Home Again

We got up early and broke camp. We made a reasonable start to the drive, around 9 AM. The driving was smooth sailing, with the heavy traffic going the other way. Erica mostly read, while Ari slept in the back.

We stopped at a park in Fairplay for lunch, and got the girls home mid-afternoon.

All in all, a great trip. We are looking forward to another trip next year.

Richard and Marianne

Our Last Day at the Dunes

Erica and Richard got up early and cuddled for a while. Richard and Erica went on a dunes hike with a ranger. Erica mostly played in the water and sand, and Richard learned about rocks. Marianne and Ariana went birdwatching, and saw deer, jackrabbit, and flowers. After lunch, the girls went to the dunes on their own, and later Richard went down to join them.

We sat outside for a while and read, and then had an early dinner, with some sharing. Ari read a prayer, and Erica read the story of Daniel in the Lion's den. We went to an evening ranger talk, telling stories for the kids. Erica was a frog in one of the stories. The young ranger did a very good job.

We closed the day with the usual competitive Skipbow game. Friday we get up early to head home.

Richard, Marianne, Ariana, and Erica

An Educational Day at the Dunes

We started the day with a nature walk from the Montview trailhead. Our guide was ranger Paul, who was a serious birder. He knew all the bird calls and could whistle like any bird. He was good with the kids on the tour, and pointed out the various trees and plants. He spoke good Spanish, and had spent time in South America.

After lunch, we went to the kids talk at the picnic area, where they passed around arrowheads, a mammoth tooth, as well as animal skulls of bear, coyote, pronghorn antelope, and great horned owl. A good program by Bridgette, a young student from North Carolina.

After the kids program, we went to the visitor center, where Erica bought a wood kit of a bald eagle. Richard and Erica assembled it when we got back to the camper, but it took thought, teamwork, and carefulness.

Before dinner, Richard, Ariana, and Erica walked over to play on the dunes for a while. Marianne cleaned up the camper and cooked dinner. We were greeted with delicious hot chocolate. We got back just in time, before the rain started in earnest.

Richard

The first thing we did today was go to a bird program run by ranger Paul. He was amazing at bird calls! We saw many birds and i found out that I thought him that Douglas Firs tasted like orange. After the program we went back to the camper for a good lunch. Then we went to the kids program about what people found at the Sand Dunes run by Bridgette. She showed us skulls, a mammoth tooth, and arrow heads. After the program we went to the Visitors Center where I bought a poster, a postcard, a magnet, a bookmark, and a water bottle!Then we went home and decided to go to the dunes and play for a while. The river was cold but we still had fun. We came home to some hot coca and some spaghetti. A great day.

Ari

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Monday morning, we got up and caught a few more frogs. Then we packed up and drove to Sand Dunes National Park. By arriving in the morning, we were able to get an excellent campsite with a great view of the dunes.

After lunch, Erica and I went down to play in Medano Creek. Marianne and I had never seen the creek so high. The creek was like a beach scene, with kids playing in the sand, adults trying to stay dry, and the creek flowing, but never over a foot deep. We gave a couple of older ladies a ride back to the visitor center, as they did not want to hike back. While we were at the creek, Marianne and Ariana worked on a big cat jigsaw puzzle.

In the evening, Erica, Ariana and I hiked down to the creek, for more playing. Where we were, there were fewer people, but more mosquitoes.

We talked about going to the ranger talk, but it was raining on and off, so we decided not to go.

Richard

We loved to play in the sand. Ari did not want to go to the river the first time. We had a great time, and we hope that you are doing great.

Erica

The Deafening Frogs of the San Luis Valley

We got up early, packed up, and left our beloved Chaco. We had a lot of miles to go, starting with an hour on wet and washboard dirt roads. After a Walmart and lunch stop in Durango, we drove slowly over the Wolf Creek Pass, famed in song. By the time we got to Alamosa, it was about 5 PM. We entered the Sand Dunes park around 6 PM, but we did not find any vacant campsites suitable for our rig. We executed our backup plan, which was to go to San Luis Lake State Park.

After we got settled in, and had a hot dog dinner, the campground host came by to chat. He told us that the noise that we were hearing was from the Spring Peeper frogs, so we headed to the lake. The sound became louder and louder as we approached. The girls went to work chasing down and catching frogs, which they enjoyed very much.

