Trip #127 (58) Nothing but New Mexico: McGaffey, Gallup tour, El Moro, Quemado Lake, Pie Town, Datil Well, Monzano Mtn

Trip #127 (58): Nothing but New Mexico: McGaffey, Gallup tour, El Moro, Quemado Lake, Pie Town, Datil Well, Monzano Mtn

 

May 29 - June 5, 2023

Day 1
Memorial Day Monday May 30 - Drove 4 hours to just short of Gallup south to McGaffey Campground on a more perfect day I haven’t seen. 72 degrees, blue skies. New territory, south of Fort Wingate. Winding road to an old logging area, not old, they are still logging, but I guess there was a sawmill here at one time. As always I was in a coma the first day, so we drove around a bit after arriving about 2pm (did a walmart stop in Grants). Found a small but large enough lake for half of the Indian Nation to be out fishing this fine memorial day. No dish, too many trees, actual ponderosas, a nice change. We are at about 7 - 8000 feet. No wildlife but lots of birds. Only a few campers here. Quaking Aspen CG down below had more people but this one was more open so we stayed here.

Day 2
Just as perfect a day as yesterday. Got out for a bike ride to Strawberry Canyon, GREAT trail, wide and not life threatening. Maybe went about 4 miles and found a fire lookout up there we climbed for a peek. Beautiful area.

Day 3
Got a shopping trip in for Gallup while he did errands. Lots of fun, needed more time. Spent a bit of time talking to Thelma at Malone Trading, she is his daughter and she makes native rug designs in quilting. They were awesome. Drove south from Gallup to Zuni land to El Moro, with a stop at another trading post, forget the name but also very nice. Got the second to last spot and jammed it in. Park not open today so will tour the etchings tomorrow. Instead we drove around the area as we always do. Did we pick up a nail then?

Day 4
Drove back out and over to Quemado Lake, this was a Thursday, and our neighbor let me know we just received the world’s worst hail storm that day at home. Whew, dodged that bullet, but not the plants. They took a shredding. Took a spot up nigh at the lake, no one else there except for the group area. After setting up Bill noticed we had a rear flat tire! And then he changed it. Whew again.

Day 5
Got the bikes out for a road ride which was real nice. Went about 4 miles out and then back. Took a hike toward the overlook but didn’t go all the way. Later went fishing, got nuttin.

Day 6
Pie Town! Had lunch and pie, and went to the new antique store they opened. Out of the blue, a Tiffany Daffodil lamp marked down to $85. Sold! Camped at Datil Well, nice place. Fell for the hype and went to Eagle Lodge for the famous ribeye. Well, not exactly all that but we had a good laugh, when the toast came…

Day 7
Monzano Mountains, with a stop in Mountain Air after touring the last of the missions, can’t remember the name. Also saw the weird hotel in Mountainair. Checked off several boxes this trip.

Day 8
Headed home thru Alb. Saw a side of the mountains down there that we had never seen before, might be worth another trip.

(NOTE: Found this copy on my phone, just pasting in, to lazy to compare notes)

Arrived later in the day 3 PM to Almaro and managed to get the very last handicapped spot and we actually fit. There was a dead roach outside I considered leaving instantly. I hope that fell out of the previous peoples trailer. It was super windy but in the low 70s in the park was closed that day so after dinner we drove around to get the 2 mile radius lay of the land. Found a campground up the road ahead and feed store that we did not visit and ventured into the neighbors ranch land only to turn around. No biking just a short walk to the info board. Like most of these campgrounds they had one bar of phone service

Thursday Friday just a one nighter

Drove back west out of El Morro and turned south for Quemado lake. I love that Zuni area. Continued south through fence Lake until we hit tomorrow and then once again continues south another 10 miles to the campground. It was a perfect and beautiful 70° sunny day with love the clouds when I get a text from Sherry that we were getting a free kale storm back at home. There were many camping options at the lake but I opted for being up on the hill where once again we got one bar but we could surf with it. Not a fancy place, a forest service campgrounds so the rocky roads are very dusty since we were the only ones up there other than the group area of traffic so we own the place. As soon as we parked Bill found out he had a flat tire so the rest of the afternoon was spent changing that big giant truck tire which went smoothly I supervised. Celebrated with a margarita and stayed in after having dinner

Friday

For some reason I had a terrible night sleep, just was awake from 2 to 5 warning came too soon. Bill went out to scope out the biking while I showered to go get sweaty again oh well. Drove the bikes down the road to Lake level and rode a trail which ended up stopping at a private property gate we probably rode one and a half miles there. Decided to continue down the road very beautiful country fortunately no cars there to kick up dust saw all the Mini Boondocking possibilities and even though it's a Friday things were somewhat quiet. Wrote a total of 8.75 miles now it was time to hike so he hit toward the lake overlook but didn't go all the way up turn back after meandering at the ridge top. And now it's time to go fishing lake is bigger than I thought so we cross the dam once again to fish on the shady side with the wind blasting toward us. After several tests he gave up but I did see one fish roll just to torture us and he was very red orange.

