The Adventures of Mom and Joce: Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Even though we have lived in Colorado Springs for 15 + years, we had never been to the cliff dwellings; so my mom and I decided to head up to Manitou and be tourists for the day (while dad was working) :)
I am in the Teepee, even though you can't really see me!

Some of the dwellings that were being used as a gift shop/museum

Adorable baby Paa-Poo-Shu's

I was tempted to buy a pair for the child I don't have:)

This was a pipe made out of a turtle shell

Indian war dolls

An authenitic Indian headdress for 380 dollars!

When the Indians made their dwellings, they did not make any windows on lower levels; in order to get into the dwelling, the Indians would climb up ladders to the top level of their dwelling and they would climb in through the windows on this level. This was for their safety.

Trying to take artsy pictures; it was so bright out that day!

An oven used to bake loaves of bread; they would take the paddle and slide it into the oven to get the bread out. Right now, I forget how many loaves they could bake at a time; but it was a lot!

This was one of the huts that the men would live in during planting season; inside they would grind the corn that they harvested.

Original cliff dwellings that the Indians made to live in.

Gorgous view of the mountains from inside one of the dwellings.

Peaking into one of the dwellings

This "T" shaped window was made so that elderly members of the family could easily get into the dwelling.

One of the inner areas of a group of dwellings where the men would go meet and they would worship their gods here.

A split level dwelling

The poles on the outside of the dwellings were used for a couple purposes. They could be used to hang meat that had been hunted, but they also were kind of "stepping" poles to help the Indians get into their dwellings.

Here I am in one of the dwellings. If you look at the wall in front of me, you can see some carved out footholds used to climb up the wall to get into the dwelling through the entrance, which were on the top level of the dwelling.