South Fork, CO (July 25, 2020)

Having no reservations, because we had no idea how long we would be in Farmington dealing with the truck, we called around Pagosa Springs but no one had availability. And that’s how we ended up in the small town of South Fork.....home to 5 restaurants and one gas station. 

Getting there required us to go over Wolf Creek Pass again but we were happy to get it over with and see how the truck performed. And yay, no check engine light and no code thrown.

We didn’t have any time to explore this little town- we were going to eat out but it was raining and 61 degrees - not conducive to eating outside.

Our one day there we packed a lunch and headed out to the historic mining town of Creede.

This is a neat little town with a dramatic back drop. It was an active mining town well into the 1900s, and since there is a mine tour, Paul was very interested. 

I was not, so I waited for him in the truck. 

Because of Covid they are only doing self guided audio tours, which was perfect, plus he was the only one in there, even better. It’s not actually in the mine, but they blasted through the rock to create the tour area, and he said it was very well done. 

From there we drove the 17 mile historic “road” to look at the remains of local mines and the Humphrey Mill. There are all kinds of warnings to make sure your vehicle is in great shape and can handle a very rough, narrow road. 

I had trepidation taking the dually but we figured we could always turn around. 

We made it the whole way but the most interesting part was at the very end, and we could have skipped the jarring trip there.

I had wanted to hike the short trail to the nearby pinnacles, but it’s 900 ft of gain, and just walking around casually reminded me sharply that we are at 10,000 ft.

With that plan nixed, we drove to North Clear Creek Falls. It was a gorgeous waterfall, and no hiking required.   

We took the backroads on our way home, just to check out more of the area. It seems that wherever we look in Colorado, the views are amazing.

Going in Circles- New Mexico and Colorado (07-20-20)

Our friends Tom and Dianne used to be full timers, like us, but now have property in Bayfield, CO. We usually try to stop by and see them either on our way out for the summer, or on our way home (or both).















This time Around we were supposed to be combining the visit with picking up our new air conditioner , but after we ordered one from two different places, and neither company actually had one to ship to us, we decided to cancel the order all together and make do with what we have until we get home. The factory that makes them was shut down for a while so there are very few to be had. On the other hand getting the truck fixed is definitely a priority, so Paul made two appointments for that.


The bigger problem is the issue with the turbo and for that, he wants to go to his absolute favorite Ford diesel technicians, who happen to be only an hour away. So, having made an appointment, we had a few days to relax.


Meantime the Ford dealership in Durango confirmed that the brake issue was a sensor- Paul was so confident he had already ordered it, and they fixed the leak in the rear differential (I absolutely know that’s not exactly what it is and what they did, but oh well, my eyes glaze over pretty quick when talking about axles and such).

We spent a fun few days social distancing with Tom, Dianne, and their son and his family, who recently bought the house next door.
We got to watch them plant the new willow tree next to their pond and got together for a full moon “party”.















On the way to Bayfield we had passed Chimney Rock National monument. We had no idea what it was, but it’s open, so we drove over to check it out.
Chimney rock is one of the northernmost settlements of Puebloans attached to the Chaco Canyon settlements. Being situated above any water source means this area was likely used for ceremonial purposes only.

It is theorized that the Ceremonial kivas were built here because every 18.5 years, the moon rises between the two rock outcroppings and seems to pause there for about 3 years. In a normal year there would be full moon parties and such but most everything except self guided tours are canceled, of course.

Stolen from the web

We were very impressed with the volunteers who were on hand (masked) and eager to answer any questions. No one really knows why the natives left the area, but it is theorized that they went to The Mesa Verde area from here.

So, after our fun few days we left for Farmington NM to bring the truck in to the dealer. The county fairgrounds has 400 sites and we were the only ones here.

They are using one of the RV lots as a drive- in for a few weeks. The interview with the owner of the theater doing it was interesting... “These drive-ins have a place in nostalgia, but they don’t really have a place in the financial world,” he said. The company isn’t doing it to make money, it’s doing it to give families somewhere to go and something to do. Kinda nice.

This particular dealership is so busy they run two shifts, and have a shuttle, so Paul could come and go to the dealership easily. We had thought about renting a car, but really there is nothing to do anyway, plus its been in the high 90s so we are just hunkered down, waiting.

