Day 39

Day 39 - Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Farmington, NM to Las Cruces, NM

Having spent two extra days in Colorado, we decided to have a long travel day in New Mexico to reach one of our final key attractions, Carlsbad Caverns, by Friday. We set our sights on Las Cruces, a 6+ hour drive, and the Ramada Inn that we booked via priceline.com. We reached Albuquerque a little after noon, and opted for Lin's Dynasty Buffet for lunch. We were amazed by the size of this place. Most buffets have one, maybe two rows of food to choose from. This place had five, with every type of meat available including octopus, plus a Mongolian Grill option where you chose the ingredients and a cook would whip it up in a wok. To top it off, it cost less than $10 per person with a drink order. Unbelievably full, we visited a used book store before continuing our journey down I-25. We were beyond shocked to drive through the desert in the midst of a down pour, but that is what we had from Albuquerque to Truth or Consequences. The weather cleared by the time we reached Las Cruces and we checked in to our room with a balcony. We ate sparingly at the bar in the hotel, enjoying the margarita special, and retired early.

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Day 38

Day 38 - Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Mesa Verde National Park, CO to Farmington, NM

Our final night in the tent was comfortable, but a little sloped. Wistfully, we packed up the bedroll and loaded the car. We spent the morning touring the park, stopping at the visitor center and the Spruce Tree Cliff Dwellings.

The Pueblo Indians built the dwellings as early as 600 AD and occupied many of the sites until 1300 AD. A drought that lasted nearly a half century led the ancestral Pueblos to abandon the cliffs, but it has remained a sacred site for American Indians in the area. Poor planning on our part led us to eat two Navajo Tacos (taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream and salsa on fry bread) before hiking to the dwellings. Other than food caused discomfort the experience was pleasurable and enlightening.

There are about a half a dozen cliff dwellings in the park and over 4000 archaeological sites overall, but using the guiding principle of "If you've seen one, you've seen them all" we left the park at noon.

We had two options on how to get to Farmington, NM. First, we could back track to Durango and then head south for a drive of about 75 minutes. One thing that has become abundantly clear during this trip to Tara is that I don't like to back track. I can't really explain myself, other than it is akin to admitting defeat, that I couldn't find another route when there are so many roads to explore is simply unacceptable. So the second route, the one that bypassed within mere miles of the the Four Corners Monument, the one that added another 60 minutes to the total trip, became the route du jour.

It turns out that the Four Corners Monument is on the Navajo Nation Reservation and as such the Navajo people charge $3 per person to stand in four states at one time. Surrounding the sand dial without a needle

monument were stands selling a wide assortment of wares from jewelery to pottery to clothing to snow cones. Tara found a vase that she couldn't do without and had the artisan hold it for a picture to preserve the items provenance.

We arrived in Farmington a little before 4 pm and tried to check into the La Quinta. We then realized that we had reservations at the Best Western across the street and went there instead. Finally accepted, we showered and headed out to the Three Rivers Brewery. They had an outstanding selection of homemade brews, ciders, and sodas. I ordered their Drunken Steak which had spent the last three days basking in beer and mustard, while Tara had their pretzel and a bowl of onion soup since her stomach was feeling a little funny.

Full, we raced to the car in the midst of a fierce wind storm and headed back to the Hotel with a brief stop at WalMart for Caladryl lotion to soothe the multitude of bites on my legs and feet. I dutifully applied the lotion every two hours throughout the night.

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Day 37

Day 37 - Tuesday July 28th, 2009

Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO to Mesa Verde National Park, CO

We packed up the campsite and headed to the Office/Restaurant for some coffee and opted to stay for breakfast after perusing the menu. Satiated, we reentered the park and drove to the dunes parking lot. Tara stayed behind in the car and I set off into the dunes.

Imagine the deepest, driest, softest beach sand that you have ever walked upon. Now place that nice beach at 8800 feet and you get an idea for how difficult the 1/4 mile walk to the first small dune was.

I could see people at the top of the highest visible dune and figured they started their adventure at 7 am and not 10 am. I turned back and trudged to the car making tracks in the virgin sand.

