July 1999

Can you believe July 1999 is now history? Where did it go? So much happened this middle month of Summer, not just with us but in the country, the world, and beyond. But let us tell you about our eventful July.

We started July off in the tiny town of Mancos, Colorado (about halfway between Durango and Cortez). Like most tiny towns in ranch and farming country, Mancos is the center of the community. Especially for special occasions - Fourth of July or High School football season - you can actually see just how important the town is to all. We had the good fortune to be in Mancos for the Fourth of July celebration, which was a combination community affair and fund raiser. There is a building in town called the "Opera House." Do not picture a Kennedy or Lincoln Center type place. This structure, built turn of the century, is three stories of red brick with offices on the ground floor. A theater occupies the top two floors. The building is in great need of renovation and folks in Mancos are working hard toward that end. So we pitched in and shared their Fourth of July picnic/concert/fireworks display. The local businesses provided barbeque beef, buns, potato and cole slaw salads, and beverages (no beer or wine), while the ladies of the community brought fruit pies (super delicious), and the Mancos Volunteer Fire Department provided ice cream (homemade!!!) and the fireworks display. The concert music ranged from bagpipers in kilts to blue grass sung by a local, classically trained voice. Then, the fireworks started, accompanied by a patriotic John Wayne narrative. While the display may not have been as spectacular as those we have seen in Washington, D.C., our 4th in Mancos will be remembered as a favorite.

While in Mancos we stayed at a Guest Ranch/RV Park called Echo Basin. We selected this place because, according to our information, there weren't any Forest Service campgrounds in the area that could accommodate our rig. Imagine our surprise, and annoyance, when we found two simply delightful campgrounds within a few miles of Echo Basin that would have been perfect for us! One, Target Tree, was just off the main east/west highway we used to reach most of the other campgrounds. The other, a bit of a drive, was located in a dense aspen grove near a network of hiking trails. This happens too often and when it does we look at each other and say, "This is why we are doing what we are doing!"

From Mancos we traveled to Telluride for a short visit with Fred's cousin, Karla. She is building an amazing home overlooking a spacious, aspen dotted meadow with Cone Peak in the background. The house is outstanding and so is the view. We did some work while there, completing the San Juan National Forest (NF) and started the Uncompahgre NF. Two of the campgrounds in the San Juan are near Silverton, CO; what an adventure we had getting there. According to our information, we could take County Route 630 to Silverton via the Ophir Pass and cut many miles off the route to reach the two campgrounds. WELL, let us tell you we now know why four wheel drive vehicles are so plentiful around this part of Colorado. County Route 630, through Ophir Pass, is mostly a dirt one lane, rocky (big rocks) roadway with a shear cliff on one side and a near vertical drop on the other. How narrow this roadway? We had to wait for a mountain biker to complete one stretch before we started UP! It was an experience that we will long remember, particularly from the imprints left by Fred's grip on the steering wheel. We'll have a series of pictures (associated with the San Juan NF) on our Web site illustrating this harrowing drive.

Next, we headed for Grand Junction, or as the locals call it, Big J, to finish up Uncompahgre and the Grand Mesa NFs. While the Uncompahgre NF has a special desert-like beauty to it, the Grand Mesa was very unique. First, there is only way to reach it - up three to four thousand foot climb from any direction. It is as flat on top as any place we have been. Because it is the tallest thing around, clouds tend to hang-up on the Mesa and deposit their extra moist. The vegetation up top is far more lush than below. And, because rain and snow falls on top during many, many days of the year, ranches and farmers built around 500 lakes all over the Mesa. These lakes are nurseries for the largest mosquito population we have seen since leaving Michigan. But, Grand Mesa is a beautiful place if you bring your bug spray.

After the Grand Mesa NF, we began work on the Gunnison NF. But before we reached the town of Gunnison, where the District Ranger who is responsible for the bulk of the campgrounds is located, we met with the Paonia Ranger District Office. (The town's intended name was Peonia but the Post Office misspelled it many years ago.) Here we learned two more important lessons. We were camped in a sweet little campground near the southern shore of the Morrow Point Dam, just east of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument (an amazingly beautiful and awesome place). Paonia is only 40 miles north of the campground - an hour drive at the most, we thought. No problem - we'll just make it a nice leisurely drive and enjoy the sights. Two hours later we found a phone booth and called to say we were going to be a bit late for our appointment. First lesson - maps do not show all the curves nor suggest speed limits. So, our leisurely day turned out to be a little more rushed then planned. [We'll get to the second lesson shortly.]

Those of you who have met Tory know she has yet to meet a human who wasn't a dear, long last friend. Well, she comes by this family-trait honestly. Fred wanted a drink before dinner so we moseyed into the barroom behind the diningroom in Crawford, CO. There were a bunch of locals construction workers already belly up to the bar. One topic lead to another, one beer to another and next thing we knew it was 7PM and the kitchen was running out the their Blue Plate Special - Meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Couldn't miss that!! After the meatloaf we wandered down to the Mad Dog Restaurant and Fountain for an ice cream (if you are going to be naughty why not be good and naughty?). As it turns out Mad Dog is owned by a British rocker named Joe Crocker. They were shorted handed and Crocker's wife was helping out. Just never know who we might meet on our adventure, which leads us to the second lesson of the day.

The sun was low in the western sky when we left Crawford but we felt we would reach home before dark. Wrong assumption! It was just turning dark when an elk cow stepped out in front of the truck. Fortunately, we were going very slow (the road was winding and the headlights had not been correctly aligned in Taos from the previous truck damage) and so basically we just knocked the poor thing over. However, once again, the front passenger side received a fair amount of damage. Lesson learned - elks are much more solidly constructed than Dodge pick-up trucks. And, by the way, the headlights are now properly aligned.

Once again we have reached our self-imposed limits for the Wanderings and haven't mentioned half of what we wanted to tell you all. Like how the streets in the Big J are numbered according to their distance from the state line or about our visit to Mesa Verda National Park, or our guided, interpretive hike at Chimney Rock, or the walk along the rim of Black Canyon, or the drive up Heart Break Hill, or Fred losing the keys for the rental car (while the truck was being repaired for the second time), or the sight of the Colorado wild flowers, or our new generator, or the sight and feel of cottonwood tree "snow," or the taste of the fresh fruit from Palisade, CO, or the wondrous scent of sage and juniper following an afternoon downpour. Sorry. We hope your July was equally delightful. Until next month.

Suzi and Fred