Back to Colorado... via the 'Arches'

Ok.. big scare.. I was working on this blog for several hours, and thought I lost everything. Uploading the pictures takes the biggest time. especially this post, where it was very photo laden... especially the last 3/4 of this post.

Well, I found the pictures elsewhere on my account at Blogger.com... I also made quite a few edits to the blog below, but they were lost.. so I'm just going to post the rough draft, and re-add the pictures.  I like doing this blog, but it takes alot of time..  and this one was very frustrating. Anyway, enjoy...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We left Park City to a ballooning amount of people. They were having an art fest and some other events, and by Friday morning, we were more than ready to get back to a less busy vibe. Park City is alot of fun... it's a little bit of a retreat from Utah's ultra conservative atmosphere.

It was a long day, but we drove all the way to Moab, Utah.. about a 5 hr drive in the MH. It was interesting to see the changes in geography as we went along. You start out in the Wasatch Mountains, then wind down thru the beautiful Provo Canyon, and it's waterfalls and cliffs... through downtown Provo... then up Spanish Fork Canyon. The climb is mostly moderate, but it's still a little strain on the MH towing the Tahoe. We skirt by a few thunderstorms... and after meandering through the mountains and canyons, we pop out in Price Utah.. not missing much here. Basically, the edge of the mountain/and high desert of east Utah. Lots of mining in the hills around Price...



After leaving Price, the terrain gets more and more desert like.. along with the typical southern half rock and canyon formations. We pass an area that had just received some heavy rain, and all the washes were raging. It's cool to see how this country formed, with the periodic flash floods shaping the canyons and washes.


We finally get to I-70..  This is true high desert Utah Country.. and it's desolate. Other than the small oasis of Green River, there's not really a town for about 75 miles in any direction. 90 Minutes later, we pull into Moab... the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands NP. The red rock canyons cradle the town on all sides, making it a very scenic area. Unfortunately, the town itself leaves a little to be desired. Very touristy, and not alot of charm or character.


We find an RV park on the outskirts of town, and settle in for a couple nights. It's hot here... mid to upper 90's... but cools off nicely after the sun goes down. We decide to splurge tonight and head out for a sushi place that gets good reviews. Well, the fish was very fresh tasting,  but the creativity in the rolls and the service were not very good... We head back to the park, and sit in our lounge chairs for about an hour looking up at the desert sky.... as the starts start popping out quickly. We see several meteors, and the International Space Station makes a flyby.


The next day we head to Arches National Park. I had been before again, back in 87... and remember it a bit. We stopped in the visitor center, than took the 23 mile long scenic loop drive. It was very busy.. We stopped at Park Avenue... then went to the Windows Loop and hiked a couple miles to some arches. We also stopped at Balanced Rock.

We were parched from the heat, so at the end of the day we needed beer and food. We headed over to the Moab brewing Company... had a couple cold ones, along with a hearty dinner. I got take out beer.. and a gelato.

We were ready to get back to the high country, and cooler air... so it was off to Colorado the next day. We opted for the easier drive, which was to go back the 30 minutes to I-70 through Grand Junction, and then head south to Montrose and Ouray, CO.. where we'd stay for a couple nights. Again, the drive was rather desolate.. with nothing for about 70 miles.

We stopped for gas in Grand Junction, and I bought this plastic seat back that was supposed to help with posture.. sometimes while driving long distances, my back hurts from the soft cushy drivers seat... anyway, it proved to be rather useless in the soft seat. It would work great on a hard seat, like for a desk or something... not sure where they sell it at a truck stop.

As we head south, the scenery starts to change... the mountains get bigger, the air  cooler. Once we get through the thriving metropolis of Montrose, the canyon walls start to close in and the forest begins to appear. Just before we enter Ouray, the rain starts.

Ouray is considered to be the Switzerland of America.. or something like that.. and the pics just don't do it justice. Very dramatic cliffs and mountains surround the old mining town, along with a few waterfalls. We get the last spot at a pitifully crowded RV park, but it's within walking distance of the hot springs and town... so it will do for a couple nights.

It rains into the evening, but we decide to head over to the hot springs anyway... and it was really nice. A large pool at about 96, and several other smaller pools... cooler and hotter.  We spent about 90 minutes in the pools, then came back to the RV and read a bit before bed.

The next day we decide to take the drive up and over to Silverton, an old mining town deep in the San Juan Mountains. It's also called the "Million Dollar HIghway", due to the stunning views. This road is pretty scary.. with thousand foot droppoffs right next to the white line, and narrow twisting 2 lane roads. It's amazing to me they allow trucks and RV on this road, but they were on it... albeit going very slow. Unfortunately, it rained almost all the way to Silverton, so the view were muted quite a bit.

Once in Silverton, the skies cleared a bit and we walked around on the dusty streets of the old mining town. The hoot of the Narrow Gauge Railroad- coming up from Durango-  echoed throughout the valley as we went into a few stores.

We had lunch in the park... trying to be good and bringing our own sandwiches... so for dessert, we stumbled into a shop with funnel cake, and indulged...

We have to be careful when shopping... as I've mentioned before, living in a MH, space disappears quickly... however, we find an cozy Alpaca fur blanket we decide we need. Debi gets cold at night while I'm sweating, and we were really missing that extra little blanket for her.

The drive back was a little better...sorta. The skies cleared a bit, and the canyon and mountains became a little more visable. The dropoffs on the side of the road also became more obvious. It wasn't a huge deal until I had someone start tailgating me. There were very few turnouts, and after about 5 miles of being on my bumper, I stopped in the road and leaned out the window to the guy behind me... more or less threatening to fart in his face if he didn't back off. He said, Ok, sorry... so I guess my farts are more threatening than I thought... and taken seriously. I have to say, Colorado has some irritating drivers... people like to tailgate.. but when they get a nice passing area, they don't pass you. I don't get it.