Sat - just have a short drive to past Pine pie town today so I took our time leaving shell also took a trail off the campground which headed down toward the lake. A trail that we didn't even know about because we never walk to the campground. There's one other one I'll save it for next time. Another perfect beautiful day as we drove back to Quemado once again and witnessed the fantastic yard sale that happens up and down Main Street. Didn't look like anything I needed to pace so we kept doing we hit part of town around noon with just a few cars out front. Place is looking good with the new owners and Bill had a whole mini pie of berries and I had a delicious quiche with a side salad of fresh greens very very good. As we were finishing up the employee whatever she was told us to be sure to check out the in store next door as she pointed out the window. So as Bill checked out the next campground, I wandered over trying to find which shit building was the antique store, a sign out front helped but barely. It's an old rickety shed house with no electric or heat or anything though the lady in it wish you're happy to be in there as we chatted away. I noticed Tiffany lamp on the counter and next I noticed the price tag at $85 and pretty much that was a done deal. Because she has no electric I had to go back next-door to the restaurant to pay and by then it was freaking wall-to-wall and the place was packed I had to wait for someone to run the register it's like being at the whistle stop Café. So that being done we drove a short distance to day till well once again napping what are the greatest spots here we're in the back it's a huge sight. We didn't like it at first and drove around three times until we came back and made it work. once again no real good bike trails or anything so hung out and decided to go to the Eagle guest ranch steakhouse for dinner because of the great reviews online. Even 4.5 stars so we did a pre-drive to check it out since it's in a gas station and convenience store has people joked in their reviews. It looked passable so we thought we'd try it later. And we did. Bacon wrapped ribeye $28. It was ok...

FYI – Larry on wait list for lungs. Scrabble coasters. Plants growing like MAD.
 

Trip #126 (57): Completely Colorado In May: Sand Dunes, Fruita/Grand Junction, Ridgway and Biking

Trip #126 (57): Completely Colorado in May: Sand Dunes, Fruita/Grand Junction, Ridgway and Biking

Left Santa Fe Sat May 6 and went straight to San Dunes for 2 nights (#73). Smaller site so it took some major jamming to fit, like, removing the fire ring so those extra 3 inches of height cold pass over it, and with a sideways truck we fit. But of course the first day was the usual hurricane winds. The second day was much nicer tho overcast in the afternoon, temps mid 60s. Two nights here, got in the sandy bike ride (could only go about 2 miles, being constantly stuck in sand), the overlook hike, left my little hummer feeder in the tree (stupid), watched families set up tents and leave the next day (how do they do it), rode bikes to cross the flowing Mosca River but never made it up a dune (been there done that), went to the temporary visitor center which wasn't too bad, got ice cream at the camp store in our loop. And as is the norm lately, another plumbing problem: shower isn't getting the full hot water. To be continued. And unlike the norm, I am going to be early, somehwere between

altitude and actually being tired! Colorado has that affect on me.

Next stop after a 5-hour drive was Fruita/Grand Junction at the James Ross State Park, one of 5 parks which gets confusing when the truck GPS map goes out after being stuck in a canyon of Black Canyon of the Gunnison crawling for construction. That never happened before. Fortunately it fixed itself once we got here, but not when we stopped and tried in Montrose. Anyway, great park location, as in sandwiched between the Colorado Monument and the little town of Fuita, with all manner of STORES and FAST FOOD across the street: You name it: DQ, taco bell, McD, wendys, Einstein bagels, a mexican restaurant, Qdoba and much much more, including a City Market and True Value 1/4 mile away. And yet it doesn't feel crowded here. Low 70s here. Nice and neat campground, lots of trees and weeds, I see the guy spraying them now. It has a lake as well as the Colorado River AND some of the best bike trails ever seen: paved with concrete going in both directions. Might try McInnis canyon today instead of the monument, which we've done before,

So Day 1 here, what was left of it anyway, was a trip to Home Depot for the shower cartridge replacement, hoping to fix the hot water problem. And well, if we are going down into Grand Junction, might as well visit the Hobby Lobby and then have dinner at the Tequila's! Good call. Since Bill ordered a second, plumbing will wait until tomorrow.

Day 2, out on bikes. Rode as far as we could to the west, where the trail was closed at Loma due to high river water. So then we went East, toward GJ, until the trail was closed that way. geez. Lots of good snow melt making the river high. All in all we rode 24 miles. Good time for a lukewarm, afternoon shower, then headed out to a wine tasting at Two Rivers, 6 miles from camp. Not bad, ok not great either, but took home one bottle of Tulip rose and all the little tasting cups! hahahaa good size. So once buzzed on wine, why not drive into the Monument to the visitor center? That two-lane, cliff-side road with no guard rails... Got some info, finding out there is not really any biking there for us, which is why McInnis might be on the schedule instead. Also checked out Dinosaur Hill, where a paleo found a dino in 1911, a 70-foot something-a-saur. Nice evening, so after dinner walked up to DQ as our reward for biking so much, yeah we are dumb. and seriously, my vanilla milkshake wasn't really that good why do I keep ordering from DQ? (should have gone to Wendy's :)... ugh. oh well, I did sleep well. And Bill didn't go wrong with a Blizzard... Might be some rain coming in on Thursday, so we need to enjoy our last Day 3 here tomorrow. Probably be driving in rain to Ridgway.

