September 23-30, 2022

We woke up in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and for the first time in 130 days we don’t have our great travling partners next to us. Ron and Kathy are taking a different route home thru Sante Fe, Alberqueqe and Phoenix before getting home. Left at first light as the big ball of yellow peaked up over the horizon from the east, nice to drive West with the sun behind us. Drove up thru Sante Fe and into the rolling hills of Colorado enjoying the ranches, farmlands and sweeping views of the mountains. We are heading to Pagosa Springs to visit my some family, Kathy and Alan live outside of town on a wonderful 6 acre property with stunning views. The canadian geese filled the pond and the breathtaking view of Pagosa Peak from the patio deck was the perfect setting to open some wine and visit. Brother Mike and Nancy were there for a visit as well, great to catch up and eat some of Kathy’s awesome meals. Our friends from Mountain Center, CA (near Temecula) met us at my sisters house. This is the first trip to this area for Jeff and Andrea and we look forward to exploring this section of Colorado with them over the next week. Fabulous rib dinner with my Mom’s great BBQ sauce, homemade beans and lots of conversation catching up.

Saturday morning we went to the local farmers market to pick up some Olatha Corn and Palisades peaches, some of our favs from this area. A hike up to Treasure Falls provided some much needed exercise and great pictures. Packed up and headed out over Wolf Creek pass and onto Creede, Colorado. Checked into the Mountain View RV Park and set out to explore the small towns of Creede, South Fork and Lake City. This area is very popular for off road vehicles with hundreds of miles of trails, we spent Saturday afternoon driving the Batchelor Loop seeing the countryside from this four wheel drive trail. Golf on Sunday at Rio Grande Golf Course had spectacular views of the colorful mountains, flowing rivers and lush green grass of the course. Wasn’t our best round of golf but had fun on this difficult course anyway. Jeff played great as usual and Andrea hit some great shots as she is still learning this crazy game.

Monday was time for another Magical Mystery Tour looking for moose up near the lakes in the back country. Lunch at a small mexican restaurant in Lake City then hit the trails to hike and look for moose. Signs along with local folks telling us the moose are plentiful in this area got us excited to finally see our first wild creature that has elluded us for months. After many hours of hiking and driving around the area we left with still not seeing a moose.

Tuesday was moving day, on the road driving back across Wolf Creek Pass into Pagosa Springs to have lunch with our friends from San Diego who were visiting their family while on school break. Matt, Danine, Bradley and Elena joined us for lunch and a great visit catching up on each others travel adventures. Said our good byes and off to Hesperus to try our first Harvest Host camp spot. After meeting back up with Jeff and Andrea while getting fuel we drove past Four Corners, Shiprock and small towns during the 1 1/2 hour drive. We pulled into the Pleasant Journey Alpaca Farm where our host Sue meet us at the gate and directed us where to park. Our tour of the farm would have to wait till the morning because we had a dinner date with my high school friend Kristi and her husband Paul. The have a big ranch in Hesperus only 13 miles from the Alpaca Farm. Fun time catching up wth them over a nice dinner and tour of the ranch seeing all the animals and views of their property. Wednesday morning we were ready for our 8:00 am tour with Sue explaing everything you wanted to know about Alpaca’s and more. They had 40 Alpaca’s of their own and boarded another 52 and she knew everyong by name. We all had a chance to feed them some snacks and pet the friendly ones and visited her retail shop where we picked up a few things to remind us of this stay. Then hit the road to Valley Verde RV Park just past Flaggstaff for a one night stay at this beautiful resort.

Thursday morning Jeff and Andrea hit the road heading home while Glenna and I drove to Scottsdale to visit with Brother Dana, Becky and Tyler. Lunch in Kierland with Becky to catch up then relaxing around their pool was a perfect way to wind down this awesome trip. Dana came home from work and we had a very nice dinner with Hale and Sally joining us for the evening. Always fun spending time with the Huth’s and Irwin’s catching up on life’s adventures.

Friday was go home day, easy drive across the desert and back to the ranch…….

Here are a few facts of our adventure:

140 days

10, 550 miles

2 Countries

27 States

5 Canadian Provinces

10 National Parks

0 Moose sightings

Priceless Memories!!!!!!

We did learn a few things along the way. Almost every road across the country is full of pot holes and most are under construction to get fixed. We took the backroad as much as possible to see this gorgeous country. Every state had their own cultures and the local folks in the small towns were fantastic. We have the best travel partner’s, a big thank you to Ron and Kathy for all the great times together and memories fir a lifetime!!!

Thanks for following along this epic trip and allowing us to share this special adventure with you all.

Until the next journey, take care and safe travels to all.

Pat and Glenna