After a couple of days in the shop we thought they had it fixed the turbo, and we headed back to Tom and Dianne’s to help celebrate Tom's birthday.

The 4 of us had a properly distanced dinner, and afterwards their kids came over for dessert. Dianne had made my aunt's carrot cake recipe, and did an awesome job!

Like our house, there are always projects going on at Tom and Dianne's, and usually Paul loves to jump right in, but this time we had to maintain distances, and also, it was in the 90s, so he settled for doing some weeding in the garden for a bit.








Once the festivities we done we said goodbye and headed toward Salida CO, where we had reservations for a few days. We made it about 40 miles before the check engine light came on. We drove until we could turn around, called and canceled our reservations, and told the dealership we were on our way back.



So, after another day or so at the dealership they found issues with the new turbo and some of the components so they fixed/replaced things and we were on our way.....again.

This time we made it about 30 miles before the truck threw a code indicating there is an issue. Paul took some readings with his scan tool and called the tech to tell him what he saw. And, of course, we turned around and headed back. This time the tech wanted to take a test drive with the trailer attached so Paul dropped me at the dealership and off they went.








The good news (hopefully) is that the two of them seem to have pieced together what the issue is.












So, we have now left Farmington again.

We didn’t go far, just to the nearby town of Aztec. There is a new RV park that is kind of unique, and is doing some different kinds of things. It’s on a river and on the other side they are building a zip line and a climbing wall. It was weird to watch trucks drive thru the river.









It is very family oriented place but has two places that are “kid free” zones, and that's where you found us every evening.

Actually, the Monday after the weekend, there were no kids around, so Paul and I took over the fun stuff.  We used the stand up paddle boards in the pond, and went down the 60 ft water slide several times- it was actually a lot of fun.

We ended the evening watching the river go by.














We are close enough to Durango here that we drove in to town to do some hiking.

Our first trail was Sailing Hawk, it was a short two mile loop with interesting rock formations and somewhat of a view of the city.

Our 2nd hike was supposed to be the Animas Overlook trail, which is a trail that overlooks the Animas Mountain, but after driving 7 miles up a dirt road, our plans were thwarted by the weather.  

The second we stepped out of the truck, we were subjected to the sound of nonstop thunder.

 So, no hike for us but the views were still stunning!

Our stay  in Aztec was short- we are on the move looking for cooler weather!

Pagosa Springs, CO (07-10-20)

Pagosa Springs is a small, upscale touristy town, home to several hot springs, just as the name implies, including the deepest hot spring in the world. In addition to soaking in the springs, a popular pastime is tubing/rafting down the San Juan River, which runs through town.





Unfortunately for those interested in rafting, the river is running at 10% of its usual volume. There are overlooks where you can watch the tubers, but although we stayed for 3 days  we never got out and walked in the downtown area, nor did we eat at any restaurants. We just enjoyed watching the river and hiked.



There are tons of hiking trails in Colorado.  My biggest challenge right now is to find some that are doable for us.  We can’t hike at high elevations, nor can we hike for miles on end, and the trail can’t have too much elevation gain.  Tough parameters to meet in this state, and we aren’t used to limiting ourselves quite so much.

Nonetheless, we found a couple of trails that fit the bill and were still interesting. Our first hike was the meandering trail named Coyote Hill Loop.  Within the first few minutes we saw and heard a young Red Tail Hawk calling for it’s mother.

The trail was 3.5 miles and just 300 ft of gain, as it meandered through meadows and woods.  Very peaceful, and the weather was perfect.

Two days later we ventured out a little further. Knowing it was going to be a long day, we packed a lunch to bring with us.  It was almost an hour drive to our first trail but the scenery was pretty impressive.

Our first hike was the Piedra Ice Fissures Trail.

 It was a steady climb upwards through the woods, till we came upon the fissures- I was surprised at how many there were and how deep and long they are.  Paul had fun exploring, and even went inside one of them.
















We kept going along the trail until we reached the ridgeline, where we had spectacular views of the Piedra River Valley. We chatted with a young couple, who asked me to take their picture. I wouldn’t touch her phone but I had her give me her email address and I took pictures with my phone and sent them to her. A modern, socially distancing solution.

