Ouray Hot Springs (July 30)

Today is our second full day in Montrose CO.  I really like this town and area.  There is a lot to do and with a town of 20,000 you get all of the usual amenities that one grows accustomed to.  I suspect that in the winter it can get pretty stranded feeling out here, but summer has been a blast.  

John rode to Ouray this morning while I was able to get some work done for the business.  We met him at the host springs in Ouray around noon.  Only a 30 minute drive from where we are in Montrose.  I am so glad that Isis our massage gal yesterday suggested the extra trip our there.  We would have missed this treasure if it was not for her suggestion.  

About the springs...they are open to the public and set up like a public swimming pool or a water park.  It was reasonable too, only $32 for our family to enjoy the place all day.  The water temps are anywhere from 88 F to 106 F.  They have about 4 different sections and the temps and depths vary between areas.  The main one that you walk up to is probably 99 F or so and about 2.5 ft deep.  The one next to it with the slids is about 88 F....which feels cold...haha.  Then the hot one is about 104-106 F.  Like a giant hot tub, but no chlorine.  There are water slids and a lap swim area.  Most of the sections are between 2-3.5 ft deep which is great for Charlotte because she is pretty comfortable with anything 3.5 ft deep or less.  At 2 pm, 4 pm and 6 pm they have what is called a safety break.  It is a time when all the kids have to leave the pool for 15 minutes and the adults get to stay in.  Kind of genious if you ask me.

I fixed up Charlotte's hair during the safety break.

We stayed there until about 3:30...I loved this place and would have stayed all day, but Graham needed a nap and we needed a break from the sun.

We took a moment to enjoy the koi pond next to the hot springs.  There were turtles as well.

After that we drove up the mountain past Ouray a little to see more of the area.  If we had gone to the top we would habe been on the Red Mountain Pass over 11,000 ft.  After a few switch backs and a little driving along the roadway with no guardrails, we turned around to head back to Montrose.  I really liked Ouray.  It is like Switzerland.  It reminded me of Champery Switzerland, which has remained one of my favorite memories of Europe from my trip in high school.

We made a nice dinner and were able to take Charlotte to see Yogi Bear at the campground movie night...we are staying at a Jellystone Campground, so it was humorous to me that they were playing that movie.

Of course the kids were over tired tonight after the amount of activity today, so there was a little battling at bedtime.  

I have found it stressful at times keeping up with work and Rotary remotely, however I have now completed the Insurance Audit...so I'm feeling better.  It can be difficult finding reliable internet while camping.  Now I need to stay on top of my Rotary projects.

Tomorrow we are off to Gunnison.  I'm looking forward to the drive along US 50 (again).  It goes right next to Black Canyon and should be beautiful.  My only hope is that they have parking for a truck and trailer so that I can enjoy some of the views.

Montrose REST DAYS (July 28-29)

After working our way across three states it is time to relax a bit. Once we reached Dolores it was clear that the pressure of climbing nearly 100,000 feet over about 20 days had caught up both from a riding stand point and from a family stand point. So, We spent the past two days enjoying some rest and recreations. Also, Andrew left today and so we wanted to enjoy our last full day together.

June 28th. We drove from Dolores to Montrose where we are staying at the Jellystone campground. Originally I was going to bike to Telluride on the 28th, rest on the 29th and then tomorrow Rebecca was going to drive me back to Telluride and I would bike to Montrose. However, I realized that two days of rest were needed and with Andrew flying out I packed up the bike and just drove to Montrose. I have to remember that this is a tour and not a race and this trip is as much about seeing the country as spending quality time with family. So, I may not ride every mile. This is ok. In fact, I have already had to skip about 15 miles due to unsafe descents. So, thats my two cents on it. If I miss a few miles here and there to have a higher quality experiance and see more of our great country, I am all for it!

Yesterday we slept in a bit and were happy that Graham allowed us this luxury. We made some pancakes and bacon and watched Big Hero 6 at the camper before making our drive. It was a beautiful drive and we saw many great small towns, mountain peaks and had a great 110 mile drive to Montrose.

Once we got our camp site set up we enjoyed the pool, had a violin practice and made a great dinner of chicken marsala, mashed potatoes and pasta. Rebecca picked up a few bottles of wine and we stayed up late watching a movie on our outdoor theater. 

Boy did it get cold up here. By the end of the movie we were all snuggled up in blankets outside!  It was a great day!

