Land Yacht

Land Yacht
Ernie and Bert

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Cortez Part 2

Tuesday, July 21st we started the day at Notah Dinah Trading Post in Cortez.  It is owned by the step brothers of a boating friend.  What a fun place !  There is a small museum in the basement that has the largest Navajo rug ever made.  It is beautiful ! There are also paintings and local memorabilia.  On the main level is crafts, jewelry, pottery, blankets, jewelry making supplies and all kinds of other things.  We had fun shopping.  If you are in town you should check it out.

The owner of our RV park said we should not miss a visit in Telluride, so we went to Telluride.  As we drove along we saw a noticeable difference in the landscape.  It was turning greener and hillier.  Telluride is famous for its skiing.


Above and below are pretty views along the way



View as you come into Telluride.  That is Bridal Veil Falls in the distance


We arrived in Telluride just in time for lunch, so we were searching for a picnic table.  We ended up eating in the car at the far end of town in the parking lot for Bridal Veil Falls which you can see from all over town.  You could also see 3 other falls from the parking lot.  There was a trail that was longer than we had time to hike, but there was also a dirt road that they suggested you have four wheel drive.  We decided to try the four wheel drive !  The Jeep did well.  We are new to this so we were pleased with our effort.  We did not go all the way to the top because there were so many people.  It was fun and we got better pictures of town by going up the hill.


Little falls

Jeep on the 4 wheel drive road


Falls



View looking back on Telluride 


Bridal Veil Falls from the bottom of the mountain



 We drove back over to town to check it out. It is a very nice ski village with quaint shops and trendy places to eat.  The fun part is that the gondola ride over to the town of Mountain View is free !  We rode to Mountain View and walked around.  Mountain View looks like I would assume a Swiss Ski Village looks like.  Very nice.  The guy we rode up with in the gondola suggested that we get off at the top and take pictures.  We got off at the top on the way back and the view was wonderful !!!!  They allow the mountain bikers to ride on the ski runs in the summer.  They too got a free ride up in the gondola.  We took so many beautiful pictures that it was very difficult to decide which ones to share with you.











Fun day, we were glad we took the ride over to enjoy the beauty that surrounds Telluride.  Next time we need to take our bikes...not to ride down the mountain but to try out the bike trail in and around town.


Saturday, July 25, 2015

Cortez, Colorado Part 1

On Sunday July 19th it was time to leave Durango; next stop was Cortez, Colorado.  We must admit we are enjoying our short travel days. Even stopping to get fuel on our way out of town, it only took us 2 hours to drive to Cortez.

We stayed at La Mesa RV Park.  A great park and we will stay there again when in town.  The lady that owns the park was a wealth of information and super friendly.  The WiFi was amazing.  They also take most discounts, which always helps.

The nice thing about short travel days is that it allows us to check out the area when we get to our destination.  We drove over to the Anasazi Heritage Center Museum,  They had a nice museum and a trail that led up to a Anasazi Ruin at the top of the hill overlooking Dolores Lake.  Dolores is a man made lake.  Before they dammed up the lake they sent in 500 archaeologists working for 7 1/2 years to recover all artifacts that would be covered by the lake.  Their findings are what you see in the museum.

View from the top of the walk at the museum



Ruins at the top of the hill 

We then drove over to the town of Dolores to see the Galloping Goose (actually there were two made) the other is in Telluride.  They were used during the depression so they did not have to run the full train.  They are still used on occasion for historical events.


Monday we spent the day at Mesa Verde National Park. Link to Mesa Verde National Park   WOW !  We will be making another trip to Mesa Verde because we saw less than half the park.  We started in the Visitor Center.  Because we only had one day we decided to concentrate on Chapin Mesa.  We saw the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum.  For safety and to preserve the ruins, three of the ruins are now done by tour only.  We took the tour of Balcony House and Cliff Palace.   We also took the Mesa Top Loop Tour.  Stopping at the overlooks and a picnic lunch and our day was full.


Balcony House required climbing two long ladders and crawling through a tunnel to see it.  It is the only Cliff dwelling that faces the East.  Most face the south to take advantage of the sun.


Cliff Palace as seen from an overlook.  It is the largest of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.


Cliff Palace from the tour


Square Tower House as seen from the overlook, we will see it up close on our next visit.  They were doing some preservation work so it was closed to tours.


Spruce Tree House as seen from the overlook.  It was getting late and about to rain.  Wayne quickly did the hike and saw some of it.  I will see it when we go back.


After dinner we went to the Cortez Cultural Center where they had members of the Ute and Dine' Indian Tribes who performed dances, played the flute and told stories.  Fun and informative.


Her dress was called a Jingle Dress - the silver ornaments made a jingling sound as she danced.  Her mother hand sewed the dress.


Charlie explained all pertinent details of his costume.  It was also made by his mother.


He had made all of his flutes.  He had played a flute at the opening of the 2002 Olympics. The songs were good but we enjoyed the animal and bird noises he could make with them.


Thursday, July 23, 2015

Durango, Colorado

Thursday, July 16th we took the road less traveled from Santa Fe, NM to Durango, CO.  We saw some beautiful scenery!  Thankfully we stopped at the one rest area along our 250 mile trip.  It was a nice lunch stop and gave us an opportunity to take some great pictures of Ernie and Bert together in the mountains.  Check out our new picture at the top of the blog !

We always like to go to the visitor centers in the cities that we are visiting to be sure we are not missing something special.  After getting settled at Westerly RV Park we had just enough time to get to the visitors center before it closed.  We found out they were having a free concert in the park which was walking distance from the visitor’s center and would be starting in 15 minutes.  The band was called Dr Roberts and they were doing a Beatles Tribute.  We enjoyed the music and watching all the people.  On our way to the car we stopped for dinner at the Rice Monkey for sushi and a rice bowl.  Fun evening!

