday was a day with a lot of driving for me. I guess you will have some of those on your trip, too. In the morning, I started out near a town called Bailey west of Denver, Colorado. I had camped in Bailey. From there, I traveled southwest to a town called Durango, Colorado. I had visited Durango on a school trip years ago, and I was curious to see what I remembered of the town.

It turns out that the only 2 things I remembered were a scenic train ride leaving from the town and a giant stuffed bear in a gift shop. (I took a picture with the bear, so I'll have to show you later.) As for the train, it was too expensive to repeat the experience.

The town itself was pretty cool. I ate at a Mexican restaurant and visited a couple of tourist shops and a candy shop.

I forgot to mention that I stopped in a really cool town on my way to Durango. Pagosa Springs is known for its hot springs that flow into the river that flows through town. The hot springs are really hot, too hot to swim in, but the river is too cold to swim in, at least for me. The spring water had a bunch of minerals in it.  When the water flowed out of the spring, the minerals turned into these crazy formations called travertine.

Even though there was a lot of driving, it was a fun day.

I hope things are going well.

Your teacher,

Elaina

3-State Day

8/7/16

Dear NS,

How has your extra practice been going? Did you finish When You Reach Me yet? I hope reading has been going well for you.

Yesterday was a 3-state day. I spent time in three different states, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado.

I started out in Nebraska. My first stop of the day was Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This is a site in Nebraska where many mammal fossils from almost 20 million years ago were found.

These are the hills in which so many fossils were found.

Fossils in the visitors' center

After that, I stopped at Scotts Bluff National Monument, also in Nebraska. Scotts Bluff was on the Oregon Trail. Have you learned about the Oregon Trail at school yet? Basically, ti's a path that thousands of people took to get across the land from Missouri to Oregon in the mid-1800s. The people who took this trail were looking for better opportunities out West. Remember that there were no cars, phones, or electricity yet. People spent their life savings on a wagon team of oxen and other supplies to get them to their destination. They had to walk the whole way. The journey was difficult, and people met with many challenges and sometimes death. Walking for a few steps on the Oregon Trail was a powerful experience.

My next destination was Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming, and I think it's also one of the least-populated capitals in the United States. Since this is such a small city I didn't stay very long. The big thing I did was go on a horse-drawn wagon tour. The driver, a retired science teacher, drove us around downtown Cheyenne and showed us the sights. He even told us some local history. Did you know that Cheyenne was a really rich city in the 1800s? Cattle barons from Europe came over to Wyoming to raise their cows, and they brought their money with them.

capital building in Cheyenne

downtown Cheyenne

My last stop of the day was Denver, Colorado.  I didn't spend very long there either. I walked by the Colorado State Capital, and then I walked through the downtown area. There is a street in downtown that is mostly pedestrian. Buses and pedicabs are allowed, but no cars. There are many shops and restaurants, too. I stopped for coffee at one shop and looked a a few souvenirs.

Colorado State Capital

downtown Colorado

I think you are on your trip to Tokyo right now, so I hope you are having a good time. I look forward to seeing you next week for session.

Your teacher,

Elaina