Oct 22, 2019 - The New Baby

We had lots to accomplish today, but top of the list was to spend some time with Lacie, Mike and the new great grandbaby (our 3rd). No sooner had we walked in the door and exchanged hugs and Lacie put the baby in my arms. So Cute. So adorable! He was not a tiny baby, but you forget just how small they are. And he was a real cuddle bug. I held him for and hour or so before relinquishing him to Don, and he held him for an hour or so. Then grandpa Daren came by for his daily visit; (I had already accused him of moving in with them!) Then it...

Oct 21, 2019 - More Driving

We left bright and early this morning (5:30) to head north to Colorado Springs. We hade forgotten about the time zone change, so actually arrived even earlier than we had anticipated. So we decided to run by the pharmacy, one of our planned errands, to renew 2 prescriptions for Don. One was ok, but wouldn’t be ready until the next day. Unfortunately the other had to be called in, and to a different doctor than was listed on the bottle, so that muddied the water a bit. However, I was hopeful that by calling it in before the days end when...

Oct 14, 2019 - Alamosa

The Garmin Truck GPS dictated a route to Alamosa by following route 50 over Monarch Pass and then taking route 17 south to Alamosa. Google Maps charted a shorter route by taking Colorado 114 on a diagonal from 50 just east of Gunnison to 17 about 35 miles north of Alamosa. The question was whether 114 was OK for the Phaeton. Fortunately, Vicki had driven the route often and assured us that 114 was navigable for the motorhome. It turned out to be a pleasant and scenic route winding gently through a couple of canyons before cresting at a...

Oct 11, 2019 - Goodbye Gallup, hello Holbrook

10/11 Sorry for the radio (Internet?) silence, but we haven’t had great Internet service lately. We are currently in Holbrook Arizona, having arrived yesterday. It was a really easy drive and only 90 miles. We are now staying at the Holbrook KOA, nice and clean, but the weather turned cold last night, and we had to make sure our water hose didn’t freeze. One way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to turn the taps on a little bit so the water isn’t just sitting in the hose all night. It made me feel a bit guilty because it is a waste of...

Oct 8, 2019 - Gunnison

So, we were packing up the Phaeton for the next leg. I moved something that was lying on the floor and there was my wallet. Yup! We had looked all over the Phaeton (drawers, containers, under furniture), called a restaurant, called the Porfirios, and called Lowes twice with no success. AND IT WAS LYING ON THE FLOOR UNDER ONE ITEM! Well, it was great to have it back. I had cancelled one credit card and failed at trying to order a new driver’s license, but there was no other damage. We filled up with diesel at a Pilot at I-70 and route 50 and...

Oct 7, 2019 - Summitville, Colorado

Summitville was the largest & richest camp in the district and in 1883 it was Colorado's biggest gold producer. The elevation of the town was at 11,500 feet and receives about 40 feet of snow annually. Gold was discovered here in 1870 and soon after 14 saloons, a newspaper (Summitville Nugget) and 9 mills served by a population of over 600 people. A post office was established in 1887. However, it became increasingly more expensive extracting the gold from the ore and the town size decreased to about 25 residents by 1889. In 1935, gold...

Oct 6, 2019 - Peacock Meadows

Peacock Meadows is the name of the RV park in South Fork Colorado where we camped from Oct 6th until Oct 9th. The park was gravel and open which gave us a good view of the sky for our satellite TV reception. The rear of the park was wooded and park like with a nice pond. The property ended at the shore of the upper Rio Grande, which was actually very clear and pretty unlike what it looks like more downstream in Albuquerque. The parks caretaker was sort of a fanatic about water hookups as there were predicted freezing temps due for the...

Oct 5, 2019 - Four Corners, Hovenweep and lousy roads

10/5 Yesterday we got up (fairly) early and set off for the Four Corners Monument, about 45 miles away. Susan had read that the monument area was “dog friendly” but when we arrived there was a big sign by the entrance that said “ No dogs allowed beyond this point”. So we couldn’t take a picture with Cooper at the actual monument. So we each went down separately while the other waited outside with the dog. There are lots of booths all around the monument, selling all kinds of authentic Native American wares, so we walked around on the...

Oct 4, 2019 - Fruita

On Friday we moved on to Fruita, Co – not to be confused with Fruita, UT. As we were packing up a threesome, who turned out to be Tomas, Petina, and Peter, wandered from across the street toward the Rim Rock Patio looking for some beer. They were tourist from Austria heading toward Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon. They were interested in the Phaeton, so we invited them for a tour of the inside. We had a fun visit but had no beer to offer them. The drive eastward on 24 was beautifully scenic in the early stages as it descended through...

Oct 4, 2019 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison

This was one of our favorite stops. We were more impressed and awed by this canyon than the Royal Gorge. Of course, the Grand Canyon is larger and equally awesome this comes pretty close. It is one our newest National Parks. There is a nice drive along the rim with many spots to pull off and do a short walk to the edge of the canyon each with another tingling view straight down into the canyon to the river below. The visitor center shows a movie of the early explorations through the canyon. The attached photos speak for themselves. One perk...

Oct 4, 2019 - Denver to Grand Junction, CO

October 4, 2019 I was up at 4:30 taking advantage of WiFi, packing etc. We got on the road about 9:15 and had an easy access to Hwy 70 which is then a straight shot to Grand Junction. (250 miles which is a bit long for us) Decided to listen to Doris Kern Goodwin’s Wait ‘Til Next Year. The book is about her growing up during the 1950’s on Long Island and the general American love of baseball. It really is so nostalgic. I loved baseball. I read sports section every morning, collected baseball cards, went to games (Cleveland Indians, NY...

Oct 3, 2019 - Denver

October 3, 2019 Last night’s smoked turkey looked beautiful but was a bit dry. The moist cornbread casserole and Caesar salad made up for it. 2017 Castle Rock cabernet. Can’t believe we leave tomorrow morning for Grand Junction, CO! Seems as if we just arrived. With the much larger rig we are getting used to not being able to drive where ever we want. Borrowed the car to shop at TJ’s for the week. Still getting used to packing the rig also. We have a freezer that we chose not to have before in order to gain fridge space. I’m getting used to...