Where has the time gone? I’m so behind with all of this.
So let’s see after Arches, we spent 5 nights at Morefield Campground in Mesa Verde National Park. No hook ups, but we managed. It’s a nice campground – assuming you don’t mind the other campers. You know, the big talkers, the boasters, the yell at my kids all day, the I’ve got so much work to do that I need you (my wife and 3 kids that I dragged from Utah) to leave me alone while I set up my tiny tent trailer. Oh, and Ruthy, what are you making for dinner? Or the hillybilly posse with their Jed Clampett rigs, the campers that as the case of MGD dwindles, the twangy conversation escalates until it’s an all out battle over who gets the last weenie. Those are the kind of campers that get The Keep in Moving Folks as their circling the campground, looking for the perfect spot.
The cliff dwellings are well preserved and super interesting to be able to walk through. Unfortunately, to get to most of the dwellings, you have to take the guided group tour. We don’t do well with these sorts of organized activities. The pace alone inspires a nap. See paragraph above for some perspective on the rest of the group. The tours themselves vary depending on your guide – articulate, well informed with accurate historical information or Baby Huey from Texas who would not stop saying “these people”. For example, BH insisted that the kivas served a purely ceremonial purpose rather than more of a family room with places to sleep, cook and eat. Regardless of the information you get, it’s well worth the $3.
From Mesa Verde, we drove to Telluride and stayed at Matterhorn Campground at close to 10,000 feet. The Aspen Trees are green, leafy, with white trunks. I liked them. I think I got a little altitude sickness though. Headache, nausea, super irritable. Or maybe that was just an excuse. Hard to say. Telluride is cute, exactly what you’d want in a small mountain village. Exactly what I was hoping for in Moab. There’s a yarn shop in town,
Needle Rock Fiberarts, but sadly, it was closed by the time we made it out of
Smuggler’s Brewery and the North Face store. Note to self: avoid expensive mountain retail environments where you're likely to convince yourself that you NEED active girl clothes after pints of raspberry wheat beer.
After a couple days at Matterhorn, we drove down towards Montrose to
Centennial RV Park and Campground and by campground, they mean that they have 3 grassy tent sites. Full hook ups and laundry. The Mr even got the satellite up and working. In fact, he got lots of practice finding the satellite signals since the crazy wind blew the tripod over. But practice makes perfect and since then, we’ve been working the HD-DVR.
Two nights was just enough at the RV park. 5 loads of laundry. 4 hours of work. I always like the hook ups, but the Mr can only take a few days of the trailer park feel. It was just a short drive up to Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park. It’s sort of a dark, mini grand canyon. Getting into our spot at the campground was a little hairy. It’s technically a pull through, but not very wide or level. We’re balanced at a crazy pitch and had to use all of the blocks to get one side high enough. The space is wide enough for our mini slide, is very green and teeming with wildlife – birds, chipmunks and deer. Lucy’s a little slow to notice the deer, but definitely has the scent of the chipmunks and imagines herself quite the hunter.
The Mr kicked off today with The Who on the ipod while I was making breakfast. New Dave Mathews Band in the afternoon as we drove around the rim. Family photo. A good day.
