Bus Stop #10 - Torre Utah

We drove down and down and down some more, from Natural Bridges all the way to the Colorado River. The path took huge meanders that traced the base of the red buttes and teased out the top of the White River Canyon down to the bridge that crosses the Colorado River.

Then we started up and out of the Colorado River's Glen Canyon, through a steep side canyon for miles and miles. All of this - the down, and then the up, were dramatic but no pics, it was kind of ugly - especially the up part. Then, as we emerged from the canyon, ugly turned to just plain purgatory. The wind became incredible (we estimate gusts above 55 mph), dust storms that obscured the near horizon and a landscape that looked like God incubated a dirt quarry and grew it into Utah! As we wound through mountain sized piles of dirt, the wind gusts punched our little bus like a school yard bully. And so we plowed our way up some more, finally to Capital Reefs National Park and the little town of Torrie Utah.

We were traumatized and windblown and we had no appetite for no stinking park with the blowing and the dirt. So Deb sez, "You know, it's been two weeks, let's get a room with a bed and our own shower." And so we did.

Two nights stays we, at the Capitol Reef Inn and Cafe. Theraputic ain't even good enough to describe it. Cleaned the Bus, fixed the galley so we can fire the stove with propane, cleaned our nasty bodies (Deb made quite an issue of my having permanently "dinged" the wash cloth), handled mail issues, and caught up on the blog. So now, two days later, we're ready to take on Scenic Hwy 12, which will occupy a whole blog entry by itself.

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Bus Stop #9 Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah June 5th

 Good-bye Colorado . . . Hello Utah!

Traveled through irrigated, lush farmland on high plateau through our first Utah stretch.  The last half of our drive was severe uphill, traveling through dramatic buttes and canyons.  Roger and the bus are both glad to have arrived for a rest!






The campground was full so we were sent to the wilderness - really, the wilderness!  We were scared at first but, after we settled into one of many dispersed sites, we really loved the primitive isolation of our new home.  We had to improvise everything.  While gathering firewood, we marked our way back by dragging a stick in the dirt.  We were glad we did!  Here's the new dishwashing station.  Ran out of gas fuel while cooking dinner.  Had cooked sausage, cold beans and no rice.  We made coffee and warmed water over the campfire next morning and did okay. 

These bridges are in deep, beautiful canyons.  Most we viewed from above, but this one we hiked down to.  If you look close you'll see a tiny Debbie sitting on a rock below the span.  We were overwhelmed by the scale of these things. 

There are three distinct environments here; the deep white canyon bottom is one thing, the mesa or plateau with it's green cover of pinyon pine and juniper, and the severe red buttes that tower above it all.  Impossible for a camera to capture .... 

Bus Stop #8 Mesa Verde, CO June 4th

               After an easy drive from Durango, the entrance to Mesa Verde was a trip in itself.   

                     The top of the mesa is a huge world to itself and the climb up takes some time.  

At the top we drove straight to the campground and discovered the ruins are another 15 miles across and on up the mesa.  We settled into a great little campsite.  Look at the little bus parked among the pinyon and juniper!



We had plenty of time left in the day to enjoy a ranger guided tour of one of the many cliff dwellings.  It would be easy to spend more time - the stories about the ancient people were fascinating as you stood right among their homes.  Here's a pic, but it's hard to do justice to this place.

Bus Stop #7, Lightner Creek Campground, Durango, Colorado

We have been camped out at Lightner Creek Campground for the past three nights.  It is a wonderful campground located in a canyon only a few miles from Durango.  Our campsite is right beside a beautiful babbling stream that is flowing strong with snow melt.

Bus Stop #6, Hopewell Lake

Wednesday, June 1.
This is my favorite spot!! Almost 10,000 feet - beautiful fir and aspen, a great Forest Service Campground (only $12), and we're sharing it with only the host and one other camper! Hopewell Lake is in the Carson National Forest in a remote area between Taos and Chama. There are no towns anywhere near so there is no light pollution at all! And, we're up high so as you face some directions, the horizon falls off below you - you actually look down to see it. At night the stars were so dazzling. They were just a thick tapestry of light points in black that descended way down through and among the trees, all the way to the horizon below us. Best night sky I've ever seen.
We past a great (crisp, but warm in bed) night, and had a good power hike wheezing up the grades for scarce oxygen but enjoying the beautiful forest glades and panoramas of meadow below.
Finally, a reluctant goodbye as Deb debuted mountain driving in the bus. She did great, bringing us up and over the range, and riding the gears all the way down to the Chama valley below. Lots more pretty driving through Pagosa Springs in Colorado and on to Durango and Bus Stop #7 at Lighner Creek Campground west of town. Elevation 7000 feet.

Bus Stop #5, Taos to Lake Hopewell

Monday, May 31 - Day after Memorial Day

Okay, we've already fouled up the bus stop numbers. This camp outside of Taos is #5, not #4 as previously posted. We froze to death here last night! A little front came through in the night and temps went below 30F. We drug our shivering bodies up in the middle of the night and put on many more layers of clothes and threw on Mom Miner's blanket plus towels and table cloths and finally got warm enough to sleep.

Another beautiful day though and the sun immediately warmed things up this morning. Today we hung around Taos to do business. Some days traveling is hard - getting prescriptions mailed to the right place, time on the phone, finding wi-fi to hook up and pay bills - all while trying to smooth down that camper's cowlick that points toward Mecca, and cleverly covering breakfast and dinner spots on your shirt as you gesture in conversation with dazzlingly stylish local New Mexicans. I'd spell all this better but the campfire soot is obscuring the screen.

Traffic was overwhelming Taos' roads as we flustered our way out of town, bound west and north across a desolate landscape that crossed the majestic Rio Grande Gorge. The incredibly deep, narrow and sheer gorge was a traveler's shock and awe - it sliced this vast arid plane like a deep knife cut and gave up no warning or goodbye as you approached and as you left. We imagined a surprised pony express rider and horse arching beyond its lip struggling to accept their sudden change from horizontal to vertical.

An hour of desolation got us back to the Carson National Forest to the West and the remaining drive took us up beautiful forest and high mountain meadow to Hopewell Lake and bus stop #6. It looks to be the prettiest yet!

Madison's Memorial Day

Today was an absolutely incredible day! I had my first "Madison moment" just about 10 miles outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico. The bus was traveling through the Strike Valley, between the foothills and the eastern slope of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, when I saw a small herd of elk off in the distance. Madison's shrill, excited voice was in mine when I spotted them. And again when we started spotting the snow capped mountains in the distance as we entered the town of Mora. And again and again as the bus slowly climbed the steep grades into the mountains - oh my gosh, the breathtaking beauty! I kept remembering Madison's excitement when we were on a road trip together in Oregon and Washington, seeing the beauty of those mountains. His shrill and excited voice resonated in my mind all morning as we traveled in the bus.

As we entered the outskirts of Taos with the majestic mountains as a backdrop, we passed by a quaint little Catholic cemetary. It was jam packed with families placing flowers on the graves of loved ones, a bitter-sweet reminder of Madison's celestial journey. There is no better way that I can honor and memorialize Madison than to travel in his beloved bus, going places that I know he would love.

At the Visitor's Center in Taos, we were greeted by the sweet, healing melody of a flute being played by a Native American Indian. Memories of our celebration of Madison's life at Cooper Chapel filled my heart and soul.

Our day ended at Capulian Campground in the Carson National Forest just outside of Taos. Our campsite was nestled among tall pines and cedars beside a stream, and ironically was #8, Madison's special day!
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