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October 15 through October 21, 2004

Friday October 15:

It's 46 under the RV at 8AM.  We decide to drive up the south rim road and hike to the one ruin we can go to individually, White House,  leaving one person always with the RV.  It's only 2.5 miles round trip to the ruin, so it will not take over 3 hours each to do that. There are lots of cars parked in the lot. The trail is very interesting and scenic.  At the bottom I almost take a wrong trail, missing the ruin, as there is construction equipment operating in the ruin site.  I quickly catch a glimpse of the ruin and correct the mistake.  There are numerous Navajos selling their jewelry and trinkets here, and a number of trucks parked.  They didn't tell us we could DRIVE here...  :-)  There is a fence keeping visitors 50 feet from the ruin, and this is being expanded to better preserve the ruin's archaeological artifacts.  

I'm happy I can get close now; when the fence is complete, I will not be able to.  The construction equipment is removing non-native tamarisk trees whose deep wide root systems are threatening the foundation under the ruins.  On my way up I was overtaken by a young lady junior ranger returning from working on the construction site to work a shift on the visitor center desk.  She was in the last few weeks of an internship here, and actively seeking another one somewhere else. I asked how the Navaho Nation had allowed the park service to be here when they seemed somewhat uncomfortable with visitors and insisted that many odd rules be followed, such as no alcohol, and no visitor access to privately held land inside the park without a Navajo guide.  She replied that the Park Service had been requested by the Navajo Nation to come here and provide protection for the ruins, creating the National Monument in 1931.  In return the Park Service got the right to provide the facilities of the park free to all visitors, but with the restrictions imposed.  I was back at the RV in two hours, and found squash/lamb soup was ready for dinner tonight.  :-)  Now it was Claire's turn to hike while I worked on the web page.  It took her about 2 hours 15 minutes, and we were ready to continue to the rest of the south rim overlooks.  It was late in the day when we returned to the campground to pick a site.  We could not be choosy, as most sites were filled with weekend campers, but found a small one we could back into and overhang the rocks in back while just clearing the road in front.  The seemed the campground dogs were a bit more noisy tonight.

Saturday October 16:

This morning we are heading out toward Mesa Verde National Park, and perhaps digital cell service.  We start early, shower, dump and fill water then stop at the visitors center for pictures on the way to the north rim road, where we will view those overlooks on the way out by a different way.  The rim road is 16 miles and leads to another Indian Road that cuts the distance to Monument Valley and the four corners region we will pass through.  The driving is long, but Claire does more than half while I sleep.  We stop at the Four Corners Monument, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all touch at one point.   This monument is on Indian land and they charge $3 a person admission.  We consider skipping it, as it looks kinda tacky, with Indian sales stalls surrounding the four corner photo opportunity, but I really do want a photo of us there, so we pay.  

Was it worth it?  YOU decide....  It is a carnival atmosphere here, and not a lavish one either.  We pass up one Navajo fry bread stall where the fat smells "ungood rancid", but find a competitor with inviting fresh smells.  This vendor must light his gas burner and give the fat time to heat before frying, so we have time to wait in the sun, which feels nicely warming in the cool breeze.  We find the fry bread with powdered sugar and cinnamon delicious, and decide that a second $2 piece to spilt between us would be nice.  The vendor tells us his dough is not yeast raised, but is baking powder and a bit of salt.  He only keeps is a few hours before mixing a new batch, as it gets too sticky to spread into a flat patty for frying.  His oil is Crisco liquid.  Although it is delicious, we probably will not add this recipe to our daily diet, but we have more driving to do and this will hold us nicely until dinner.  :-)  We continue to Cortez, CO, passing the airport where we will rent a car if necessary to see Mesa Verde park. We find the Walmart easily, but there are No Overnight Parking signs in the lot.  We consider alternatives, and since we have cell service, start by calling the park.  One automated answering machine refers to another, and there is nobody to talk to.....   One reference we picked up at Canyon de Chelly says the campground at Mesa Verde closes mid October;  not good to drive 9 miles out there at 6PM and find we have no place to stay!  We buy a few things at Walmart and ask if we can stay overnight.  The answer is NO, because the local campgrounds had complained to the city they were losing business, and had an ordnance passed restricting Walmart's overnight parking.  Much as we hate to patronize businesses who engage in that practice, we have no choice.  We call a Passport America campground, find space available for $10, and drive the short distance to register and park for the night.  We have good cell service, so I am up late doing our net business and a few phone calls.  The web page is uploaded and working before my head hits the pillow.....and sleep comes very easily!