Day 3

Trip #125 (56): Totally Texas: Hereford to Port A: Caprock, Hico, Waco, San Antonio, Fredericksburg

 Trip #125 (56): Totally Texas: Hereford to Port A: Caprock, Hico, Waco, San Antonio, Fredericksburg

March 8 - 25, 2023 

**for more information and details and photos, please see the Facebook group: Lost in America

 

Wed, March 8 - Great drive, made it to Hereford and scored a spot in the city park, full hookups.

Thurs & Friday - Caprock State Park for bison and prairie dogs. Not allowed to ride on the trails with e-bikes. why do we follow the rules? this is the last time, as if they really care.

Fri - Fort Griffin and Flat City

Sat - Hico for 2 nights, again in an old city park. Arrived with no one (host) there and had to call an emergency number to get a spot.

 

Sun - drove and shopped around. wanted to bike the town but it was dang cold. downtown right down the street, had pizza in a loud new place but it was pretty good

 

Monday - Wed: Waco 3 nights

day 1 - the great Magnolia and Mexican dinner at Ninfa, surprisingly good

day 2 - Homestead Craft Village and Cult - omg want to move there but refuse to take the time to braid my hair every morning. The long skirts aren't bad... incredible cafe and especially the salsa.

day 3 - bike ride. 20 miles from the cg to the town Riverwalk. Nice town and I think it will get bigger. tonight will get some BBQ from Uncle Worm's down the road, are we nuts? Think it was pretty good. 

sometime in waco we also toured the fossile dino park, preservation of the digs. AND, we did the 15 minute drive out of town to see the ruins of the old Branch Dividian compound where Koresh did the evil deed. Didn't get out, was kinda creepy around there, and later found out some of the cult members are still hanging around. no thanks.

4 days Port Aransas TX. 4 days of gray... clouds, wind, humidity, gray skies, rip tides, and at first, mid 50 temps. Oh well, timing is everything. Camped at IB Magee Beach Park #14 on a corner. We can walk to the beach, but basically what the hell for, it's just that crappy out. I did try out the metal detector and sadly found how clean the beaches are -- not one beep. So haven't posted; nothing to post. Couldn't ride bikes. Today we move INLAND to Fredericksburg so of course the sun finally popped out to say goodbye. A little late. Arrival last Sat was like a 50° hurricane, but at least it warmed up steadily to the 70s. Ready for new scenery, even though this place does remind me of Key West in some ways, but not when there's no sun. We missed spring break by a week. I am very thankful judging by the pictures but it would have sucked for anybody to come here for this. Been snowing a lot at home, dang i missed it!! 73° as i type this at 8:15 am, yes, a.m. Well rested here in the silver can. We did get out for two very short rides, but they were cold and so windy. But then it's a very small island, so we pretty much covered it.

Trip #124 (55): Arizona: From 6º to 60º

 Trip #124 (55): Arizona: From 6º to 60º

January 26 - February 6?, 2023

 

 

Thursday, Jan. 26

The alarm went off at 6 am... The heater doesn't work. Therefore, we must be in Albuquerque by 8:30 am to see of "they" can fix it. And then it worked. I see this was a ploy for an extremely early start.

 

Winslow one night - another fantastic at the turquoise room. VERY cold that night, down to 6.

 

Lake Pleasant day 1 - Perfect weather I think it was... rode bikes all around the park 

Lake Pleasant day 2 - went to the outlet mall

Cave Creek day 1- rode bikes around neighborhood

Cave Creek day 2 - took a side road to the east through the hood from the cg area and made it to cave creek road, great way to et there avoiding busy highways, great weather, cold at night

Cave Creek day 3 - plumbing problem, ordered amazon part with overnight delivery

Usery Park - BEST TRAILS EVER! went zooming around and around the saguaros

Usery Park day 2 - Big city marathon at 6am. Can't believe I didnt see anything, but I did hear the fireworks start

 

Fountain Hills - ready for more biking, but first a dinner at the italian place. Arrived to soon for check-in and the byotch up front made us drive a few miles to the waiting room for the cg. so stupid, so we could wait while someone gets their fung shway therapy raking the rocks into swirls. oh brother

Fountain Hills day 2 - ride out the easy trail and fly back on the fun one

Fountain Hills day 3 - did the fun ride again 

----- the "real" copy found later... ------

Jan 26  -- 6 to 63

"We look forward to improving this stretch of I-17 north of Phoenix. The work includes widening 15 miles of roadway, replacing two bridges and widening 10 others, and constructing approximately eight miles of flex lanes." what a mess.

Sunday

Cave Creek hi mid 60s

After setting up, we went to town to ride, and realized we forgot the bike batteries so look for some agaves, then headed back.

We moved the trailer over to Cave Creek, then we went for a 10 mile bike ride here at the park - tried to use the trail, which would be a hilly blast except there's this big, medium-size rocks that you hit and it's pretty dangerous nobody fell, but I imagine it would happen sooner or later. So we rode around the neighborhood and saw some incredible large homes and horse properties, I found where the cave creek money is.

Monday 

Play grade and cloud road east toward Cave Creek took a rocky trail which turned into new River Road all the way to Cave Creek Road 11.7 miles somewhat overcast went to Lowe's on bikes. Went out again later to Cave Creek bought the silver thing, grocery and different zip ties for my odometer.