Richard


As an experienced frog catcher from catching my frog at home it was easy for me. I caught about 5-10 frogs. Grandpa and Grandma said it was hard to listen to the frogs but being right next to them was painful, though we soon got used to it. After following the noise i found a frog with a “bubble” about half it's regular size. These frogs didn't go under water but did swim fast so it was difficult to catch them and once you caught them they would struggle then eventually calm down by the warmth of your hand. All in all it was a lot of fun to catch the frogs then watch them re-group with their friends once you send them free.

Ari

A Quiet Day in Chaco

After a late night Friday, we were slow moving Saturday morning. A lot of hanging out in lawn chairs hoping that it would not get too much hotter.

The weather changed throughout the day. We started out very warm and clear, then it clouded up and we started to hear thunder. After a while, it rained, and then hailed. The rest of the day was on and off rain.

During a break in the weather, Richard, Ari, and Erica hopped in the truck and drove to the Pueblo Bonito ruins for a second look. It was nice to be there without groups or lots of people around. I took a few pictures that showed the ruins without any people. We hiked around the back of the ruins, over the mammoth pieces of Fallen Rock, which fell in the 1940s and crushed part of the ruin. The size of the fallen rock was amazing. We continued on the petroglyph trail, and then to Kim Kletso ruin.

When we returned, Marianne was snoozing, but reported that it had hailed at the camper. But it did not hail where we were.

We felt sorry for the tent campers, the one next to us was drying out his sleeping bag in his car.

The big activity for the evening was showers all around. We had done so well at conserving water and electricity that we had plenty of water and power for showers.

Sunday we drive to (or towards) the Sand Dunes National Park. We hope that the dirt road is not too muddy and slippery.

Richard, Mariane, Ariana, and Erica

Chaco Hiking and Stars

After breakfast, we went out for a hike on the Pueblo Alto trail, which Marianne and I had hiked before. In this case, the views and the hike are more impressive than the ruins. A few minutes from the car, the trail heads up towards the cliff, and leaves you wondering where it is going. It heads up a pile of rocks, and then into a crack that takes you to the top of the cliff. The girls loved it. Marianne made it, but needed help in spots.

The view from the top of the cliff is an overlook of the canyon; We walked over to look down on the Pueblo Bonito ruins. We could really see the layout of the ruins, the big “D” shape that the ruins form. So many kivas.


After that, we hiked up the trail towards Pueblo Alto. The view became more expansive as we got closer to the top of the mesa. We stopped to look at the Chacoan stairs and road. Perhaps the biggest excitement was an extended view of a Collared Lizard, a beautiful lizard of green, red, and yellow. He let us look at him over a long time, while we ate lunch, so we took plenty of pictures. After lunch we decided to turn back, although we were very close to Pueblo Alto, and could see it just up the hill.

In the afternoon, Marianne and Richard took a nap while the girls played. We headed to the visitor center for the evening star talk and show. The talk was about archeo-astronomy, with pictures of various alignments that may or may not have been coincidences. Richard chatted before the show with John, who is a volunteer astronomer for the park. They give him an apartment, and he stays in the park for a month or two. After the talk, it was time to look through the telescopes. We all got to see the rings of Saturn, some of the moons of Jupiter, and Venus. It was the first time that most of us had seen the rings of Saturn. Erica slept through most of the talk, but did enjoy looking through the telescopes.

A great day in Chaco.

Richard

To Chaco

We woke up early on Thursday morning, and headed down the road to Chaco Canyon Historic Park, part of the National Park System. After 40 miles on the main highway, we turned off onto a narrow paved road, which turned to dirt for the last 13 miles. There have been proposals to pave the road into the park, but the park would prefer the road to stay dirt, to help limit the number of visitors. The road conditions were good for most of that 13 miles, but towards the end of the drive, we hit the bad washboard that shook everything and everybody. Marianne suggested that the final washboard was the riffraff filter, to discourage the casual visitor.

When we arrived in Chaco, around 10 AM, we headed straight for the campground, worried that there would not be a space for us. However, the campground was about half full. Most of the campsites were not large enough for RVS , but we chose one of the campsites and backed in, helped by a young boy, Chance, from Mississippi.

After lunch, we headed for the visitor center, where we saw a movie, and then to Pueblo Bonito for the tour. The ranger's commentary was not directed to kids at all, but the girls enjoyed wandering around the site, going through the little doorways from room to room. Chaco is such an interesting place. After the tour and a little wandering around the site, we headed back to the visitor center, where the girls bought Chaco posters.

