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Published: January 10th 2009
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Red Mountain Pass
on the way to Silverton 3 months behind, but attempting to catch up with my blogging! (01/09)
Reluctantly we leave Denver. There’s something about putting your feet up and stopping in one place for a while. You don’t realize how tiring travelling is til you stop and take a break. Another day’s drive saw us driving through the Sawatch Ranges which includes fifteen peaks which top14000 feet, through Monarch Pass at 11312 feet then down to stay at Gunnison. We had been told that we should go to Crested Butte to admire the Collegiate Peaks and all the wonderful fall colours but once again we seemed to have missed the best of them, but not to worry the scenery is still very beautiful. In fact all the scenery around here is very picturesque.
We stopped in Silverton which is an old mining town that has seen better days but is now a National Historic Landmark. Had lunch at Natalies which in its heyday was a bordello but their billboard assured us whilst that ‘service is no longer provided, the food is great’!
Arrive at the camping ground which had the requisite hot showers and WiFi. It’s been interesting camping in the States as
? Hula hooping pedestrians
somebody with a sense of humour....saw quite a few of these they seem to be all set up for RVs, which means if you are tenting then you tend to have your tent pitched on dirt or on gravel (no sand or grass) Camped for two nights at Mesa Verde. Spent all the next day at Mesa Verde National Park where we visited the spectacular cliff dwellings of Cliff Palace and The Balcony. It had been a while since we had heard an Aussie accent so the moment we heard someone speaking with an aussie accent it was like old home week….immediately we were ‘old friends’ …for the rest of the day we kept on bumping into each other. We had such a nice day together that we ended up going into Cortez and having dinner which was really nice as it was about an hours drive in the opposite direction to where they were staying. Of all the places they could be from in Australia and they just happened to have a house in Brisbane, so hopefully when they come back to OZ we can catch up. We would love to catch up to them in their home town of Aspen but I daresay by the time we can afford
to go back to the States they will have returned to Australia.
We were also able to meet up with another chiropractic couple in Durango who, without a moment’s hesitation, took time out of their busy schedules and invited us to their home for dinner. Thank you Arno and Jane.
Crossed over the Rio Grande…the Rio Grande sure looked different in the ‘cowboy and indian’ movies.
Did a quick drive by of Taos where we stopped to have lunch and a walk around ‘Kit Carson’ town, passed Rancho de Taos where supposedly is the most photographed church in America…made of mud and straw. Along the way we saw many casinos which are operated by the American Indians. The casinos are a source of income for the Indians living on reservations along with all the billboard advertising that only the Indians are allowed to do.
Travelled along the old Route 66
Next stop Santa Fe…this is where are trusty TOM got a little confused, directing us to the camping ground when in fact there was nothing there at all. Upon back tracking we found we were supposed to go right when TOM was telling us to go
left….guess he can’t be perfect all the time. After reaching the camping ground we found out that for some unexplained reason (maybe it’s the energies of all the random people that are attracted to Santa Fe that send the signals haywire) navigation systems don’t always work properly in Santa Fe. After being stuck in a car for a few days we were ready to have an adjustment. This is one good thing about being a chiropractor, you can be sure of finding a chiropractor that practises the same style as you do and you can always get an adjustment. Malcolm has done so many seminars overseas that it has been wonderful for him to catch up with his chiro mates again and for me to meet them. We have enjoyed the hospitality of many of them and would love to see them when they come to Australia. After all this is what travelling is all about…catching up with old friends and making new friends.
We had our first couchsurfing experience. We had decided that finally we were going to go to the hot springs and the closest we could manage was ‘10000 Waves’ which has been set up like
a Japan bath house with lovely private and communal spa baths, relaxation rooms, beautiful water falls, zen gardens, shoji screened rooms and a range of massage therapies etc It was $20 to use the communal spas (mixed or ladies only)and you could stay as long as you wanted, you also had the use of the sauna and cold plunge pool. It was here while enjoying our spa that we got chatting to Trevor who is the first person that we had spoken with who knew about couchsurfing. Long and short of it we ended up staying the night on Trevor’s futon which was just as well because that night there were electrical storms over Santa Fe and we weren’t quite sure how our tent would hold up. As it turned out the tent was fine with no leaks.
Did a quick stop at the National Atomic Museum on the way to Chaco Canyon.
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Leola Lewis
non-member comment
Roving with the Ritchies
Hi guys Just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying sharing your trip. What wonderful adventures you're having! I'm off on one of my own to France & Spain in April - can't wait! We've just started training in earnest for the State Titles in March - lots of hard work ahead. Keep enjoying your adventure. Look forward to hearing all about it in person when you return. Cheers Leola