July 2006

June 29 – July 2nd – Durango, CO

Eclectic little town with so much to do and see! We took an all day ride on the Durango/Silverton Small Gauge Railroad and saw some gorgeous country. Now I understand why so many people think that Colorado is so beautiful……the Rocky Mountains are incredible. The train ride (in an open gondola) was great and we were able top spend a few hours in Silverton – a small mining community in a fantastic valley in the middle of the Rockies. The next day we drove to Ouray, Colorado – 75 miles north of Durango. To get to Ouray we drove over three 11,000 foot passes on a very narrow, windy, steep drop off road. Ouray is in the most beautiful setting I have ever seen. Steep mountains on every side. It reminded me of Leavenworth, Washington only on a much grander scale. I would definitely like to go back to Ouray and spend some time there. And on yet another great day in Durango, we drove to “Four Corners” – the only place in the US where four states meet and you can stand in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona all at the same time. From there we went to Mesa Verde National Park. This is an amazing step back into ancient Indian history. Some of the dwellings date back as far as 1 AD….most about 1200 AD when the Indians built their communities in the sides of the cliffs……Amazing how they still stand today very much intact.
What a great time in Durango……It was everything I had hoped it would be. (We even saw “John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas) wandering the streets of Durango with his family!)

July 3-5th – Moab Utah

It’s really hot and dry here but this place has a definite beauty of it’s own. We visited Canyonlands National Park – it’s like the Grand Canyon but many many smaller canyons rather than one big one. The view from Dead Horse State Park is breathtaking. At Arches National Park, we walked back between some “fins” (very tall slivers of rock that have been formed over the years) and found a beautiful sandy area and also “Sand Dune Arch” It was peaceful – felt like a sanctuary.

July 6th – Torrey, Utah

We came to Torrey to see Capitol Reef National Park. So many beautiful rock formations in Utah. Capitol Reef has a beauty different than Moab. The National Park is located in a beautiful green canyon with a river flowing through it. We took a hike up to a “slot canyon” (narrow canyon where two rocks almost touch) It was quiet and peaceful in the canyon but strenuous getting there J I went to the one room Fruita schoolhouse (totally restored) and the “Gifford House” (a very small restored home built by a Mormon pioneer) We saw ancient Indian petroglyphs and took a beautiful scenic drive through the park and a breath taking view of a winding river at the bottom of a deep canyon.

July 7th- 9th – Ely NV and Carson City NV – Traveling to Lake Tahoe on the “Loneliest Road in America – Highway 50”

July 10th – 17th – Lake Tahoe

We spent a week in Lake Tahoe for the “Celebrity Golf Tournament” The weather was great and the tournament was fun. They had 80 celebrities there….our favorites were Lance Armstrong, Stone Phillips, Donald Trump, Dan Quayle, Morrey Povich, Kyle Boller, Billy Joe Tolliver just to name a few. We took the paddle wheel cruise out to Emerald Bay (so incredibly beautiful!!) Cathie and Julie came up and took me to see Troy ride in a BMX race. He looks so little out there on the course

July 18th-August 23rd –Sunriver

Chuck has headed back to Las Vegas. It was great having him with us in Palm Springs and traveling with us. Mike has worked hard to get our lot back into shape. It looks great! It’s good to see our “Sunriver” friends. Glen & Judy, Norm & Joan, Cliff & Marcielle, Jerry & Susan and Bob and Marianne are all here. An unexpected visit from Denny and Kay Struss was a treat. We have decided to try out hiking and so far we both love it. We hiked around Todd Lake and took the Ray Atkinson Memorial Trail near Sparks lake too. This is beautiful country. We took a day trip to Crater Lake – Wow what an awesome National Park area.