After we left them we made a bit of a mistake.  I had downloaded the tracks of someone who hiked this trail as a loop, and that’s what we followed.  Unfortunately , towards the end, it wasn’t actually a trail.  We had to pick our way through the underbrush.  But, we made it back ok.

From there we drove another half hour to get to the Piedra Falls Trail. Its a relatively short hike, 2 miles round trip, to a pretty neat waterfall.  There’s a small pool that you can swim in, and because it was a warm day, there were lots of people doing that.

This is a very popular trail.  We had to work to find a little area to have to ourselves.

The rest of our time in Pagosa was spent watching the hummingbirds and relaxing by the river. We debated going out for dinner but the restaurants were so busy, it really wasn’t worth it.

Eagle Nest and on to Colorado (07-01-20)

Looking at a map, our goal was to find someplace that looked interesting, where perhaps we had never been and someplace cooler than 90 degrees.  The small town of Eagle Nest, NM- population 300- fit the bill.




The most popular pastime in this area is fishing, and seems like everywhere we looked, whether it be Eagle Nest Lake, or the nearby rivers, we saw people doing just that.

This is one of the tightest RV spots we have ever had to squeeze into, and I don’t want to say how long it took.  But once in, the people in this park are some of the friendliest we have encountered.

 We were told that in a normal year there would be more socializing, but with Covid, they were just doing a distance Happy Hour on the pavilion.















We even had someone play the guitar for us one night.  It was definitely fun and it felt good to be in the company of others.














With a name like Eagle Nest, I had my eye out for some eagles, but we never did see one.

We hiked two trails in our 4 days here.  The first was Oeste Vista Trail. It was about 3 miles and 500 ft of gain, but the altitude is almost 9000 ft, so we were huffing a bit, for sure. The view from the top wasn't spectacular but there was a nice bench to sit on, and overall the trail was decent.









On our way home we stopped at a very well done Vietnam Vet Memorial.  We could only walk the outside, so I never found out why it was here, sort of in the middle of nowhere.

Our second hike was shorter but more fun. The trail follows Clear Creek, with several small waterfalls and a few bridges that crossed over the creek.

Once we reached a pool about a mile in, the scramble started- up a very steep embankment and along a rock ledge. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it past that part, but I did- no pictures though, I was too busy trying not to fall.  Ironically, once we made it past the tough spot, I decide I had had enough.

From the trailhead we drove down the road to the historic town of Cimarron. To get there we passed by Philmont, the 140,000 acre Boy Scout camp. We would have explored more if more things were open but as it was, we just decided to have lunch in the very historic Express St. James Hotel. 






The Hotel was originally built as a saloon in 1872 by Henri Lambert,  and hotel rooms were added later. Well known guests included Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Annie Oakley. During it’s wild wild west days, the common question around town was “ I wonder who got killed at Lamberts last night?”

Its much tamer now, and has a great outdoor patio, and the food was great!













Our visit to Eagle Nest finished, we plotted our course for our next destination- Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Colorado is full of mountains, so it does take some planning. We chose to go up and over Wolf Creek Pass.

This sign along the way was quite ironic, as the landscape surrounding it was definitely dull and brown.

As we chugged up the mountain, with a 7 percent grade in some places, Paul realized that the truck has yet another issue.  The turbocharger that we had replaced about a year ago is not working again, and we crawled up the hill at 30 mph. Not good.  We did eventually make it to the top of the pass, thankfully, but our relief was short lived.

As we started the trek downward, we were bombarded with signs of all sorts, some detailing the location of hair pin turns, others warning us when we were going over the 25 mph speed limit, and yet others letting us know how far we were from the runaway truck ramp.

I was so busy being nervous, I could barely enjoy the gorgeous scenery around us.  Imagine my horror when the truck started beeping an alarm and the “CHECK BRAKE SYSTEM” alert started flashing on the dash.






As Paul was calmly trying to explain to me what the problem was, I literally couldn’t understand him and told him he needed to pull over to talk. Being a good husband, that's what he did, and then explained that there was no problem with the brakes, it was just a bad sensor. Most of me believed him, but I was still happy when we got to the bottom of the hill.

At that point I could pay attention to the gorgeous scenery, and the colors of Colorado went from brown to beautiful shades of green.

The day ended on a high note when we got to our campsite and saw how close it was to the river. Now we could relax with an adult beverage ( or two).