Alone in the Forest---East Fork Camp

 

The title here is a bit misleading.  We are camping alone, now, but we are not way out in the boondocks alone…..but by ourselves in a forest campground, East Fork.

Since arriving almost three weeks ago we have been with friends and new friends.  First week we were at a fiberglass rally, then shared a campsite with a new friend from the rally.  Then we relocated to property close to Pagosa Springs where an impromptu Kansas rally was happening.

We found a lovely, heavily shaded campground east of Pagosa Springs six days ago and have not been motivated to leave.  We have been sight-seeing, relaxing and doing chores……there are pit toilets and one well with a huge handle on the pump.  A real workout to get a few gallons of water!

Not much to say but the Nikon is being used and I’m finally getting away from the S5 phone photos.

Our first site…had to move after three days due to reservations….is on a bluff overlooking the East Fork of the San Juan River…(first photo above.)

There’s a water falls, Silver Falls, way up the gravel road that runs by the campground.  The above photos were taken of the East Fork while searching for the falls……turned around after about 5 miles…got tired of the bumpy road!

Treasure Falls is on the main road of 160. We  manage to climb up for a proper view.

Wolf Creek Pass is a granddaddy of mountain passes…..at least someone told me that.  No history of driving in big mountains.  We drove up in the Tundra to check it out.

 

Our only other big mountain pass was on our way to Alaska.  I need to pull the Escape up and over to get over my nervousness.  (This has not happened yet!)

Views from the overlook returning back to camp.

Another day we drove back up and over the mountain to have lunch with friends who are camping in South Fork.  We stopped at Big Meadow campground to check it out.

 

If we get motivated to leave East Fork, Big Meadow may get a visit and the Escape will get to cross over the Continental Divide. Oh, joy!

Overall, life is good!

Sun and Rain…. Week Two in Southern CO

 

The most perfect campsite is secured early Friday morn with absolutely no hassle! We leave the rally early enough to run 5 miles up the mountain to dump and return back to the nearby forest campground of Haviland Lake.  Uh, oh!  Another egg camper is parked right in front of registration, hoping to get one of the few sites open on a Friday. 

But it’s one of the full timers that we camped with during the rally.  The camp host says there is a premium electric, lake view, double site coming open and we grab it!

Camping with electricity is an unexpected luxury.  Very grateful that we are easing into this new world of Colorado mountain camping.

Diane, our new camp mate, helps me back into the site. (It’s nice to get directions from another woman….she seems to know how to help me maneuver the wheel.)

We set up the baby Clam between our trailers and it becomes our new hangout. My solar powered butterflies soon decorate the ceiling.

 

Sylvester is enjoying the new quiet…away from the multitude of dogs at the rally.  He meets and tolerates Houdi, Diane’s beautiful cat…..which I neglect to photograph!

David and I decide to ride up the mountain to Silverton.  He keeps bumping and running into things and his blood thinner keeps him bleeding.  During the rally a retired RN gave me lessons in wrapping  bandages.  It is time to buy more first aid supplies.

Silverton, Colorado

The narrow gauge rail train arrives from Durango to Silverton.  We keep thinking about taking the trip…maybe soon?

 

David enjoying the view.

Diane and I decide to take a little hike to a nearby lake.  It is the first real exercise my body has experienced since arriving at 8,000 feet.  I am huffing and puffing at every little rise.  So sad!

The lakes are lovely…but it’s difficult to get the right shot.

The days are warm, the nights are nice and cool.  We get a few showers but mostly it’s sunny….highs in the mid 80’s.  This is the sun part of this post.

We stay four nights at Lake Haviland….just unable to part with such a great camp.

Tuesday we say our goodbyes and head toward Pagosa Springs. A friend has emailed us and invited us to an impromptu gathering on his lot in the mountains.  Four trailers are there to greet us as we arrive late in the afternoon.

We have one pretty day before the monsoon rains begin.

We spend our time exploring and visiting with friends……think I just said that about the last campsite!

Pagosa Springs is known for it’s hot springs….going for a dip is on our to do list.

We watch kids surf the San Juan River at the Visitors’ Center.

Our group decides to attend a barbeque at the Parelli Ranch.

It starts raining hard just as we arrive (and continues off and on for the next three days). But we are in a huge enclosure with room for eating and watching a horse show at the same time.  There’s also live music….excellent entertainment!

 

 

 

This ranch is the world wide headquarters of the Parelli School of Natural Horse training. It’s fascinating to hear about their techniques. The horses follow their trainers around like pets with no bridles or gear.

We are content at the moment.  No current thoughts of heading home soon.  If it gets hot again, we plan to head higher into the mountains. 

