Rocks to Dot and Little Green Men

Sandia Mountains.
Yes, it is snowing just across the river.

We left Durango on Wednesday, 3/20 and had a happily uneventful drive to Coronado Campground in Bernalillo, NM. We’ve stayed here before and it has a lot going for it. Beautiful views of the Sandia Mountains, access to the Rio Grande (if you don’t mind a little bush whacking) and rocks!  Lots and lots of river smoothed rocks that are perfect for dot painting. I picked up a dot rock on our travels last year and decided to give it a try. Randi gave me the tools for Christmas and I’ve had fun with it. Painting that requires absolutely no artistic talent – yep, that’s for me! Anyhow I had a grand time hunting for the perfect rocks for painting and filled a tote. That should keep me busy!

It didn't take me very long to go rock hunting!
Looking for smooth, round rocks perfect for...

...making these!
A fun, relaxing project that requires no talent.

After we got parked, we took the pups for walkies and I was shocked when Riley made a bee-line for the trail to the river. He remembered! We’ve only been here once before and it was a year ago. He headed straight for the big sandy play area and through the brush to the river.

The pup's favorite spot for zoomies on the Rio Grande.

I love the peaceful view.
At least until you're strafed by 400 pounds of crazed mastiff.

Rog and I were both jonesing for a really good hatch green chili burger and where better to scratch that itch than New Mexico. We checked all the Yelp reviews and finally decided we would return to the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid. We’d gone there in 2019 when we were here for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and had their awesome Mad Chile Burger. It’s a bit of a drive, but Google maps promised us a shortcut that would shorten it to about 47 miles. What Google failed to mention was about 20 miles of that was dirt road! Lol. It started off paved, then we kept passing huge dump trucks going to/from a gravel mine. The asphalt was more pothole than paving and then they just quit pretending and it went to a dirt/gravel county road.  Rog was not amused. Good thing the burgers, beer, and Mad Chile Margaritas made it worth the drive! Oh, and we took the somewhat longer but paved route home. Lol.  

County road sans asphalt. Lol.

Luckily, the Mine Shaft Tavern made it totally worth the drive.

Love those Mad Chile Burgers!!

Friday, 3/22, was a busy day. We wanted to try something new, so headed to Old Town in Albuquerque. The town has a long history and has flown the flags of three countries– Spain, Mexico, and the US. Established in 1706 by the governor of the Spanish province of New Mexico, it was the regional seat of government. When Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821, New Mexico joined the new nation to the south. Then in 1846, during the Mexican–American War, American General Stephen W. Kearny raised the US flag over the plaza. It became part of the New Mexico Territory and was later made a state in 1912. A centerpiece of the central plaza is the catholic church, San Felipe de Neri Parish, which has existed for over 300 years. The current building was constructed in 1793 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

San Felipe de Neri Parish.

While a lot of Old Town consisted of your typical touristy boutiques, t-shirt shops and art galleries, we did find a few gems. We absolutely loved Puzzled, which boasts the largest selection of handcrafted wooden puzzles and games in New Mexico. They bill themselves as the land before Nintendo! We browsed some amazing local artist galleries and then shared a Key Lime Croissant at Flying Roadrunner Bakery. Another fun stop was the Breaking Bad shop. I confess I’ve never watched a single episode, but it’s a favorite of friends and family so we didn’t want to miss it.

Old Town Albuquerque. 

Two mind-benders from Puzzled.
No, we haven't solved either one. But we're working on it!

Flying Roadrunner Bakery for the win. 

Riley had been having some tummy troubles, so he had a lazy day on the couch while we took Raney for a trail walk in the afternoon. We wanted to check out the 16-mile paved Paseo del Bosque Trail in Albuquerque. But opted for the much closer Rio Rancho Bosque Preserve. (FYI – Bosque is Spanish for “forest”, had to look that up since every other thing seemed to be named Bosque. Lol.) We parked at Rio Vista Park and then walked down to Trailhead Beach. Raney got to stretch her legs, get her paws wet, and sniff to her heart’s content. We went back to the RV to check on Riley and feed the kids dinner. He didn’t finish all his kibble, so he’s still not feeling that great. We’ll keep an eye on him, he has a long history of delicate tummy so this isn’t that out of the ordinary.

