Colorado, August 29 through September 5, 2009
August 29: We have a mostly uneventful trip to Clayton Lake State Park. It, ironically, is a zillion miles from Clayton, New Mexico, is in the middle of a desert, and possesses a small lake some might call a large pond. Those of you who have that navigator lady and map in your vehicles, will appreciate the irony in Kevin's almost missing a turn in the road, as he was watching the map to make sure he was going the right way!!!! Otherwise, Clayton Lake State Park is a nice place with nice people working there. Staying one night was both educational and comfortable. See the pictures for dinosaur tracks and a great picture of Wile at sunrise.
August 30: Now this is a funny day. Did we mention that Clayton Lake State Park is a zillion miles from Clayton? In order to avoid backtracking to Clayton, and with a “detailed” atlas in hand, and did we mention the navigator lady, Kevin decided to take the more direct route toward Colorado, on state roads in Northeastern New Mexico. It was all pretty entertaining (albeit circuitous and on MANY dirt roads humorously given Official Numbers by those funny folks at the New Mexico Highway Commission), until Kevin chose a southerly-pointed road in an attempt to get to a real highway with real asphalt, drove into and just past a New Mexico farmer’s house, over his cattle guard and off into his MUDDY field, did a MAJOR u-turn in the mud, drove back through the cattle guard, waved at the most-likely-perplexed farmer who had come out to see who the idiot in his driveway was, and then went back to the “main” dirt road, having escaped a muddy sticking in the less-than-solid dirt road.
We were so far off the beaten path that when we passed a field full of white-faced cows, they ALL looked up and watched us drive by. You probably had to be there, but it was hysterical. Cows in “civilization” generally ignore you when you drive by. These cows wanted to know what the heck we were doing there!
It gets better. We looked all over Walsenburg for Phil. Couldn’t find him.
Then, the major truck wreck followed. We weren’t in the wreck. See the pictures.
Finally, with no planning and without any water on board Stella, we climbed to Springcreek Reservoir, north and east of Gunnison (and Almont), a beautiful place at the end of 12 miles of road, the last 9.5 of which were the worst road we have ever been on. We did pass the "Cabins at Springcreek," which reminded us of somewhere else, complete with golf carts and what appeared to be alcohol consumption. Stella shook, rattled and rolled. At the top, we found a beautiful campground with faucets from which we would fill Stella’s water tank IF THEY HAD ANY WATER WHICH THEY DID NOT!!!!!! We could have left and gone back down the hill but the road had taken its toll. Instead, we bummed a gallon of water from the campground host, a lovely 80 or so year old lady from Oklahoma who took pity on us, and we stayed the night.
August 31: We shook, rattled and rolled our way back down the hill the next morning, arriving at the campground on the North Bank of the Taylor River at the end of a real road that normal humans travel on.
We stayed at North Bank campground for 4 nights. We ate, drank, and were merry, hiked a little, read, and napped a lot.
Bart and Wile developed ear issues. September 3, they went to Gunnison to the Town and Country Animal Hospital, and met Dr. Johnson, not to be confused with their REGULAR Dr. Johnson. He is a nice man. Bart has an infection. Wile has an ear wax thing. Dr. Johnson treats them well and they are on the road to recovery. Chester observed and spoke to several dogs in the parking lot he wanted to attack.
We hike up Summerville Trail which is up the hill a few miles from our campground on both September 2 and 3. The hike is beautiful. We are middle-aged and out of shape Okies. See the pictures.
We lose Bart’s drugs that Dr. Johnson had given him. We search and search. Kevin roots through the trash he has dumped in the bear proof dumpster thinking they fell in the trash. Turns out, Kevin mistook them for spices and dutifully put them in the “spice box” with the other “spices” that we keep in Stella in old recycled prescription bottles. Kevin is a goober sometimes. He finally pulls his head out and figures out what he has done. Rita laughs and laughs at his stupidity.
September 4: We leave North Bank campground and work our way this way. We go west from Gunnison (away from Oklahoma) and are reminded of the beauty of the area between Southfork and Pagosa Springs and Pagosa Springs and Chama, New Mexico. We need to come back to this area.
We are almost out of gas in Tierra Padras. The light is on, but we know there is a gas station there because we stopped there after seeing the bears with Sallie a few years back. But, the gas station is out of business, and for sale. We stop at a place selling ice, “New Mexican Food” and other stuff, but no gas. We discuss our plight with a nice man who speaks a little English. Turns out gas can be had from a 55 gallon drum out of the back of a pickup for only $5.00 per gallon. We buy three of them and go to Taos where we buy cheaper and more gas.
We buy for the third time now Chili Relleno Burritos from a place north of Taos. We really like those burritos. We share one and wander east from Taos.
We stop at a campground between Taos and Eagle’s Nest--“Enchanted Moon.” Its most distinguishing feature is a wonderfully tacky humongous covered wagon. We have electric, water and sewer. We are in civilization for only $25 bucks a night and we are now both clean. The boys are happy to be with us. It is September 4. Barring any calamities we will be at Happy Tails tomorrow night.