Hot Journey and Mountain Gathering

 

David’s heart doctor gives us good news on a Monday morning five days before the beginning of the Rocky Mountain fiberglass rally.  The last test indicates that his heart functioning is greatly improved over the test in May.  This means we can head to the big mountains….it also means we must go into overdrive to get packed and out the door!

Unfortunately a dome of heat is settling over the country….heat unlike any we have experienced on the road.

The first day on the road we only turn off the a/c when the Tundra is fueling.  It is around 98 degrees and and 90 percent humidity!  We stay in the comfort of the truck’s AC all day and manage to drive 500 miles, making it to the other side of Little Rock.  It is just as hot the next day but the humidity begins to drop as we get further west. Day two ends at Red Rock Canyon State Park in Oklahoma.  The thermometer says 98 but there is shade and a breeze! We sit outside and enjoy the rocks.

 

Hot breezes are blowing as we arrive at the Santa Rosa RV Park in New Mexico.  We pick the private park because it has a restaurant…who wants to cook when it’s 103 degrees?

It also has a pool, a very clean and cold pool.  I learn that my husband will still go swimming if the temperature is in the 100’s.

There’s even some shade in Santa Rosa!

The next day we manage to survive driving through Albuquerque and head north toward Colorado.  Aztec, NM is our next stop, just 40 miles south of Durango.

The Animas River flows next to the campground. I’m enchanted with the river.

 

 

The next morning I am playing with Google Maps and realize the Aztec Ruins National Monument is only 1/3 mile away.  It’s already hot at 8:30 AM but we want to see a piece of history.

 

 

 

Excerpts from one of the brochures: “the Aztecs never lived here.  Aztec ruins were built by the ancestors of the native Americans still living in the west.”  These Great Houses were a result of thousands of years of Pueblo history.  The Spanish explorers incorrectly named many places “Aztec”.

After a stop at the Durango Walmart, we start up a mountain toward Chris Park group camping area.  What a surprise!  We find a large parking lot full of eggs clustering around half a dozen electrical outlets.  And we join the circus.

 

 

 

And it has been pretty much non stop party since Sunday afternoon.  I was not sure I could handle all this intimate camping, but, overall, it is FUN!

We visit the Public Lands office in Durango obtaining maps for dispersed camping.  While David naps, I take to the back roads looking for campsites, feeling very much kin to RV Sue.

A few photos from my scouting trip:

 

 

 

It’s a great week in the mountains!

We are saying our goodbyes today and are off to search for the next perfect campsite!

Emerging from the Cave

 

Sunrise over Guntersville Lake, AL

When I last wrote, back around the first of April, there was no warning that it would be my last post for three months.  Did not realize that some piece of me….the part that can feel peace……was breaking or had already broken.

In April we returned from a great rally in Townsend after spending lovely times with wonderful friends whom we adore.  But something was not right…..

Looking back it may have been just too many lovely times with the wonderful friends…or the stress of the ongoing medical issues around David’s heart, or the scary weather traveling back from Arizona and ….. who knows what!!!

But all I wanted to do is crawl into my cave and not come out.  Someone asked “when are you hitting the road again?”  My reply is “we are staying at home until it feels like we live here!” 

Surprisingly, it has been a good three months. The goal was to create a life in our new home that feels rewarding and makes us happy.  We are being mostly successful with a few bumps.

One of the unpleasant bumps happened in May.  David experienced chest pain and I called 911.  The ER doc diagnosed him with a “baby” heart attack which is the best kind to have if one is going to have a heart attack.

He appears to be doing very well.  A few weeks after the event we spent a long weekend on Guntersville Lake.  It was hot but he seemed to be ok during the trip.

Going to back up now and do a little show and tell on our last few months.

The Townsend rally was without a leader this year.  Tom P. retired after leading this event for many years. Everyone managed to have fun at the leaderless event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last two photos are from the Middle Fork in the Tremont area of the Great Smoky Mountains.

When we returned home…..remember it’s our new home after downsizing last year…we had a new deck!  And it has been my hide out for the summer.  My place to hide from the world.

 

 

We have done a lot of small improvements on our space.  The front porch got stained… a four day project.

 

Carpenters work at repairing fascia boards and soffits….a two week repair!!

The roof repairs have been completed for several weeks….such a relief to have our space back!

Now we are in the dog days of summer with lots of heat and humidity.  We are staying in, reading library books and binge watching several shows that somehow have passed us by…’Mad Men’ and ‘Orange is the New Black’.

Dusted off the gym membership and proud to report we have been going three times a week for the past month.

It’s time to get back on the road!

Pending a good report from more tests on David’s heart this week, we plan to be heading toward Colorado in about 10 days or so. 

Can’t wait to get out of this heat!!

But if the verdict is to stay home, it’s not too bad.  We are learning to flow like a river.

Sending apologies to everyone that I have neglected…still love you!