2022 June NM, CO staying cool

  June 2022. A relatively short drive to Taos, NM from Santa Fe, NM, we took what is called “the high road” passing through small scenic villages with glimpses of the Rio Grande River. A specifically scenic area that you would not want to miss is the Rio Grande Gorge National Monument. Today we saw the southern portion which also has campsites in “Santa Fe Ranch Recreation area”. This is BLM land with established campsites not boondocking.

As we take a turn along the road SURPRISE! Bighorn sheep

Rio Grande Gorge

No campsite available in the Rio Grande Gorge, so in Taos, NM we stayed at a casino, unfortunately the restaurant was not open due to covid. Nice and quiet night, horses grazing next to us, had asphalt to park on, so in the morning I finished installing the trailer jack. Now if we need to, we can disconnect the trailer!

Breakfast in Taos, you have got to eat local for the flavors are amazing! Then a quick drive through town for it is all shops and tourist stuff that do not interest us very much, then a drive along the “Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway.” I also happened to see this in Leisure Travel Vans (LTV) newsletter which makes it even better for us as LTV owners. Such a beautiful drive along mountain passes as high as 9767 feet elevation. Then through a high mountain valley with 2 towns, Angel Fire and Eagles Nest. Wow, such a beautiful drive through the mountains of New Mexico. A Vietnam Memorial (first National Memorial in US established by the father of a fallen hero) Further along the loop is Red Rock, a small village, ski lift (very tempting) and other tourist attractions. Stopping for an ice cream next to the Fly-Fishing shop, we walk and enjoy the scenery.

At the other end of the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway is the Northern end of the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument with fantastic view of the Rio Grande Gorge! Oh WOW!

This is where the Fire River joins the Rio Grande River

Looking North on the Rio Grande River.

It is so quiet here, Tanya wants to spend several days, I’m not so sure I can sit still that long with nothing to do. So, we are taking it day by day.

A couple of days here with constant rain and cold, decided to go over the mountains to Colorado Springs where it’s less rain and warmer. Beautiful drive through the Sante Christo mountains, over a high pass. We noticed allot of RV going both directions, watched license plates and most were local Colorado.

Turns out it was Sunday so people were going home after the weekend. Another example of retired life, “what day is it?”?

After spending 4 days in Colorado Springs running errands, doing minor repairs, picking up Amazon orders its time to go to cooler climes. The weather was definitely warmer than Taos and no rain! I had a full day ride checking out the town and nearby Fort Carson Army Base, I love ridding the scooter around town!

Over the hill 1 1/2n hour ride to Pikes Peak National Forest, Badger Meadows Dispersed Camping area. Coming up is the 4^th of July weekend so I know there will be allot of 4 wheelers and dirt bikes ridding around. The first few days were really quiet and I welcomed watching all the OHV running around. After 3 days I felt ENOUGH ALREADY! Hahahahaha not so bad really, but I am missing the quiet.

 

Tanya and I got out for some hiking and scooter ridding. 

I made a longer trip and caught these signs that described the early days in the area.

We’ve spent 6 days boondocking in Pikes Peak National Forest then went into Colorado Springs for a few days taking care of eye exam, RV warranty work then back out to boondocking! Boy we love this lifestyle!

Today’s scooter ride I explored CR 72 through rolling hills following the Tarryall creek towards it’s origin. While cruising slowly at 35 mph, a herd of motorcycle riders pass me, spooked me and I realized I have slowed down considerably.

Another cool sign describes the area growth.

Arriving back at camp, we work on adding the Kelty tarp to help in the afternoon sun comes directly broadside to the coach. We wanted this spot because it has the best view of the valley.

I took the day for a scooter ride to higher elevation Cripple Creek, CO. This is the largest gold mine in the world! The 70-mile ride was spectacular until the end when a rain and hail storm caught up with me. I arrived home wet, cold tired ☹. But while it lasted it was excellent. Very curvy roads with such immense vista’s, I recommend it for a scenic route.