Tues 1-31

Supposed to have been a rainy day, but wasn't but lots of clouds and cool. No riding today, city day, drove down through Scottsdale to the Tempe museum. Saw the bug line exhibit! While we drove around, we marveled at the extreme growth, clean cars, nice cars, traffic and stuff. Had dinner at Blue agave, don't go back there. It was in Scottsdale. (ed note: what the hell am I saying?)

Wed 2-1

10 1/2 mile bike ride through the Sonoran Desert preserve just south of the campground. Beautiful green desert ride. Hard to believe it's a desert. Parked by the arroyo looked everywhere for bottle caps and found none. Hungry, so we went to Cave Creek for lunch at local Jonny Java Café holy crap. It was really good and very filling and that was dinner as well by 2 o'clock. Came back to camp and took a walk up the Clay mine trail. The temperature drops when the sun goes down so we played the game and Bill lost 3 to 1 just kidding, I did. dammit. Watched a very weird movie called Brimstone. Heard dad had trouble with his leg today. Their doctor visit had no answers, except that it's not the new knee.

Thurs 2-2

We hit the cold week there in Cave Creek, and it was 33 this morning even though the skies are clear. Today is our day to move to Usery Park, which is 50 miles away. Also surprising. Arrived and immediately got on the bikes on a fantastic park trail system like riding through a cactus botanical park. Took the long way around and hit some rocky sections so our arms are aching. We need to visit the hobby air park where people were flying an F-18 and another jet battery planes over us on the trail, whether they knew it or not. Pretty cool. Dropped off Bill and continued to ride to the nature center and then back on the trail to get some beauty shots of the desert. Nice night it's getting warmer, mid 60s, in fact the temperature when we got here was 66.6 where or where will we ride tomorrow?

Friday 2-3  (oops, the lost copy....)

RIP Bobby Hull, Wednesday, Cindy Williams, Melinda Dillon, Chinese spy balloon,

Feb bdays: Bob Martin 3, Alice Cooper 4, Christopher Guest 5, Axel Rose 6,

Trip #123 (54): Let's Go See Tucson Again - Catalina

Trip #123 (54): Let's Go See Tucson Again - Catalina 

Nov. 13 - 20, 2022 

Sunday, Nov. 13 

Departure on Vic's birthday. First night at City of Rocks in so NM.

Trip #122 (53): Southeast Utah Canyon Tour

Trip #122 (53): Southeast Utah Canyon Tour: Arches & Slots

October 5 –  16, 2022

 

 

 

Trip #122 (53): Southeast Utah Canyon Tour

October 5 –  16, 2022

NOTE: Things to remember when traveling to Canyon Lands:

[1] Always top off your gas tank no matter the price.

[2] Remember Utah schools provide a FALL BREAK. Check dates before planning.

[3] Bring lots of food and fresh vegetables. Grocery stores are limited. (suck)

[4] Careful where you camp if there will be rain. (nothing happened, just sayin’.)

Wed., Oct. 5, 2022

Left later than normal, a cooler and very rainy Santa Fe (it would rain for 3 days I think, what will the watermelons look like, hmm), for the drive to Mancos State Park (#9 pull thru, no hookups). Took the back way, finally driving out of the rain near Espanola. Stopped at the Walmart in Durango for a new wiper blade (got the wrong one of course), then on to the surprisingly nice park 5 miles north of Mancos. It’s on a small reservoir and the temps were cool, not expecting that. But beautiful area, can’t beat them mountains.

Abiquiu

Fall color on west side of the La Platas from Mancos

 

Bill walking near the small reservoir

Mancos State Park. One other camper today

 

Thursday, Oct. 6

Heading for a 2-night stay in Arches National Park (end of the loop, #46, great spot with its own slot canyon and big backyard. Happy hour was cooler out there. But no signal tho you could walk to the top of the hill for a bar or two). Weather was beautiful, sunny skies, but I wouldn’t have minded it to be a bit cooler. Park and Moab were busy but not overly so… we didn’t hit the park’s timed entrance so drove right in. First day we hung out and maybe Bill won best of 3 of Kibbie, I don’t remember... It was an almost-full moon. Ed. Note: Neither of us can remember what else we did this first day so here’s to two bad brains.)

Friday, Oct. 7

Today we hiked Devil’s Garden to Landscape Arch, and a little beyond. Temps are very nice, but again, I’d always take a little cooler, but that’s hot me. After sitting around, Bill of course can’t sit around too long, so we did the drive across Salt Valley to Klondike Bluffs to do a little rock scrambling to the top to see over the ridge and the view. Talked to a nice young couple about moving and stressed the importance of renting before buying (they were considering moving to Moab, I hope they think this through). This happy hour Sheila did the ass-kicking in the game, and Bill, every fascinated with the full moon, forced me out for an evening march thru the sands of Arches. Did some iPhone 13 pro night shots, dang this phone camera is amazing. You wouldn’t know it was night, except for the stars.

Saturday, Oct. 8

Today we drove to our two night stay in Green River (#4, right behind where we were last time when we had the coveted host site with full-hookups incl sewer). Doing some local sightseeing we drove to Crystal Geyser, a man made cold-water “soda” geyser created when they were drilling out in the area for something. The site is along the Green Rive, pretty spot, but dang it was hot so we wandered a bit and moved on. Nice to have electric and a signal, tho it was only 2 bars. Never got on bikes, but we rode this place last time, so… and it was warm.

