June 15,2013 Pagosa Springs,Colorado

Check out time at Blue Spruce RV Park was 10:00am! After our regular breakfast routine we prepared to do just that!

Lennie & I were both outside the RV doing things, that makes Otis soooo nervous when he can't see the both of us!

              We're not going to leave without him, or leave him behind!?!
We pull out of Blue Spruce leaving a fun relaxing week behind us,

we didn't have to go too far from Vallecito Lake to Pagosa Springs,Colorado & as always we enjoyed the scenery on the drive over.

     We arrived at The Happy Camper RV Park in Pagosa Springs, Co.

But.....no one was there to check us in, & we had reservations! There was a note in place saying,"BE BACK SOON, PAY LATER" That's pretty casual! We picked out our own site & then left them a note that WE would be back later to pay! We wanted to look the town over before it was time to start on dinner.

Driving into town we couldn't help but notice the HUGE smoke flumes from a nearby wild fire.

We found a real nice park downtown, Dr Mary Fisher Park, we already decided that was our picnic place for tomorrow's picnic, but today it was just a  spot to relax,

& watch everyone having fun

including the animals!

I'm not sure about Otis tho....he thought that was TOO BIG a bath tub, he didn't want any part of the water & he thought the other dogs in the water were silly!?!

Back at the RV Park we got checked in.

& Len got started on our dinner. He was steaming fish on the grill.

He was barely done with the fish when the wind started blowing REAL HARD, I was thinking about the nearby wild fires with the wind blowing so hard, then some rain started falling, & I thought "Good!" but the rain was very short lived. After dinner when we took Otis out for his potty break I got a bit of a surprise! I'm going to use a word I haven't used in awhile....it was actually  COLD outside!?!

Tomorrow we'll  pack a picnic lunch & take a scenic drive!

After we leave Pagosa Springs, our next stop is Colorado Springs where the "REAL" wildfires are going on. Len called the RV Park we plan on staying at to find out if it was safe to come in. She assured us it was.....I hope so!?!

June 14,2013 Revisiting Silverton,Colorado

This morning we are going to drive back to Silverton, the historic mining town. Our first visit there was just for a picnic lunch & we drove on to Ouray.

After breakfast & dishes I took my shower, Lennie,who has been retired 4yrs, still can't sleep past his working wake up time, so he had already gotten his shower out of the way. Lennie potty walked Otis & made the picnic lunch while I showered. He's getting VERY good at making the picnic lunch!?! Once again Otis HAD to ride in the backseat. He seems to be accepting it better, just a little crying today!

We got on  scenic Hwy 550 heading to Silverton. Any time you get on the road, whether just going to town or taking the scenic Hwy, you find yourself sharing the road with bicyclist.

Sometimes just one or two, sometimes a large group.

These are not your regular everyday bicyclist, noooooo these are serious marathon bike riders, clad in their spandex, with their calf muscles bulging!

I enjoy riding my bike around our subdivision, but this is too much riding for me!?!

The drive over to Silverton is beautiful & soon enough we reach the town.

Lennie planned our departure time so we'd reach Silverton at lunch time & we already knew where the "perfect picnic" park was!

After our lunch, we drove the road behind the park & we could look over the whole town!

We didn't look at any of the shops in town our last visit, this time.....I DID!!!!
                       Silverton's main business area was built in the 1880's.

Silverton, a National Historic District sits at an elevation of 9,318 feet. I was feeling the elevation a little bit today!!!!
One of the town's biggest tourist attraction is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Guage railroad steam engine.You can ride this old train from Durango to Silverton for less than $200.00 per adult!!!

We didn't ride it, but we were excited that the train pulled into the Silverton station just as we were there! For more than a century these steam engines were used to haul freight, mail & passengers between Durango & Silverton.So we got to see a little piece of history!It was fun walking around the old historic town, now we drive back to our RV Park. On our way back to the RV park, we took a different road than we had before which led us to Baker Bridge & a beautiful flowing river!

Back at Blue Spruce RV Park, we had our dinner, walked Otis & this being a weekend, the new campers were pouring in! Tomorrow it's our turn to leave....

We are worried about all the wild fires going on in Colorado right now, especially when Colorado Springs is a destination we hope to make. Lennie called the RV Park in Colorado Springs & she assured us things were good. I hope so, we're a week away from arriving there?????

June 8th-June 13,2013 Blogging without internet service???

This weeks blog was not be posted daily due to NO internet service when we arrived at our next RV Park in Vallecito Lake, Colorado.
On June 8th after our regular morning routine, we readied ourselves to leave Mesa Verde RV Park heading to our next destination.

Even Otis seemed ready to go (he was thinking about those lap miles!)

We didn't drive too far to our next Colorado location, Vallecito Lake, less than 100 miles. It was a scenic drive & a real resort-like area.

We are staying at the Blue Spruce RV Park

Not only is the park full of Blue Spruce Trees(I wondered where they got the name from!?!) but also Cottonwood trees. When the wind is blowing it looks like a light snow storm taking place from all the cottonwood fluff!

This is a real nice park in a real nice area, but shortly after checking in we discovered they had a real internet problem! How am I suppose to blog without internet!?! Between all the trees & mountains we had no cell service or internet service. The manager told us they were working on the internet problem so I have no choice but to wait & see!?!

Internet service came back on June 13th. Now I am playing Blog Catch-Up!!!

