Neither one of us has felt well since we got home. We wanted to have a garage sale this weekend but we haven’t been able to get going on that. I can tell this move is gonna be a tough one. It’s HOT, we don’t have the energy and are over whelmed with all that needs to be done.
July 28, 2011
July 23, 2011
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
July 22-24, 2011
We left Creede and drove over Wolf Creek pass. The grades were 6% which was pretty scarey for me, but Norm handled the rig very well. We're settled at "Happy Campers" RV Park just outside of Pagosa Springs. This is the complete opposite of the Creede RV Park we were just at. Now I know I said I didn't like the stoody campgrounds, but this is a little to trashy for me. While it does have FHU, it's not worth $30 a night. Luckily I found a coupon for 1 free night in some of the literature we picked up at a visitor center in Gunnison. This park is right on the highway, noise all day & night, sites are unlevel, junk everywhere.
The one things I told Norm I wanted to do in Colorado is soak in a Hot Spring. So, the loving man he is, went of of our way to take me here. Last night we went to "Pagosa Hot Springs Resort". For $20 each we had a choice of many tubs with different temperatures to choose from. A bit pricey but it was a nice place, and they gave us the senior discount (55+) which was about $17 or so each. I'm not sure how I feel about getting that since I'm not quite a senior yet, but I took it. I'm sure I looked ancient considering the girl that checked us in was probably 12.
The weather here is warmer, probably mid 80's, seems hot as compared to the 70's we had up the Gunnison mountain. I already wish we were back there. Today we check out the town of Pagosa Springs (I saw a very pretty river walk from the Hot Springs last night). Then Sunday we'll start heading back home with a stop in Santa Fe, NM. They have a real neat mission there that Norm wants to see. It's only 150 miles from here so we will make it a quick stop then continue on down the road. Hope to make it to Santa Rosa to stay the night. We'll see how far we make it. Again Norm wanted to make reservations, but I don't want to be committed to HAVING to make it somewhere. Haha, this is so funny, if you know us any at all you'll know I'm usually the one with all the plans, reservations, every day planned out. Now Norm's the one thinking ahead, go figure.
July 22, 2011
Creede, Colorado
July 18-21, 2011
The Mountain View RV Resort is very nice, very nicely layed out with a lot of sculptures and water features surrounded by mountains. It's pricey, but there's not much to do around here so we won't be back. It's pretty far from anywhere. We took a driving tour up Bachelor Loop to see the abandoned mines. Then another day we set out to find Phoenix Park Falls. That was a VERY rough, narrow road. I would not drive that road again in our truck. ATV is more like it. At the top of the mountain there is a fork in the road, we took the left and that turned out to be the wrong one so we missed the Falls. I wish they have better signage, or any signage at all would be good. This road intersected into Bachelor Loop and I was relieved we did not have to return the same way we came in on. We stopped by the Forest Service office to ask about the Falls and that's where we found out that we should have taken the "right" fork in the road to Phoenix Falls. Oh well, I'm not going on that road again!
July 19, 2011
7/5/11 WE GOT AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!
I have to back up to the day we got to Bryce Canyon. We got a message from our realtor that he was expecting an offer on our house. Sure enough the next day we got a call the offer came in. It was a reasonable offer so we accepted! Our cell service was spotty so we did the driving around “can you hear me now” thing. Then went looking for internet connection so we could check email, look over the contract, electronically sign & return to the realtor. We are sooooo excited. It’s been on the market about 2.5 months and only been shown about 7 times. We feel very lucky as some folks have their house on the market over a year. We’re still trying not to get to excited because we know anything can happen between now & the closing date, but it’s hard not to. We’ve decided to continue with our vacation plans but cut it a few days short so we can find storage, pack, sell and find a place to live. Thank goodness our son Cole is taking care of things around our house while we’re gone, he’s been a big help. He also has found a room to rent from someone he knows. Looks like things are falling into place!
July 13, 2011
GUNNISON, COLORADO
7/13/11 GUNNISON, COLORADO
We arrived in Gunnison, no reservations and not really knowing where we would land. Most RV sites do not have hookups in this area. We stopped by the BLM office in Gunnison for a map & information to some of their parks & dispersed camping. They have many campgrounds NE of Gunnison up the Taylor Canyon (Drive 10 miles to Almont, hook a right, their campgrounds are dotted all the way up the canyon, about 20 miles long). The first several were full. We made it about 18 miles up and found “Lake Campground” just across from the Taylor reservoir. It’s the biggest with 64 sites and they had 1 level pull through left. Apparently they book up many months in advance but have several non-reservable sites. They do have some with electric for around $22, we got no hookups for $18 a night. We’re staying 5 nights here. A nice place with beautiful views of the lake with mountains in the background and pine trees all around but a bit far from everything. The first day we toured Gunnison. 2nd day we drove on up the mountain to a little ghost town “TinCup” then drove down a pass called “Cumberland Pass”, an 8 miles long rough dirt road that went up to 12,000 feet. It was very nice and we saw snow on top of the mountain, it was chilly! Around 60 degrees. Our campground is about 8,100 feet with day temps in the 70’s, night time in the high 30’s. A nice place to stay with cool temps but a bit far from all attractions. Even the town of Gunnison felt hot so we were glad we are staying up on this mountain. Our 3rd day we took it easy at our campsite all morning then went on for a drive down another pass called “Cottonwood Pass”. It’s 12 miles up a mountain with good roads as compared to the Cumberland pass road. The top of the mountain is 12,000 feet. This mountain is on the Continental Divide. We took a short hike to see the amazing views.
