Visiting Colorado - Lake Mead to Cortez, Colorado

After our week of water-skiing at Lake Mead, it was time for a little adventure in the RV and a search for cooler weather.  We headed northeast from the Boulder City/Las Vegas, Nevada area on I-15 and spent our first night in the parking lot of the Canyon Breeze Golf Course in Beaver, Utah.  They are part of the Harvest Host program where they offer RV'ers free parking on their property.

Funny bumper sticker on this golf cart.

Our spot for the night thanks to our hosts.  

In exchange for hosting RV'ers it is suggested to patronize our hosts.  Since we don't golf we had breakfast in their restaurant the next morning.  We ate some good breakfast sandwiches before hitting the road.

We drover further north until I-15 intersected with I-70 then made our way east.  Part of the route included some steep grades and we were very happy with the performance of the truck.  It was nice to be able to enjoy the view instead of worrying about whether the truck would be able to pull the trailer up some hills. 

After being hooked up to shore power for three months, we thought we had an electrical issue in the trailer when running the RV off the battery so we found a place with hookups (electric and water) for the night at Green River State Park in Green River, Utah.  After Al searched for the issue it ended up being something silly.  There is a lever that completely shuts off the power to the RV for use when storing it and that lever was in the off position and doing what it was intended to do.  Lesson learned!

Our site at Green River State Park.

The next day we made it to a new state on this adventure, Colorado.  We stopped off at their visitor center and came out with lots of brochures and booklets with tons of info.

Since we were so close we stopped off at Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado.

Al towed the trailer through a couple of tunnels like this one!

Independence Monument

Colorado National Monument Junior Ranger

Next we drove to our site for the night.  This time we stayed on the property of some members of Boondockers Welcome, Ken & Becky in Delta, Colorado.

Our site for the night with electric hookups!

Our hosts were super nice and we enjoyed meeting them.  We had the opportunity to talk with Ken more then Becky who had to work the next day.  Ken was quite a character with a generous heart.  He was a diesel mechanic and he's currently mentoring a local kid teaching him everything he knows.

Ken & Becky's property from the road

I took this photo from Ken & Becky's front yard.  It was re-posted on Instagram by Boondockers Welcome.  (A first re-post for me!)

Ken has remodeled this old bus and showed us the inside.  It was very impressive!

It even has a washer machine!

Nancy, Ken, and Al
(Oh no, we're starting to dress alike!)

Upon leaving, we offered Ken some money for the use of his electricity to run our air conditioner and he wouldn't take it.  A very nice host.  We enjoyed meeting him and our conversations.

The next day we drove the short distance to Ridgway State Park just north of Ridgway, Colorado.  One of the camp hosts, Dave, we met at Snow Canyon is now working at Ridgway for the summer.  We didn't get enough of Dave for the month our shifts overlapped at Snow Canyon so we spent three nights at Ridgway to connect with him again.  We got settled in to our site and then Dave stopped by to welcome us.

The next day we went for a hike that went along the lake.  It was so nice to see snow up in the mountains.

The guys chatting along the trail

Dave, Nancy, and Al

There was still a lot of snow melt making it's way down to the lake.  What a rush of water!

A view of the marina

After Dave arrived at Ridgway, he picked up a new companion.  Here is Ellie Mae.  A sweet puppy that we enjoyed playing with.

The next day we went for a hike in Ouray (pronounced your-way and not our-way), Colorado.

The town of Ouray, Colorado below the mountains

Cascade Falls is a waterfall in the rock wall that surrounds the small town.  Here is Al on his way to check it out.

Dave, Al, and Nancy

Dave

Can you see Al in this photo?

The elevation was rough on us as we hadn't acclimated so the hike was hard with lots of huffing and puffing.  I finally gave up (at a good spot to rest) and the guys continued on for a bit before they turned around and came back to meet me.  We next went down to the town to walk around and look for something to eat.  What a cute old town.  I loved all the flowers.

Main Street through Ouray

Elks Lodge, Ouray, CO

After walking around Ouray, we headed to Ridgway.  On the way in to town we saw a sign that there was a concert in the park that night so after eating some good pizza at Colorado Boys we headed to the park to wait for the music to start.

Enjoying some local brews

Ridgway Concert in the Park

Reverend Sekou and the Freedom Fighters

Let's just say it wasn't our type of music so we left after a few songs.  I liked the music but the words being sung were too repetitive.  It was still a nice evening to sit out and act like a local. 

Before leaving Ridgway State Park, I had to get my Junior Ranger badge.  This one had the hardest word search I've ever done!

Bear!

Ridgway State Park's Newest Junior Ranger

We really enjoyed our time with our new friend, Dave, and Miss Ellie Mae.  After three nights with them, it was time to hit the road again making our way south on US-550.  US-550 is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway.  What a beautiful ride

Some historic mining equipment still remains

They were not kidding!

Nice truck and trailer!

Al enjoying the scenery

We made our way to Bayfield, Colorado for our next two nights at another Boondockers Welcome host site.  We met our hosts, Gary and Maggie, and then got the trailer parked on their property.

Behind their property is the Grimes creek with a good flow of water.  Unfortunately it was too cold to walk in because I love to do that.  The water was freezing cold and hurt my feet if I stood in it for more than 30 seconds!  Kind of like a brain freeze but in your feet! 

Come on, take the photo!  My feet are freezing!

The next day we went to Durango, Colorado for the day to check it out.  I've always been curious about seeing Durango so I was glad to finally have the opportunity to visit.  There are some historic buildings in town and lots of shops and restaurants along Main Street.

Strater Hotel & Restaurant

Inside the Strater Hotel they maintain the historic feel and allow non-guests to walk around and enjoy the lobby.  A good tip from our host!

The General Palmer Hotel

A big attraction in town is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum.  We didn't take the train ride so we just walked around the station and then walked in to the free museum.  Those that know us know we're not really museum type people but this one had some cool stuff. 

Inside the museum they had full size locomotives and cabooses.

We watched a film shown inside one of the train cars where they showed how some men refurbished one of these locomotives.  What a lot of work!

And of course there was a miniature train display with a drive in movie theater.

Inside the Caboose

Old writing desk inside the caboose

Okay, it was a really nice free museum so we made a donation!

Being silly

While talking with Gary, Al asked if there was anything we could help them with while we were staying on their property.  The morning were were set to leave, Gary came over and asked if Al could help him hang some new animal heads in his living room.  Gary didn't kill the animals but purchased the heads.  We learned they are filled with foam to keep their shape.

Well, this is a first!  

Maggie, Gary, Nancy, and Al

We were glad to help and the it was the least we could do in exchange for Gary and Maggie hosting us on their property.  What an experience and we appreciated their hospitality!

We finally got on the road and made a stop off at Mesa Verde National Park before stopping for the night.  We signed up and paid for the Ranger lead tour to Cliff Palace.  Then we had to drive about 30 minutes from the visitor center to the meeting spot for the tour.  The Ranger provided an interesting narrative for the impressive ruins we saw.

Inside this room high up on the wall were some original paintings

Mesa Verde National Park's Newest Junior Ranger

There are more tours available but we only had time for one.  Each tour cost $5 and we were happy with the Cliff Palace tour.

Next it was off to our spot for the night, Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez, Colorado.  This was a Harvest Host site and we got parked in their parking lot for the night.  This spot had some road noise during the night which we didn't care for.  This golf course did not have a restaurant so we bought a couple of fountain drinks to thank them for hosting us. 

After spending the night in Cortez, we headed for one of my favorite places in the United States, Monument Valley.  Coming up next!

Note:  Any photos in this entry with colorful frames were taken by Al.  The rest are mine!


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