August 30: Now this is a funny day. Did we mention that Clayton Lake State Park is a zillion miles from Clayton? In order to avoid backtracking to Clayton, and with a “detailed” atlas in hand, and did we mention the navigator lady, Kevin decided to take the more direct route toward Colorado, on state roads in Northeastern New Mexico. It was all pretty entertaining (albeit circuitous and on MANY dirt roads humorously given Official Numbers by those funny folks at the New Mexico Highway Commission), until Kevin chose a southerly-pointed road in an attempt to get to a real highway with real asphalt, drove into and just past a New Mexico farmer’s house, over his cattle guard and off into his MUDDY field, did a MAJOR u-turn in the mud, drove back through the cattle guard, waved at the most-likely-perplexed farmer who had come out to see who the idiot in his driveway was, and then went back to the “main” dirt road, having escaped a muddy sticking in the less-than-solid dirt road.
We were so far off the beaten path that when we passed a field full of white-faced cows, they ALL looked up and watched us drive by. You probably had to be there, but it was hysterical. Cows in “civilization” generally ignore you when you drive by. These cows wanted to know what the heck we were doing there!
It gets better. We looked all over Walsenburg for Phil. Couldn’t find him.
Then, the major truck wreck followed. We weren’t in the wreck. See the pictures.
Finally, with no planning and without any water on board Stella, we climbed to Springcreek Reservoir, north and east of Gunnison (and Almont), a beautiful place at the end of 12 miles of road, the last 9.5 of which were the worst road we have ever been on. We did pass the "Cabins at Springcreek," which reminded us of somewhere else, complete with golf carts and what appeared to be alcohol consumption. Stella shook, rattled and rolled. At the top, we found a beautiful campground with faucets from which we would fill Stella’s water tank IF THEY HAD ANY WATER WHICH THEY DID NOT!!!!!! We could have left and gone back down the hill but the road had taken its toll. Instead, we bummed a gallon of water from the campground host, a lovely 80 or so year old lady from Oklahoma who took pity on us, and we stayed the night.
August 31: We shook, rattled and rolled our way back down the hill the next morning, arriving at the campground on the North Bank of the Taylor River at the end of a real road that normal humans travel on.
We stayed at North Bank campground for 4 nights. We ate, drank, and were merry, hiked a little, read, and napped a lot.
Bart and Wile developed ear issues. September 3, they went to Gunnison to the Town and Country Animal Hospital, and met Dr. Johnson, not to be confused with their REGULAR Dr. Johnson. He is a nice man. Bart has an infection. Wile has an ear wax thing. Dr. Johnson treats them well and they are on the road to recovery. Chester observed and spoke to several dogs in the parking lot he wanted to attack.
We hike up Summerville Trail which is up the hill a few miles from our campground on both September 2 and 3. The hike is beautiful. We are middle-aged and out of shape Okies. See the pictures.
We lose Bart’s drugs that Dr. Johnson had given him. We search and search. Kevin roots through the trash he has dumped in the bear proof dumpster thinking they fell in the trash. Turns out, Kevin mistook them for spices and dutifully put them in the “spice box” with the other “spices” that we keep in Stella in old recycled prescription bottles. Kevin is a goober sometimes. He finally pulls his head out and figures out what he has done. Rita laughs and laughs at his stupidity.
September 4: We leave North Bank campground and work our way this way. We go west from Gunnison (away from Oklahoma) and are reminded of the beauty of the area between Southfork and Pagosa Springs and Pagosa Springs and Chama, New Mexico. We need to come back to this area.
We are almost out of gas in Tierra Padras. The light is on, but we know there is a gas station there because we stopped there after seeing the bears with Sallie a few years back. But, the gas station is out of business, and for sale. We stop at a place selling ice, “New Mexican Food” and other stuff, but no gas. We discuss our plight with a nice man who speaks a little English. Turns out gas can be had from a 55 gallon drum out of the back of a pickup for only $5.00 per gallon. We buy three of them and go to Taos where we buy cheaper and more gas.
We buy for the third time now Chili Relleno Burritos from a place north of Taos. We really like those burritos. We share one and wander east from Taos.
We stop at a campground between Taos and Eagle’s Nest--“Enchanted Moon.” Its most distinguishing feature is a wonderfully tacky humongous covered wagon. We have electric, water and sewer. We are in civilization for only $25 bucks a night and we are now both clean. The boys are happy to be with us. It is September 4. Barring any calamities we will be at Happy Tails tomorrow night.
On the way home, Rita spots THE BEAR as we are driving between Angel Fire and Cimarron. We stop in the middle of the road, she jumps out with the camera, and she and the bear get acquainted. See the pictures.