We did a little birdwatching, finally identifying what we thought was a Gray Catbird. At dinner, the girls read stories from children's books. We had hoped to do some starwatching, but the sky was still a little light at 9:30PM, so we mostly saw the planets. We were able to identify, however, that the tent pad in our campsite has an astronomical alignment, in the four cardinal directions. Marianne commented that everything at Chaco has an astronomical alignment, which is probably true. ;-)

Richard, Marianne, Ariana, and Erica

A Windy Ride to the Four Corners

We left Mogote campground Wednesday morning, and headed up the road to Cumbres pass. The road parallels the track for the narrow gauge steam train. We saw some photographers standing near the track, so we stopped to look at the train. We heard the train before we saw it. The train was working its way uphill, very slowly.

Our next stop was at Chama NM, where we visited a nice small quilt store. They were getting ready for a big quilt show on Saturday; Marianne was disappointed that she would miss the show.

The winds were awful in Chama, and for the rest of the drive. When we stopped for lunch in the supermarket parking lot, an old gas station was starting to lose its tin sheeting. One of the sheets blew by, barely missing the camper. Time to go.

After we missed a detour sign on the Jicarilla Apache reservation, we ended up on a dirt road. After we turned around, Marianne took a picture of the old railroad bridge and water
tower. This was part of the narrow gauge train route from Silverton to Denver. Marianne rode the train from Durango to Denver when she was a girl, but today, the only remnants of that system are the Durango-Silverton train, and the Chalma-Antonito train, both tourist steam trains.

We finally arrived in Bloomfield NM, and settled into our campsite. The girls were disappointed that the pool was closed; the high winds blew dust into the pool, so they had to shut it down. We reveled in the luxury of AC power and lots of water for showers.

Thursday morning we will get up early and drive to Chaco Canyon National Park. By arriving early, we will be sure of getting one of the 30 available campsites.

Richard, Marianne, Ariana, and Erica

Conejos River

We awoke Tuesday to a cool and dry day in the Mogote Campground.

Richard and the girls went for a bike ride around the campground. We stopped and chatted with Elvis and Loretta, the camp hosts. We all thought that they were very nice people. They are from Amarillo Texas, and are campground hosts every year. They say that they have never seen the upper loop of the campground fill, but if you want a site on the lower loop near the river, you need reservations. Ariana and Marianne went over later with cookies, so that Marianne could meet Loretta.

Marianne did some birding while Richard and the girls rode. We saw a scarlet tanager, and Marianne saw a beautiful Great-tailed Grackle and pigmy nuthatches, as well as some unidentified little brown birds.

Richard and Erica drove up the road and went fishing. We found a spot on the river where the current was not as fast. Richard nymphed, while Erica looked at bugs.

Marianne fixed chicken salad for dinner, and we listened to a tape of Superfudge, and then we played poker using pinto beans for chips. Ariana won enough beans to cook dinner.

Richard and Marianne

Denver to the Conejos River

We picked up Ariana and Erica in Denver Monday morning, and then headed out US285 for the San Luis Valley. As usual, we were slow on the hills, but made good time otherwise. We had intermittent light rain on the drive down. We stopped for lunch before Kenosha Pass, and bought gas in Alamosa.

It is a nice view from the top of Kenosha Pass. We always enjoy being in the San Luis Valley. We stopped briefly in Antonito, where the narrow gauge steam train leaves for Chalma, NM. I wanted to get a picture of “El Castillo”, (The Castle), which is one man's art project. We had seen it a number of years ago, and he has added on quite a bit since then.

As we headed out of Antonito, we saw the steam train making its way from Chalma. It looked like a toy train.

We stopped in the town of Mogote and bought some fishing flies, and then headed up a few miles to the Mogote Forest Service campground. This is a very nice campground, with many large sites, some backing up to the Conejos River. One book rates it one of the top 100 campgrounds in Colorado. With the river so high, and kids, we decided to pick a spot away from the river. It would be pretty easy to get washed away, as the river is running very fast.

We played Skipbow after dinner, and then went to bed. We will hope for better weather tomorrow.

Richard and Marianne

Conejos River, Chaco, and Sand Dunes with the girls

We plan to spend a few days on the Conejos River near Antonito Colorado, doing some fishing and hanging out. We will then head down to Chaco National Historic park for the ruins. After that, we will go to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

This is a trip with our granddaughters Ariana and Erica. The dates are June 4-15.

Since we will be in relatively remote places, our blog postings will be sporadic at best. We plan to compose the blog each night on our computer, perhaps including some of the girl's thoughts, and then upload when we have a chance.

Richard