The motorcycle did not like it so much for it is an older scooter with standard carburetor’s and above 9,000’ the fuel air mixture was very poor, and performance was really lacking. At peak elevation 10,240’ it was really bad, struggling on the climbs, miss firing.

The town of Cripple Creek consisted mostly of casino’s The older storefronts remained, but it had been merged into one long building on each side of the road forming the casinos.

This is what the call a Frittatta here,

The story on this one is that a Coal Miner would make $3.00 a day high wages back then. The Ladies in this establishment would make $250. Per customer! WhooHoo what a profit!

For a tour, I preferred the Mollie Kathleen Mine; I did tour the mine itself where you go 1,000’ below the surface and they give demonstrations of the original method of drilling (by hand) and advanced method using air power. The original labor was burros until President Roosevelt felt it was cruel and inhumane to keep these creatures below ground their entire life and they would go blind. Then the method was air powered engines to move the ore carts.

Government regulations????

This is the lift that took us below ground.

Even 1,000’ below ground you must have an outhouse.

 Through the end of July we stayed in the Rockies keeping cool during a heat wave in the middle of the US. Mostly Boondocking west of Colorado Springs then errands in Colorado Springs and Denver before going up to Cheyane, WY for "Frontier Days".

Having warranty work accomplished in Colorado Springs at Van City RV was a good experience, their team of technician's, office staff were truly excellent at their jobs, pleasant to work with. I highly recommend them not only for sales but service. These items we brought were very minor, the LTV did an excellent job on building the RV. Some other manufacturers products did not work so well. The only one I have a complaint with is Carefree Awnings. The motor failed to stop properly when opening and failed to fully close. The adjustment was ineffective and in fact made the motor much worse. So after getting approval for warranty replacement of the motor we wait even more for Carefree to respond on ordering the motor.

I have had a total of 4 brand new RV's over the 30+ years I have been RVing. The LTV has had the very least of troubles of them all. AND it is not even the most expensive RV I have ever purchased!

After my previous Blog where I went to the Mining town at 10,200' elevation and my motorcycle would not perform a this elevation because it was a older model with carburation and the fuel air mixture will not work without changing jets in the carburetor. This was the final deciding factor to trade up for a larger bike, newer with fuel injection and capable of carrying both Tanya and I. I did online research to identify a bike that short people are comfortable with and we went to Denver, CO to check out the bike shops. Due to supply chain shortages there are very few new bikes available. Fortunately, there was a used bike that fit my needs very well.

2014 Honda CTX700. This is a "Cruiser" style of bike, highway speeds are very comfortable, very low vibration, responsive at higher and lower speeds as well as slow steady climbing up the mountain.

Tennessee Pass 10,454 elevation. I never do selfies and did not know that there is a function to change the text in pictures that reverses the text. :)

This is a route between Leadville, CO and Aspen, CO. Independence Pass was over 12,000' elevation!

Tanya had flown back to MD for Dr appointment and mother/daughter time. So, I spent a week in Leadville, CO and made 3 different scooter rides of increasing distance and complexity. The last here going over Independence Pass was a very steep, very winding road that had 2 hairpin turns at 10 MPH, also so narrow that 2 locations had traffic stoplights for only one lane available due to the narrow road. I am not at all afraid of heights, but this road I definitely felt vertigo! 

You can almost reach out and touch the snow.

Leadville has interesting museums to see mostly mining. The town itself has buildings with character too. The use of old barnwood make it look really interesting.

Having to return to Denver to pick up the title for the motorcycle I continued on to Cheyane, WY for "Frontier Days". The first weekend the Air Force Base where I stayed had their own demonstrations of historic military items such as tanks, jeeps from WWI and WWII, Vietnam. Also 1800 village in period dress, blacksmiths, EOD demonstrations (EOD- explosive demotion detachment).