Raney loves exploring new places.

For dinner, Rog found another local brewery he wanted to check out – Kaktus Brewing Company. We don’t usually eat out this often, but then we aren’t usually camped within striking distance of a large urban center with so many delicious options. Apparently, there is good reason for that. Lol.  Kaktus is considered a nano-brewery, with a small two-barrel brewing system. They also serve a very interesting menu with local and natural foods. The spicy elk sausage pizza was excellent! They also had live music, Spanish guitar and Flamenco dancers tonight.

Another fun stop - Kaktus Brewing Company.

We also spent some time adjusting our itinerary due to high wind warnings. The weather service had an advisory for Sunday calling for sustained winds of 35-50mph with gusts up to 65mph! Nope, nope, nope! Not moving in that.  We decided to skip our next two planned stops and head for Roswell, NM on Saturday where we could wait out the storm. That would position us to make the drive on Monday to San Angelo State Park in Texas and get us back on schedule. We struck out on our first choice, then scored the last spot at Trailer Village RV Park. Looks like EVERYBODY is looking for a place to land. Lol.

Not a chance.
High profile vehicle - that would be us!

We wanted to get on the road early, isn’t that always went Murphy strikes. I was quickly running a comb through my hair when it snagged one of the little diamond studs that I always wear and popped it right out. I did not hear it hit the floor and found the earring back in the sink. Uh-oh. I frantically searched the bathroom counter, floor, rug and everywhere I could think of. Shook out my shirt and pants, nothing. No time for further delay, as we needed to get on the road. I was sure it was down the sink and gone for good. ☹

We made it into Roswell about 2pm. Yes, that Roswell. Home of ALL the little green men. Lol. The town has a lot of fun with the aliens/UFO theme and we were happy for a place to hunker down and wait out the storm, even if we did run the risk of alien abduction.  

Hanging with the locals.

This is Paul. He lives at the RV Park.
Innocent tree frog or direct decendent of the Area 51 visitors? You decide.

And hunker down we did. The winds kicked up Saturday around 3pm and there was a virtual parade of rigs pulling into the park to get off the road. We're sqeezed in tight, but on the upside we can use the other rigs as a windbreak. Lol.  Rog, being the sweetheart he is, started pulling apart the bathroom plumbing to see if my earring might be stuck in the P-trap of the sink. He had it pretty much disassembled with no sign of my sparkly, when he asked if I’d checked my clothes and bra. Well, I did check my shirt and pants, but didn’t think to check my underwear! Not expecting any luck, I ran my hand along the underwire. Wait! Sure enough it was stuck in the lining! Success!!! The funny thing is, we have a stay planned for Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas where we will go rock hunting for diamonds. I’ve already found mine! 😊

Waiting out the winds in Roswell.

Found it!
Such a tiny thing to cause such a fuss.

The wind howled all day Sunday, so we had a quiet coach day. Our next stop, if the weather would cooperate, was a state park in Texas. It was a 6-7 hour pull, so we weren’t sure if we would make it that far.

We are back on track! The winds had calmed a bit on Monday, so we got another early start. We identified several places along the way where we could land if it proved to be too gusty. We had sustained winds in the 20+mph range, but wonder of wonders, we had a tailwind about 85% of the way! Woohoo! The few times that it caught us crossways, Rog said there was no way he could have driven all day like that. But we made it to San Angelo State Park in Texas around 2pm on Monday, 3/25. Yay us! (Actually, yay Rog since he did all the driving! Lol)

A long driving day, but we are back on schedule.

We had just one night booked at San Angelo and it’s too bad because there were mountain bike and hiking trails and a small lake. We didn’t stray too far from the rig, given the weather. But we wouldn’t mind coming back and staying for a few days. The sites were HUGE and spread way out, which is very much appreciated but unusual for sites with hook-ups. 

Huge sites at San Angelo State Park.