Our site at Westerly RV Park had a view of the mountains and also the train track.  The Durango to Silverton Steam Train passed six times a day.  There are three trains going up and three trains coming back each day.  The cost of the train is now $85 per ticket plus tax.  We decided to save that for our next visit to Durango. 

Durango Steam Train as it went by our camp site notice the background that was our view !



Friday the 17th we drove to Silverton and Ouray.  It rained on the way up and was raining when we got to Silverton.  Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time we got to Ouray.  We got to Ouray in time to have a picnic lunch in their city park.  We thought it was funny that the lifeguards at the pool all had on sweatshirts.  I hope the pool was heated. We explored town and took pictures.  I took lots of pictures as we were driving of the mountain views and mining areas.  We spent time walking around Silverton and taking pictures before heading back to Durango.


Durango

Old street in Durango


Old mine site

Ouray

Ouray




Saturday the 18th we stopped by the farmers market but were a little disappointed after the wonderful market in Santa Fe. We did a bike ride on the Animas River Bike Trail.  Our ride was about 8 miles.  The trail went along the river and we crossed bridges several times.  There were a lot of people rafting and kayaking in the river, they were fun to watch.  We had a picnic in the park and then walked around Durango.  We found a wonderful museum behind the Durango Train Station.  It had old engines, cars and lots of train history. 

Rafting along the Animas River where we biked

Old car and caboose in the train museum

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Santa Fe, New Mexico Part 3

Monday, July 13th,  we drove the Jeep to Taos, New Mexico.  Everyone said to see Taos Pueblo, so we went there first.  There is an entry fee which is a source of revenue for the tribe. 

The Pueblo is the home of the Red Willow People.  We took a short tour from a very informative guide.  The tour started in the church.  The original church was destroyed during a war and the new church was built in the 1800’s.  He told us that 80 % of the population was Catholic but 100% followed the teachings of the Red Willow Tribe.  The Pueblo has been there for over 1000 years occupied by ancestors of the current occupants. They do not have electricity or running water.  They do use propane for light and stoves.  They still cook in the outside ovens as well.  Their water comes from the stream which is fed from snow melt from the Taos Mountain. They carry it in buckets to their homes. The water in the stream is tested on a regular basis for purity.  There are approximately 3,000 people who live in Taos Pueblo.  The North Pueblo was the original building.  There is also a South Pueblo and additional pueblos that have been added.  The school goes to the 8th grade then they go into town or to a boarding school.  Our guide was in college majoring in Biology.  They have their own police department. They grow crops and hunt in the mountains for deer and elk.  They also sell art, crafts and jewelry that they make.

We were able to go into many of the homes as they also served as their shops.  One shop keeper explained that his great grandparents had the back room and a room was built on for each of their children to live in when they grew up.  His grandparents had an unusually large place since they had 9 children.  So his family had 4 rooms.

Originally there were no doors.  The entry to the pueblo was from the roof.  You would climb to the roof and pull up the ladder to be safe.  The adobe helps to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 



Church





North Pueblo with River they use for water in the foreground


Close up of North Pueblo

South Pueblo



What is left of the old church and the graveyard that was in use until 2011



After touring the Pueblo we went into the city of Taos.  It is a ski village that has a lot of local artists and shops to support the tourists.  We walked around town and enjoyed seeing the work of the local artists.

On the way back to Santa Fe we went in search of a hot spring that was supposed to be just a short hike and then free for those who would like to use it.  We turned off on Tune Road which is not far outside town.  It was a dirt road with some unique houses spread out along the way.  We drove 4 ½ miles down Tune Road to where it dead ended into the Rio Grande.  We looked at the VERY steep and rocky path and decided that at 4:00 it was too late to venture down. We took some pictures of the river and drove back out. 

On our way back to Santa Fe we took a different route than when we went.  This route took us over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  We stopped on one side and walked out on the bridge to take pictures.  On the other side was a rest area, we stopped to take pictures there as well.  It covers a wide expanse of river and it VERY high up.  It was quite an impressive piece of engineering.




Tuesday, July 14th   Happy Birthday to my brother, Stuart! We went to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum.  She moved to the Santa Fe area for the later part of her life and it served as much of her inspiration. She loved bold colors.  We decided we like her pastels and water colors more than her oils.  I always enjoy the videos they show with the background/history of wherever we are.  She was married to a photographer, who loved to photograph her.  She bought a large ranch north of Abiquiu.  It is known as the Ghost Ranch.  It is now used for a retreat and artists.
After the museum we went to a gallery next door that had photographs including some by Georgia O’Keefe’s husband and Ansel Adams, who is one of our favorites.  We walked around town a little more to some of the shops we had not seen.





After lunch we drove over to Madrid, NM.  Madrid was a coal mining town in its hay day.  Then it died and was a ghost town.  It is being revived as an artist colony and tourist town with galleries, shops and eateries.


Above and below two of the cute shops



This one is for sale and needs some love



On Wednesday, July 15th we cleaned up around the RV and did a few chores that had been waiting to be done.  For lunch we met Michelle Belsan (wife of my first cousin Peter) and her four children, Mikaella, Tommy, Allison and Justin for lunch.  They drove up from Albuquerque where they were visiting her parents.  It was fun to finally get to meet them.  We look forward to seeing them again later in our trip when we visit Phoenix.  Our afternoon was spent grocery shopping and getting ready to move to Durango on Thursday.