The drive west was non-eventful, stopping only for fuel, Sonic, and a car wash. With clouds building and the wind starting to whip we reached the Morefield Campground in Mesa Verde National Park, CO. This is possibly the largest campground in the National Park system with over 400 sites, laundry services, and showers. We found a site that we liked, went to the office to the office to pay before setting up, learned that we were suppose to pay first then find a site, returned to discover that 'our' site had suddenly become occupied, and settled on a serviceable, if a little sloped site at the end of the Navajo Loop. We battled the wind to get the tent up before the rain came and decided to do one last round of laundry on the road.

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Day 36

Day 36 - Monday, July 27th, 2009

Colorado Springs, CO to Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO

Waking up early at the Doubltree in Colorado Springs, CO, I set out to find us a New York style breakfast, thinking that I would have to settle for a Panera, when Nuvi found an Olde World Bagels a block away. I walked across the parking lots, the only person around on foot, and purchased serviceable bagels with the necessary accouterments. We set off shortly there after, hitting the road with a full slate ahead of us.

Our 1st destination was the Garden of the Gods, a city park in Colorado Springs that had numerous rock outcroppings and miles of hiking trails.

We did not have the time to hike so we took in the sights as quickly as possible from the car and made our way to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The Fossil beds were formed about 35 million years ago when the Guffey Volcano was spewing out ash and mud, which dammed up a stream creating a 12 mile lake with the perfect layer of muck along the bottom for preserving a whole host of organisms. Insects have been the primary find, but the petrified redwood stumps were the most impressive.

Avoiding a Ranger Bruce clone (Timpanogos Cave) that was guiding a tour, we walked around the easily accessible exhibits and headed on to our third planned stop along twisty roads.

The Royal Gorge Bridge near Canon City, CO is the highest suspension bridge in the world.

It is also the biggest tourist trap I have ever encountered (and we stopped at Wall Drug). It costs $24 per person to enter the bridge area. Admission includes a pass to all of the amusement rides and a pass to drive your vehicle across the bridge. Most visitors were walking over the Gorge though and enjoying the warm summer day. At least that is what it seemed from the entrance as Tara and I were not willing to shell out $48 to see a bridge up close. We left the way we came and set of to Salida, CO for lunch.

We found a charming place for lunch called the Laughing Ladies Restaurant, sneaking through the door moments before they closed their lunch at 2 pm. I enjoyed their special pork enchilada while Tara had their black bean soup and salad combo. After lunch, Tara explored the downtown area, while I took a seat at Larry's barber shop. Larry did a fine job, but he staggered me with the $14 price. He then asked what I would pay for a haircut in NYC. I didn't have the heart to tell him I usually pay $10 at a place in Queens, so I said about the same.

Our final leg of the day's journey took us to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which lies between the San Juan Mountains to the west and the Sangre de Christo Mountains to the east. The valley between was once a huge lake that eventually breached along the southern end draining into the Rio Grande River and drying out. The winds sweeping into the valley from the west pushed the sandy soil against the Sangre de Christo Mountains, and the storm winds from the east built the highest sand dunes in America, with the great dune reaching 750 feet.

Since it was a warm and sunny afternoon we limited our explorations to the visitor center before setting up our tent at the Great Sand Dunes Oasis RV Park just outside of the National Park. The camping area was very rustic, but we found a flat and relatively rock free site that was visited often by humming birds. It was also infested with some type of sand mite or flea that chewed up my feet, leaving 15+ little bulls eyes on each foot. Thankfully they did not itch...at least not that night.

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Day 35

Day 35 - Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Denver, CO to Colorado Springs, CO

A lazy day. Doubletree just might be my favorite Hotel chain. They have a huge strike against them for not having refrigerators in their rooms, but those delicious chocolate chip cookies that they dole out upon arrival make up for so much. The cookies are not quite as good as Chef Allen's at The Buckley School, but they have helped us to survive the long summer without an FBC (freshly baked cookie). I finished my cookie for breakfast as we checked out of our room at the very last moment.

Once again, hoping for the best, we started the car and the "Service Engine Soon" light remained brightly lit. Our plan is to take it to the GMC Dealership in Colorado Springs, CO bright and early Monday morning. In the meantime we headed for WalMart to replace my camp chair. We stopped at a Panda Express on the way for our first true meal of the day and had the best Chinese Food since NYC. When we started the car, the light didn't come on. Relieved and mystified we made our WalMart purchases, and jotted down the names and addresses of used bookstores in the area from the phonebook at the Customer Service area.

