New Mexico and Arizona

 West of Taos there is a community of passive solar homes.

Earthship Biotecture. Interesting. 

Click on the link to a learn more and watch

a one minute video.

If you are looking for somewhere different to stay,
 there are some for rent.

Guess Where This Is

We are not surprised that we didn't get any guesses 

from our last blog. Earthship Biotecture in Taos.

Beautiful area and a neat concept. 

Right on the rim of the Rio Grande del Norte 

National Monument is where we stayed 

while visting Taos, New Mexico.

Hiking 1.2 miles down Big Arsenic Trail with all the 

switchbacks was interesting, 

but hiking back up was challenging!

You also have the option of carrying all your camping gear 

down here to camp. Not an option in our world. 

We did talk to a group of 30 kids who meet 

and camp here for a week every year. 

We hiked another .3 of a mile to see the petroglyphs.

On our way back up there was plenty of time to rest 

and take more photos. 

Lots of hummingbirds were at the feeders.

Later that same day we went to the Wild River

Visitor Center to hear two ladies talk about 

Pinon nut picking and a little about the culture in the area,

which was very interesting. They even made cookies

with Pinon nuts and Pinon nut rolls which was 

a lot of work since there were about 60 people 

who attended! Delicious!

In the northwest corner of New Mexico we stopped and

visited Salmon Ruins and Aztec Ruins National Monument. 

The round room on the right is The Great Kiva and was a 

sanctuary and a place for people to meet for community events. 

One unique feature is the corner doorway on 

the second floor. We were allowed to crawl

through this low door 

and go into several rooms!

Back in Arizona!

Thankfully, we have seen the Grand Canyon several times 

because this time at the north rim they were doing some

controlled burning and the canyon was full of smoke. 

We felt bad for all the international visitors. 

But there was about 300 Bison we were able to sit and watch.

After leaving the north rim of the Grand Canyon we stopped

to see the kids and had a great time. So blessed to have them

in Arizona and there is so much laughter when we get together.

This is our last blog for a while. Thanks for reading!

Ouray & Telluride Again!

 Another fantastic campsite just south of Quray, Colorado!

The rushing creek behind us was fantastic.

Another potential bear encounter. We didn't mind since

we have a hard-sided camper and there were

people in tents next to us. 

A camper did see the mother with her two cubs

early one morning at the creek.

Relaxing along Canyon Creek in Ouray, Colorado.

Great place to spend an afternoon.

Ouray is nestled between the mountains.

Part of the Million Dollar Highway is between Ouray and 

Silverton on 550. 

We were advise not to take our RV on this road.

Lots of "s" curves and higher elevation. 

So glad we took their advice!  

Did you guess Red Mountain on the Million Dollar Highway
as Where Is This Photo in the last blog?

Why is it called the "Million Dollar Highway"?
Some say because of a million dollars worth of ore
was used as fill. Another reason may be the
million dollar views or I wouldn't drive that road
again for a million dollars!

We saw the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge
steam train in Silverton. A very touristy kind of town.
We didn't ride the train but thoroughly enjoyed the
scenic views along highway 550!

Don't miss Box Canyon while in Ouray!
The power of Canyon Creek was unbelievable!
 A short hike to an unusual place.

Just outside of Telluride we found this amazing place
to stay for four days!

It was hard to leave this million dollar view!

Another day we hiked up to the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls.
Can you believe there was a wedding party
there when we arrived?

Your reward for hiking there is this amazing view of Telluride!
There is a lot of history here,
 so we did the historic walking tour in town.
You just can't beat the scenery in Colorado.

We headed west of Naturita along highway 141,
you will have to get your atlas out for this one, and
pulled over for one of those Historic Markers signs.
Besides a gorgeous view we were impressed that this
place is listed in the National Register of Historic Places!

Over 125 years old!

Hanging Flume!
Click on this link to learn more.

Guess Where This Is
Send us your guess by text or email.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Area

Curecanti National Recreation Area is

right off Highway 50, named for the Ute chief Curicata. 

We found another great camping area right 

in the center of this photo. This is looking east. 

Here is the view from our front door looking west

 in Elk Creek Campground.

Life is good!

We found it interesting that the Blue Mesa Dam

is an earthen dam, not cement, for this large of 

an area.

We were here many years ago but didn't take the time to go 

to the north rim. A beautiful drive and the last seven miles 

is all gravel. Less than one mile from the Ranger Station

Scott saw a Black Bear only fifty yards from the road!! 

I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to take a picture. 

It was blonde about six feet tall. 

It stopped and looked right at us, then turned around to go back 

up the hill, stopped, looked at us again, and then was gone. 

Wow! What a great opportunity! 

We reported it to the ranger and went on our hike.

Duane & Sue were the winners of Guess Where This Is 

photo from the last blog!

 Black Canyon of the Gunnison 

We hiked to Exclamation Point!

It is a only 1 1/2 miles but we were constantly aware 

of the bear that was less than one mile away.  

This was our view as we ate our lunch. 

Then I looked over my should and said, 

"We need to get out of here!"

We stopped to get our ponchos on and got a little confused 

which trail to take, so we had to backtrack and find the sign again.

Confident we were going the right way, we hurried with

rain, thunder, and lightening overhead.

 That was the fastest 1 1/2 miles we have done in a while! 

At 7,700 ft in elevation, storms like that are scary!

This is Kneeling Camel Lookout. Can you see it on the left?

Another day we hiked to Dillion Pinnacles.

Did you notice the clouds in the last picture? Almost every
afternoon there was rain, then the steam rises and blankets
the mountains. Beautiful!

Here is the next Guess Where This Is photo.

Boondocking in Colorado

When you drive through Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska 

you see lots of corn fields. 

So we decided to try to find something interesting in Kansas,

and the answer to last blog's question:

Monument Rocks or Chalk Pyramids 

in western Kansas. It is south of I-70, near Oakley.

No winner to the trivia question. 

We know that was a hard one 

since most people don't get off of I-70. 

We stopped in Golden, Colorado on Saturday to go to the 

Farmer's Market. Scott's favorite jerky is there and we picked

up veggies and Palisade peaches. Yummy!

Please don't be this guy! 

We are still shaking our heads about this RV, with a car on a dollie.

They parked and slept the night on the on ramp to I-70 just west 

of Denver! They have one of their slides out and the curtains

pulled in the front. Amazingly, there wasn't an accident!

On our way to St. Mary's Glacier, which is west of Denver, 

we found this large, stone pig. 

One of the many roadside attractions you can find 

in the good old USA!

Here is the very rocky trail head.

Just under two miles with a steady incline. Oh boy!

It was worth the climb to see this beautiful mountain lake

and glacier at about 10,500 ft. elevation.

It is a favorite spot for the locals to hang out.

Kids brought saucers to slide down and some people 

hiked over just to get a snowball. 

You may have to zoom in to see the people. 

We spent two nights boondocking at Clear Creek Reservoir 

which is southwest of Denver near Granite. 

Boondocking is camping without any hook-ups. 

Since we have a self contained RV and a generator,

 we don't need anything except a place to park. 

Some of the apps we use to find dispersed camping areas are:

Campendium, FreeRoam and Boondocking. 

The views have been spectacular and you are not crowded. 

The dispersed camping is just over the pine trees in the center. 

This was another great place to stay in the Colorado mountains!

It was too cold to get our tubes in the water, but we enjoyed 

just sitting along the shore on the blanket relaxing.

The ground squirrels sure were entertaining, 

especially watching them check out to see 

if there were any vittles left in the pan. 

He found something!

Do you know where this is or have you been here?

Let us know. 

Answer in the next blog.