Sunday October 17:

This morning I am up quite early to finish the net business and prepare to move to Mesa Verde park.  We are not certain what we will find there, as some info indicated we could not take our RV on most of the roads.  We shower, dump and refill water even though we do not need much as it's only been a day.  We NEVER pass up an opportunity to go out with empty waste and full water!  It is raining periodically as we drive to the park gate.  The ranger assures us the motorhome can drive the 20 miles to the headquarters and on all open roads, but the campground closed yesterday.  Had we known it was open, we would have used it last night...but the cost was the same we had paid.  The drive was steep switchback, and at a convenient overlook we stopped for pictures and lunch.  The hail came, and then some snowflakes mixed with rain as we climbed above 8000 feet.  It was not possible for snow to stick in this 50 degree weather, but it's a firm reminder that we cannot dawdle here too long either....winter is coming to the mountains!  This park has remarkable scenery, as most of the parks we visit do.  Each is unique too, only being common in their remarkable beauty .  The time we have here is limited as it is already well past noon, so we continue directly to the museum headquarters where we speak with a young lady ranger on crutches.  She had tripped over a chain marking a visitors area, and broken her leg.....it had been six weeks, and she was looking forward to leaving the crutches behind in a week or so.  We decide to watch the video here, take a $2.50 each ranger guided tour of the Cliff Palace ruin, then return here to finish the day with a free self guided tour of Spruce Tree House.  The guided tour is punctuated by thunder at the start, and we are concerned the tour might be cancelled.   The ranger seems to be delaying....but eventually we start, and the trail is steep and narrow!  The ruin is very well preserved, and we listen as the ranger takes a bit too long to explain that the latest theory of the use of this ruin was like a "hotel" for ceremonies.  There are too many kivas and too few rooms with smoke smudges for it to have been a regular living city.  

The caretakers lived here but most of the activity was catering to visitors.  We climb around where allowed (room interiors and the back areas of the village are off limits), find a preserved wall painting up inside a tower, and decide we've seen it before the ranger must tell us out time is up.  We still have time to see Spruce Tree before it closes at 5PM.  We drive as fast as possible back to the headquarters and  immediately pick up the trail down to spruce tree.  We have 30 minutes 'til closing, and find a genial ranger present at the ruin.  She tells us the Hopi people still use the kivas here for ceremonies.....WOW!  I had no idea such use would be allowed, but why not?  The one kiva with restored wood and clay (and concrete on top for visitors to walk on) roof is interesting, and we climb down in....TWICE.  I do not recall how the roof is supported by the stone pillars of the walls, so go down a second time to look.  We leave as dusk starts to fall, and decide not to drive the loop we have not seen.  This is not a good day for overlooks anyway with the stormy weather, we have over 30 miles to go to Durango, and we are already TIRED.  The drive out of the park is slow with the downhill switchbacks and rain, but we finally get back on US 160 as darkness descends.  We can see mountains ahead,  and climb steadily to 8300 feet before descending to Durango CO.  Claire is driving, and the ride is anything but relaxing at night.  We are exhausted when we reach Durango and choose the first location Street Atlas had picked for the Walmart...it is a total miss but we find the Subway we had thought might be nice for dinner...and it is!  :-)))  The Subway clerk tells us where the Walmart really is, and we find it easily, with numerous RVs in the lot!!!  That is really good news, as we are way too tired to THINK about moving elsewhere, ticket or no ticket.  We park, I have a bit more work on the net, then BED.  Sleep is deep and uninterrupted.