Sunday, Oct. 9

Today we shall hike. Drove west on I-70 to mile post 147 for the turn off for Black Dragon Canyon. A canyon hike sporting some pictographs, that I wish I had read more about before we went so I knew what we were looking for. No matter, the best parts were fenced off so you couldn’t miss them. Very cool, the old kind painted with red “paint”. Hiked further on until we turned around when the canyon opened up; this used to be the pass-through for the San Rafael Swell ridge just ahead before they built I-70. Kinda surprised those drawings are sill intact. On our trek back, a group of ATVers were looking for the “black dragon” as were we. No one was sure what it looked like; in my mind, after seeing a brochure I was expecting a big black pterodactyl… and so were they I think. One guy drew something on the ground of what he thought it was – nope, way off. But we did enjoy his hootie dog, Zip, who only had eyes for his owner. Anyway, there was a weak signal as we walked out and the image was the one we were looking at the whole time, a small one in red. That brochure was full of shit. After this nice maybe 3 if that mile hike, we drove a little more west past the swell (which by the way, seems a lot like the Comb Ridge further south in Utah), and got a nice view from the viewpoint. Today we are going out to dinner, as Sheila never misses a Mexican Restaurant sign. La Valenzuela down the road. Sure taking a chance here… Played one game, Sheila won, and Willy refused to walk to dinner so we drove, after one margarita, cuz this place was only celebrating that it could serve beer. It wasn’t too bad, not great, but heck, we are in a VERY small town. Did the trick. We will have to behave for the next 5 nights and eat trailer food.

Monday, Oct. 10

After a stop at the Green River grocery, The Melon Vine --which btw was very clean and very well stocked (we were expecting a west Texas Porters) – it was on to Goblin Valley State Park (#16). A whole 45 minutes away. Another nice sunny day (could be cooler), tho they say mid 70s AND CAN YOU BELIEVE WE ARE IN THE SAME SPOT WE WERE IN PROBABLY 10 YEARS AGO. (ck yrs). OK so there is a noisy 4-kid whiny family across from us, I hope they move on soon.  Not too hot here, so we rode bikes a little (too freakin’ steep and sandy for me, and the paved road is nice but you might get run over), and after a visit to the visitor center (geddy lee mullet boy-girl), we headed out to the canyons known as Ding and Dang. I thought it would just be a drive, but we ended up hiking at least 4 miles, it was nice (tho it could have been cooler), pebble walk not beach sand yay, going as far as we dared, as folks said there would be rock climbs (cut off your arm climbs?), and water up to your chest. No thanks. But we enjoyed what we did, and walking out at almost 5 pm were the last ones out. Of course I forgot the pedometer, but would guess it was about 4 miles in total. Nights cool off into the mid 40s but just right for sleeping. Days are in the high 70s I would guess.

Tuesday, October 11

We liked that canyon hike yday, so will do another today… Crack or Chute canyon, both on the other side of the “reef,” which shall it be? Whichever one we find first. But first Bill took a bike ride down the road to Goblin Valley cuz S was in no mood to rush out. Drove about 30 minutes along the rough gravel road (now I remember why I’ve had enough of 4-wheeling for the sake of 4-wheeling). Stopped at the junction known to have a signal to check messages. Got one from Nancy VM regarding Bernie, getting the correction that yes it is terminal, but the 3 weeks is for chemo. She will forward their info, as Diane DK wanted us to know. Once the driver also had enough of the jostling around, we turned toward what looked to be a canyon and, either way, we were going to hike around the area. There were no signs at the “entrance” (found out later had we gone a bit farther, it would have been the official entrance and marked as such; but like I said, we were going to walk around anyway, very cool desolate area. Turns out it was Crack Canyon, as we learned from 2 other hikers. Later saw a group of 4 (same ones we saw at Ding yday) and that was it. (Did I mention we passed the whiney family ATV-ing on our drive to this canyon? Is this a small world or what.) Anyway, great hike, just enough climbing, didn’t get our feet wet, it had a narrow spot and opened up again, very nice. And also found a nice petrified rock branch I carried out that must weigh 8 lbs. Knowing how everything looks the same, we set up several trail cairns (note to self: how come no one has designed personal trail markers for such a situation? We could be RICH I tell YOU!) to mark out way out. I’m glad we did, as we still wandered off here and there. I’m sure we would have figured it out, eventually, but after 4 miles we surely didn’t want to have to trek further in search of the truck. Came back to much wind in camp and the trailer FULL of dust, just blowing in every window. True Grit here. Did the usual: chips and salsa, happy hour, shower, kibbie, dinner, Friends recordings, and reading. Pooped and asleep by about 9:30 (but of course, wide awake at 4 am).

Kibbie: I whooped his, 3 out of 5, or was it 3 out of 4, doesn’t matter, I WON. Rematch tomorrow

Wednesday, Oct. 12

Yay, the noisy family just left. There was supposed to be a front coming thru but I can’t tell any difference. Sunny as always. Full moon now fading away.

