Catching Up - Part 3 - Late May 2017 continued: Taos NM, San Luis CO, Creede CO, Waterfall, Pagosa Springs CO

For this trip in late May, we were traveling north to Creede, Colorado and specifically to see the North Clear Creek Falls.

Our first stop was at the top of Taos Ski Valley near the Bavarian Lodge & Restaurant. We had planned to hike up to Williams Lake, but there was more snow on the trail then we expected so we canned that plan. After a hike around the area, we thought we might try to stealth overnight, but there was a lot of snow and it was pretty mushy on the dirt at that elevation. So, we went back down towards the Twining Campground at the base of the Taos ski area.  There are lots of empty parking areas and we thought we could stay overnight, but it was still early in the day.   Being early in the afternoon, we decided to continue north.

Hiking under a ski lift near the Bavarian Lodge & Restaurant.

I know about a little recreation area with a pond in Northern New Mexico called the Sanchez Stabilizing Reservoir that had a little free primitive camping area with some cement tables.  It's a fishing lake.  After a nice dinner, we stayed overnight. It was a very pleasant spot.

Greg at our pleasant boondocking spot at Sanchez Stabilizing Reservoir: 37.1683083,-105.5187944.

Dinner in the van on the new table. It worked out beautifully.

The next morning, after breakfast by the reservoir, we headed further north on Highway 159. In San Luis Colorado, which is just over the Colorado state line, we stopped to hike up to Shrine of the Stations of the Cross, in the center of town. We've pasted this trail on many trips to Colorado and it was time to hike up!

One of the stations of the cross on the trail up the hill to the Shrine in San Luis, Colorado.

Karen near the Shrine at the top. 

One of the Stations near the Shrine.

Here is a link to a video that was taken at the Shrine in San Luis, Colorado:

VIDEO

Inside the Shrine of the Station of the Cross in San Luis, Colorado. Beautiful.

Outside the Shrine.

There was a short additional hike with many Martyr Priests busts.

Another Martyr Bust with the Shine in the background. San Luis, Colorado

It's a nice hike to the Shrine, even if you're not all that religious.

After heading back down to our van, we drove the rest of the way to Creede, arriving mid-afternoon. Creede is a very scenic old mining town turned tourist town that is at the entrance to a high walled canyon. We toured the town. It reminded me a lot of Silver City, Colorado. The same sort of old mining town feel with interesting old shops.

A creek ditch runs through Creede Colorado.

Creede has a Mac and Cheese food truck spot. Karen loves Mac and Cheese!!!!

After Karen's snack, we continued on Highway 149 to North Clear Creek Falls Observation Site.

North Clear Creek Falls, Colorado

Here is a link to a short video taken at the North Clear Creek Falls Observation Site:

VIDEO

After enjoying these beautiful falls, we took a bit of a dicey dirt forest road into the backcountry find a good boondocking spot. Boy did we find a great spot!

A nice boondocking spot at: 37.8217806,-107.1459222

The Sock Monkeys liked this beautiful spot and wanted to stay.

I was a bit worried about the weather and wasn't sure about how difficult it would be to get out of this spot if it got muddy, so we headed a bit further down the forest road to an official forest service campground ($16) called Bristol Head which was near to the highway.  Turned out that the storm never came. I wish we had stayed here! We had a nice overnight at Bristol Head campground. It was not crowded at all with maybe two other campers and the camp host.

The next day we made our way to Pagosa Springs, Colorado and had a nice hike around town. We stopped in at The Springs Resort & Spa for a selfie. (We didn't soak this day.)

At The Springs Resort & Spa. It's the Disneyland of hot springs resorts.

After our hike and a light dinner in the van, overlooking the mountains, we headed to the Junction Restaurant at the edge of Pagosa Springs to overnight among the truckers.

Our light dinner at Tractor Supply where there is a great view of the mountains.

We parked against the hillside overnight near the truckers and another RV at the Junction Restaurant. 

In the morning, we planned to have breakfast at the Junction Restaurant. We like to patronize places where we park for free in order to pay them back for allowing overnight parking. We went in and waited and waited and waited. There were hardly any customers and the waitresses were not very busy, but for some reason they just completely ignored us. We finally just left and headed to our favorite breakfast cafe in Pagosa Springs, The Rose.  Oh Yum!!!!

