Friday 23 May
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2008
1
45
155
Trip End
Oct 27, 2008
Cortez,
Colorado,
United States
Monday, June 9, 2008
We left around 8.30 am from Sand Island, determined to reach Monument Valley early as we also want to try and reach Mesa Verde later on today. The weather was not the best today- overcast and cool which was a shame as seeing Monument Valley should be done on a day with brilliant blue sky to have the most impact.
Driving down the 163 we got a great view of the monoliths which are huge towering shapes looming out of the vast flat desert. As we approached the Indian Reservation Park entrance we did not want or feel the need to go in to the park and drive our motorhome round the 17 - mile un-made road through the middle. It seemed like an unnecessary thing to do seeing as we wouldn't get a better view of them and also it is horrible trying to drive an RV on a dirt track - believe me we have tried it. ( we call it 'extreme RVing') and it is not for the faint hearted I can tell you
Monument Valley
.So we turned back as we had no other way of continuing in this direction.
We reached Cortez mid-afternoon having stopped at a place called Bluff to see the remains of an old Mormon settlement where we saw a real old log cabin that was built by the family that lived there. We saw an old school house and some old wagons.... These people were real trail-blazers. Very interesting. Holly and Zach liked the old school house and did abit of play acting inside it!
Cortez turned out to be a bit like Taupo in the sense that it seems a bit of a hub for sports enthusiasts and hikers etc. This was our first town in Colorado.
Steve bought a cap for the water tank that I had left behind a few days ago at another campground. The visitors centre was amazing and gave us loads of info. Plus we found a free dumpstation for our waste and a water supply - always a bonus when you are trying to free-camp and cut costs!
We found a great spot upin the National Forest behind the town of Dolores where it is fine to free camp as long as you have a pass which we do.
We all had a shower in the van and a good nights sleep.
