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.

Mesa Verde N.P.

This was another great adventure! We drove up the longest winding roads I have ever been on. We drove over 20 miles once inside the park. Once we arrived at the cliff dwellings, we had to walk down steep cliffs to view the dwellings. The Puebloans lived here in the 1200's. Pretty amazing they are still standing!

San Juan Mountains

Sat. morning Hank and I drove from Alamosa to Durango. You had to drive over the San Juan Mountains, what a trip? We climbed well over 10,000'! The views were gorgeous, the river was flowing beside the road with very strong currents. We stopped and saw a beautiful waterfall.The mountains were still covered with snow.
We are now in Durango and will be here for 7days. We have alot of things to do here!

Zapata Falls

I happen to see a dirt road that climbed up a mountain, so I whipped the car up the dirt road, in 4wd. Up and up we climbed way above 10,000'.What a great view of the Great Sand Dunes, Mountains and our location!

We then took a hike up to the small falls and crystal clear water.What a nice day!

Great Sand Dunes, N.P.

What an absolutely gorgeous day! We woke up to 37degrees! brrrrrr
We drove over to the Great Sand Dunes....you had to walk across a small creek (which basically was water from melted snow). Then as you can see dunes up to 750' tall, piles and piles of kitty litter. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. Wow! How fantanstic!

Focus on the Family

Today Hank and I went to the campus of Focus of the Family. I am sure most of you have heard Dr. James Dobson on the radio discussing issues of families. What an amazing complex. All of the 4 buildings on 80+ acres are completely paid off!
All donations etc...go to ministries. If you have questions on your marriage or your family, they have a huge staff to help answer financial questions or problems raising your children.
Anything family related. Go to: listen.family.org

Royal Gorge Route Railroad

Hank and I went on a great adventure today down the Arkansas River. The Royal Gorge in is Canon City, Colorado. We rode in the Vista Dome, with lunch served on board. The river was to our left the entire time. We saw bighorn sheep on the side of the mountain as we traveled slowly through the gorge. Half-way down the river you looked up over 1000' above and saw the Royal Gorge Bridge suspended. When we got to the end, the other engine pulled you back the way you came, so you got the view all over again. You also could go back into the open car with wind blowing through your hair, the train whistle blowing and swift flowing river, awesome. Great day!
How do you top this????

Pikes Peak

Even though this experience was one of the most amazing things we have done, I can't say my body enjoyed it! First, I am afraid of heights, and second, I get car sick on windy roads! But you know me...I wanna Go! The road was so scary, windy S road the whole way, some of it pave and some of it Dirt. There were very few guard rails and as a passenger-you were on the edge as in picture above you can see how close.
When we arrived at the top, 14,110ft. I felt like I had run a race and my balance was off and I couldn't walk (note to self:do not drink and drive). Anyway, we enjoyed lunch up on top of the mountain. What a great experience but now we had to get down. A brake check 1/2 the way down was a good thing they did.
Another great day!

Garden of the Gods

The wonders of nature are amazing!! These magnificent red sandstone rocks are awesome. One looks like two camels kissing. The other picture is the Balanced Rock, which you drive your car right through them. They say the formations are over 300 million years old and sculpted by nature. WOW.

Mountaindale RV Resort, Colorado Springs, Co.

We made it safe and sound. We are at the base of the mountains and the weather is very cool here. We are just getting settled into our space and deciding what to do for the rest of the afternoon.
We climbed the mountain above our campsite, if you look carefully you can see some RV's down below.
We have already seen deer just behind our site.
Talk tomorrow.