RV-Junke's: 2012 West Coast Adventure, Day 8

Day 8 June 30th, 2012:

Good evening / morning from Mesa Verde, Colorado!

This morning we left Royal Gorge at 7:30am., and headed back East to a NAPA parts place to buy a fuel pump for the generator. I believe that is what has been causing the issue, so in the event I need to bleed it AGAIN, I will replace the pump! After a brief stop at NAPA, where I got all the parts needed for an emergency repair, we headed back West again on Rt. 50. WOW, what a wonderful road, very similar to Moab scenic by-way, and was very pleasant to drive. A little windy, but not bad at all…Once off of 50, we ended up on a scenic road through a 10,500 ft mountain pass, called Wolf Creek. Patty was white knuckle once again. The past 3 days has done her in from an excitement standpoint. Going up was not bad, just a few spots that got daunting, but coming down…8% for SEVERAL miles! Felix, I know you are reading this, so I am letting you know now when I get back we will need to do the brakes, I burnt them up but good…LOL!

All and all, what a drive! Very beautiful and huge open landscapes that rate as some of our favorite. As we got close to Mesa, we were reminded once again of the destruction forest fires have. We drove through a town called Mancos. The mountain ranges and over 10,000 acres have been totally scorched, and the fire was still raging. Unlike Colorado Springs, they let us drive to within 200 yards of the fires (because they had it 65% contained), whereas Colorado Springs was only at 5% the day we drove by. It is staggering to see a fire of this scale. You see it on TV, but up close and personal, no words! As with the families in Colorado Springs, we will be praying they can get back to their homes, and the fire is stopped. We are 3 miles down the street, and can see the orange glow in the sky, and thankfully the winds are blowing west to east so we are not suffering from the smoke, but the air still smells of smoke…very un-nerving. On a very positive note, I did hear back from my new friend Randy the owner of Pikes Peak Traveland (a great dealer and service center for RV’s in Colorado), and he and his wife (and neighbors) are actually able to move back to their evicted home tomorrow…which means the fire in Colorado Springs is getting more contained…Thank God!

After the short 400 mile drive today, we headed up into Mesa Verde National park…Ok…as you all know we have been too many NP’s, and each one has something unique and memorable, however we have yet to be in one like this! It is HUGE beyond HUGE…it is really like the Grand Canyon huge, but at 8,000 feet. It is a 16 mile drive just to get to the visitors center. You enter in at 7,000 feet and climb, and climb, and climb up windy roads like Glacier…very cool NP. Oh yes, we were in a rental car. You CANNOT take our MH up those climbs. Actually it could climb it, it’s making the ultra tight turns that would be our demise. Needless to say Patty was not happy about the road AGAIN today. The good news is we only did a little tonight, and will be heading there tomorrow (Sunday) to see the cave dwellings. Michael is excited as this was one of the many stops he planned for this adventure. Unfortunately the big man Nicholas is sick…looks like an ear infection or congestion combined with the altitude causing some pain. You know he is under the weather when he passes up a pool! We will keep an eye on him, but he is tough!

Well, it’s been a LONG blessed day for us all…and I need to call it a night…everyone else is already sleeping!

So until the next blog, have a Blessed day…