Rex and Nancy's Travels - "ALL WHO WANDER ARE NOT LOST" - JRR Tolkein

Rex has been busy working on the train at least 3 or 4 days a week so that has not left us a lot of time for other activities. We did take a hike in the Rio Grande National Forest North of Chama. Our plan was to hike to this waterfall across the valley, but we couldn’t find the trail that cuts off to the waterfall. We still had a great hike in a beautiful area.               We celebrated Nancy’s birthday on the 14th with friends from Mississippi, Billy & Arlene. We had a great dinner and enjoyed catching up with Billy & Arlene.   Nancy enjoyed a great ride on the train on the 16th while Rex was working as a Docent. We rode the bus to Antonito where we got on the train and rode to Osier, CO where we had a great lunch. After lunch we boarded the train and rode to Cumbres Pass where we met the bus for the ride back to Chama. It was hot but a very enjoyable day.             ...

We drove to Chama, NM and are staying at the Rio Chama RV Park. We have been staying in this park for about 8 years and have gotten to know the owners and some of the work campers. A few of Rex’s fellow docents with the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad also stay here. It is nice to see our friends again. The site we are in is a new site they just put in this spring and we are the first rig to use it. The pad that they built up to park on was narrow and not packed down; consequently, we had a hard time getting in the spot as our tires kept sinking. Once we got parked and settled it is a really nice site. Our site backs up to the Rio Chama River – what a great view out our back window! The tracks for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad are in the trees on the other side of the river.                   We also can see this from the door of the 5th wheel   Yes, that is one of the two bear traps in the park – they c...

We are staying at the Blue Mesa Recreational Ranch which is across the highway from Blue Mesa Reservoir. This beautiful Columbine garden was just outside the laundry. Blue Mesa Reservoir is in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. It is 20 miles long and the largest reservoir in Colorado. While we are here we are going to see the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and take some 4WD drives into the beautiful mountains of the western slope of Colorado. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park We spent a day at the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We drove the South Rim Road and stopped at all the overlooks. This is Rex’s first visit to this park and he was amazed at how beautiful and rugged it is. Nancy was here before it was a National Park (about 27 years ago) and was glad to see many improvements in the facilities.             On another day we took a National Park Service boat ride on Morro...

We had planned to go to Moab and tour Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks when we left Mt. Pleasant; but we decided it was too hot there now and we wouldn’t enjoy it. We wanted to do some hiking in the parks and Nancy finds the older she gets the less she can tolerate really hot weather. We have been to both parks before so we will wait until we can visit when it is a little cooler. Consequently, we headed to the James M. Robb - Colorado River State Park in Fruita, CO. This is a really nice state park along the Colorado River. They have a nice trail that follows the river for about ¼ mile. We have enjoyed walking the dogs on this trail in the evenings. We drove the Palisade Fruit and Wine Trail and found our favorite winery, Colorado Cellars, where we stocked up on some great wine. We stopped at a few fruit and vegetable stands and got some great cherries and fresh snow peas (the only produce in season now). We also went to the Colorado National Monument and drove the Rim R...

We moved north to Mt. Pleasant, UT where we are staying at Pleasant Creek Ranch which is our home park in the Camper World Resort system. This is a really nice park with grass all around our site and shade trees. It has been a long time since the dogs had the chance to stretch out on grass and they are enjoying it. We are in the Sanpete Valley between the Wasatch Range and the Wasatch Plateau. This valley is very green and lush with hay and alfalfa fields and pastures with sheep, cows and horses. We are going to spend a couple of weeks here doing some sightseeing, catching up on chores and relaxing. We drove the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway in the Wasatch Mountains. The byway went by 11,928 ft high Mt. Nebo – beautiful in its mantle of snow.                       We stopped at Devil’s Kitchen, a small area of hoodoos which were nice but kind of anticlimactic after visiting Bryce National Park and Red Canyon!   ...