Not a day for kayaking - maybe next time.
The white on the left is a huge flock of pelicans!

The pups had a blast blowing off some steam. One of their favorite games is chasing the “red light” – a laser pointer. Riley can be maniacal about it, so we don’t do it very often. Raney likes to play too, but this time she got smart and went straight for the source, trying to snag the light out of Daddy’s hand. Now we know who has the brains in the family. Lol.

Chasing the red light is a favorite game!

Forget chasing it - Raney went right for the source!

Our next stop is New Braunfels, TX. We’ll be parked there for a week visiting Randi and Jose. Looking forward to seeing my girl!

Durango and Million Dollar Views

 

A million dollar view from the Million Dollar Highway.

“It’s not the destination, it's the journey.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson. I think he must have been driving an RV. 😊 Sometimes that quote holds true because the scenery is jaw-dropping gorgeous, other times it’s because the adventure lies in getting where you’re going (alive). Lol. We’ve had both on this trip. Our next destination was Durango, CO. We left Moab, UT around 11am so the roads had plenty of time to warm up and for any snow/ice to melt. We also pulled over at Monticello and again in Cortez to check road conditions. We lucked out again, a few stretches of wintry mix but the roads stayed clear.

Where is our 70's and sunshine? Lol.
Not ideal, but doable.

We pulled into Alpen Rose RV Park just outside of Durango a little before 4pm on Sunday, 3/17 and got settled in. The first part of our stay was attending to errands and chores. The campground had nice laundry facilities, so I tackled that job. Four loads – two for us and two for the dogs. No, they don’t wear clothes! But they do go through a lot of towels and blankets. Lol.  We washed the pup-wagon, got groceries, and had a great lunch and flights of the local beer at Ska brewery. They serve an excellent line-up of craft brews and a better than average bar food menu. We both had the Green Chile Brisket Melt – Yum! House-smoked brisket, green chiles, sauteed peppers and onions, green chile aioli, and melted pepperjack. Rog opted for the homemade chips on the side, while I had a cup of the Cheddar Ale soup. Are you hungry yet?

No picture of the brisket, it disappeard too fast. Lol.

The campground had a HUGE fenced in dog park – at least a half-acre which the kids enjoyed many times during our stay. The only downside was the mud! Ugh. Between frequent rains and melting snow – the ground was a goopy mess. Oh well, more laundry. Lol.

Loved the HUGE fenced doggy play area.
The mud, not so much. 

On Tuesday we had a decision to make. One of the top tourist attractions in the area is the Durango to Silverton narrow-gauge steam engine train. The scenery in the brochure looked amazing. The other option was loading up the pups and driving the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray, which we’ve wanted to do for quite a while. Hmmmmm. Decisions… decisions. We opted for the drive and it did not disappoint!

The Million Dollar Highway (a section of Hwy 550) is one of the most scenic roads in America with breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, and gorges carved by the Uncompahgre River and Red Mountain Creek.  Technically, the Million Dollar Highway is the 25 mile stretch of road originally built to transport ore between Silverton and Ouray, but the entire 65 miles from Durango to Ouray offered stunning views.

We stopped at the visitor’s center in Silverton to let Riley and Raney play in the snow. They both had a blast, doing zoomies and Riley made snow angels again. Snow sure brings out the silly in him. Lol.

Riley is gettin' his snow mojo on!

What???
You never saw a snow dance?

Raney loved the snow too.

How the Million Dollar Highway got its name is up for debate. Theories include that it cost a million dollars a mile to build, that the roadbed contains a million dollars’ worth of gold and silver tailings from nearby mines, while another claims the nickname originates from an exhausted traveler who proclaimed: “I would not travel that road again for a million dollars!” Whichever is true, the highway was completed in 1883 and the name quickly stuck. I’m going with the theory that the views are worth a million dollars!

Yep. A million dollars and worth every penny.

In addition to being incredibly scenic, the high elevation (11,000 ft!), hairpin turns with no guardrails, steep drop offs, avalanche danger, and falling rocks also make it one of the most dangerous highways in the country.  Even though there have been over 400 deaths since 1992, the phenomenal mountain views and abandoned mining artifacts make it a very popular, if sometimes white-knuckled, drive. Definitely not a stretch we’d drive in the motorhome! Lol.

