Trip to Colorado in June

The first day we left, we had trouble with our slide out on the camper.  It would go out...but it wouldn't come back in.  We had to crank it in by hand, which was a job.  Jeff ran it over to the RV place in Rupert, but they didn't have the part we needed.  So, we cranked it in and started off anyway.  Just outside of SLC, there's a huge RV place, so we pulled in there to see if by some chance they would have it.  They didn't, but called SLC and sent someone to pick it up....2-1/2 hours later, Jeff had to install it himself because they just didn't have time.  We were off again, but stopped in Lehi to have ice cream with Steve (Jeff's brother) and fill up with diesel.  They on the road again...and we got to Moab about 10:00 pm.  The RV park we pulled into had two spots open, and we took one.  This arch was on the way to Mesa Verde the next day.

Mesa Verde was so cool.  It was our second trip there, and it was just as fascinating as last time.  The difference was the weather.  Last time we had snow...this time it was about 100 degrees in the canyon.  But, hiking down and back up seemed easier to me this time.  I didn't have any trouble at all.  Maybe because of the walking I've been doing.

 

I love weathered wood, and there was plenty of that around.  Of course, we climbed down to look at the cliff palace and a couple of other places too.  One thing that upset me, was the ranger that took the tour just before ours....she asked how many people were from outside the US...then proceeded to tell them that they own Mesa Verde because it belongs to the "world"...through the United Nations.  That made me mad.  I think that's bull crap.  I have noticed the "we" own the things in Europe.

 

I couldn't get over this lizard and the colors on it.  I was so glad that it showed up in the photograph.

Colorado was so beautiful.  I loved every drive we took.  From Mesa Verde we drove to Durango, and then took the road to Silverton.  The train was pretty expensive, plus we wanted to keep going north rather than coming back to Durango  They had the road from Silverton to Ouray closed except for one hour (12:30-1:30) every day because of a slide they were trying to clear, so we didn't spend much time in Silverton.  Next time, we don't think we'll take the camper.  It was pretty top heavy on all these high, winding roads.  And Colorado doesn't believe in guard rails.

There were tons of water falls, and Jeff is always good to stop so I can take photos.  I loved it.  There was a lot of run off, so the streams were very fast and dirty.

We went over several high (over 10,000-13,000) passes.  I just couldn't take enough photos.  This was one of my favorite drives we've taken.  Tomorrow, I'll post a few more photos.