What to do today? Well, we have yet to see the Goblins so that is the main event. OK, did that, now what? Actually, they are interesting, but you walk down into a slight redrock valley and it was like walking into the oven. Yep, too hot under that blazing sun for more than 10 minutes, so I whined and we moved along; need to get back into the shady canyons. Went to the formerly busy Little Wild Horse Canyon, this is the main tourist canyon with parking lot and bathroom. We did this one years ago, but I don’t remember much detail. Wandered our way in and the canyon became a SLOT canyon and suddenly I found myself getting a bit anxious, like, I need to get out of here. I was right behind Bill, considered clmbing over the top of him, but instead fell back for more space when he said it opened up up ahead. Ok then. A few curves later and we are looking at a sliver of a canyon, dark with no light ahead. I said, no thanks, no can-do, I’ll wait here. He did a little but came out soon. Did this before for this time I’d rather not. Feels like a trap. Moved over to a shorter walk on Bell Canyon, which was nice and 5 feet or more wide, but it dead-ended (for us) at a tall rock we could not climb over. Only about 2pm now so we checked out the long-driveway boondock camping outside the park… well, a rough ride in but might be interesting. And far enough way from the road for the dust that is sure to blow in. Next we drove north from cell phone junction (which by the way, today was not producing much of a signal), which turned out to be the San Rafael Reef Wilderness, which also has some boondocking with potential one-bar cell service. Drove north until the road got pretty rough from a wash, but it looked interesting so we parked and walked up it. Cool!! Once you get past the sandy flat part the very walkable slick rock rose up gradually toward the reef edge, seeing full water tanks all the way up. Wanted to get to the top, but once up there it kept going. And so would have I except we had no water or phone for pics and no food and we are getting hungry. Next time! I see the exploration spot. Similar to the comb ridge down south. Came back to a new batch of bike-riding loud kids (why is no one in school?), and it was beautiful out - in the shade of the trailer. Played a best of 3 – Bill did the ass-kickin’ this time. Then the usual, dinner, Quinn, news, friends, reading.

 Thursday, Oct. 13

Today we move on to Capital Reef, home of the dumbest place names, IMO. Been 11 years since we last saw this park too. Drove south from Goblin to Hanksville, hoping for a good grocery. Nope, just a very small one with very limited selections (iceberg lettuce, for instance; but very nice white mushrooms for whatever reason). Got what we could, which was not much, but we did get a cell signal for a quick catch up. We turned west on 24 for the drive to Capitol Reef (first confusing name), not knowing at the time we were driving over the waterpocket fold (yet another confusing name/descriptor). With a one-bar signal, learned from Barb that Roo’s father had passed away, but I was unable to get out my response – it is still stuck in my phone as I type this. Well, what do you know, this place is also PACKED, looks like the tour buses have found it as well, people all over, trailheads overflow parking on the road, campground buzzing, or more, screaming with kids. We are in Loop A #5, easy to get to, seems to be along Host Row. Just BEAUTIFUL here, much cooler in the shade of all the big trees, which are turning into their fall yellow. But OMG, full of kids. Big families and every kid has a bike and likes to squeal its communications. But other than that… Found out this week of October is “fall break” for Utah kids, did not know that. From our notes, we see we were here in March and May, 10 & 11 years ago, and it was soooo much quieter. First thing I had to do was get over to Gifford House (old homestead cabin now gift shop) for whatever they have to offer, last time was that rag rug book and jelly; this time yes on the jelly but no good crafts, tho I will get a horsehair necklace and Bill got a small apple pie and ice cream. Boy do they sell those, the following day I heard the lady say they sold out 30 dozen pies by noon! As I said it’s busy here. Anyway, not sure what to do, so took the “1.2 mile” walk to the visitor center, yep, hot in the sun part of the walk. Was hoping for a signal but not enough for my phone. People people everywhere. At 3pm I went over to the Geology Talk, which was helpful in understanding all this sediment layering around, really enjoyed it. He held up a park brochure, and working backwards, he said if there were a brochure 100,000 years ago it would look like this, holding up an ocean image on cover. Then swamp, then forest, then sand dunes, glaciers, etc etc. All the while, all I could think of is how GLOBAL WARMING maniacs think we will be done in 12 years. Have they ever studied geology??? Have they not seen how this planet has transitioned over millennia, as an ever-changing, plate moving ball of dirt? (my words, that’s why I didn’t give the talk) Hung around, walked the river trail, played Kibbie, I won, and later went to the movie at the amphitheater, also very informative. And holy shit the sky! You can see the milky way even with all the campground lights. My phone can even see it. Oh that was fun trying to get the sky shot at night, flashlights flying everywhere, cars going by, squealing kids at 9pm… Prob walked 3 miles today.

Friday, Oct. 14

This morning we drove south to the Capitol Gorge, where there are “pioneer grafitti” and some (weak) petroglyphs. Walked down the wash to see these carvings, huge families with screaming kids always around, but we kept walking down the wash and got some peace and quiet. Probably walked 3 miles in total. Driving out of there Bill noticed someone was leaking oil, he was right, saw the disabled camper truck on the side of the road, boy the are in a world of hurt, stuck half way down there. After lunch, back out to Hickman Bridge. Damn it was hot at the start, but got cooler further up, about 300 foot gain on that one. Very nice, saw the natural bridge, of course with screaming MOM! Kids around. Walked the boardwalk of Freemont petroglyphs, also not too impressive, but the bus was there. After dinner (running out of good food), former Durango neighbor Kent M showed up at the door – he is camped right behind us. Unbelievable. Went to the 7:30 Ranger Talk, also very good, we hit here with questions. Tried again for the milky way. Dead asleep by 10. And of course, awake at 1 am… ugh. Bill won 2 of 3, but he stole Raindrop. With Hickman, probably walked 5 miles today.

