Pagosa Springs, here we come!
July 29, 2009

What a wonderful, diverse drive this is - traversing the southeast corner of Utah and the southwest section of Colorado. This morning, we’ve enjoyed the last of Utah’s ochre cliffs and driven through the winter wheat and pinto beans farming areas around Dove, blithely leaving behind the Dolores River and McPhee Reservoir temptations. I’m sorry that we will miss seeing Gene and Carol who are at an RV park on the Dolores. Next year will be a bit more planned, mayhaps.

I love seeing those red-gold ripe wheat fields rolling through the gentle hilly country, punctuated by pinion/spruce islands and hilltops, and interspersed with neatly disked fallow fields. It looked as if the dry-farm beans did not get precipitation sufficient to germinate or mature well, but the grain was beautiful and nearly ready for harvest.

Not far from our start, we saw a huge sign lettered on a cliff face for “Hole ‘N Rock”, but that particular little tourist trap was closed so we will have to catch it later. In fact, as I peruse my surroundings, I realize once again that we could happily spend months upon months nearly anywhere and continue to explore and enjoy ourselves.

Since I began this little enterprise of putting fingers to keyboard to relay my stream of consciousness, two folks have brought to my attention the fact that traveling from Arizona to Utah is the wrong direction for getting to the South. I appreciate that advice, lest I end up at the Arctic Circle. To clarify: our easternmost goals are North Carolina to spend time with Mom & Dad W. and Florida to visit oldest son Darren. What happens before and after that (well, there Sara and Trinity Grace in Topeka) is the great unknown, but it will without a doubt include ancestral research and other interesting stuff.

We’re experiencing lots of climate change in this short first week (only a week?!) - pleasant summer weather at Panguitch, 6,600 feet, then heat in the rocky area of Moab, 4,000 feet, now heading for Pagosa, 7,100. If these numbers are not exact, see my encyclopedic partner, as in most matters relating to numbers.

The Rocky Mountains are astounding, whatever the exact numbers. I’m looking forward to the cooler clime in Pagosa. While in Moab, I missed the cool nights like we get at home.

We passed a large pasture with many majestic elk. Exciting until I realized that it was an elk meat farm. Made me consider once again becoming a vegetarian.

Birds I think I left out of the list: violet-green swallow, cliff swallow, great blue heron and phainopepla.

Oh cripers, here we are in our home away from home up in the mountains near Pagosa. The place happens to be for sale should anyone be interested. On the off chance this turns into an actual transaction, I want a finders fee - thanks!

It’s a super place on the Animas River called (I think) Elk Meadows River Resort with a private home, cabins and RV spaces. It hailed on us as we were setting up, has remained somewhat stormy, on and off raining, cool - 60 degrees at 8 p.m., love this great mountain air.

We barely had our feeders up before we were swarming with birds to the point that it felt as if we were living in an aviary. Very fun - three kinds of hummingbirds (black chinned, calliope, broadtailed), dozens of them, plus pine siskins, Cassin’s finches, black-headed grosbeaks and robins, and that’s in the first five minutes as seen from our “dining room” window. I’ve never seen so many grosbeaks. Neither has Rowdy, and he’s loving every minute of it. We also got a magpie on the way here.

We got in very early afternoon and were quickly off to the incredible mineral hot springs in town. Aaaah! I’m way too relaxed to try to describe the indescribable, so will stop for now and try later maybe. Suffice it to say that my gratitude is boundless for such bounty.

Best sign of the day (on the marquee of a Durango motel): “Last motel for 150 feet”.