Our first stop was the main branch of the Denver Public Library. Ever since Cleveland, OH when we wandered into the library downtown to discover that they were weeding their inventory, and purchased a James Patterson audiobook for $1.00 (which we later sold to a Hastings Books for a $4.50 credit), we have been stopping at libraries on our way looking for deals. Denver's Library was located downtown across from the state capital building

and surrounded by the art museums. It was a nice, peaceful place that felt well used and loved. Unfortunately, the weeding store was closed on Sundays, so we moved on to the Used Book Mall about a mile further south and each found a book. It was right next to a Big Lots, so while Tara perused the merchandise, I looked through another phone book, having lost the original sheet of addresses from the WalMart. This time through I found a used audiobook store in Arvada, CO a suburb of Denver. We zipped north on I-25, and saw that the store was closing for good...on July 31st. Just in time. This store had thousands and thousands of audiobooks and we spent at least 45 minutes sifting through the titles. I found the CD version of the BBC Radio Broadcasts of the original Star Wars Trilogy and nearly geeked to death. I recovered, added a couple of Douglas Adams titles to my haul and joined Tara at the register with her titles of "Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger and "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner.

As soon as we exited we noticed the time was 4:30 and headed straight to a Taco Bell to take full advantage of the Rockies promotion of 4 tacos for a quarter that was only going on from 4 - 6 pm. Filled with the goodness that is Taco Bell, we headed to Colorado Springs to another Doubletree and the wonderful cookies that were waiting.

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Day 34

Day 34 - Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Indian Creek Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO to Denver, CO

We awoke to the pitter-pat of drizzle on our rain fly. We used the rain to our advantage, got out the small hand sweep broom, brushed the dust and grime from the tent, and used a dirty shirt to dry it off. Viola! Clean tent.

With a long list of activities planned for the day, we packed up quickly, and were on the road before 9 am. We travelled along RT-34, the highest highway in America, and were awed by the views and the animals all around.

We walked along the tundra at the highest point in the road, feeling the cold air and believing that it really could snow in July.

As we were descending back below the timber line, the "Service Engine Soon" light flared to life. Immediately we started searching for a GMC dealership on Nuvi and found two, one in Denver, one in Colorado Springs. We called both, but unfortunately we would not make it to either location before they closed for the day and neither was open on Sunday.

With fingers, toes, arms and legs crossed, we stopped for lunch in Estes Park, CO at Wapiti and had some Blue Bell Ice Cream for dessert. Hoping that the car just needed a little break, we were disappointed when the light blinked on right on ignition. We continued east along RT-34 to Greeley where there is a Hastings Book Store. Hastings accepts trade-ins of books, audio books, DVDs, and Music CDs, but we were returning a couple of audio books that we purchased at a Hastings in Montrose, CO due to the awfulness of the narrator's voice.

We then made a bee line to the Doubletree Hotel in Denver (priceline special), checked in, showered and despite the looming clouds, decided to brave a Colorado Rockies Game at Coors Field.

We sat 23 rows behind the visitor's dugout and enjoyed the game even with the occasional sprinkle and the large lady that was sitting next to Tara forcing her almost to my lap. It was 5 -2 Rockies in the bottom of the 8th, but the stadium was still full. The reason was clear; the fans wanted to see the Rockies score at least 7 runs. If they did it would trigger a Taco Bell promotion of 4 tacos for a quarter with the purchase of a drink. Sure enough, the Rockies scored the two runs without accruing any outs and the stadium started to empty. They scored three runs in total that inning and the SF Giants went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth to end the game 8-2.

With the drizzle developing into a downpour we made our way out of the stadium to Cru, a Wine Bar where a childhood friend of Tara worked. As we walked the five blocks the downpour turned into a deluge of Biblical proportions. We rushed through the doorway soaked to find out that Matt Munneke, Tara's friend, was off on Saturdays. We found a table anyway and enjoyed a flight of wine each, and shared a flight of cheeses and the Grilled Portabella and Wild Mushroom Pizza. Still a little wet we hailed a cab driven by an English Lit Major that went to the University of Texas. He and Tara went back and forth about books that I really should read some day. We decided when we reached the hotel room to sleep in the next morning and have a lazy day.

