Mesa Verde, Colorado

Saturday, August 29

We had left Farmington and went to Mesa Verde, Co. And parked in the National Park inside Mesa Verde.  The campground is great, all around you can see mountains and are parked with shrubs all around us.  After arriving we had a bus ride down to see the ancient ruins, some climbed down to see the Cliff Palace, we didn't the altitude seems to bother both of us.  Our tour on the bus lasted about 4 hours very informative.  The rest of the evening we were on our own, so we just sat around to talked to different people.

Sunday, August 30

We had a free day today, so we drove to see the Anasazi Heritage Cultural Center, about 12 miles away in they town of Delores.  The museum interpreting the history and Culture of the Ancients National Monument and the Four Corners region.  More than 3.5 million artifacts from Southwest Colorado are curated at the museum and are available for research.

We had stopped at WalMart in Cortez, and got a few groceries.  At 7pm we had another Fandango, got to meet two more couples, and we knew the other couple already from two other caravans.  After the Fandango was over we went to the Rangers talk at the amphitheater about the critters in Mesa Verde, really informative.

Monday, August 31

Had another free day, drove into Cortez again, fueled up, shopped at Notah Dineh Trading Post, didn't buy anothing, looking for a Pennington Blanket, didn't have the size I wanted.  Returned back to camp and have a steak dinner tonight, which we are helpers with.  Everyone got steaks, you can marinade them the way you want and then cook them on grills which everyone supplies.  We got cole slaw and baked beans, which some people want them cold, I'm heating half of them, and of course, pie for dessert.

If you want to see more pictures, go to Facebook and search Airstream Southwest Adventure Caravan 2015, there you will a lot more pictures, everyone can contribute.

Farmington, New Mexico

Wednesday, August 26

We moved today to Farmington, New Mexico, arriving at 1 pm, camping at San Juan Fairground next to Sub Ray Casino.  Most of us went to the casino for a prime rib dinner for $10 a meal, pretty good for casino meal.  After dinner, we had a Fandango meeting with two other couples, serving dessert.  While ther it started to rain.  We waiting for a while to leave and when we did walk back to trailer there was a river running under our trailers, half way up to our knees, with debris of sand, sage brush, lumber, tires, chairs, ladders.  The fire company came in and told to evacuate, so we hooked up and moved to higher ground until the next morning.  The groundskeepers came in pushed the mud and debris, loaded into trucks and took it away, they also washed down the parking spots where we were parked.  We were then parked into a different spot on the lot.

Thursday, August 27

We were to have a tour today but was cancelled because of roads closed because of flooding.  We weren't did laundry and later we had a pizza party and drivers meeting.  Ken decided to wash trailer before going in for the night.

Friday, August 28

Left early this morning for our tour of Chaco Culture National Hostorial Park.  We rode with another couple and the leader, the ride was 2 hrs long, driving about 13 miles on dirt road.  The Chaco Canyon's high desert landscape, is an unlikely place for a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture, yet it was the center of a thriving culture 1,000 years ago.  This is the largest culture building that we have seen, with over 150 rooms and 5 kivas.

Durango, Colorado

Saturday, August 22

At 2 pm there was a "First Timers" meeting, we have half the caravan (14 units) with people that this is their first time on a caravan, we have 32 units in all.  At 3 pm we all had a meeting and given our books with driver directions, roster, jobs and the budget.  At 6 pm we all had a cookout of pork lion, green bean salad, potato, salad and cake.  By 7:30 we had a fandango or get acquainted meeting of 5 units with 7 meetings in all.  This way you get to know 10 people, where they are from, how many children, grandchildren, jobs and anything else you want to talk about, these last about an hour.

Sunday, August 23

A lot of the people went on a raft trip for about 4 hours.  Ken and I decided that since they just had a spill here and contaminated the water where they were going, we didn't not to go along.  This was some white water and some of the water was low and they had to get out and push.  We had sat around and talked to our friends from Calgary, Alberta.  We had then had another meeting, which lasted about 2 hours.  We had cooked on the grill for dinner, and then walked around and talked to different people.

Monday, August 24

Got up early today, to be at train station by 7:15 to get tickets and be on the train for the 8 am leave time.  We had dressed in layers to be prepared for cold weather, but it really wasn't to cold, in fact when we got to Silverton, it was hot.  Silverton is 9,280 ft. elevation.  It had taken about 4 hours to reach Silverton, with a couple stops to fill the engine with water and to let some people and hikers off.  After getting off the train, we had a group picture taken, and walked to Grumpy's for lunch.  We had a wait, when the train comes to town it really gets full.  We had about 3 hours in town, but til we ate lunch and shopped a little, there wasn't much time left.  The town is a real western town, one street was paved and the rest are dirt.  The restaurant that we ate in, is only open from 11-3 pm only when the train comes to town, not sure about the stores hours.  We rode a chartered bus to come back, which was nice, but a really tiring day.

