The 2006 Travels of Richard n Shirley

This is the sight you see coming from west US160 to town. You are looking at Chimney Rock. Quite a sight to see on the drive. We made our first rv park stop at the Passport America campground west of town. I liked it so much that I pulled in and pulled right back out without stopping. We made our second stop in west Pagosa Springs at 160 West Adult RV Park. Pulled in , stopped at the office (which was closed for errends) and drove thru looking at the spaces available and found a DP has blocked our way. We had to unhook car and dolly, back out, turn around, back up to the dolly and with the car following, we left. The rate there was $370.00 + elec. It turns out to be one of the cheapest. But they were full for a monthly.


We drove and looked at all the parks, got prices and ended up south of town on US84 about 10 miles for $330.00 incl elec. The highest price was the Cool Pines at $468.00 + with an ex KOA (Pagosa Riverside) five miles east of town on the river at $450.00 + next. The place we chose was the Acres Green RV Park. For the extra hundred plus, we will drive to town. Gas isn't that high yet. Besides, we have a grass yard vs gravel on all other parks.


Our left side yard and part of the front.


Our right side yard and again part of the front.

A view of the front yard and looking toward the highway, US84, and river. We plan on stopping for a 30 days to let the budget catchup, see a movie or two, find the golf course practice facilities and generally take a break. We have two interior lights to repair, wash the car and rv, do some service on both, and DW can use the washer/dryer to keep our clothes clean. The commerical laundries are hard on the clothes. Our washer may be slow but it does a very good job.

Elevation: 7008 feet
GPS: N37 deg 9.384', W106 deg, 56.629'
Temp: 82 with a cool breeze, forecast high of 84. 50 overnight.

This is 1968 when I was asked to go to another country to fight the Communist Idealogy. I arrived about 4Jan68 and spent the next 9 months, 3 weeks with an artillery firing battery. We were better known as a fire base. This is a view of the battery from above.

This is our tool of war. It is a 105 mm artillery piece. We had six of them and had a range of about seven miles. We were fortunate to have never had to fire in our defense.
And here is yours truly at the prime age of 25, married and one son with a daughter on the way.

There are a few more in the links. I have kept these and dozens of others since then but I am going to put them in the trash. Most of the pics are of poor quality and of no interest but to me. I am sharing these with you till they are removed and then they will be no more.

We moved to Aztec after finding the casino under construction. The picture below is of one trip to find an arch. The side roads we had to take were typically like this, oil field roads. None of these roads are kept up by the county but by the oil companies. If it weren't for the oil companies, there would be no need for the roads. We had nearly new tires on the back of the car and put new on the front just for this purpose.


Some where over there is an arch. Since we dont have a high center vehicle, we parked and walked about 100 yards. Yep, watch out for snakes!

I saw this rock formation and took a pics. But that is not the arch that we are looking for. Its more to our right.


There in the distance is what we came all this way to see. Its just barely visible but it is a true arch.


That is the best pic we could get. The better pic is from the "ditch" under the arch. This ditch is about 20 feet deep and is the drainage from the area. To get down there requires sliding on your butt down the near vertical walls. Not me, I'm chicken and my chicken little said no way too. Its the getting up that is a problem.


There are other arches we saw and took pics of while in Aztec. For the younger and more adventrous of you, with new tires too, stop at the C of C and get the directions. Be sure to take hiking boots. See our links page for all the arch pictures.

Its on to Pagosa Springs, CO and our planned stop of a month to let the budget catch up and stop driving. We are south of town about 10 miles, US84, at an rv camp on the river.

Mileage: 96
Gas: $137.00 @ $3.15.9 in Aztec.
Temp: 82, now 72 with showers
RV space for the month: $330.00 incl elec.
Dinner: sloppy joes in meat sauce with toasted bread spears and sweet water over ice with after dinner drinks of wine/wine coolers.

Notice that I corrected the elevation. We had to move because I was having problems breathing. We got to spend only one night there and it was nice. We put everything up and headed to Aztec to see the arches.

But first I am posting some of the Chama pictures here and the rest are in our link page.


The train getting ready to go to CO. There was no problem with riders. There were plenty.


Our spot after we pulled out. Wish we could have stayed but being able to breath is important too. Shirley found this in the "Free Campgrounds" book. Follow the directions carefully as it is behind the station and there is probably no turn around. Drive the toad in. Park the RV across from the station along the road. There is only some 6 spots. The road goes under the RR and dead ends.


Bike riders of the "Ride the Rockies". A 2000 by invitation only ride. Its a big deal ride.


A stop on our way was Dulce, NM at the casino. Since it was being renovated and nearly impossible to get into, we drove on. We arrived at Aztec, NM, elevation 5593, and had to stay at the Ruins Road RV Park. There are mostly permanent residents. Its a $20.00 a night stop and we will be here two nights to get everything in. Tomorrow we see the Aztec Ruins National Monument. After that, come noon we move again. DW is spoiled with tv and we may not have that again or cell service. Its hot too today.

The photo's we took of the arches will be posted in a day or two. I have more pics but not enough time. So, I'll post the pics later. You can see all of the pics on the links page. Lets see where we go next on the next post.