We arrived in Gunnison, no reservations and not really knowing where we would land. Most RV sites do not have hookups in this area. We stopped by the BLM office in Gunnison for a map & information to some of their parks & dispersed camping. They have many campgrounds NE of Gunnison up the Taylor Canyon (Drive 10 miles to Almont, hook a right, their campgrounds are dotted all the way up the canyon, about 20 miles long). The first several were full. We made it about 18 miles up and found “Lake Campground” just across from the Taylor reservoir. It’s the biggest with 64 sites and they had 1 level pull through left. Apparently they book up many months in advance but have several non-reservable sites. They do have some with electric for around $22, we got no hookups for $18 a night. We’re staying 5 nights here. A nice place with beautiful views of the lake with mountains in the background and pine trees all around but a bit far from everything. The first day we toured Gunnison. 2nd day we drove on up the mountain to a little ghost town “TinCup” then drove down a pass called “Cumberland Pass”, an 8 miles long rough dirt road that went up to 12,000 feet. It was very nice and we saw snow on top of the mountain, it was chilly! Around 60 degrees. Our campground is about 8,100 feet with day temps in the 70’s, night time in the high 30’s. A nice place to stay with cool temps but a bit far from all attractions. Even the town of Gunnison felt hot so we were glad we are staying up on this mountain. Our 3rd day we took it easy at our campsite all morning then went on for a drive down another pass called “Cottonwood Pass”. It’s 12 miles up a mountain with good roads as compared to the Cumberland pass road. The top of the mountain is 12,000 feet. This mountain is on the Continental Divide. We took a short hike to see the amazing views.
July 5, 2011
BRYCE CANYON
07/5/11 – 7/11/11 BRYCE CANYON
Bryce Canyon is the most amazing place either of us have ever seen. We stayed 7 nights in a campground within the park called “North Campground”. No hookup, $15 a night, nice shady with lots of trees but very unlevel sights. The few level sites they have were quickly taken. We had a heck of a time finding one we could maneuver our 5th wheel into due to the pine trees locations. A few to many trees to have to squeeze through. We thought it was expensive considering there were no hookups. We were without cell phone signal also, except for Norms old trac phone, it worked speratically . But it was nice staying inside the park. They have a shuttle bus that runs throughout the day. The first day we drove up to the highest point, Rainbow point. The views were magnificent, but they were at every point. Throughout the week we took many hikes. They have easy, moderate and strenuous. We started out with easy the first few days until we could acclimate to the higher altitude, then moderate hikes. Our last day we took the bus from our campground up to Bryce Point to go on a strenuous 5.5 mile hike that took us down into the floor of the canyon to see the hoodoos up close. We made a day of it and just took it easy, stopping to rest often. The hike took us about 4.5 hours to complete. We took sandwiches and stopped a little more than half way through the hike to rest while eating lunch. The weather was perfect, cloudy most the time with the sun breaking through here & there. We caught the bus back at Bryce Point and got out at each stop to have a 2nd look at each look out view point, as if to say good bye to this awesome place. We hated to leave such a beautiful place with such awesome cool weather, but after 7 days we had seen everything there is to see here and it was time to move on.
We left out Tuesday, 7/12/11 to head towards Gunnison, Colorado. Spent the night at a campground near Grand Junction, Co with FHU (Nice, all the running water we wanted, electricity and high speed wifi and cable tv).
Bryce Canyon is the most amazing place either of us have ever seen. We stayed 7 nights in a campground within the park called “North Campground”. No hookup, $15 a night, nice shady with lots of trees but very unlevel sights. The few level sites they have were quickly taken. We had a heck of a time finding one we could maneuver our 5th wheel into due to the pine trees locations. A few to many trees to have to squeeze through. We thought it was expensive considering there were no hookups. We were without cell phone signal also, except for Norms old trac phone, it worked speratically . But it was nice staying inside the park. They have a shuttle bus that runs throughout the day. The first day we drove up to the highest point, Rainbow point. The views were magnificent, but they were at every point. Throughout the week we took many hikes. They have easy, moderate and strenuous. We started out with easy the first few days until we could acclimate to the higher altitude, then moderate hikes. Our last day we took the bus from our campground up to Bryce Point to go on a strenuous 5.5 mile hike that took us down into the floor of the canyon to see the hoodoos up close. We made a day of it and just took it easy, stopping to rest often. The hike took us about 4.5 hours to complete. We took sandwiches and stopped a little more than half way through the hike to rest while eating lunch. The weather was perfect, cloudy most the time with the sun breaking through here & there. We caught the bus back at Bryce Point and got out at each stop to have a 2nd look at each look out view point, as if to say good bye to this awesome place. We hated to leave such a beautiful place with such awesome cool weather, but after 7 days we had seen everything there is to see here and it was time to move on.
