Arches N.P. (Sunday)

Arches is a huge National Park! There is no way you can walk or hike everything in one day, so since this is our last day here, we decided to go back. The Arch in the picture is called, "Delicate Arch". It is only a 480' elevation gain, but in the hot weather it seemed like eternity. It was a climb of 3 miles! It was exhausting, and breathtaking (literally). Everyone was huffing and puffing! The Ranch belonged to a Mr. Wolfe from the 1800's. Very cool...huh?

Colorado River Walk

Saturday, was a relaxing day. We decided to take Buddy and go walk the trail over the Colorado River. It was very beautiful. As we were driving out of the park, we saw a sign that said "Scenic Drive". So, we headed up a road unknown...it was absolutely gorgeous. Red Mountains on both sides of the road, the Colorado River and narrow road down the center. We ended driving several miles of ooohs and awwws!
We took Buddy home, then drove into Moab, walked up and down the street, checking out the many trade post/stores.

Canyonlands N.P. The Needles

Yesterday was a day off! I got a really bad sinus infection and ended up going to the Doctor. Hank was a good husband and took care of me all day. Friday, I was well enough to drive down to the other entrance of the Canyonlands. It wasn't anything like the Island in the Sky. We hiked a couple of small trails, one we had to climb 2 ladders to get to the top of a rock. The rocks are like sculptures, as you can tell from the picture. It was very beautiful! We had a nice time, then headed home for a nap .

Canyonlands N.P. Island in the Sky

Wow! What a fantastic day we had! My kids aren't going to believe what their MOM did. Check the picture out with the winding dirt road, yes....Hank and I did 4-wd down the side of that Canyon. It was an amazing drive. The switchback on that dirt/rocky road was something I had never done before. We drove a total of 36miles down, around rocks, up and down hills, beside the river, next to cliffs! Wow!
This was like the Grand Canyon...awesome!

Arches National Park

Wow! What a great day so far. We are camped out just a few miles down the road from Arches N.P. We spent the morning hiking, viewing the Balanced Rock, the Landscape Arch and Pinetree Arch.

It really got hot fast, so we will go back again in a couple of days to finish more hiking. Thank goodness for the National Park Pass. I would recommend it highly if you don't have one already.

Moab, Utah

We have arrived in Utah. Hank is very happy, we have email, TV, and phone service. We also have very HOT temperatures but we are happy, all 3 AC's work. The campsite is great and mountains surround us 360 degree.

Dolores, Colorado

Hank and I found a really cute Baptist Church to attend on Sunday. Sunday School class just wasn't the same without our "Way Too" class.

I think Hank is trying to kill me!!

We did another long hike! I have to stop every so often just to catch my breath! Mommy, I think Hank is trying to kill me!! But come to think of it, he looks out of breath and tired too, huh?

What do we do at night for entertainment??

We Play Wii !!! Aren't we exciting?

Million Dollar Highway

You Know, sometimes it is so hard to pick a picture for you to see! In one day, I probably take over 200 pictures. The sights and sounds are so amazing. I try and capture something but I don't think there is a way for you to see in a camera lens what God has created.
We drove through Rico, Tulleride, Ridgway, Ouray, then Silverton. Wow Wow Wow!!

Bear Creek Hike

We left fairly early this morning to hike before it got to warm. Again nothing but beautiful country. We had a great time!

Look at those beautiful aspen trees...Wow!

Four Corners

Weds. morning we decided to driver over to the four corners. There Hank and I stood on Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colordo States all at the same time. Pretty Cool, huh? It was actually Hot over there!! They said it was 101 the day before, yuck!

We actually are cold in the morning and evening with the heat on!

Jeep Riding up the Juan, in our backyard

Just behind the camp, Hank and I found a dirt road that looked like it climbed the mountain. We never know where we will end up, 6 miles later, we are still climbing.
13 miles up, above the trees, we couldn't climb anymore because the snow blocked the road. I built a small snowman and we let Buddy run around free in a field. Amazing how many animals, birds and chippies are up that high.
A beautiful day exploring God's creations. I am so thankful to God, my health seems to be so much better. Some one told me when you have a good day...do what I can! When I have a flair up, we take it easy back at home. Let's see what today brings.

Telluride, Co.

Today was going to be a lazier day! We took the Jeep and rode over to Telluride. Hank and I were so excited we got to use our telephones. We walked the town loaded with bicycle riders. "Ride the Rockies" over 3,700 bikes huffing and puffing up the hill.

One of the pretty views of the snow top mountains and the lake below. As we were driving home, we stopped in Rico and had a sandwich with other bikers climbing the 12,000' mountains.


When we got back to Priest Gulch, this is where bikers started for the day and the last ones were just leaving..boy there were a bunch.

Priest Gulch, Co.

Today is a day to mark in my calendar! Hank and I decided to walk across the street to San Juan National Forest to do some hiking. We started out full of energy and immediately started an incline that took my breath away. Our Rv is sitting on the Dolores River at 8100', so when we started climbing this mountain I could feel the shortness of breath quickly. We climbed to
12,870'. Wow! My legs felt like rubber!! At the top we encountered cows in a meadow, the bull didn't like the intruders! The meadow was gorgeous, the view spectacular. We enjoyed a peaceful picnic at the very top. Now, we had to climb down the other side of the mountain. Very steep incline!! We came to the river and realized we couldn't cross because of the high water and strong current, so we had to cross a fallen down tree. (lol) 10 miles later, we finally arrived home safely. Worn Out!!

Tomorrow we will do something tamer.

Our Last day in Durango

Friday was a busy day...we decided to go 4x4 up into the mountains. It was an absolutely beautiful day and a great ride. Up and Up we drove until we couldn't go any further. The rocks started getting a little bigger! We enjoyed a picnic on a cliff, with a view of the waterfalls.
After we returned from our adventure, we took our bikes to the park and rode about 8 miles back into town and watched the train come in the station.
Cooked out on the grille then learned a new game with our new friend, Jeanne and Larry called Sequence! Had a great time!

Tomorrow we head to Priest Gulch.

A fun day in Durango

Thursday Hank and I went to a honeybee farm. We got some fresh honey!
Later we went over to the hangglider airport to see some friends we had met in Arizona.
We had a nice visit with Randall and Marilyn. Later in the evening with played hand and foot with our new friends, Jeanne and Larry.

A Stroll down by the Animas River

This river goes all around Durango. We decided last evening to take a walk along their paved sidewalks. The rafters were still going down the river. As you can tell, the melting snow from above mountains is making strong currents for them to row.

Aztec Ruins-New Mexico

This community is the oldest found in the U.S., from around the 1100's. They said when they left this community they headed towards the Mesa Verde. We were able to stroll through all the rooms, and see their beautiful Kive (ceremony round room).
These buildings of rock are amazingly intack on the bottom floors.
After our visit in Aztec, we drove over to Farmington. We felt for an afternoon we were back in civilization.

Silverton

Yesterday, we drove over to Silverton to do some exploring. First, we decided to take a tour of a mine. We went 1200' feet down a shaft, then walked around listening to an ole' guy who actually worked the mine. This was extremely interesting, but I sure wouldn't want to be down there with a flashlight. Then went into the town, checked out the stores...then went Jeep exploring. Several roads were still closed with over 5' of snow, others had streams flowing through them from the melting snow.
But we still found many good trails and took our snack lunch and ate by a stream.
Beautiful day and such great fun!

Durango Train

Hank and I went downtown to look at the steam train and the museum. We walked up and down the streets exploring all the shops. The train was just pulling in from Silverton. We had a great evening.