06/20/2015 Crawford, CO

We have been camp hosting about 5 weeks now.  When we first arrived there was a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains.  This park does not have very many trees but beautiful views.  We do not get cell service or data but they have wifi for the volunteers to use.  We get it from our trailer which is nice.  They have an annual event called “Pioneer Days” that always brings in a lot of campers and visitors. It starts with a parade followed by outhouse races, games and vendors set up then ends at dark with fireworks over the lake.  We love these small town festivals.   Our commitment here ends July 4^th.  No plans, we’ll just wander about the Colorado State Parks to enjoy.  If they need volunteers we may do that.  Otherwise we’ll go up to explore the northern part of Colorado.  Rocky Mountain National Park mainly.  Things we have visited in the area are Black Canyon National Park's North and South Rim, Grand Mesa, Carbondale (went to Avalanche Ranch to use their hot spring) and Paonia.

Pics from our camp site, Crawford State Park

A bronze statue in Montrose, CO

Island Lake on Grand Mesa, CO

Black Canyon National Park

The 6 mile tunnel from Black Canyon's Gunnison River to Montrose built 1905-1909. We happened upon a man that works here and he gave us a tour of the locked tunnell.

This is where he regulates how much water goes through the tunnell by moving the gate up or down.

 The gate is motorized with a lawn mower engine these days.  It used to be manually hoisted up an down by a chain and gears.

 This is where the tunnel starts.

May 2015 Goosenecks State Park, UT

Next Stop Goosenecks State Park, Utah.  This is also dry camping on the rim of a beautiful canyon.  The river has carved unusual curves in the landscape.  It really is stunning.  We stayed about 5 days here before moving on toward Colorado.  We stayed overnight near Grand Junction/Fruita at a truck stop then headed on to Crawford State Park the next day arriving 1 day earlier than anticipated, May 9^th.  

April 2015 Wes, Palo Duro, Albuquerque and Angel Peak

We traveled up to Arlington, TX to see my brother Wes for the weekend.  We stayed at Cedar Hill State Park.  I had not seen Wes for about 9 months so it was good seeing him again. 

Heading on toward Colorado we stopped off at Palo Duro Canyon State Park for a few days to check out the Canyon.  It was nice but I guess we were expecting something more like the Grand Canyon, on a smaller scale of course.  It was nice, but hot already and not many hiking trails. 

On to Albuquerque, NM to see Norm’s friend Marc and his mom.  We have a nice 3 day visit with them.  Kathryn volunteers for a local live theatre and she treated us to tickets to see one of their productions.  Good Times.  And always fund visiting with them. 

Norm and Marc

Then it was on toward Colorado.  But a few more stops first.  We stayed at a forest campground not far from Albuquerque called Linda Vista campground in Jemenez Springs, NM.  A very nice little campground.  Dry camping.  The host was real nice.  We would consider hosting here sometime.

Traveling north toward Bloomfield/Farmington went went to Angel Peak Recreation Area.  This is a free BLM campground that isn’t used very much.  We found this place 2 years ago on our way to Colorado.  This time we stayed in a day use area parked right on the canyon rim with beautiful views.  We dry camped there for a week.  No trails and not much to do there but enjoy the beautiful views of the canyon.  After 7 days there we went into Aztec, NM to stay a couple days to dump, recharge batteries, shop and stock up on groceries before moving on. 

Cedar Hill State Park and Wes

 Palo Duro Canyon, TX

Linda Vista Campground, Jemenez Springs, NM

Angel Peak Scenic Area, NM