Durango and Beyond

We have now migrated to Durango, CO. We haven't been here in 20-30 years and it sure has grown up. Our first day here was a bummer, rain, fog etc. Went for a drive but the temps started dropping to the freezing point to we turned around, We didn't want to be caught in any snow which was falling at the higher altitudes. Tomorrow is another day.

We are in a beautiful campground, relatively new at a casino about 15 miles from Durango. Haven't been in one this nice for quite a while but then we tend to go into the lower priced campgrounds. We belong to several clubs/organizations that allow us to keep our campground costs in check. The best is the US Government, but unless we want to camp without hookups they are far and few between right now. Oklahoma had many Federal campgrounds with electricity(preferred) but not so many in New Mexico and Colorado.

We woke up this morning to 34 degrees, brr. We planned to take the Million Dollar Highway to Readway, CO and possible further if we felt like it. As we drove down the road toward Durango we knew our plans were going to change. The Mountains had snow the night before and were beautiful.

As we drove up into the mountains the snow was magnificent. Beautiful. Then we saw the sign, some pass ahead of us was still closed and being plowed. We did make it to Silverton, the end of the line for the train ride. Silverton was interesting, the main road was paved, every other road in town was dirt(or mud). Most places were closed, end of season. We saw our first wildlife: a fox on the road!

There is a trade off when traveling in the fall between crowds and places not being open. We prefer places not being open. Sometimes we are disappointed, most of the time not. 

Pictures from the Million Dollar Highway:

 

Starting back to Durango we encountered sleet. Took that as our signal to get out of the mountains. Next stop Page, AZ.

We are seeing an end to our wanderings in a few weeks so we need to be a bit more careful as to our plans. North Rim of the Grand Canyon has not had snow yet so that is still the end goal. Durango area should be the last of our serious concerns about snow and we are here for one more day.

After Durango, we travel toward Page via Mexican Hat and Monument Valley. No plans to stop this year. A night or 2 in Page to pick up mail, packages, laundry, and food shopping. Then on to the North Rim, Flagstaff and then into Phoenix.

After that into Phoenix with the first stop is getting our solar fixed. Somehow we lost power to one bank of panels(installed in February) and we don't have the tools or correct caulk to repair it ourselves so a quick stop at the repair shop to have it fixed.