By the way, if you are in Pagosa and want to soak, we recommend the Overlook Hot Springs. The overlook is much calmer and more relaxing place than nearby Springs Resort & Spa. The Overlook has some indoor tubs that are really nice, some rooftop tubs overlooking the river and some new single tubs out in a back courtyard that just opened recently (that we have not tried yet). They also have fantastic showers.

After our breakfast, we head home.

Next up: Valley View Hot Springs and Greg's trip around Colorado.

Catching Up - Part 2 - May 2017 continued: Up to Ridgway Colorado Area

After Greg got back from his Zion - Angel's Landing Trip, we decided to head up for a soaking trip to Orvis Hot Springs in Colorado.

On the way, we stopped in Durango to check out the La Plata County Fairgrounds RV spots that have electric connections for about $16 bucks (but you have to reservations).

La Plata County Fairgrounds RV spots with Electric at 37.292174, -107.871509

Next, we headed up the hill to a nice boondocking spot about 27 miles north of Durango.

Karen enjoying a fire. Boondocking at 37.654212, -107.802134

We watched an awesome lightning storm roll in and enjoyed listening to the raindrops on the roof of the van. In the morning we drove over the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray. In Ouray, we checked out the reconstruction of the public, city hot springs [Ouray Hot Springs Pool and Fitness Center].

The Ouray Hot Springs Pool under re-construction in May 2017. It is completed now, but we haven't tried it yet ... but we will soon!!!.

We had a nice soak at Orvis Hot Springs and overnighted in one of their dry camping spots. They have a really beautiful large natural looking soaking pond that is a great place to view the stars from, late at night, after the yaking crowds have left. One problem we have found in the last couple of years, Orvis cranks up the heat just after dark and makes the big pool nearly unbearable. SAD, as Trump would say.

The next morning we headed just north to Ridgway for a great breakfast at Kate's Place restaurant. I always get the Huevos Rancheros there. Fantastic!!!!

Kate's Place - Fantastic Breakfast in Ridgeway, Colorado.

After breakfast, we took a walk around nearby Dennis Weaver Memorial Park.  There is a very large and majestic eagle sculpture that looks like it's flying in the park. Also, there are nice hiking trails to explore, which we did.

Humongous flying Eagle Sculpture at Dennis Weaver Memorial Park.

After our hike, we went back to Orvis Hot Springs for another soak and to stay overnight in their dry camping area.

The next morning we headed back over the Million Dollar Highway to Durango and stopped for a late breakfast/lunch at Kassidy's Kitchen. Kassidy's specializes in wheat-free selections. Another great breakfast!!!!

Greg's half-eaten Huevos with wheat-free pancakes at Kassidy's Kitchen in Durango.

Karen had the Tuna Sandwich at Kassidy's Kitchen in Durango.

After a very nice meal at Kassidy's, we headed for Pagosa Springs, Colorado on our way home. We like to stop in Pagosa for a nice hike around town and for some yummy frozen yogurt at a new place there.

Here is a short video from our hike in Pagosa Springs:

VIDEO

Greg getting frozen yogurt at Pagosa Springs Frozen Yogurt and Tea Room. 459 Lewis St, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147

Catch up continued in next post....  Trip to Creede Colorado.

Catching Up - Part 1 - May 2017: Valley View Hot Springs / Las Vegas / Zion - Angels Landing Hike

We haven't blogged in quite a while so here is some catch-up posts on highlights of what we have been up to since last April. We still feel super connected to our RVing community since we are active on instagram and facebook and watch lots of RVer YouTubers.

In late April we took a trip up to Colorado to soak in the hot springs of Valley View / Orient Land Trust. During this trip we drove further North to view truck campers in Ponchas Springs. Our plan for retirement in three and a half years is to put a large truck camper with slide-outs on top of a big 4x4 Truck. We were checking out the truck campers. We had a great breakfast at Seasons Cafe in Salida, CO.

Season's Cafe, Salida - Great Breakfast with gluten free options.

Here is a link to a short video showing one of the soaking ponds at Valley View 

The Meadow pool.

Had lunch at Mo Burrito in Salida. A Chipotle ripoff basically, but very good.

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In May, I (Greg) took a trip to Zion National Park to hike up Angel's Landing.