Hairpins are posted at 20, 15 and 10 mph.
And they are not kidding!

Frozen waterfalls along the drive.

Happy to see these guys on the job!

For several years Rog followed the Box Canyon Blog written by Mark, an Ouray resident. He hasn’t posted recently, but Rog recalled he often mentioned Mouse’s Chocolates and Coffee and the Ouray Brewery.  We’re smart enough to take the advice of a local and stopped at both. We had some delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate and scrap cookies (think the most decadent chocolate chip cookie ever, made with leftover gourmet chocolates) at Mouse’s and picked up some treats for later. Rog did a quick run into the brewery for a growler to go. We’d have loved to hang out at the brewery for a bit, but it wasn’t pup-friendly. Not to mention, the Million Dollar Highway is NOT one to tackle after a few beers. Lol.

Ouray, CO - the Switzerland of America.

Don't miss Mouse's or the Brewery if you're in town.

Another notable attraction along Hwy 550 was the Pinkerton Hot Springs, named after an early settler. I was all excited thinking we might be able to have a soak, but the pool is tiny and it was more of a photo op. There are several hot springs in the area, including a huge municipal mineral hot springs pool in Ouray. Something else to put on the list for another visit!

Pinkerton Hotsprings.

The water was warm, but I need a bigger pool to soak in. Lol.

Next stop - Albuquerque, stay tuned!

Alpacas to Dinosaurs – Our First Week on the Road.

 

The Short Bus is parked next to our new alpaca friends.

First stop – Alpacas! We have an exciting itinerary planned – an eclipse, National Parks, Escapade, and so much more – but our first destination was Natural Maximum Alpacas, a Harvest Host site in Prosser, WA. On Saturday, 3/9, we pulled in about 4pm and Linda Mackey, Alpaca mom extraordinaire, guided us to a spot with lovely views of the rolling hills. Best of all, we were parked right next to her delightful herd of 14 awesome alpacas. Linda took us on a tour and we got to feed her fluffy family. Linda and her husband James have five acres on which they've planted over a hundred trees. They’ve installed the longest reflexology pathway in the state and have several gardens for guests to enjoy. It was too early in the season for flowers, but I bet it’s gorgeous come summer. We were introduced to her four hens, which she told us each lay one egg a day. The morning of our departure, Linda brought us three fresh eggs and said one of the hens must have been slacking. Lol.

The first pic is Larry, Curly and Moe (just kidding!). 

Linda shows us the unprocessed fleece. Heavenly soft!

Rog is the alpaca whisperer. Lol.

We also got to see products made from her alpaca’s fleece. Linda makes many of the items herself - knitting, crocheting, and felting. She could identify which yarn came from which alpaca. There were so many choices, beautiful hats, scarves, gloves, socks, decorative items, and more. Rog picked out a pair of alpaca wool socks and I snagged a pair of fingerless gloves. Perfect for picture taking when the temps are low, which would be right now. Lol.

Just a few of my favorite things. 😄 

Our trip has started off much like the last one – with strong gusty winds nearly blowing us out of our lane. I was hoping leaving nearly a month later in the year would give us clear sailing. Maybe I should have thought more carefully about my word choice, because sailing is what it felt like. Although we had a few snow flurries, at least we avoided the blizzard conditions we encountered last year. Of course, it’s only day one. Lol.

Our second night was spent at the Oregon Trail rest stop near Ontario, OR. We opted to bypass the eastbound rest stop and circle back to the westbound one where the RV/truck parking was much larger and further back from I84. The highlight of the day was a stop at the top of Dead Man’s Pass where the kids had an absolute blast in the snow. Raney had the zoomies, while Riley made snow angels – laying on his back and kicking his feet in the air with a ridiculous grin on his face. Our boy loves the snow! I was bummed that I didn’t have my camera or phone with me, because their antics were priceless.