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Day 33

Day 33 - Friday, July 24th, 2009

Silverthorne, CO to Timber Creek Campground, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Happy Birthday Mom!

La Quinta has a solid continental breakfast. With hard boiled eggs, waffles, bagels, danishes, and an assortment of cereals (hot and cold) we had plenty to choose from. We were on the road pretty early, hoping to find a campsite at Rocky Mountain National Park. We took I-70 to RT-40, climbing through the mountains along switchbacks, passing through Winter Park, and stopping in Tabernash to take pictures and frequent the Snooty Coyote.

We reached the park at 11 am and headed to the closest campsite on the western side in Timber Creek Campground. The Rocky Mountains are currently fighting off an infestation of pine beetles that is decimating the trees. Our campground was one of the many areas that the park was clear cutting to help stop the spread. To say it looked bad would be an understatement,

but we really did not have much of a choice, and took the best site we could find.

After setting up the camp, we headed to the North Inlet Trail just north of Grand Lake. We had a quick lunch in the parking lot and began our 3.4 mile hike one way to Cascade Falls. The hike was fairly level,

changing 300 feet in elevation, but had one severe drawback. About a mile from the falls we were swarmed by mosquitoes that chased us almost the entire way to the falls. It turns out that Colorado mosquitoes have good taste and mainly attacked Tara, so I took a position a few steps behind her and attempted to swat the buggers out of the sky before they landed on her. We rested at the falls for 15 - 20 minutes,

knowing what awaited us on our return trip. Thankfully the way back was mainly downhill, which let us, even at 8800 feet, half jog half speed walk our way back to the car, slapping at skeeters almost the entire way. (Tara's comment is that I have not described the horrific nature of these mosquitoes properly, they were relentless and the worst that she has ever encountered.)

Hot, dusty and sweaty, we decided to seek out a shower in the nearest town, noticing that the park did not have the appropriate facilities. We passed through Grand Lake without any luck and were headed to Grandy. We saw a sign for Pay Showers and pulled into the RV Park.

Words will simply not do our experience justice, in the showers that were attached to a carport.

Cleaned and hungry, we returned to Grand Lake and had dinner at a bar and grill next to Lilliputt Golf. We returned to the campsite, put up our official bug hut, broke my Virginia Tech camp chair, and had a glass of wine to unwind.

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Day 32

Day 32 - Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO to Silverthorne, CO

We left the Black Canyon at 9 in the morning, targeting Leadville, CO as a lunch spot. The drive along RT-50 through Gunnison was green and lush, with wonderful granite spires, running along the Gunnison River. We got some tips from Paul Byerly as to where to eat, since he is a Leadville regular. He mentioned a Mexican place off the main road, RT-24, but could not recall the name. We found a place called Gringo's that seemed to fit the bill, and enjoyed a quick meal. We strolled through downtown, checking out the quaint stores and took a picture in front of Wild Bill's burger joint.

We reached Silverthorne, CO a little after 3 pm. Tara decided to take a nap and I went off to wander around the outlet stores on foot in search of a bookstore. Unsuccessful in my quest, I returned to the La Quinta Inn, and Tara and I went down to the restaurant in the lobby called Old Chicago. Not familiar with the restaurant chain, I was pleased to see that they had dozens of beers on tap and hundreds of bottles. They also had the MLB package on their flat screens. We spent the evening enjoying the Yankees game and the food.

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Day 31

Day 31 - Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Moab, UT to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO

We awoke to a much better continental breakfast at the La Quinta Inn, which included make-your-own waffles. We had decided the night before to adjust our plans once again. Rather than staying two nights in Denver, we opted to explore a little more of Colorado, and headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO, located between Montrose and Gunnison on RT-50. On the way we stopped at a WalMart for food and at a Hastings Book Store to trade in some of the books on tape for new ones. We reached the Black Canyon at 3:30 and were relieved to find that there were plenty of campsites available. The Black Canyon was instated as a National Park in 1999. It was created over the course of 2 million years by the Gunnison River and is one of the steepest, deepest, and narrowest canyons in the USA.

The granite walls are lined with rose quartz making them looked painted.