Then, calamities occur. Kevin, in charge of the wheel, manages to run out of gas 2 miles short of Clayton. We call AAA. They have no AAA people in that neck of the woods but ask (30 minutes later) if it is o.k. for them to call the Clayton Police Department. Kevin tells them they can call anyone if they have gasoline. The police decline the nice offer to drive out of town to bring us gasoline. Apparently they have other things to do. Rita did observe one of them making a highly important call to a man regarding stolen bicycles later that afternoon. AAA calls back. They have found a service station (the only real service station open on Saturday). They have promised to bring us gas for a fee. We accept the kind offer. About 45 minutes later, Kevin attempts to call the gas station with the number AAA has given him. It is the wrong number, but luckily Kevin is able to get a correct number in only about 6 phone calls over the next 30 minutes. He reaches “Chris” at the gas station. He tells Chris he is the guy on the side of the road (for the last 1 and ½ hours) waiting for Chris to bring gas. Chris delivers the Quote of the Day, “Uh, bad news man! I can’t find the gas can!”
Kevin maintains his sanity and temper and begs Chris to find a can somewhere and to come bring them gas. Kevin offers to buy Chris a new gas can. Chris determines Kevin in on the edge and promises to do something. They hang up.
Sixty seconds later Chris has figured out that any of the other hundred or so empty plastic bottles around his service station will probably transport gas a mile or two, fills one of them up with gas, and calls Kevin back to announce his anticipated triumphant arrival.
He arrives, proud of his stated ability to "improvise." We get gas.
Meanwhile, Kevin has noticed that one of Stella’s tires is coming apart at the seams. Chris also sells us a new tire. It was a big day for Chris.
The trip was enhanced by many critter sightings on many different days and in many different locations:
-3 dead porcupines (similar to our armadillos)
- flock of twenty turkeys in a field
-1 scarcely flying turkey, down the road from the flock, which barely missed Stanley and might have bounced off of Stella
-lots o’ deer, two of which were quite interested in Rita early in the morning at Springcreek Reservoir
- a herd of "wild" mountain sheep....with lovely collars
-coyotes in the night at the Enchanted Moon
-big antelope (see the pictures)
-prairie dogs at the “$5.00 per gallon for gasoline New Mexican Food place”
-innumerable ravens, mountain blue jays, marmots, chipmunks and squirrels
-THE BEAR!
....and, not to be underdone, on the final leg home at midnight, a barred owl on the roadside, two lovely deer near the entrance to CCCC and an armadillo in our front yard!!!!!
Then, calamities occur. Kevin, in charge of the wheel, manages to run out of gas 2 miles short of Clayton. We call AAA. They have no AAA people in that neck of the woods but ask (30 minutes later) if it is o.k. for them to call the Clayton Police Department. Kevin tells them they can call anyone if they have gasoline. The police decline the nice offer to drive out of town to bring us gasoline. Apparently they have other things to do. Rita did observe one of them making a highly important call to a man regarding stolen bicycles later that afternoon. AAA calls back. They have found a service station (the only real service station open on Saturday). They have promised to bring us gas for a fee. We accept the kind offer. About 45 minutes later, Kevin attempts to call the gas station with the number AAA has given him. It is the wrong number, but luckily Kevin is able to get a correct number in only about 6 phone calls over the next 30 minutes. He reaches “Chris” at the gas station. He tells Chris he is the guy on the side of the road (for the last 1 and ½ hours) waiting for Chris to bring gas. Chris delivers the Quote of the Day, “Uh, bad news man! I can’t find the gas can!”
Kevin maintains his sanity and temper and begs Chris to find a can somewhere and to come bring them gas. Kevin offers to buy Chris a new gas can. Chris determines Kevin in on the edge and promises to do something. They hang up.
Sixty seconds later Chris has figured out that any of the other hundred or so empty plastic bottles around his service station will probably transport gas a mile or two, fills one of them up with gas, and calls Kevin back to announce his anticipated triumphant arrival.
He arrives, proud of his stated ability to "improvise." We get gas.
Meanwhile, Kevin has noticed that one of Stella’s tires is coming apart at the seams. Chris also sells us a new tire. It was a big day for Chris.
The trip was enhanced by many critter sightings on many different days and in many different locations:
-3 dead porcupines (similar to our armadillos)
- flock of twenty turkeys in a field
-1 scarcely flying turkey, down the road from the flock, which barely missed Stanley and might have bounced off of Stella
-lots o’ deer, two of which were quite interested in Rita early in the morning at Springcreek Reservoir
- a herd of "wild" mountain sheep....with lovely collars
-coyotes in the night at the Enchanted Moon
-big antelope (see the pictures)
-prairie dogs at the “$5.00 per gallon for gasoline New Mexican Food place”
-innumerable ravens, mountain blue jays, marmots, chipmunks and squirrels
-THE BEAR!
....and, not to be underdone, on the final leg home at midnight, a barred owl on the roadside, two lovely deer near the entrance to CCCC and an armadillo in our front yard!!!!!
1 comment:
All of that in only a week! AMAZING!
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