June 29th.  Andrew is leaving us today. I am sad to be losing my riding companion, but I knew it was coming and am ready to do some solo riding. I am so grateful for Andrew being here with me the past three weeks of riding. It was so comforting to have some one with me through such desolate regions of the country. We were fortunate that we never REALLY needed each other, but it was good to know we had that life line. Now that we are in more populated areas I feel more comfortable riding alone, but it will still be lonely I am sure.

Again, we slept in a bit and passed on breakfast as Andrew was getting set to fly out.

I had a bunch of work to catch up on so I spent a few hours on the computer this morning getting things done. Andrew is shipping his bike home so we stopped by the local bike shop to take care of this. I picked up a few needed supplies and had some great banter with the local riders. Montrose is a really great community and it is clear that they embrace their bike riding.

We had just enough time to get some lunch at the Dragon Wall restaurant and went to the airport to say our goodbyes. After this the four of us headed up to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP and saw some amazing vistas. We took a few photo ops and did a few miles of hiking with the kids. The height and extreme drop off cliffs were AMAZING!!

Rebecca and I had scheduled a few massages with the local Thai Massage specialist and enjoyed some much needed relaxation while we took turns with the kids. We did some shopping and enjoyed the Russell Stover chocolate factory store. For what ever reason Graham found it the right time to have a complete meltdown but this was overshadowed by the exception 3lb box of slightly blemished chocolates for only $12.99!!!! Charlotte go about a one lb sold chocolate rabbit for like $3 and we all had incredible ice cream sundaes. So, with our belly's full of chocolate and ice cream and muscles relaxed we headed back to the campsite for some swimming, relaxations and planning for the days to come.
Bloopers!!!

Tomorrow we are taking a trip to Ouray where they have some hot springs and it is my plan to bike up there to get the miles (and climbing) I would have gotten in going from Telluride to Montrose. I am looking forward to another great day tomorrow!

Blanding to Dolores...Colorado!! (July 27)

It has now been a full month since we left home.  Charlotte misses home.  I think we all do a little.  I think the dry desert scenery of NV and UT have been wearing on us.  I know John is done with UT!!  As we entered CO the roads became visibly smoother and more like home.  Even the landscape looked a lot like IA with grass, farms and rolling hills.  There were even real towns for food and drinks stops while the guys were biking.  We have had too many days so far were there are zero towns between our starting and ending points. 

Playground fun

This afternoon we all visited Mesa Verde which was only 20 miles away from Dolores.  John and I were there many years ago...we think in 2005.  It was the same trip that we went to the Four Corners and Monument Valley.  Mesa Verde was worth another look.  To think there was a civilization that lived on the cliffs between 700-1200 AD is so fascinating!

Square Tower House

Cliff Palace

Fire House

Hite to Blanding (July 26)

The kids and I visited Natural Bridges NP after dropping off the camper at our campsite in Blanding.  We also ate lunch in Blanding at an A&W which you don't find very often but this was further unique because it was also a gas station and (no lie) a bowling alley!!  I'm surprised it wasn't also a grocery store and a bank.

We ate dinner at a steak house however we all ended up getting pizza.

Here is Jacobs Chair about 15 miles east of Hite.  It was a rainy morning.

It is hard to see but this is one of the Natural Bridges.

See how this road goes down and then back up the other side?  We all drove/rode that about 65 miles into the route.

Here is the other side of it.

John brought me a flower at the end of his growling ride.  It was a tough day.

Nice patio at the Blue Mountain RV Park.

Glen Canyon - Hite Recreation Area (July 25)

Today we made our way from Hanksville, UT to Hite Rec Area.  We knew this would be a remote stop but Wow was it remote!!  It was a little more than 50 miles from Hanksville and over 70 to the next town Blanding.  There was only one camping option and it took some serious research to find it.  Lake Powell Resort and Marina still runs a campground, general store and cabin rentals at this location (as well as several others on the lake), however the water has been too low for 3-10 years (I've heard various numbers) to even launch boats.  The place is a ghost town.  There isn't even anyone at the ranger station!

Here is the "lake" where you can see the boat landing not even close to the water. This is from an overlook a few miles west of the area.

Apparently many years ago the water was this low and there was a small town down there.

Here is a photo at the rest area between Hanksville and Hite.  Sort of iconic for our trip...bikes and full rig.

