And one of the things I really miss while we are down south is
Since being home we have enjoyed long hot baths and showers, our big king size bed and our comfortable chairs. And really fast DSL internet!
We spent the day spring cleaning and putting stuff away. Took a couple walks with the Emmi girl and that’s about it for our day here at home.
We arrived home on Tuesday after a totally uneventful travel day on Monday. We pulled into Southside RV Park in Dillon, MT just after 8pm Monday night and the lady at the desk said, “oh, it’s after 8pm, you only have to pay $25.” OK, I can live with that! This is one of the few RV parks we can tolerate probably because we are always staying only one night on our way one direction or another. Even though it is a very small family owned park it is one of the few parks we have ever been in that recognizes what you mean when you say “big rig.” The site we were given gave us room to spare for our 65 feet in length.
Parked next to us was a huge tandem axle Monaco motorhome, one of Al and Kelly’s Ontario neighbors and around the corner were all the Alberta folks, five fifth wheels. When we stopped at the quilt shop in Whitehall, the owner said Monday’s sales were to one Canadian lady after another! It’s a mass exodus of snowbirds heading north!
And while checking us in the owner mentioned, “Pizza Hut delivers here to the park.” Music to my ears! I will never forget the incredulous look on my dear husband’s face many years ago when we pulled into a RV park somewhere and the desk clerk told him he could get pizza delivered. My country raised cowboy had never heard of such a thing! He needs to get out more, doesn’t he.
It was a pleasure to pull into our little town about noon Tuesday, Emmi was very glad to see Granddad and he was very glad to see her! We all went to lunch and visited, running into many acquaintances and friends of course! The weather was looking a little iffy up our way so we said our goodbyes to Nat, picked up our income tax return at the accountants and headed up the Boulder.
Got that big old motorhome all the way to the back door—a little muddy but parked beside the house so we could unload easier. We made a huge dent in the unloading process, cooked supper and took a walk.
Our only coming home glitch was I forgot to call the telephone company in time to have our DSL service reactivated for Tuesday, was promised service by Wednesday morning and here it is Thursday and our DSL was just restored. The local telephone co-op was having trouble deciding which hand to use the left or the right!
It is really, really nice to be home in our log cabin by the creek. Very little snow around the house but big drifts in the coulees.
Went to Billings Wednesday—my hairdresser had a cancellation and I took it! It was a sunny day and not only did I get my hair done but we replenished the pantry and got sticker shock when we checked out at Costco. I did purchase a couple bigger ticket items, one of them being an external hard drive.
Today, way too early this morning, it was back to Billings again (remember this is a 200 mile round trip) with Nat—he had a dermatologist appointment with a Billings Clinic doctor. The guy performed SEVEN biopsies on Nat’s face and ears and is fairly certain he will have to have at least two MOHS procedures pending biopsy results. We made a quick stop at Sam’s Club and came home.
Weather is its usual crummy self for April in Montana, rain/snow all day, the snow is starting to stick as I write this. Michael finished unloading the motorhome and our house looks as if a bomb went off—stuff everywhere, but there is always tomorrow!
Are all men the same??? When one of you says the words, “let’s go home,” the pedal is to the metal and off we go, straight home, do not stop, just keep driving! We left Moab, UT a little after 9am this morning and as I write this at 5pm mountain time, we are still driving and will be until we reach Dillon, MT at about 8pm! Our plan was to stop for the night in Pocatello, ID and then I heard the dreaded question, “what would you think about driving on?” I just know he passed Pocatello by cause I wanted to stop at the quilt store—do you think????
And John and Brenda, you better hurry, we are sure most of the Canadians left today as we have played tag with the majority of Alberta today.
And we thank the good Lord our friend Gina came through her surgery with flying colors today!
So, we will be back in the state of Montana in less than 2 hours.
Would you believe the Clarks are boondocked on a Moab, UT city street for the night?? I really can’t believe it either! At the end of this dead end street there is a walking path that goes for miles all over the town so it really isn’t so bad. The spot we had picked for boondocking was about 1/2 mile of dirt road and it rained and snowed here this morning. As we are leaving in the morning we made the decision to not get the rig filthy.