Tuesday, August 26

Got up early again today.  We went on a jeep ride, had to be there by 8:30, rode outside of town for 10 miles before getting on the dirt road.  Our ride was on a rough road going up to the top of the mountains, what beautiful scenery.  Mountain ranges far away which they say is hazy from the wild fires in Washington state, but still great views.  Saw wild flowers and berries everywhere, but didn't see any animals.  It was a great ride but tiring with all the bumps.  Later that night, we had dinner as a group at the Strater Hotel and then a play next door.  Dinner was very good and the show was good.

Great Sand Dunes, Colorado

Wednesday & Thursday, August 19 & 20

After leaving Colorado Springs, we drove south and came upon the Great Sand Dunes and decided to stay at the National Park for two nights.  The dunes are 30 square miles and the highest is 755ft., there are creeks that go around it, they say by July the creeks are dry, but this year still some water running along side on the east.  Most of the sand comes from the San Juan Mountians, over 65 miles to the west.  Larger, rougher grains and pebbles come from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east.  As the winds prevailed the sand couldn't go over the mountain and piled up creating the North America's tallest dunes.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Tuesday, August 18

Did some laundry this morning, right before lunch we left went to Camping World, they didn't have the part that we needed.  We drove a short distance and ate lunch at Culver's, a franchise known for there sandwiches on butter rolls and great ice cream.  There was an accident on the main road today so we took another route north or town to the U S Air Force Academy.  We went to visit the Cadet Chapel, a modern aluminum, glass,and steel structure with 17 spires.  Inside there was a big pipe organ with 4300 pipes.  What a beautiful site to see.

We plan to leave tomorrow morning and travel south and west to Durango, Colorado for the start of the SW Caravan.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Sunday, August 16

We arrived in Colorado Springs, Colorado toward evening, had reservations at a Passport America campground.  Our campsite is on top of a teired hill, overlooking the city.  It has rained every night since we got here, with double rainbows, two of the three nights.

Monday, August 17

We left the campground shorty after 9 am. and drove up Pikes Peak.  The 14,110 peaks are visible from a long distance on the Great Plains.  The view from the peaks inspired Katherine Lee Bates in 1893 to write "America The Beautiful."  They also have a cog that you can ride up, but we decided to drive and not go on the cog, we both had a little problem with the altitude.

Later in the day we visited Garden of the Gods, a 1,323 acre city park at the base of Pikes Peak.   The park is known for its towering red sandstone formations, which include Kissing Camels and Balanced Rock.

Frankfort, Ky / Wilsom Lake, Kansas

Monday, August 10

We had arrived in Kentucky, stopped in Frankfort, which is the state Capitol, and stopped to visit the Vietnam War Memorial.  We had visited this in 2012 on the Springtime in Kentucky Caravan, but wanted to stop and study it a little closer.  The memorial is a sundial, the shadow of the indicator shaft falls on a granite panel on which are etched the names of Kentuckians killed in the Vietnam War.  Each name appears in a place the shadow touches annually on the anniversary of that soldiers death.  Very impressive.

Thursday-Sunday, August 13-16

We continued west and stopped in Kansas at an Army Corp of Engineer park on Wilson Lake.  The lake is beautiful with 3 Army Corp campgrounds and a state park campground as well.  We had decided to stay here for 4 days to rest from driving.  The sunsets from our site were gorgeous.

Galax, Virginia

August 2 thru 8 2015

We left Sunday and drove down Route 221 south to Galax, Va. To the 80th Fiddlers Convention for another week.
The campground was full with Airstreams, we had met up with 3 other couples that we met before, glad to see them again.  What a great week of Bluegrass music, every night they had contest at the convention, Monday was for the youth competition, some as young as 5-15 years old.  Every day we had different groups at the campground that had played for everyone that wanted to attend.  Every night when we went to the convention they had a special parking place for us all.

The leader of our activities planned a get acquainted gathering on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with watermelon for all.  We had a tour of Carroll County Courthouse in Hillsville, where a gun battle shocked the nation in 1912.  The gun battle resulted in the death of 5 people, wounded 7, the execution of 2 more and the incarceration of 4 others.

Another day we had Wayne Henderson, a guy that makes guitars, played with his band for us at the Blue Ridge Music Center.  He is a very interesting person who plays all over the country and overseas, playing bluegrass music.  We had also had a tour of his guitar shop, he is a one man builder and has made two guitars for Eric Clapton, one he plays and the other was auctioned off for one of Wayne's nonprofit organizations.

Virginia Highland Haven Airstream Park

We left July 26 and heading south on route 81, we had arrived at Va Highland Haven Airstream Park about 3:30pm, which is known for the beautiful sunsets.

We stayed there for a week for rest and relaxation.  We stayed at site #17, two sites from where Linda & Steve Korney have a site.  Sorry to say but they left a week before we arrived for Nova Scotia.  We had gone into Floyd, a town known for gospel and bluegrass music, where groups play inside The Country Store and outside along the street.  We had visited the town a couple times, went to the bulk store, natural store, hardware store and a slightly used store, where I bought 5 books for &1. On Friday, we went to The Country Store to watch 3 groups play and watch people dance.  We had won the door prize of $20 which we had to use in the store, so Saturday we went back in town, Ken bought a new shirt and we got ice cream.
                     

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