From Grand Junction, we traveled East to Grand Lake and the Stillwater NFS campground for a night so we could arrive at Timber Creek NPS campground on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park by mid morning to find sites. This park is one of our favorites that we have been visiting for years. Enjoy the images.

Heading northwest, we next went to Grand Junction for a couple nights to re-provision and explore the Colorado National Monument.

Next our travels took us up near Gunnison, Colorado to the Curecanti NRA on Blue Mesa Reservoir. Lu and Joe joined us for for camping at this and the next stops on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park. While at Curecanti, we explored Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP and then Crested Butte, Colorado where we hiked and Bruce fished.

We came down the mountain and into Ouray, Colorado (the KOA a few miles from town) for two nights. The afternoon we arrived we checked out Jeeps in Ouray and landed the last available one! We were able to have it for the evening and next day, so as you look at our images you’ll see our late afternoon excursion to Yankee Girl Mine and the next day to the top of the Rockies and through Corkscrew Gulch, and Hurricane and California Passes to Animas Fork ghost town and on to Silverton, Colorado.

Just before we left on our trip, we received a call from the Forest Service cancelling our three nights in the Cayton Campground near Lizard Head Pass (above Telluride) because of fires nearby. We scrambled and found two nights in Durango and two nights north at Ridgway State Park. While in Durango, a favorite place, Judy, Ann, and I hiked, and Bruce fished. When we left Durango, we decided to drive the San Juan Skyway through Delores and Rico and check out the Cayton NFS Campground that was cancelled. We were surprised and excited to find the campground open and few people there! And, our two favorite sites were available! So we cancelled Ridgway and spent two beautiful nights at Cayton. Again, Judy, Ann, and I hiked and Bruce went fishing and caught two trout for dinner, well, a snack before dinner. Enjoy our images of the beautiful places.

From Monument, we took off for Mesa Verde NP in SW Colorado. We found two great sites for the stay. It has been years since we visited, but it was as impressive as ever. It was again hot and with fires all around southwest Colorado, fire restrictions were everywhere. Of course I can’t imagine a campfire in such heat. Enjoy the images.

After exploring Walnut Canyon and Wupatki National Monument from Bonita Campground north of Flagstaff, our next destination was Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona. We stayed at Goulding’s RV, within the Navajo Nation. As you will see, we are traveling with Bruce and Ann and their Airstream, and enjoying (not really) a really hot period. As we check the weather in San Luis Obispo, they’re having a lot of heat too. Anyway, Monument Valley is incredibly beautiful as you will see from the images. We took a tour, in the back of a truck, of the valley with a Navajo guide. A great way to find out the stories from this area.

We’re off again for the summer of 2018. This year it’s Bonito Campground, NFS, north of Flagstaff, Arizona; Monument Valley, Utah; Mesa Verde NP and Durango, Colorado; Ridgway and Ouray, Colorado; Curecanti National Recreation Area (near Gunnison, Colorado); Grand Junction, Colorado; and on to Rocky Mountain National Park – one of our favorites. Then, we head back west to Dinosaur NP, Strawberry Reservoir, and Jordanelle SP in Utah. A lot of beautiful places for a bit over a month. Then on to Oregon and Washington.

So, to begin, we drove to beautiful Needles, CA for a night, then on to Bonita NFS for a couple of nights.