Rambling through Colorado and into Utah

Friday - 6/20

Oil well near Navajo lake. Durango, CO is at the base
 of the San Juan Mts in the background 

We are trying to get in a bike ride before we hit the road every day.  This morning's ride took us from the Navajo Lake campground almost to the Colorado border.  31 miles and 2600 feet of climbing made for a challenging start to the day.

Sometimes we forget to write about our home state.  Navajo Lake is in San Juan county near Farmington in the NW corner of the state.  The major industry in this area is oil and natural gas.  The terrain is rugged with a lot of narrow, winding, hilly roads.  So on our ride we were passed by a plethora of white trucks with 12'-15' tall flexible rods with orange flags mounted to the cab so they can be seen as they top the hills.  The scenery along Hwy 511 is frequently broken by gas wells, collection tanks and natural gas powered generators.

The San Juan river flows from the Navajo Lake dam and is a mecca for fly fisherman.  The San Juan Quality Waters is a catch and release only fishing area which is well known within NM and the US.  Too bad we don't fish!

Molass Pass above Silverton, CO

We packed up the RV and headed north.  We made what we hoped would be a quick stop at the Durango Walmart, which ended up being about an hour as we hunted for just a few items we forgot to pack.  After gassing up the RV, we headed north to Silverton and Ouray.  A lot of up and down, twists and turns over 3 major mountain passes.  I was really glad when when were back on some relatively straight highway near Montrose. Our stop for the night was in Olathe, CO.  Olathe is known for it's sweet corn.  We stayed at a great RV Park, Uncompahgre River RV Park.  If you know how to pronounce that, let us know!

Saturday - 6/21

Farm land near Olathe, CO

Again up for an early morning ride from Olathe, over the mesa and through farm land.  Most of the ride was pleasant but we did pass a Foster Farms chicken farm and a fairly large dairy, so the smell was a little ripe along those stretches.  31 miles and  1000 feet of climbing.

As we drove north we continued our quest for local diners and stopped at Randy's Southside Diner for lunch in Grand Junction.  The food and service were good and doing our part to help the local economy.  After lunch, we motored on to Dinasour National Monument Visitors Center near Vernal, UT.  We had visited here back in 1989 with the boys when we moved to Oregon (for 15 months, 3 days, 8 hours and 27 minutes, but who was counting).  Nothing has changed!  Dinosaurs remain a big draw for kids of all ages.

Vistors Center is in the backgound

Tonight we are at  Lodgepole campground in the national forest between Vernal and Manila UT.   The temperature atop the mountain is much cooler and should make for great sleeping.  It's a very nice campground and amazingly has 4G cell service while being in the middle of nowhere!