Saturday, Oct. 15

Nice day and the campground is a lot quieter but time to go. Not on the road till about 10:30 after waiting for the dump and all. Drove back to Hanksville and got groceries, if you can call it that, checked phones for messages and drove on down toward Glen Canyon and Natural Bridges. Ol’ Hog Valley (?) has been discovered, people parked all over for hiking the canyons and the campground full. Dang, glad we did this 10 years ago. The lake is as dry and receded as we’ve heard, but a trickle moving thru the canyons. Decided on staying at the Natural Bridges overflow and hike some canyons tomorrow, hoping the weather holds out – warm today but a cooler, overcast day promised for tomorrow, with a chance of rain. No one else here, Bill did a recon down the hill on his motorcycle and decided he could get the trailer down that rutted road, so we did. Such a great spot, and 4 miles from the Kane Gulch trailhead; probably our 4^th time here. Did I mention free? Hung out after driving to the ranger station to find it had closed at noon. Beautiful day, but Dish weather says it may rain tomorrow and this will majorly change our plans… Like leaving instead of hiking.

Sunday, Oct. 16

Woke to 47 degrees and increasing clouds, concerning us, at least me. Pulling this thing out in mud scares the BeeJeebies out of me, plus we are low on fuel. Today will be interesting. Hoping for no drama! So after breakfast we will be leaving. Drove straight through after fueling in Blanding. Good thing, because taxes were due and Beck needed more docs to finish. Home by 6 pm. Santa Fe weather has cool now, too -- welcome fall/winter.

RIP: Judy Tenuda, Angela Lansbury, Lou’s father on 13th

Small World: Kent M showed up behind us in Fruita.

 

Trip #121 (52): Colorado Tour: State Fair Pueblo to Steamboat

 Trip #121 (52): Colorado Tour: State Fair Pueblo to Steamboat

Aug. 26 – Sept. 7, 2022

Friday, August 26, 2022 — Left town at 10:30 am and headed to Las Vegas to have breakfast at Charlie’s Spic & Span Diner/Bakery. Funky place with good food and killer desserts, including a cinnamon bun maker machine (where can we get one of those?). Since Bill’s on a diet, we didn’t partake of the sweets and even Sheila behaved.

Arrived at Sugarite CG #13 outside Raton around 2pm. Had some light rain so did a drive to see the park. Bill realizes that he forgot the Dish receiver (dumbass) so we watched Dr. Quinn on the pad and went to bed early. Skipped dinner.

Saturday, August 27 — When we booked this trip, temps were supposed to be in the low to mid 80’s, but now it’s pushing 95+ and hot all over CO. Headed up to Pueblo for the Colorado State Fair. Jeffers pooped out on joining us due to the heat wave and 95° daily temps. Arrived at Lake Pueblo SP at noon only to find a camper in our spot. Check in not till 1pm so went to Walmart. When we returned doofus is still there loading up and finally we got settled by 1:30. This lake has some 250+ campsites and it is FULL with boaters and families. Stayed in with AC till 3 pm before heading to downtown to site-see. Went to Union Station and Riverwalk, toured the neighborhoods for some old homes and mansions, but everything is closed. Even old downtown was dead, even though many cool old buildings and shops. Guess everybody is at the fair or the lake. Ate in and decided to hit the fair on Sunday evening.

On Sunday, we rode bikes 10 miles on the trails around the river below the dam. Great trails here but temps heat up fast so back to the trailer around 1pm. Went to town at 4pm and visited El Pueblo Museum where we learned about “green chili sloppers.” Wish we had learned that sooner, as a local Tavern is famous for them. Hence we never had one but that gives us a reason to return. Went to the mall and then to a brewery on Riverwalk for dinner. From there we headed to the fair. It’s the 150^th year and probably the same as it was for the last 50 years. Walked around and saw the goats and sheep and pigs. Watched the rides and the carnie games. I think that will be the end of trips to county/state fairs. Those were the same rides I remember from the 70s, said Sheila.

Monday August 29 — Drove to Colorado Springs for Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Bill rode around the CG on E-bike, went to Safeway. Hung around, rode ebike, walked short trail. [note: after we left there was a mass shooting at a gay club here. who knew)

Tuesday, August 30  — We rode bikes on one of the MTB trails. Sheila having hard time with the (VERY HIGH COLORADO) “hills” so we headed back. (Time to rethink the ebike offer.) Then drove to Garden of the Gods Trading Post and a short drive through the park. Walked around Colorado City shops, but dining options limited so decided to find the In n' Out Burger that was MANY miles away. Then went to the very interesting CS History Museum in the old courthouse. Sadly the area is surrounded with LOTS of drug addicts and bums in the bushes and parks, just like every other big city. We have got to do something about this. Living in the bushes down by the river is not acceptable. Staggering across the park with a dish of food is not acceptable. As we left the courthouse museum, a bum was yelling gibberish at us and anyone else around. This is bullshit.

