Into the Mountains 9/13/15

It was cool, sunny and beautiful as we organized for the day. We heard two couples chatting right outside at the picnic table, so we took our coffee and joined them. They were both in town as the wives had their 50th high school reunion. One man was originally from Dowagiac and his parents had manned the lighthouse at Harbor Springs on Lake Michigan. We got route ideas from them for traveling to Durango and beyond and it's always interesting to hear the travel tales of others. It was hard to get away, but time was ticking and we were anxious to push on.

We grabbed McDonald's oatmeal and turned off on back road 10 which was a straight but hilly shot over to 160 into Durango. It was a great smooth road with very little traffic, no trees, lots of Black Eyed Susan's and cattle grazing on range land. We could see for miles and started to see hazy mountains in the distance. It was just beautiful and my head was full of cowboy songs.

 

Then we turned on to Highway 160 and climbed into some serious mountains with rock ledges, tall thin pines, Aspen covered valleys and the occasional hawk circling and riding the air currents. Suddenly a large black bear crossed right up the road in front of us. It was all gorgeous beyond words and then we saw elk crossing signs. Heaven!

We stopped at a roadside picnic table to make some lunch and then as we drove on, the land flattened out with brown areas again. We entered the Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. We could see for miles and we saw many trailers, cabins, lodges, and RV parks. We saw three Pronghorn deer grazing in a dried out field.

We stopped in a quaint little town of Monte Vista to mail some birthday cards. There were cute little houses and many trees. We saw the sign for the post office and were amazed at the huge formal building for such a little town.

We left there and entered a National Forest with pine covered mountains again and the road curved as it followed the bubbly Wolf Creek. 

 

We went through a couple of tunnels and tight switch backs as we came down the mountain into Durango. Durango was much bigger than we thought with all of the usual big box stores and heavy traffic. We were happy to drive on out of town about 15 minutes west and turned on to a steep winding road back to the Lightener Campground. Our site was at the end against a mountain covered with brush and vines. Pat's site was right next to ours and on the little Lightner Creek. The mountain gave us a private little yard with a picnic table. Ben was a happy boy.

Pat and her friend, Lisa and their two dogs arrived with a big motor home and snuggled in beside us. We went off to a Mexican Dinner and Marguaritas to celebrate the beginning of our adventure together. We were all happy to settle in for our first night in camp.