Colorado Vacation - 2020

We just returned from a couple of weeks in Southwestern Colorado. We stayed at the Lightner Creek Campground which is about 5 miles outside of Durango. Due to making late reservations we had to switch sites a couple of times which was a bit inconvenient, but we enjoyed the peaceful setting against a hillside with very tall pine trees. The drawback to the park was WiFi that was non-existent at our site. The office was a short walk up the hill, and you could get a connection there, but it was still quite weak. But every day was filled with exploring so the inconvenience was mostly in the evenings.

The trip across southern Colorado crosses the San Juan Mountains through Wolf Creek Pass. The Lobo Overlook, at 11,760 feet elevation on the north side of the pass, provides commanding views of the continental divide. There are two tunnels along the route which are around 14 feet high which is above our clearance of 11 feet. It was a bit scary approaching the first tunnel entrance as a semi-truck was exiting from the opposite direction.

We had considered renting a car while in Durango for exploring, but instead decided to take our car. I drove the RV and Alana followed in what is known as “chasing”. The car gets about 28 mpg and the round-trip cost of gas was actually less than a one-week rental. On the trip to Durango, Ellie rode with me in the RV and on the return rode in the car. She is such a good dog and travels very well. We would stop every couple of hours to walk her and mid-day we would have lunch in the RV.

Our first adventure was driving the Million Dollar Highway from Durango up to Silverton and then on to Ouray. Lots of steep elevation and switchbacks but certainly some wonderful views. We returned from Ouray on the west side of the mountain passing near Telluride. The drive was much easier but also very beautiful.

We visited Mesa Verde National Park which is known for its well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, notably the huge Cliff Palace. It is amazing how these cliff dwellings were carved into the face of the rock. It is still unclear to me how the native entered and left these unusual accommodations. There is a fairly significant change in elevation from the park entrance to the top of the mesa where the cliff dwellings are located.

We spend one day on Vallecito Lake which is about an hour northeast of Durango. It was a very beautiful lake and there were points around the lake where there were pull offs and many with either benches or picnic tables. At the north end of the lake there was a nice trail along the water which Ellie loved leading us along. There is one marina on the lake, and it was very busy with boats being launched. We saw one sailboat and there were several folks out in kayaks.

We took a day trip to Utah and visited Arches National Park. Talk about a change of scenery. Also, a change of temperature as it was 106 degrees by midafternoon. It was a bit over 2 hours’ drive in each direction. I was happy that I remembered my National Parks senior pass before leaving home as we did not need to pay a fee at Arches or Mesa Verde. The park has such interesting formations and the arches and balanced rocks are amazing.

We spent one day driving the country roads east of Durango where we found many beautiful homes in very nice settings. As we made our way back into Durango, we stopped at a park along the Animas River. The park was beautiful and well maintained with a paved walkway along the river for walkers and bike riders. There were quite a few white-water rafting expeditions that passed us as well as many kayakers making their way through the rapids. Alana and I remember taking a rafting trip there when we visited about 10 years ago.

There were couple of places where you could walk down the bank to the water. Ellie had a chance to go in the water and splash around. She really seemed to enjoy herself.

On our last day we drove to Telluride to see Brides Veil Falls. The main street of Telluride was packed with tourist, but it did seem that most folks were wearing masks. We did not stop and explore as we are still being very cautious about being near people. We were able to drive part way up toward the falls, but at a certain point it is only safe for high-clearance vehicles. There is a trail which we began to walk, but it was very step and narrow and we decided not to risk going further. We could see the falls, but unfortunately, we did not get as close as we would have liked.

The trip home went well. We stayed near Lamar, Colorado the first night and there was a thunderstorm that rolled through around 9:00 pm. There was a lot of thunder, lighting and fairly heavy rain. Luckily there was no hail. It did clear out before midnight. After we passed through Lubbock heading south it became very windy and I was fighting a strong cross wind. It made driving a bit difficult for a little over an hour but eventually that area was behind us. Now I understand why there are so many wind farms in the area.

There is usually one unexpected RV-related issue on a trip. This time the plastic handles that you pull to empty the grey water tanks had both fallen off. They are held on by a single screw which apparently had vibrated enough to back out. I was able to use a wrench to release the cables but had to be careful not to bend them. When we got back to Marble Falls, I was able to get replacements at the local RV repair shop. I used Loctite on the screws to make sure they don’t come loose again. I also bought two extra handles which I now have in my toolbox.

All in all, it was a great trip and we had a wonderful time. Ready to begin thinking about future adventures.