I first stopped for an overnight stay at the Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino parking lot in Laughlin Nevada. It used to be that you could park an RV overnight in the south lot but, as usual, people took advantage of the situation and stayed for weeks and even months in that lot in their RVs.  It appears that Clark County is very much enforcing their "no overnight sleeping in vehicles" rules. The RVs in the south lot were all cleared out. (I've noticed that also in Las Vegas, Clark County seems to be enforcing these no sleeping in your car rules much more vigilantly.)

I found that some RVs were in the north lot near the boat ramp, so I spent the night with them with no problems. After a reasonable breakfast at the Riverside's breakfast buffet, I headed for Las Vegas in order to have a good walk around the strip and see the sights (people and structures).

On the way, not far out Laughlin, I noticed a spot with an RV on the side of the highway.  

An RV at 35.170076, -114.711308

When we lived in Sacramento California years ago, I would take short trips to Reno, Nevada.  Over the years, I watched as Reno got scuzzier and scuzzier to the point where I didn't feel it was safe to walk around too late at night downtown.  I'm seeing the same thing happen in Las Vegas. There are a lot of sleazy characters roaming around the strip these days and it is not unusual now to have panhandlers doing their thing or sleeping on the pedestrian overpasses.  It seems the glory days of Vegas are definitely over. It gets less and less pleasant to walk around in order to see the sights each time I go these days.  It seems like the Vegas cops have just given up hope. Has Vegas cut back on social service? It sure looks that way.

Bally's has opened their new Grand Bazaar Shops out in front of the hotel where ponds and a moving walkways use to be. I checked out the new Wahlburgers restaurant there. I'm definitely not a fan of Mark Wahlberg's robotic acting but his burger restaurant looks pretty good. It's probably smart for him to invest his acting money in side businesses.  I don't eat burgers these days, having nasty gout and all, but I would if I could!!!

Outside Walburgers.

Inside Walburgers.

The Grand Bazaar Shops at Bally's

After getting my steps in, I headed for a hotel where I thought I could stealth overnight in their dirt parking lot. I had scoped out the parking lot on Google Maps satellite image and saw that a lot of RVs parking in the area, but things had changed since the sat image was made. Now there was a fence in the area I wanted to stay in that was keeping RVs out.  Instead, I parked in the regular hotel paved parking lot, a quiet lot far from the entrance. It was a fine spot with no problems. I wouldn't stay there again, but I was too tired after my long Vegas walk to hunt for a better spot. It was at the Tahiti Village Resort in Las Vegas. In the morning I took a stroll around the hotel, which has a nice garden area with two large pool areas. One of the areas is a very nice lazy river. (I love lazy rivers!)  The hotel grounds are really nice. There is a Denny's next door.


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Next,  it was off to Zion. You have to park outside the national park and take shuttle buses to the sights within the park (unless it's low season in winter). I was there to hike Angel's Landing. This is a spectacular hike, nearly straight up to a narrow ridge with amazing views of the park's main valley.  If you are nervous about heights then this is not the hike for you. You are literally on the edge of a 2000 foot drop much of the way, holding on to chains for dear life.

Greg after coming off Angel's Landing.

Here is a link to a short video of a scary part of the hike:

VIDEO

Here is a link to a short video of the view from the top of Angels Landing.

VIDEO

The hike is only about 5 miles round trip, but it has an elevation change of 1,488 feet and a lot of that is rocky steps and pulling yourself up chains, so it's a really good workout that takes 4-5 hours.

After the hike, I drove through the tunnel at Zion to Page, Arizona.

There is a well know boondocking spot just west of the Glen Canyon Dam 36.934814, -111.504811.

I got there very late and most of the obvious open spots were taken. I had to drive pretty far back on the sandy dirt road. I nearly got stuck in the sand just before I backed up and parked for the night.  I decided I would turn the van around in the morning when I could see the hazards better. A couple of 4x4 jeeps passed by for a late night drive but they too turned around before the sandy road got too difficult.

Another fine night of free camping!

In the morning, I took a nice hike. It's a pretty cool area with neat sandstone hills and great views.

Just east of Zion, The Thunderbird Restaurant, "Home of the Ho-Made Pies"

Boondocking near the Glen Canyon Dam

Boondocking

Here is a short video from my hike around the area.

VIDEO

After leaving Page, I made my way home to Los Alamos.

More catching up continued in the next post - Ridgway Colorado....