We left out Tuesday, 7/12/11 to head towards Gunnison, Colorado. Spent the night at a campground near Grand Junction, Co with FHU (Nice, all the running water we wanted, electricity and high speed wifi and cable tv).
Page, AZ
Instead of taking I-40 we took a scenic route to Page. Highway 264 out of Gallup, NM goes through Hopi Indian territory. The road was a bit rough and the scenery was okay in places, but I do not suggest this route due to the road condition, and the scenery was not that great. There were a few canyons we drove by that “wowed” us a bit, just not enough to justify the long rough road.
We got into Page about 5:30 last night hoping to see RV Parks advertised along the way. Only one advertisement for Lake Powell RV Resort, sounded expensive, but after not seeing anything else we called them. No availability. They gave us the name of another park called Page Lake Powell campground. They did have a spot so we hurried over. This is a nice park (not on the lake like their name indicates) but the RV sites are not level. We had to unhitch the truck in order to level up, bummer! Lot of trouble for one night. They take Good Sam & AARP, we got the site for $20 FHU. We needed electric due to the hot weather in order to run the AC. It seems Page only has these 2 rv parks. We hope to boondock once we get up to Bryce Canyon in cooler temps.
Since we unhooked the truck we decided to go out to eat. There’s a family owned Mexican restaurant 1 mile from our Park. It was delicious, some of the best Mexican food we’ve had. And boy were they busy. We got back to the camper & could see the July 4th fireworks from our camp site, it was very pretty. Page is a very pretty, clean town. Seems like a nice place to live (if it didn’t get so blasted hot). We see a lot of boats in town, the lake must be a good recreation lake.
Headed to Bryce Canyon today. The weather is predicting thunderstorms in Page as well as Bryce Canyon. Let’s hope it’s not a total wash.
We got into Page about 5:30 last night hoping to see RV Parks advertised along the way. Only one advertisement for Lake Powell RV Resort, sounded expensive, but after not seeing anything else we called them. No availability. They gave us the name of another park called Page Lake Powell campground. They did have a spot so we hurried over. This is a nice park (not on the lake like their name indicates) but the RV sites are not level. We had to unhitch the truck in order to level up, bummer! Lot of trouble for one night. They take Good Sam & AARP, we got the site for $20 FHU. We needed electric due to the hot weather in order to run the AC. It seems Page only has these 2 rv parks. We hope to boondock once we get up to Bryce Canyon in cooler temps.
Since we unhooked the truck we decided to go out to eat. There’s a family owned Mexican restaurant 1 mile from our Park. It was delicious, some of the best Mexican food we’ve had. And boy were they busy. We got back to the camper & could see the July 4th fireworks from our camp site, it was very pretty. Page is a very pretty, clean town. Seems like a nice place to live (if it didn’t get so blasted hot). We see a lot of boats in town, the lake must be a good recreation lake.
Headed to Bryce Canyon today. The weather is predicting thunderstorms in Page as well as Bryce Canyon. Let’s hope it’s not a total wash.
July 4, 2011
Albequerque, NM
We headed out from the house Saturday around 9:00 and drove to Post, Tx. Stayed at an RV Park we'd stayed at last year called the 3G RV Park. Post is located in North Texas, very small, nice park. Just a plain gravel lot really, but only $20 with full hook ups. Since it's so hot we needed electric to run the AC.
Sunday we left at 9:00 and drove longer than we like. We stayed just West of Albequerque at a Casino RV Park (Route 66 Casino). Parks in Albequerque seemed to be running around $30 a night, more than we want to spend. After passing through we started seeing signs for a Casino, $10 FHU! So that's where we're at. It's not a real big park, but not many rv's here. You have to go inside the casino to get a membership card (free) to get the $10 rate, otherwise it's $20 (still a good deal for FHU). You also get a voucher for $10 worth of free gas, so really it's like staying here for free. They have a large gas station across the street with the best price on diesel we've seen for a while, $3.67. We checked out the Casino restaurant and they were having a 2 for one special. We ate steak & shrimp for $14.99. Not the best meal I've had, but pretty good. I'll try to take pics to post before we leave this morning.
We plan to make it to Page, AZ tonight. We'll stock up for 10 days of supplies for our stay in Bryce Canyon.
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