We left Cortez, CO right around 9am with a very nasty, cool west wind blowing us sideways. Almost to Moab we hit rain and snow—see, I knew it was too early to go home!
Once we got settled into our spot we drove out to Arches National Park—I am starting to see why fulltimers don’t sightsee all the time—you just get brain overload and really don’t want to go look at another scenic or historic place. That’s the way I was about Arches and I know it is a beautiful place but today I just wasn’t in the mood plus we had Emmi with us. As with all national parks Arches has the stupid rule that dogs cannot be with you on the trails and I’m not leaving her in the jeep for any length of time. So, no hiking for us, all the formations were viewed from the jeep or overlooks—still it was beautiful and I got some great photos.
We are heading north toward home—probably not too smart but off we go.
I’m just gonna let the photos tell the story tonight, words cannot describe the awe one feels when seeing Spruce Tree House or Cliff Palace for the first time. Ranchers looking for lost cows first discovered these ruins and as early as 1913, people were making the arduous trek by wagon and foot to view the ruins. It is mind boggling what these early Indians accomplished under the overhangs of the sandstone cliffs. Most of the dwellings face south to gain warmth from the sun and are sheltered under the overhanging cliffs.
This time of year there are no guided ranger tours and many of the park facilities are closed. Tours don’t start until mid April but we didn’t feel as if we missed out on anything—we watched a short movie in the museum about the ruins and at Spruce Tree House which you can visit on foot, there was a ranger to answer questions.
We are so glad we took the time to come here. National Geographic Traveler named Mesa Verde as one of the fifty “must-see” places of a lifetime and we agree!
After much discussion we decided to head over to Cortez, CO for a visit to Mesa Verde, Colorado. Friends Angie and Ralph came here several years ago and had a wonderful time. So we said goodbye to Gooseneck State Park this morning and arrived in Cortez just after lunch.
We are bounced and jostled to death. Someone forgot to tell Colorado there was lots of free President Obama money available for fixing roads! The roads were terrible, dips and bumps, I swear sometimes we were airborne. The roads in Mexico were better than Highway 41 and 160—and to give Colorado a break, the roads in Utah around Bluff were no better!
When I tried to purchase tickets for the ranger led tour of Cliff House in Mesa Verde National Park I was told we were too early in the season, not doing tours yet. But the plus to that I was told is that the crowds will be much fewer! We can handle that!
Our drive today took us through the Valley of the Gods on a gravel road through some fabulous boondocking country! The rock formations in Valley of the Gods have whimsical names such as Sitting Hen and Seven Sailors.
The entire drive was filled with “oh’s” and “ah’s” and sighs—a spectacular 16 mile drive.
The RV park in Bluff, Cadillac Ranch, is a clean, nice little park but just not our cup of tea and Michael spent a couple hours last night looking for a different spot. Our friend Mike McFall made a comment on last night’s blog, “to0 Bad you didn't get over to Gooseneck Park.” Well, Mike, are there any other beautiful spots you want to tell us not to miss cause this is one great spot!
Michael came out to Gooseneck State Park this morning, about 20 miles from Bluff while I bathed Emmi and did a load of laundry in that washer that I swore I would never use JoAnn and Doug!! When he got back we dumped tanks and headed out. Michael had told me it was awe inspiring but I wasn’t prepared for the beauty—even the drive out here was awesome.
So, tonight we are parked on the edge of a shear cliff dropping 1200 feet to the San Juan River. There are five “goosenecks” visible here where the river makes a very sharp turn—words just aren’t good enough to describe it! The wind has been blowing a little making us wonder if we should have parked a little bit farther back from the edge :))). When I take Emmi out in the dark I better have my bearings or I could be in a world of hurt! We’ve kept a close eye on her, too!
We have three other neighbors here and there is plenty of room. We will see what the weekend brings.
It has been such a great day and we are excited to be here in this area surrounded by so much beauty.
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