We stopped at another Harvest Host site on Monday, 3/11. No alpacas here, but we were perched on a bluff above the Snake River at The Boathouse restaurant in Burley, ID. The site boasts two restaurants, the Boathouse and Portside Pizza and Pub, as well as a couple cabins, and a huge open area to host boondockers. We enjoyed a tasty dinner at Portside Pizza and then had the RV area all to ourselves. Raney and Riley had lots of off-leash play time and an opportunity to wade in the river.

Perched above the Snake River at the Boathouse restaurant.

Playing ball and then going in the river - Riley's in heaven.

We are starting to think that stopping to let the kids play in the snow maybe wasn’t such a brilliant idea. It apparently stimulated Riley’s amazing snow mojo. Rog is tracking the weather and our planned route to Moab, UT is now under a winter weather advisory calling for 6-12 inches of snow in the passes. UGH!! Riley may be thrilled at the prospect, but we are not. We are exploring alternate routes that, while longer, should avoid the worst of the snow. We shall see. This is looking like one of those times when we stay flexible, deciding on a route as we pull out in the morning and adjusting it on the fly as necessary.  

No mountain passes today (3/12), so we made it to Lakeside RV Campground in Provo, UT without any difficulty. A little rain, a little sun, a little wind, typical spring weather. This was our first stop with hookups and we were looking forward to getting everything charged up and a long hot shower. Then Murphy decided things had been going way too smoothly. So far, our RV issues this trip had been relatively minor – the clip holding the blinds in the window above Riley’s bed (read that couch) failed and we had to remove the entire blind assembly until we can source a new clip. Plus a new rock chip on the passenger side window – hoping to get a repair before that runs!

Anyhow Rog hooks us up to power, everything is fine and then all of sudden we have no power to the 12volt system. If you are familiar with RV’s you know that most of the coach needs 12volt to run – no lights, no fridge, no water pump, no love without it. WTH?? Did one of the pups accidently hit the battery disconnect? Nope. Rog double checks all the breakers…nothing is popped. Hmmmm. Then…poof…everything is working again. For about two minutes. Arrrgh. Intermittent electrical issues are the worst! Rog spent the next hour trying to troubleshoot the problem. He opened up the battery disconnect switch, but it seemed to be fine. All the breakers…fine. I went to the campground office to get a number for a mobile repair service. Rog finally tried resetting the 12v breaker even though it hadn’t popped and ta-da – lights! For about five minutes. He reset it again…we’re back in business. So, we figure the breaker is bad. Nope, on the third reset he notices a loose connection to the breaker. All that because the connections had been jostled enough going down the road to loosen up just a wee bit. He tightened the connections, problem solved. Yay!!!!

Such a simple fix, but it could have been disastrous!

To complicate matters, this is our maiden voyage with a new set of Epoch lithium batteries. Shortly before we left, Rog had replaced our 7-year-old lead acid batteries with lithium batteries that would double our available amp hours. The installation required some rewiring and additional components. Although he tested the system and all was working, it certainly made the power failure a little more anxiety ridden. Glad it was a simple fix!

New Epoch lithium 300 amp hour batteries and a Renology DC to DC charge controller. Woohoo!

We also have another new toy this trip. Thanks to my brother’s generous Christmas gift, we are the proud owners of a Starlink. It has been a huge upgrade. Instead of one tiny nubbin of Verizon 4G that was barely enough to send a text message, I’m cruising the internet and have no excuses not to get the blog out. Wait…maybe it’s not all good. Lol. Now if mother nature will just cooperate and let us through the passes without too much fuss, we’re gold. Lol.

And Starlink too! Ain't we fancy? Lol. 

We made it to Moab! (But you could tell that from the Starlink pic, right?) After much deliberation, Rog decided to just stick with our original planned route. Mother nature played nice and we made it through the passes with just a few sections of slushy roads, spitting snow, and, of course, the ever present wind. We pulled into Horsethief BLM campground about 3pm on 3/13 to find it nearly deserted and our favorite campsite open. Hurrah! We set up camp and, while the temps were brisk, we thoroughly enjoyed a few hours of sunshine. Raney made friends with the lab next door and we chatted with our neighbors. Then the clouds moved in, the winds kicked up and it started snowing sideways. Lol. It didn’t last long, but served as a reminder that spring weather in the desert is an uncertain business.