Monday October 18:

Claire wakes first today….  :-)  I update the log, then must make a business call from Walmart. Across the parking lot I notice the no overnight parking signs in the lot; I'm happy we did not see them last night!   It is nearly 10 by the time we get out, but the now working weather radio mentions expected precipitation in inches, so I do not think they mean rain…..  :-((  Time to fold our tent and move OUTTA here!  The Subway guy last night had mentioned they often get one snowfall in October that then melts...we do not really need that experience now......  :-)  Leaden winter skies and snowy mountain peaks gave way to puffy white clouds with blue in between just about at the New Mexico border.  We found the Riana Corps of Engineers campground almost unoccupied, and closed for the season.  Water and electric was shut off, but as of Oct 15 dry camping is free.  OK!!  We choose a spot that has a water view out the front and right side....really hard to beat that!!  The wind is blowing hard, but that's ok.  We have windows to look out and walls to keep us warm!  The cellphone service is 5 bar analog...that's OK.  We make one call, and receive one in short order.  The mail is on the way, and we'll see Bill & Francie tomorrow afternoon.  :-))  Time for some pictures before it gets dark too.....  :-)

Tuesday October 19:

The morning sunshine on the mountains across the lake was marvelous…..hope the pics do it justice.  The yellow glow of the fall foliage always seems brighter when viewed with the eye than the pictures show…  I refill my coffee cup and walk to inspect the dump station.  It is padlocked....  :-((   A construction crew pulls in with an air compressor, and soon we hear a jackhammer working....not an especially LOUD jackhammer, but unmistakable.  What do we expect for free?  :-)  We move out smartly for Santa Fe, keeping a sharp eye out for the rumored cheap gas prices around the Indian casinos.  All the prices seem to be $2.09.  We were told the prices got to be $1.80 some places, as come ons for the casinos.  We did a very necessary resupply at Walmart and Sam's in Santa Fe before proceeding to Bill & Francie's house.  We found it with only one minor overshoot; my mapping program forgot the name of one road we should have turned on,; the right road was obvious from the GPS, but too late, so we turned around, and almost immediately found the place.  Francie greeted us, and soon we were parked in the driveway to the back yard, and connected to electricity...WOW!  :-)   We traded "home" tours, and met the really IMPORTANT member of the household...

Kitty is aging, and has to labor to jump up on a chair, but we enjoy him and think fondly of our travels with Purry.   Soon it was time to go out to dinner.  Bill & Francie suggested a place with great food and a bit less than full tourist atmosphere; soon we were seated in Tortilla Flats Mexican restaurant on Cerillos Road.  We ordered with some knowledgeable help, and were soon enjoying Burritos with green chili sauce.  I wimped out when I heard the green chilies might be a bit hotter than the red, and ordered a 50-50 mix of red & green they termed "Christmas".  :-)  I found this to be the best Mexican food I've ever eaten, and the green chilies are mmmm-mmmm-good!  I do not know the secret of this place, other than very little fat on the food, but the cut green chilies had SUPERB flavor, and they really did not seem hotter than the more ordinary red which seemed to be made from powder.  

Wednesday October 20:

We toured the old downtown area of Santa Fe, enjoying the Native American market with all the jewelry on display, and the mild weather in the park.

Claire and Francie enjoyed coffee in the afternoon sun.  Jackalopes market was interesting, with loads of imports from south of the border, and we bought a ristra, or string of red chili peppers from Hatch NM, unsprayed and suitable for food.  The Chinese buffet nearby is delicious.  Afterwards we returned to Bill & Francie's STUFFED again, to watch our Red Sox CRUSH the Yankees in the last of the 7 game playoff series, winning the American League pennant.  Four straight wins to come from behind from three games down .... quite uncharacteristic of our Red Sox!  I'd say true believers of a betting mind could have made quite a bit of money on this one...  :-)

Thursday October 21:

We did much needed laundry in a nice Santa Fe laundromat recommended by Bill & Francie.  Francie made arrangements for us to lunch with her daughter Lisa and new grandchild Eanna in Albuquerque tomorrow;  sounds like another great feed is coming up...  :-)  Fuel was $1.89 at an Indian pueblo north of Albuquerque.  Friday it would have been 10 cents less…oh well.  We went to University PO in Albuquerque to pick up our mail, and found they have no general delivery service there, and the mail would be forwarded to the main post office.  We went there, and found it was not there yet.  The clerk said forwarding would take an extra day.  :-((