All that driving and farting, and road rage made us thirsty and hungry.. so we head over to the Ouray Brewing Co for beers... a nice rainbow greeted us over town while we sat on the outside rooftop deck.

comfy seating at the bar for weary travelers

Ouray was a beautiful.. one of the most beautiful settings for a town I've ever seen. So.. can it be beat?  Telluride puts up a solid fight.

note the two waterfalls

The place is almost like a fairlytale dream... beautiful valley, towering majestic mountains... historic town.. and a huge waterfall framing main street. Yes,  there is some serious money here... celebrities like Oprah, Tom Cruise, and Jerry Seinfeld have, or have had houses here. The cool thing is, the town doesn't reek of snoot.. we felt people were very friendly, and their were alot of events and activities that anyone would feel comfortable at.  The stores were nice, and the park at the end of town was awesome. One evening, we went on the free gondola in town, up to mid mountain for a nice dinner and drinks.. the view was spectacular.

We camped at at USFS campground about 8 miles south of town... with FULL hookups. It's amazing to me how many USFS campgrounds have hookups in Colorado.. so far, I haven't seen than anywhere else. There was a nice lake nearby (which was being drained to put in a new spillway).. and a cool dirt road for biking. It got down to 40 each nice since we were at 9,000 ft, so the sleeping was fabulous.

We head off for the 75 mile drive to Durango.. the big city. Some have a better view of the drive than others.

We have reservations at a USFS campground 5 miles outside of town.. but the hookup sites were full. No biggie, as we have everything charged and ready for some dry camping. It was a decent site, with lots of space for the pups. It was in the low 80s during the day and low 50's at night. There were lots of Ponderosa Pine and Oak around.. very reminiscent of the socal mountains.  A little too dry for my tastes, but nice nonetheless. That night, I got out a buffalo steak.. and we had a nice dinner... and a good campfire to enjoy with some of our favorite whiskey.

Durango felt clausterphobic from the time we entered.  It sits in kind of a large canyon.. surrounded by cliffs, and mountains... It's fairly scenic, but tough to get a perspective with all the buildings blocking the views. There was also tons of traffic, streets lined with fast food places and other chain shops... and just very, very busy. There were some nice parks along the river... but there was just the feeling of everything being crammed into this town, with very little open space.

We did make it into town to shop... and then out for a beer. Historic main street was pretty cool.. especially the Strater hotel... of Cowboy Ken fame. There were lots of trendy restraunts and bars, and alot of college aged kids running around.. damn hooligans.

Main st in 2014

Main street in 1910

Strater Hotel

All that time in the big city made us hungry and thirsty... so we had some beer, calamari brats.. yes.. you read that right.. and a little scotch by the campfire. Debi, the workerbee she is... worked by the campfire.

The next day, I finally got the smoker out. I've been wanting to get it out, but I needed to season it.. and have to time to hang out with it. We have just been moving around so much, it was tough. Anyway, I bought a chicken to smoke, and with a couple temperature fluctuation issues, it turned out great. It was nice just to hang out and veg for a couple days and not run around.


All that laying around watching the smoker all day made me thirsty... so I had to have a beer.

After 3 days in the big city, we were ready to head off to Pagosa Springs.. a mountain town about 60 miles east of Durango. Neither of us had been here before, but when we were thinking about leaving Washington...it was in the running with Teton Valley for a place for us to settle... and it still is.

We drove through the rolling hills east of Durango... as we edge closer to Pagosa, we gain a little elevation, and the mountains start getting bigger, and the trees thicker and less desert-like. We pop out into the Pagosa Valley.. not sure if thats what it's called, but it's a relatively flat area, with scattered pines, grass, and small mountains. In the distance to the north, the towering San Juan's are back.. and they are magnificent. There are literally mountains 360 around.. and you can see them, which is nice. We both are very pleased with the way the valley looks.. just what we both like.

heading down into Pagosa

One of the many small lakes around town

The downtown area is nice, but not like alot of the other towns we've visited. That's OK though, as on I'm about ready to start pooping Victorian Style.... On either side of the small historic area.. there's lots of nice restaurants and shops.. and the "newer" part of town up on the hill, has a couple fast food places, a big 'City Market' grocery store, and pretty much every other type of amenity you'd want.  There's also the river and hot springs right in town, too. While they do get a decent amount of tourism here, it felt like a very livable town. The housing was also interesting, as there was a wide range of everything... from trailers, to multi-million dollar homes... and alot of in between.

Pagosa's fame is the hot springs. Known as the deepest in the world.. they bubble out of the ground alongside the San Juan River, right in the historic downtown section. The resort is exactly that.. a resort.. 27 different pools.. at all different temperatures. There are a couple tiki-type bars on the property, too. It's not cheap.. entry is 24.They even had a DIVE-in movie! Other than being a little busy, we both liked it alot.

Wolf Creek ski area is 20 miles north... home of "The most snow in Colorado". While it's a relatively small ski area.. it skis big with lots of advanced terrain. The drive up there is stunning.. well, until we got near the top of Wolf Creek Pass and the beetle kill was horrendous.

Looking down towards Pagosa.. also a shot in the movie Vacation.

Wold Creek Ski Area.. and the tree kill

All that driving made us thirsty and hungry.. so we went over to the Pagosa Brewing Co... one of 4 brewery's in town!

The kitchen for the brewpub was in this cool old trailer

Well... our tour of Colorado is almost over.. off to Crested Butte for a couple days, then we head back towards Vail next week for Debi's second conference. After that... we head north into Wyoming, and Montana.

Until Next time..

Debi, Todd, Merced, Sierra, Dixie, and the Ched monster...