We have been crossing paths with many others the last week who are making the same journey as us only east to west.  Most don't have a camper, car or kids along too.  In any case, we ran into 2 men from Northern California at the Hite Rec Area and one of them is a Rotarian.  We invited Steve and Brad over to our camper for dinner and had a great time sharing stories.  

About the campsite, it had full hookups but I was told by 3 different sources that it only had 50 amp not 30 amp (we run on 30).  So I was planning to run the generator for the night...one of the hottest yet.  I got there and it was a ghost town.  I finally found a spot that wasn't overgrown with weeds and was mostly level.  I still had to back it in over some pretty enormous ruts in the ground.  Turns out they do have 30 amp outlets!!  I was still a bit frustrated that this was one of the most expensive sites yet.  Not that we had a choice.  Here is the site:

We decided to drive around a little after the biking was completed for the day.  The lake forms newly formed boat launch across from the old one.  This should be under water where I'm standing.

Overlook with John this time.  Our campground is just behind the skinny rocks in the upper left corner of the photo.

We took a littl off-road adventure.  Three miles to this canyon area where the lake should be, but turns out us no where close.

The lake should be here.

The kids didn't mind.

Lastly, to make this even more of an adventure none of us had any phone service for a span of 50+ miles from the Hite area.

I'll let John say more about the riding.

It was a great ride. Started early and saw the sun come up over the mountains. The first 15 miles were a gentle uphill. We were struck with how little there was in the backdrop of the ride. We did come across a cool abandoned RV!

After a small chain issue on Andrews bike we started to descend through a beautiful canyon.

This is where we met two other riders. As we continued the decent we entered the Glen Canyon area and the towering red cliffs grew around us. We climbed to a great vista of the Colorado river and then descended into a moon like valley of water worn rocks. The bridges crossing the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers were amazing! We had a hot and grueling last climb to the camp ground and were happily done for the day! 50 miles in all.

Torrey to Hanksville, riding day 16 (July 24)

Today was a recovery ride. We all took a very easy morning in the camper and made a big breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs. Since we are going to lose several thousand feet in elevation through the day the morning was very cold where we are starting and the afternoon is going to be very hot. Additionally, we had only about a 50 mile ride so we figured we could start a little bit later and still get in pretty early.

Andrew and I got on the road at about 9 o'clock hoping to be done little afternoon. The day started off with a very nice very quick drop into Capital Reef National Park. There were some very incredible and very red rock formations, a very nice visitor center and we ran into another cross-country rider that had come from the east. As a sidenote we passed three additional riders coming from that direction as well today!

The canyon we road through is an amazing in a place!  Where there's little life and so much desert condition it was amazing to actually see a flowing river, a lot of wildlife and tons of greenery.

As we gradually left the national Park and once again entered the desert. The temperature, the son and the amount of sand gradually increased. We had very few clients today, in total we only had 1800 feet of climbing.

The last 10 to 15 miles were tough as the wind switched but it was pretty flat to down hills so it could've been a lot worse!

We arrived at our campground ahead of Rebecca and the kids but there was a nice café and we had some lunch and some much needed water! Andrew went out for a few more miles and the rest of this month back to the camper to try and keep cool. The temperature outside was nearly 100° and we covered all the windows and turn up the air conditioner as much as possible but the camper still was pretty warm. Rebecca left managed to find some Internet at the community center down the street and was able to get some work done for Rotary. I stayed back made some crafts with the kids and watch the little mermaid. The plan is to go back to the café for dinner, they have really good food, and enjoy some more for dinner.

Tomorrow's going to be an early start as we expect hot temperatures and a slightly more hilly ride.

From Rebecca...

Capitol Reef NP

Twin Rocks

Chimney 

Castle

It was bright!!

The washes were not the best thing for the camper.  We scrapped pavement on one of them, but no harm was done.

We stayed at Duke's Slickrock Grill and RV Park.  It was hot and there were very few trees around, but the air did its job!

I found wifi at a community center for free but I had to sit out in the truck to work because it was closed.  I did get a few hours worth of work done.  Tomorrow we are in the very remote Glen Canyon-Hite Rec Area.  The night at Hanksville we all went to be early...9 or 9:30 pm.  At about 10:15 pm we were all jolted awake because of fireworks across the street from our campground!  I thought someone was shooting outside our door and John thought it was someone pounding on our camper...nope...just fireworks.