Mileage: 180
Temp: 95
Gas price: $3.15.9

We traveled a long way to get here. Atleast it seems so. We went from 6863 to Chama at 7863 and then on to Chama Pass in Colorado at 10,022 to our location at the train station near the pass. Our gps says its 6515 elevation where we are. Its simply beautiful.


This is our front yard today with grass and tall trees. We are backed in to this spot so we can make a quick getaway if needed. This is the last spot available for an rv.

Our neighborhood is to our liking. We don' t have any close neighbors. We have found what George is always looking for. Free camping, George would be proud. We can stay here till we run out of water or the tanks are full. whichever comes first. There are several commerical campgrounds in Chama, but, we don't like an rv 15 feet away. When you can hear your neighbors ZZZZZ, that's to close.


Shirley caught this on the way up. It's the narrow gage train from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO. There is another train leaving Antonito going to Chama. They stop in CO for lunch. This is the turn around for those only going half way. Lunch is part of the ticket price.


A wider shot of the whole train.

And some of the passangers in the rail car. Since there are different ticket prices, these may be the "cheap" sets. There is lots more on the trains as we were able to park up the road from the train to Chama. It came by about 2:30 pm and stopped. As it left, we got some excellent pics of it, closeup. And a panarama was made and is in our photo links. There is lots more but that will be over the next several days. We will go to Chama in the car and see the sights. Showers will be earlier than usual. DW is already in sweater and has a wrap in the chair. Baby is cold.

Mileage: 57
Elevation: 6515 """CORRECTION 10,022 at Chama Pass where we are behind the station."""
Temp: 70 at 4:00 pm.
Overnight temp: jammies and extra blanket tonight.
GPS: 37 deg 1.491, 106 deg 27.675
Temp at 6 pm: 66
Temp at 9 pm: 53

The trip began at 5:30 am and we arrived a McD across the street at 7:30 am for breakfast. Worst I'v had. Usually McD has good food but not this one. We saw the Dr and he looked at the leg and the chest and stated we have Dermatitist caused by a lack of surface blood flow. The leg had the vein removed from the ankle to the groin and the area is part of the incession. The chest is really the tummy and this never healed from last December. I have an ointment to apply that is suppose to stop the itch and reduce the inflamation. Other than that, keep it dry and apply the ointment twice daily. It looks like marbled meat.

Look closely and see what you can see. Dont cheat and look at the later pictures either. You Cheated didn't you! Another view of the Rio Grande gorge. Once you get up to this elevation approaching Taos, the gorge appears. There is a bridge over the gorge along US64 I believe. We didn't go that way but I'm sure it would be worth the trip. Jerryriverguy has some information about the bridge. It is a sight to see.


We found a place to park and watch the refters come down river. They started up stream in the photo above and slowely made their way down stream past us. DW remarked that they had oars. The oars are for steering on the water and for paddling in slower water. In the above is a two person kayak making its way thru the rapids.


And a raft going thru the rapids. The person in the back is steering and is probably employed by the rental company. Some times they waved and some times not.

They sure looked like they were having fun. The whole ride lasted maybe 15 minutes. We don't have any idea as to cost.

Now this is a group of funseekers. They were running into each other, laughing and have fun. There are lots of rv camps up there and some are for boondocking. But you pay and Jerryriverguy says its $15.00 now. The trip to see Taos, Red River and Angel Fire is worth the whole day from Abiquiu Lake.

We will be moving to Chama, NM tomorrow. We will be boondocking there at 7863 feet and if we have a secure place, the satellite will be put up and left up over night. If its not a secure area, updates here may be iffy. The weather there is in the low 80's and low/mid 40's at night. Sounds good to us. It was 97 in Albq today.

Be sure to see our picture link as I posted some of my time in Viet Nam in 1968. I dont plan on keeping the photos after I get them scanned.

And update your bloggs too!

Mileage: 273
Gas: $3.10.9

This is one of the two homes we could photo from the road. This is set high on the side of the mountain. They get lots of snow here and the high pitch roof is to allow the snow to slide off before it becomes to heavy. This is a pretty Victorian style home.On our way out of town we came upon this young animal. There was a woman in the direction the animal is looking trying to get a photo. The animal appeared more confused and afraid than anything. it did not appear to be hurt.
This is the other home we saw. Both of them were just georgous. I bet the view from there is worth the "millions" the homes are probably worth.
Very near Angel Fire is the highest point in NM. This is Wheeler Peak at some 13,000 foot plus. There was snow on top that Shirley tried to get. Can you see the Snow?
As we left Taos and decended the area, there is this gorge. It ran for miles and miles. It is known as the Rio Grande gorge. The river is there and flows down the mountain to the valley below. On our way down we will enter the gorge and continue our decent to the valley floor below. You will see this gorge also coming into Taos.

We have a few more of the gorge that we will post tomorrow.

I have my Dr appointment at 9 am in Albq VA hospital. We will leave here very early to get there. Depending on when we get back here, I wll post more. We will make a stop at an RV store and get two new 12v lights. One has a broken switch and the other is just wore out. Cheap parts at an expensive price.

Dont forget what day this is for that special person in your life!