Wednesday August 31 — Drove to Dillon via Breckenridge to Lowry CG, on the other side of the lake that we normally camp. Site is up in hills (i.e., mountain) away from the lake. Rustic spot, no water available but electric. (weirdo walking his cat in a stroller.) Drove down to Murdoch’s and the Restore—one of the best Restores I’ve even seen* (*editor's note: just wait till you get to Aspen), it’s where the wealthy bring their expensive castoffs. Sure wish we needed a chandelier or lighting fixture. Sheila bought a framed print and we got a DVD to watch later. Went to outlet mall and She finds (end of season sale-clearance $11 various) clothes to her liking, always scoring at the Williams Sonoma outlet. Back to trailer for happy hour, dinner and a new DVD movie. Building that $1 collection.

On Thursday Sept. 1, we noticed weird cat boy next door who takes his cats for walks in a stroller while he reads a book. No girlfriend…wonder why? Today we took bikes down to lake and rode 4 miles to Dillon and back. Sheila makes final commitment that she wants an e-bike too. Loooong stretches of inclines at 10,500 ft. Yeah, it wasn’t “fun.” Found another thrift store and thus another 3 or so DVDs for emergencies.

Friday, September 2 — Everything is booked for Labor Day weekend but we don’t want to impose on Jeff & Cheryl for an extra night, so we boondocked at Rabbit Ears pass - just in time, as a spot at Dumont Lake opened up for one night so we booked it. It’s right at entrance so we get dusted by all the vehicles going in and out looking for a spot. At least we’re not one of the lost with no where to go. It’s 9,000 feet up here, but it is still hot and no electric. Went for a short walk on lake trail, the direct sun was a killer for S, she had enough before long since there was no scavenger hunt of ruins or shards or animals, etc to keep her occupied. Bill rode around on ebike while She napped (yeah right, with this traffic?). Made sloppers and watched one of the DVDs.

Saturday, Sept. 3 — Plans always in flux and today would be no different. Were supposed to go to Jeff’s today about noon, but in the am we find out he isn’t feeling well and she is at the airport. So we offer to do the pickup, about 30 mins west of Steamboat. Timing worked out perfectly. Jeff’s sickness was probably heat exhaustion from yard work in this heat, why can’t men ever think to stop and drink?? Parked down below at their barn, next to their NEW to them Airstream! Took things slow, did a walk on their property to see the retreat, Cheryl taking the little dog Lucy in a stroller someone gave them. Dinner at their house. They have the open sliding glass walls to the outdoor deck (no screen) so every fly in town or at least in the pasture next door was flying around. That can’t be fun.

Sunday, Sept. 4 — Started day slow, then we call came down for an Airstream walkthough for them and their new travel home. Lots to share, probably overwhelmed them but we hope it helped. They have it more for getting from Point A (steamboat) to B (weeki wachee) with 3 dogs. Hung around, had lunch, then Bill and I went to wander the town – I had to see the western store that had all the small billboards for miles, EH Light or something. It was nice but busy, as was the entire town since a rodeo was going on later. Nice town, need to come back again; it a bit higher-end ski town than Durango, so we skipped a lot of places. However we did find a Tequila & Taco Bar so went in for a marg! Also very busy but got a spot at the bar. Good marg. I axed about the Kardashian brand, 818, next thing I know she is pouring (all 3 of us) a shot. Nice. Tried to get a cool bottle out of her, but she said too bad, another gal who makes & sells BONGS just came in and cleaned them out. Back to the house and again Cheryl made us dinner. Talked their heads off and left about 9pm.

Monday, Sept. 5 — Next stop Carbondale for the trip back. Went to our usual place, not in Glenwood since that place on the river is a zoo. Did a bike ride around Carbondale (they actually have street sweepers in their neighborhoods, wow, cool). Not the greatest bike ride cuz it was busy to ride but at least we got out. The campground is right along the trail along the river so did that, but why are those so boring – long stretches of bushes I guess. Anyway, can’t remember in which order, but we spent an afternoon walking around Glenwood Springs finally. It was hotter than shit, like the car said 107 or so when we got back, but wandered the shopping area, checking out a Trek E bike. Yeah, I’ll take that, size Medium. Crossed that money saving bridge to see a few old hotels and had lunch at Tequilas. That was good. Just like Durango, these people have places all over, including Pagosa and more. Long walk back to the blazing vehicle.

Tuesday, Sept. 6 — Well I guess this was our day in Aspen; were here only once before when we camped at the very dark hole known as Maroon Bells many years ago. Was hoping for cooler weather up there, or down there, but still warmer than was comfortable but walked all over anyway, passing by the Prada type stores… Didn’t see Kurt or Goldie, tho we looked. The Hotel Jerome was cool. Found out later that that was the little bar where Hunter S hung out at, and that they have their own special (milkshake) drink, if only I’d known beforehand. We took a quick look at the menu and had decided to move on. It was hot enough that the kids were playing in the squirting water feature along the sidewalk, I considered it myself… Finally found a place to have dinner, sat outside, half melting. I was hot. and not in a good way. I swear this is the same place we ate those many years ago. Bill doesn’t remember, but I do. 

Wednesday, Sept. 7 — Started heading for home, blew past Leadville and the next thing you know we kept driving until we hit Santa Fe. Perfect.