We drove through the park, stopping at a number of the overlooks and walking right up to the edge. We were on the South Rim and could look across the Canyon 1500 feet away and see the road that ran along the North Rim. However to actually get to the North Rim from where we were you would have to drive over 80 miles. We contemplated the idea of a zip line to connect the two sides, but couldn't really imagine what it would feel like to hang the equivalent of two Empire State Buildings above the river. We returned to our campsite to make the fire and cooked up some honey roasted chicken with a medley of baby peppers, onions, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

Finally the clouds stayed away and we watched as the Milky Way and Jupiter rose from the east. We fell asleep to the scrounging sounds of the mice that lived in the bushes by our tent.

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Day 30

Day 30 - Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Monticello, UT to Moab, UT

After a great nights sleep, a lazy morning of updates, and an underwhelming continental breakfast we headed off to Moab and Arches National Park. First, however, we were in need of an oil change. We stopped at a Quaker State Lube Express in Moab , UT and saw across the street that there was The Moab Brewery. They brew over 10 beers on the premises, plus their own root beer and other sodas. On top of that a pint of beer and a glass is only $5. The food was pretty excellent as well. In fact the whole thing was so good that we returned that night for dinner.

Arches National Park is only 6 or so miles north of Moab. We drove to the end of the paved portion of the park, only exiting the car once, while we continued to digest the food (Black Bean Soup, Caesar Salad, and Root Beer for Tara, Southwest Chipolte Chicken Wrap and a Merrimack Steamer for myself). At the end of the road was a place called the Devil's Garden. Since we have encountered a preponderance of Devil's ______ (read blank), we thought it appropriate to walk around. The map made it seem like a number of arches were nice and close, and with it being 3:30 in the afternoon, sunny, and in a desert, we thought we would be ok for a quick jaunt. The first few arches were actually real close and we were amazed by the incredible size of Pine Arch.

(That is Tara and I standing in front of the arch for those wondering.)

It was when we started to go toward Landscape Arch that we began to question our decision. We finally reached the arch,

about a mile from the parking lot, took a couple of pictures and began making our way back to the car. The heat and uphill nature of the hike was almost too much, but we had water with us and when it was all said and done we had hiked about 2 1/2 miles in the heat of the afternoon. Not our smartest decision, but we survived.

We returned to Moab a bit worn out, checked in to the La Quinta Inn, washed up, and rested until dinner. We drove to Brewery, feeling a little ridiculous to discover that it was just across the street from our Hotel, and enjoyed 3 more of their brews + glasses: Elephant Hill Hefeweizen, Lizard Light Ale, and Deadhorse Ale. We split the Gyro Salad, a cup of the Veggie Chili and one of the largest baked potato I'd ever encountered. We returned to our room with a little Gelatto in hand and relaxed.

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Day 29

Day 29 - Monday, July 20th, 2009

North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ to Monticello, UT

Damn children. They started squawking at dawn in the campsite next to us and for all we know kept it up all day. To be fair the parents weren't much better. One of their brood began to walk toward the restroom and the mother called (read shouted) to him across the campground about something or other. Things were fuzzy, I was still trying to sleep. While I'm on a bit of a rant, people really have to figure out their cars. Every morning there are people unlocking their cars with their key fobs and the car beeps twice in response. A honking car horn is not what I'm seeking out in the wilds of America. Its even worse at night as their car lights turn on as well, destroying whatever amount of night vision that had built up.

Once the sun starting hitting our tent the internal temperature began to climb precipitously. We emerged and packed up quickly in the face of a 6+ hour drive. Yet again, the drive was scenic.

We traced our way along RT-89, going through Marble Canyon and crossing over the destructive Colorado River (did you see what it did to northern Arizona). We could see Monument Valley

and Mexican Hat rock formations from the road, but did not stop.

We quickly dismissed being complete tourists and jumping from state to state to state to state at Four Corners, even though we passed by it by a mere 53 miles. We arrived in Blanding, UT and were mystified at not being able to locate our Best Western. Then we learned the motel in question was in Monticello, UT, 20 miles further north. We decided to be lazy for the rest of the evening, so we went to the local pizza joint, The Wagon Wheel, and watched a National Geographic special on Death Valley National Park. Close enough.

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