This Old House

May 31 - June 2, 2017
La Mesa RV Park
Cortez, Colorado



There isn't a direct route from where we were in Utah to the Durango area in Colorado so we decided to take the road that went through 4 Corners.  We haven't been there since our kids were small and thought it was worth a stop.  Now we know better.  What used to be free now costs $10.  Since we had paid our fee we felt obliged to take the tourist photo standing in four states at once.  The one thing that hasn't changed is the parking lot.  It's still the same chunky dried clay with potholes large enough to consume a RV.

Yesterday we drove up into the mountains for the wonderful views and delightful weather.

Most of the mountain towns we remember haven't grown very much.  I guess it's difficult to expand the city limits when the town is surrounded by federal lands on all sides.

Notice the zig zag on the mountain.  That's the road. 

Telluride is one of my favorite towns.  They even have a place in the city park to tie your dog (puppy parking) while you are in the restroom.




The trip back to the campground on a different road wasn't quite as nice.  The normal white knuckle two lane road from Ouray to Silverton turned out to be a white knuckle one lane road most of the way.  There was all kinds of construction along the way and it looked like the outside lane in one area had fallen off the side of the mountain.  Construction crews were busy trying to rebuild the road.  The workers' Porta Potti was right next to a drop off and it had large straps around it to keep it from going over the edge.  The rest of the trip back to Durango was pretty but uneventful.

Today we spent the day at Mesa Verde. 







When we visited many years ago people were allowed to walk through the dwellings near the canyon floor.  In an effort to better preserve the ancient buildings, that is now prohibited.

  There is only one building, Balcony House, that people are allowed to go inside and then only with a ranger.  That sounded good so we signed up for that tour.  

I must have not been paying attention when the tour was described.  Instead of approaching the buildings from the canyon floor, this one was only accessible by climbing down 140' from the top of the cliff.  There was also the 32' wooden ladder to climb into the main balcony section.

And last there was a 12' narrow dark tunnel that could only be navigated by crawling over the stones on your knees.























This is Dave's best side.

 Tomorrow we will be heading towards Montrose, Colorado.