Threatening clouds and snow on the hills, but the roads stayed clear.

Once we got out of the mountains it was blue skies for a change!

Riley and Raney were glad to be out of the coach for awhile.

The view from our patio.
Now you know why this is our favorite site in the campground.

One of the main reasons we love this campground is that Rog can access the Horsethief system of mountain biking trails right from our campsite. On Thursday he bundled up and took off to do parts of Rowdy, Rodeo, and Wrangler trails. He was back after a couple hours, with the realization that tackling trails at nearly 6000 ft of elevation with no training does not make for easy riding. And we won’t say anything about us not getting any younger. Lol.  After being cooped in the RV for the last several days, the pups were lobbying to sit outside after dinner. Rog pulled out another new addition to the load out, an Ignik Firecan. It’s a baby propane firepit! We can’t fit a full sized one in the rig, but this little guy puts out some heat and is a great alternative. Campgrounds frown on or outright prohibit bringing in firewood and with frequent burn bans, it‘s nice to have options.

Anxiously waiting for last bites.
Those faces! And Raney has the waterworks turned on. Lol. 

Trying out the Fire Can until the rain started and drove us back inside.

Friday was supposed to be our warmest day and this is what we woke up to… Actually, I would have been happy to just wake up to the view. Instead I was outside (ahem) enjoying the weather at 5AM. Riley was unsettled most of the night, must have been that snow dance he was doing. But he finally had me bolting out of bed to the sound of him hurking at the door. Nothing can make a dog mom (or cat mom) levitate out of bed faster. Ugh. It was a minor mess, but by the time we had it cleaned up everyone was awake and Raney was demanding breakfast. So 5am potty walks in the snow and early coffee. Gotta love ‘em. Sigh.

The view outside our bedroom window - once it was light enought to take a picture. Lol. 

We had a few hours break in the weather Saturday afternoon, so we loaded up the pups for a drive. Even with the clouds the scenery is spectacular. We wanted to check out some nearby dinosaur tracks at Mill Canyon Fossil and Historical area.  There’s a short trail with a boardwalk and several informative signs detailing the six different types of dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous period (about 112 million years ago) that left their mark here including early alligators, Therapods, and Ornithopods. There have been no skeletal remains found in this area of some of the dinosaurs, so the only record of them are footprints. The Therapod was a meat-eater, estimated to be 8 ft tall at the hip. The Ornithopods were herbivores, similar to the Iguanodon. Dinosaur tracks are just so freaking cool!

The clouds touched the top of the mesa.

Monitor and Merrimack. 

A large Therapod track.

Ornithopod running across the algae bed. Lol.

Maybe 112 million years from now someone will be
awed by these tracks of the amazing mastisaur. Lol.

Mill Canyon is also the site of an old stagecoach stop and a copper mill which ran from 1901 to 1903. Today there is a small BLM campground and trails for hiking, biking, and equestrians. I loved the metal sculptures depicting prospectors near the trailhead.  

Sculpture commemorating the early minors.

View from the Mill Canyon campground.

We opted to head back to our campsite and take the pups on a short hike before the rain was due to start at 4pm. The trail was completely deserted so the pups got to explore and sniff to their heart’s content. We timed it perfectly, getting back to the rig just as the rain started back up. A little sun, clouds, rain, sleet, snow…another typical day. I’d just like to note that the folks at home have been thoughtful enough to share that they are enjoying 70° temps and sunshine. We obviously left a week too early, although there’s no telling what Riley’s snow mojo would have done to their balmy spring weather. Lol.

The pups enjoyed exploring and so did we!

I see you!

I love the twisted juniper and colorful lichen.

Rog and the trail dogs. 

Raney and Riley relax after the hike. 
Notice the pink toes?

Our next destination is Durango, CO. We’ve never been there before, so we’ll see what trouble we can get into. 😊