Heber City, UT. Mt. Timpanogos in background. The valley with granite walls reminds me of Carson Valley in Nevada
I expect we will be seeing more of these as private companies take over the management of Forest Service campgrounds. No charge for campers, but enforced payment for non-campers. Unintended consequences - illegal dumping.
Sunday, July 21 - We left Utah today which always makes me a little sad. It was a long drive for us (5 hours) to get to Grand Junction, CO. We are going to spend the night in the driveway of fellow Lazy Dazer, Dale Ellis. We thought that the heat in Grand Junction was unusual, but Dale said that it was normal for this time of the year. It's in the high 90's and low 100's. After we arrived, Dave took us on a tour of Grand Mesa National Forest for 4 hours. It's 10,800' at the summit. This place is large with lots of camping opportunities and it's cool. The daytime high averages 70 degrees. We went out to a Mexican dinner and by the time we arrived back at Dale's we were exhausted.
Monday, July 22 - We drove hour to Grand Mesa and are camping at Little Bear CG. The sites are well spaced which provides privacy and we have a fantastic view of the lake. We got set up and after lunch I took a long nap because I still have not recovered from the sinus infection and the trip yesterday. After nap, we toured some other CG's along the different lakes and decided our spot is the best. If we decided to leave here, then there are a lot of very nice dispersed campsites, but they don't have the lake view. This is a nice place to sit outside and have Happy Hour. Looks like we may stay here a week as rains are forecast for here the area south. Great to put out the fires. Not good for us going up a dirt road to a dispersed parking location near Owl Creek Pass.
We did not have much of data signal yesterday, but it's fast today. We have three ABC stations here in the forest and a CBS station that comes and goes.
Tuesday, July 23 - We lazed the morning away surfing, then napped. Dale came up to visit in the mid-afternoon. We took a late afternoon drive looking at the variety of wild flowers blooming.
Wednesday, July 24 - Some clouds moved in and we got 3 minutes of mist, but the forecast rain did not get here. We paddled the yaks around the island in Island Lake. Yesterday, we had a really hot cell signal. Today, nothing. We decided to take a look at Island CG, found it had some sites with a view of the mountains and two bars of 3G, so we moved. On arrival the cell coverage was gone. But the CBS station was rock solid. Of course, the only the thing of interest to watch is the news, which is not that interesting.
I had hoped that I had cured the problem of the refer cutting off every day or so by cleaning the jet. It went out last night. It relights without a problem. Conflicted on what to do. We could go back to Grand Junction and try for service. Which might or might not work. It would be several days until we would know if the tech did anything but take our money. And without phone service, we don't even know if they could look at it.
Thursday, July 25 - We have wanted to return to Silverton ever since we were there in 2008. They say you can not go back, but we want to try. It will be a new cast of characters this time. It may be crowded. And there is now a 14 day stay limit. Dorothy said this morning this trip was all about Moab, the Palouse and Silverton. The rest is just filler.
We drove 19 miles to get a cell signal so we could surf a bit. We are addicted. Still wondering where the two bars of 3G we saw Tuesday go?
I don't want you to think that we don't do anything but have fun or shop or lay in our sick beds. We felt good today, but the elevation of 10,500' prevents us from doing anything but a little walking. So we were constructive today - we cleaned the rig. Now we have clean floors, windows, mirrors, bathroom and kitchen. It's a lot easier cleaning Koko than a house.
Friday, July 26 - We sleep until 7! Lazed around, reading, drinking coffee. My blood pressure is 135/100, higher by far then ever. Perhaps it's the 10,000 elevation, but I have zero "breath" to hike. Ditto Dorothy, but her blood pressure is fine.
This has been one of our better days. Don suggested that we take a walk around the CG. We are on the highest level, so I knew coming back up would be challenging. But after a couple of stops so I could catch my breath and rest, we completed the walk. We saw the sign to Land of Lakes and I wanted to see it. In the afternoon the drove there but discovered that it was a trail not a drive. I decided to blow it off, but thank goodness, Don wanted to walk. It was a half-mile hike on a paved trail to an overlook. But, what a view to the south. The same view we have from our campsite, but with seven small lakes in the foreground. We sat on the rocks for an hour or so taking it all in. We also chatted with a group of LDS students. That always a pleasure.
We stopped by a lodge on the way back to ask if we could use their wi-fi. Sure, no charge, and would we like a free cup of coffee.
Saturday, July 27 - We surfed at the lodge and spent the rest of the day reading. We heard thunder in the distance and the sky clouded up from time-to-time. But no rain until after midnight. The forecast calls for an 80% chance tomorrow - the day we plan to head south.
Sunday, July 28 - We woke to clouds all around the horizon and occasional rain. We watched Sunday morning TV and suddenly the skies cleared. We took off down the Mesa to Delta where we found a City Market and bought $200 of groceries. We have stuff crammed everywhere. We continued south and paused at Montrose to wait out a shower. The vehicles are fairly clean and I just did not want to mess them up for no good reason. Well, we had not gone far when another shower overtook us and in 10 miles we got a little slimy. And so it goes.
Not wanting to go into the forest in the rain we opted to stay in the BIG state park at Ridgway. Electric for $29. Holy Moly. Oh well we can see the San Juan's all around and perhaps tomorrow we can find a suitable spot near Owl Creek Pass.
For any history buffs, this being the an anniversary of the Korean War, we are in Ridgway and it was General Ridgeway that saved South Korea after MacArthur botched the war all around. The general is all but forgotten now, but it was the force of his maverick personality that rallied the troops and prevented a disaster.
Good Food!
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