4-25 to 4-28

4-25---We left Navajo Dam NM and headed to Moab UT. We arrived here about 3pm and first of all stopped at the Visitors Center to get some info. As we were walking out there were 2 policeman standing at our truck and trailer. Come to find out, we were partially parked in the turn lane. But we didn't get a ticket!! We then drove up to road 313, back in 18 miles and decided to camp along the Colo. river the 1st night, so headed back toward town. We found a spot 7 miles from town to camp in.

4-26---We slept in because of a long day yesterday. About 8am I overheard our neighbors talking about moving across the road to a different spot. I had to wake Bob because their site was a pull thru big enough for our trailer. As they moved, we moved into their spot. We have the Colo river on the south side of us and beautiful rock sculptures to the north. We then headed into town, got some natural spring water for drinking and then got some town water for the tanks in the trailer. Headed to the City Market for some lunch stuff and diesel then stopped at the rock shop to look around. After that we headed to Arches National Park.

After spending about 4 hours there, it was time to head home. Bob filled the water tanks, I took a hot shower and Carley (our Cocker Spaniel) took a nap. Bob bought a new topo map of Moab trails and I started a batch of chili. Carley is still sacked out.

4-28---Yesterday we visited the Canyonlands west of Moab. It is pretty there but after seeing the Grand Canyon, nothing compares to that. We drove to Moab today to see the Antique Car Show. Yesterday before we left to go exploring, several of the cars were headed up the canyon. At this car show, there were over 800 entries. I'll have to insert pics another time, cause they aren't downloaded yet. Just looked at the temp and it is 103 in the shade. Kinda a warm day today. More next time we get to town for internet service.

April 22

Today we went for a ride and ended up finding a herd of elk. Of course they were contained and being raised by some local people. They weren't even spooked when I went up to the fence to take their pictures. This was just outside of Navajo Dam, NM in Blanco.

After that we went across the road to the local winery. Here is a picture of the local mascot at the winery. We talked to the owners and found out that they have had it for 6 years and love doing it. It is a family operation run by the folks and their 5 children and grandchildren. They have 2 1/2 acres of grapes they harvest with 21 varieties grown. They import most of their grapes from southern NM and up by Grand Junction Colo. They produce about 3000 cases of wine per year which is 36,000 bottles per year. That's quite a bunch for a small winery. We got to taste a couple of the wines and had to buy 2 bottles. They have a couple special wines they produce, Blue Wing Olive and Pale Morning Dun because of the great fly fishing in the San Juan River.

Bob and Terry went fishing to their favorite spot on the river this afternoon. Terry caught 1 fish and Bob hooked 4 fish. I trekked on down to the river close to the campground and fished for a bit till the wind came up.

Ron and Terry came over for a chat around the campfire. They are leaving the campsite tomorrow headed east. We will sure miss having them as neighbors. But we will see them again in August when they pass thru headed to Idaho. They will see us at the Northfork campground above Centennial, WY where we will be camp hosting for the summer.

This will be our last post until we get to Moab, UT as we will not have internet connection. But that will happen on Wed of this week.

April 20

There was some excitement either late last night or early this morning. The park ranger came around to talk to all the campers saying that someone had broken into the pay box where we put our campsite money. They were checking to make sure when we paid and how long we were staying. Until they get the new boxes up, they will be collecting money by hand from campers. We were lucky and had put our money in on Wed. and it had been collected and taken to the office.
Today was also dump day. We managed to get the gray and black water dumped and then used Terry's hose and filled the water tanks back up. Hopefully that will hold us till we get to Moab, UT.
Then Bob headed to town to get groceries. He did well! I was pleasantly surprised at the food he brought home. We will be eating very good for a while.
Terry and him then went out fishing for a couple of hours. Neither of them were successful today.
We spent some time talking with Ron and Terry while gazing into the campfire that Ron already had going when Bob and Terry got back from fishing.
I headed home before Bob to get supper started. Tonight we're having spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.
We're supposed to get some rain showers and wind tonight. I made sure that I had all the top vents closed on the trailer. Wouldn't that be a mess to wake up to if I left them open. Tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy and possible rain showers. We'll see about fishing!