Sso the days prior to internet service we kept ourselves busy sightseeing. Not our usual sightseeing, no National Parks this time just the local scenery & like I said this area is very resort-like.

There are two historic mining towns within driving distance, with a packed picnic lunch we set out to see them. I had BAD NEWS for Otis! I was tired of him riding on my lap, trying to get in & out of the car to take pictures, trying to remind myself he is the family dog!!!! Sooooo we brought Otis' bed from the RV & put it in the back of the car.

He was highly insulted, he even cried, but finally gave in to his fate & we began our drive down the scenic Hwy 550 also known as the Million Dollar Hwy.The road had more switchbacks then I've ever seen! Not to mention the mountain scenery, cascading waterfalls, it was definitely a "Million Dollar" ride!

We arrived in the mining town of Silverton. Founded in 1875, now home to around 500 residents. This town offers lovely shops,restaurants,a historic train depot & is one of the best extreme ski areas in the country.

It also had the perfect picnic area for 2 hungry people & their dog. Otis was happy to come out of the back seat!!!

June 7,2013 Last Day in Cortez,Co

Today is our last day at the Mesa Verde RV Park in Cortez, Colorado & we decided to do NOTHING! After breakfast I took Otis out for his regular potty walk & got a shot of the Prairie Dogs I could hear every day in the field behind the RV Park.

I may have said we did nothing, but that means No sight seeing today, just relaxing in preparation for tomorrow's departure!

See you later!

June 6, 2013 Hiking into History

Rise & Shine was early today!!! We have a 10:30am tour out at Mesa Verde National Park to view one of the cliff dwellings. Lennie was already showering when I got up. We ate a hurried breakfast & LENNIE completely packed our picnic lunch while I showered & dressed!?! I walked Otis, while Len loaded the car, & then.....Otis stayed behind in the RV! He's not suffering tho! He has food,water,A/C running & the window curtain open so he can "people watch"!      Good-bye Otis, see ya later!!!

For the cliff dwelling tours, after entering the park you drive straight to the designated Trail Head to await the tour. The tours are very timely, we start with a little precaution safety talk with the Ranger. Our Ranger was Melissa & today was her birthday.During her talk, I kept hearing her use the word STRENUOUS & I was beginning to wonder if I belonged on this tour???

 Promptly our Tour Tram showed up & we were off!

It was only about a 2 mile trip to our cliff dwelling, the Long House.

There are 5 cliff dwellings open to the public. Three of which can only be entered on a ranger-guided tour. Long House is one of the ranger-guided tours.Lennie chose our tour when he bought the tickets the previous day. He chose Long House tour because it was advertised as the most in-depth tour.It was a 90 minute tour(that  included the tram ride to & from the trail head) including climbing two 15 ft ladders, I knew this ahead of time & still went???

Before we went on this tour, we had viewed some of the cliff dwellings from the overlook. From a distance they looked miniature like someone had made them for an exhibit. It was really something to be walking around in structures over 800 yrs old. The Long House dwelling was 80% original.We were told ahead of time what we could touch & stand on & what we couldn't!

Our Ranger Melissa was very informative she sure made our walk into history interesting! Climbing up the ladders was a pretty easy task, but walking back up the grade to the top, left me huffing! It was hard to believe the Ancestral Pueblo people lived in the cliffs & then would have to climb the cliffs to the top to plant & tend their crops. there was no need for any other exercise, that's for sure!

Lennie timed our tour just right so it would finish just in time for our picnic lunch. What he didn't plan when we got to the Picnic Area was a tour bus full of what looked like 5th or 6th graders! They & their teacher/chaperon had every available table taken! Instead of driving around the park looking for another picnic area, we just settled on a shady bench!

Maybe it was a good thing Otis wasn't along on this picnic!?!

Ranger Melissa told the tour that if given the chance, to tour the self guided cliff dwelling, Spruce Tree House. It is Mesa Verde's best-preserved & third largest cliff dwelling. It was constructed between A.D 1211 & A.D. 1278. This particular dwelling probably housed 60-80 people in about 130 rooms.

The trail was only 1/2 mile round trip,but it was straight down & then back up.
                       My hiking legs are beginning to feel like spaghetti!?!

   In this cliff dwelling you had the option to climb a ladder to a below area called  a Kiva.                       I opted NOT to, but Lennie, he did it!?!

             I told Len that must have been the ORIGINAL BASEMENT?

When we started down the trail to view Spruce Tree house. I overheard a man talking about seeing owls on the alcove ledge. I kept looking for them but couldn't see any??? But after leaving the cliff house, I kept hearing a sound that kept repeating. I took my camera & zoomed toward the sound & there they were, 3 owls!!!

      No wonder they were  so  hard to spot, they blend so well with the alcove.

We've done enough hiking! On our way out of the park we make one more stop.We stop at Point Peak. This is the highest elevation in Mesa Verde National Park, at over 8500 ft. It is also where the Fire Watch station is. We took one more grand panoramic view of Mesa Verde National Park!

I don't know what this flowery bush is, but it dotted the mountainsides.

Needless to say, on the way home Lennie stopped at McDonald's to get Mr. "McSpoiled" his McDouble! Otis had his burger treat & Lennie put some fish on the grill teriyaki style, yummy!!!
                           Tomorrow is going to be a leisure day!