We left heading for Durango, CO. Trying to keep to short travel days, we overnighted at the Walmart in Cortez, CO. I have to say I still find myself dismayed at many of my fellow RV travelers as far as manners when staying for free at some of the business establishments. This Walmart appeared to be a very popular overnight stop for RV’s and big rig trucks. We really try to adhere to the unwritten code – when staying at a business for free, no jacks down, no slides out, no setting up chairs, BBQ’s, and any other camping equipment. In other words, be “turn key ready”. Here, there were about a dozen RV’s or trailers parked for overnight and out of the (7) that had pop-outs, (5) of them had extended. (4) of the units put down their jacks. And (1) unit, out of Canada, extended it’s jacks, popped out all (3) slides, set out (2) reclining camp chairs with folding table, and had the BBQ set up. I just had to shake my head…the only thing missing was a campfire…Well, we stuck to the code and even donated to the local Walmart economy by making a grocery run inside the store.

Next morning it was “up and at ‘em”, onward to Durango, CO where we chose to stay at the Lightner Creek Campground. This campground was just outside of town and right on the creek. Quite a bit overpriced at $47 per night, since the pool was closed, the bathrooms at our end of the campground were closed, and there was otherwise nothing to do within the campground. 

During our short (2) day stay we were advised by locals that we should take the “Million Dollar Highway”, a scenic loop up through Silverton, Ouray, over to Telluride, and back to Durango. So off we went, it was close to a couple hundred miles of highways and took us all day. The highway takes you up over the 10,000 foot elevation and through some colorful canyons where the fall colors were starting to pop out. We came upon Silverton, which was plopped right in the valley floor between mountains. Like most nearby towns, Silverton is an old mining town and there are a lot of abandoned mining structures at the end of town. We stopped in town and walked among the old style buildings and even found a BBQ joint called “Thee Pitts Again” which was featured on “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” on the Food Channel, (we did not indulge ourselves). 

Just a bit further and outside of town we came upon the viewing point for the old mines. It would have been interesting to see all this in action in their heyday.

Next stop on our tour was the megalopolis of Ouray, CO. This was another small old mining town settled into the floor of a valley surrounded by huge mountains. The scenery and colors during the whole ride was pretty cool and these small towns evoke thoughts of days gone by, make that WAY gone by.

Keeping to the loop, we came upon Telluride, CO, and as usual, we fell into a big to-do. This was the big weekend for Telluride, their Blues ‘n Brews festival. And, oh my, not one parking spot was available for miles and miles, town was jam packed, and needless to say we were unable to stop and enjoy the festival.

So it was back to Durango, after a long day of driving, and time to get ready to move on. Our next stop, another Walmart in Trinidad, CO, then on to the Oasis RV Park in lovely downtown Amarillo, TX. We spent (3) days in Amarillo doing laundry, grocery shopping, getting mail sent to us, and otherwise taking care of some business matters while we could make use of the office FAX at the RV park. During our shopping outing, we did manage to locate a helpful tome at Barnes and Noble, “Wordpress for Dummies”. Hopefully, I will be able to fumble through it and avoid some of the tech issues such as I recently had with losing photos from several blog posts. Some say, “a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing”, we’ll certainly see about that. Until next time…