Blogs from Montrose, Colorado, United States, North America

Yellowstone was a must see stop on this trip for both of us, a magical place, why? because you can see wild animals, bear, bison and wolves; fantastic scenery in the rivers, gorges and waterfalls; and witness eruptions of geysers, boiling mud pools and colourful geothermal sites all sitting on top of a huge volcano! However, it’s a long way from anywhere, and we had a 12 hour (minimum) drive from Seattle. We stopped at a place called Coeur D’Alene which left us 7 hours to drive the following day, with 1 hour lost in time difference from Washington State, through Montana to Wyoming. The journey through Montana was great diverse scenery, hills, mountains, forest and a lot of green pasture, there’s a reason they call it the Big Sky State. We arrived at the entrance ... read more

Geo: 38.4786, -107.878We left Grand Junction this morning at 8:45 and 72 degrees and headed south to Montrose, CO. From there we took the road into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It was about a two hour drive and took us through many small and towns along the way. Some were quite run down and the properties around the homes that we saw were cluttered and unattended to. And I joked that they were in need of an HOA. (My friends in Florida will understand this.) We passed areas where it appeared that nothing was going on even though Halliburton was present, areas where the earth was arid desert, and areas where fertile fields were growing corn and onions and other crops. We arrived in Montrose and took the turn east to the park. ... read more

Okay so we're all agreed god put Nevada on earth to make shit holes look good, not all of it but there are places where House Proud is a fantasy graphic novel. Then on to Utah and Brian Head. Having a Brian in the group made a visit to Brian Head a no brainer, sadly we were unable to graffitti the signs but no doubt all the jokes have been made.We based ourselvrs in Cedar City UT, a town which hasmore take away "restaurants" (why do they insist on calling themselves that?) than there are pick up trucks. We ound one family mexican restaurant which was preety good and the staff were excellent and so tolerant!Brian Head is out of the usual ... read more

From Death Valley we stopped briefly at Zion National Park to take the hike we missed there a few years back. It is named "Angel's Landing" since those who don't make it fall to their death and (hopefully) become angels. While holding onto chains and locating the smallest crack to stabilize my feet I was sure my time was up. It was terrifying. Thankfully Terry was in front showing me how to survive. Again, I owe him my life! We continued our trip to Montrose, CO to visit our long-time friends Marie and Richard who moved there from Grand Rapids, MI. We knew that the snowstorm forecasted for the front range of the Rockies would impact our trip, so had to gamble on which day to travel. We did find some snow on the roads but ... read more

4th Aug - Left Blanding this morning and headed south to Bluff and on to the Four Corners Monument (UT, AZ, CO, NM), then on to Montezuma and a detour into the Mesa Verda Nation Park to see Spruce Tree House (Ancient ruins of the Pueblo people). We then drove east to Darango and took the scenic San Juan Highway north to night stop in Montrose. Along the highway we climbed above 10,000 feet in three places and once to 11,090 feet (gasp - cross checked with the GPS). Pam and George ... read more