Blogs from Cortez, Colorado, United States, North America

4/17/2012 - This morning we drove back to Four Corners Monument. At this spot four states meet - Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Only place in the USA where this occurs. Around the monument "plaza" are American Indian vendors. The monument is a square with a round circle surrounded by flags and the state lines inlaid in the concrete. The man who designed the monument had a shop there and I listened to him for 30 to 45 minutes. He was quite well educated, had accomplished a lot in his life, but was still difficult for me to understand. He explained a bit of what "reservation" means to the Navajo. :-) We then rode north to Mesa Verde National Park. There are many ruins and cliff dwellings in the park. Again, these are attributed to ... read more

Today was the first of a few big driving days. First stop was for lunch. Burger King. But there was a convenience store where i stocked up on some beef jerky, my new favourite snack :) Anyway our next stop was Monument Valley. We did a bus tour here run by Navajo Indians. It was really cool, and we got to see heaps of the Monument Valley sights. On our way out of Monument Valley we stopped at the spot where Forrest Gump stops running and decided to go back home. I got my iconic highway photo here. Once we arrived in Cortez we pretty much just had time to freshen up and head to our included Mexican dinner. It was pretty good, I had a burrito (again). After dinner a few of us headed out ... read more

August 31 Taos, New Mexico to Mesa Verde National Park Woke up early and decided to heck with the Taos Pueblo. Those people are so arrogant about their heritage. You know what….. we are all Americans here whether you like it or not…get over yourselves. So I drove west on Hwy 64 intending to go to Pagosa Springs in Colorado for the day. I left while it was still dark because I woke up early and again realized why I don’t travel the back country at night here or in Colorado. I had a bull Elk run across the road right in front of my truck. I’ve had that happen to me before in the back country in Colorado as well. Those critters are huge up close. In any case I drove to Pagosa Springs, Colorado ... read more

From Gail's Journal Saturday, September 18th: This day blew our socks off. We went on US 550. Spectacular scenery - hardly and traffic. We went from desert to mesas and then into towns with huge trees. As we entered Colorado, we glimpsed beautiful mountains. We go to ur campsite early so we went to Mesa Verde National Park. It was awesome. Beautiful views, switchback roads, and fall colors beginning to show We did a short hike down to Pueblo ruins - spectacular. Looking forward to going back into Durango tomorrow and the train ride to the old mining town of Silverton, Colorado. This is beautiful country. ... read more

Down day as I traveled from Moab to Cortez/Mesa Verde by way of Monument Valley. Took some good photos along the dusty valley loop. A test for the Forester - no, but rather a test for me, not wanting the dust, dirt and mud to soil my almost pristine vehicle. However, some good occurred later in the day as there was rain in Cortez to wash off most of the dirt. I will be camping the next few days, so updates will not be added until I motel or find a Starbucks. KC is not enjoying this trip. He is so fearful that road noise makes him cringe and shake. I made a place for him in the front seat so he would be close and I think it helped a little, but he is still ... read more

August 5th 2009 Doing a disservice It has occurred to me that, other than commenting on the weather and the availability of alcohol, I didn’t say very much about Salt Lake City. It is a curious city. Downtown SLC is very much the working heart of the city, housing a selection of banks and other sky-scraping office blocks. Wandering around on a Tuesday (?) afternoon, there was hardly a soul to see. Even at lunchtime during the school holidays. Nik asked a passer-by where the people were. The answer: the mall. She found the people and took photos of them as evidence. Whilst Nik summoned the energy to wander around the scorching city for the afternoon, I whimped out and relaxed by the pool. She had relatively little to report back except for the wedding taking ... read more