Road-trip Day 17 – Dead Horse State Park and the Drive to Mesa Verde National Park

On Day 17 we said farewell to Archview RV Resort and Campground after 5 good nights. Before we left town we ventured over to Dead Horse Point State Park for one last awe-inspiring canyon experience. They have a beautiful view of the Colorado river cutting through what seems like endless layers of the canyon. After a quick visit we hopped back in the RV and headed on to our next adventure.

We were initially excited to go to Mesa Verde National Park in Cortez, CO as our next stop and see the Ancestral Puebloans cliff dwellings. But it’s a little out of the way so we were considering skipping it so we would have less miles to drive (for the kids’ sakes) and could potentially use those days to explore future park destinations for longer. But since it’s so unique and everyone we talked to raved about the park, we decided to go.

We made a quick stop in the local city of Moab for lunch, where we ate the best (and heaviest) quesadillas we’ve ever had at Quesidilla Mobilla while sitting under water misters to keep us (kind of) cool in the 100+ degree heat. We then walked across the street for cold brew (for Alicia and me) and a heaping cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream and pistachio gelato (for all 4 of us). The kids loved eating the ice cream and gelato with tiny spoons! This was the first time Caleb has had ice cream and he was a BIG fan 🙂 From there we said goodbye to Moab and Utah and made a 2 hour journey to Mesa Verde RV Resort in Cortez, CO (back to Colorado!) so we can go to Mesa Verde National Park.