April 18

Today we re-upped on our campsite for another week. We will stay till the 25th. It is so nice here that we don't want to leave.

It looks like Ron and Terry will be leaving on the 23rd.

The past few days Terry and Bob have been going out fishing. Terry did very good yesterday and caught 6 fish. The day before Bob caught 5 fish. It is definitely a competition between the two. The only thing I caught when I went to the river yesterday was a tree limb and lost a fly. I also ran into a snake about 2 feet long. I just moved him to the side of the road with the tip of my pole. But it was fun and I was the only one fishing on this side of the river. It started to get windy and I pulled up stakes.

Bob tried to fish today but the wind was so bad he wasn't able to land any fish. We took a ride up to Navajo Lake today and looked at the campgrounds. We wouldn't be able to get our 34" trailer in any of the sites. It's mostly for smaller campers. Picture of Navajo Lake, it is really a beautiful place.

Bob headed over to Ron & Terry's place tonight. Ron copied some new material on a disk for him. During the time he was over there, Terry came knocking on the door. He handed me a plate of homemade peanut butter cookies. I had to sample one before Bob got home and they were delicious!!! Thanks Terry!!!

Tonight I cooked a pot roast in the cast iron dutch oven with onions, celery, carrots and potatoes. It turned out great, very tasty and moist.

The camp host here at Cottonwood campground has been busy the last couple of days mowing the lawns between the campsites. He will probably have at least 2 more days of mowing before he is done.

The Iris's are starting to show their heads. Hope they bloom before we take off.

Apr 15

We have had some cooler weather the past few days. It rained on Thur and Fri. Bob and Terry went fishing and got snowed on. Both have been successful in catching fish.

A couple pictures of the San Juan River. The first picture is by the Texas Hole. It is a great spot where a lot of the guides put their boats in and a lot of fish are caught. We spotted a fly fisherman yesterday that broke his tip off his pole. He just took the pole apart, used the bottom half of his pole and we saw him catch several fish. Fisherman do know how to adapt! Bob, Terry and I went out yesterday and Terry had 2 fish on but Bob and I got skunked. It was a beautiful day and is going to be nice again today. So this afternoon we will go out and try again.

I filled the water tank this morning before the campground got stirring. Bob and I have decided to stay another week before heading up to Moab. We just love this area and hate to leave.

IF we catch fish today, I will make another post tonight!

Apr 1-11

We have been at Cottonwood Campground outside of Navajo Dam, NM since March 29th. We have electric and water we pump in nearby. Great way to camp. The weather was great for a few days but lately it has been windy and cold.


On Easter Sunday we had the pleasure of going over to Ron's and Terry's place for dinner. We had a great meal of ham, scalloped potatoes and dutch oven baked lima beans. We toasted to great friends over a glass of wine. This was the first time I had ever been able to eat Easter dinner outdoors. It was wonderful and the company was fantastic.
We have gone out fly fishing a few times. Bob and Terry have gone out more than me. Terry is doing really great---he manages to catch something almost every time he goes out. Today after they came back, he was lucky enough to catch 5 trout...What a record...Bob did good also and said he caught 2 trout. All of them were about 15" fish. I haven't been lucky enough yet.
Here's a picture of Terry and Bob contemplating the San Juan River.

The other day I went down to the picnic area by myself, had my hip waders on, waded into the river and instantly got cold feet! My one wader had a leak. So I trudged back home and borrowed some sealer from Terry and hopefully fixed the leak.


Monday we headed to Durango to have a look around. It is a great town, lots of shops in the historic part of town. We didn't see the train running at this time of year.
After having lunch at a Chinese restaurant, we took a drive up to Cortez. It is beautiful mountainous country. Also quite a climb up the mountain. We have decided that we will go back thru Farmington and up to Shiprock then up to Cortez instead of trying to make the climb from Durango. Next week we will be headed to Moab UT. for a couple of weeks.
Snow showers are predicted tomorrow...Guess I won't be fishing tomorrow either.