This morning at 0857 hrs we departed Moab Rim RV Campark and headed south on US 191 and then east on US 491 and US 160 to our next destination, the Mesa Verde RV Park in Mancos CO. This is stop #30 out of 42 for this year. We will be here 26-31 July when we will move on to Monument Valley.
As we got started this morning I had to stop after 20 miles at a rest area to retorque the lug nuts on the trailer wheel I removed yesterday when working on the bushings and then again at 50 miles. Retorquing is critical especially on aluminum wheels. The drive itself was uneventful, basically two-lane the entire trip today except areas where it was three lane and a passing lane. I learned that Canyonlands National Park extends south on the west side of US 191 for a long ways, so the scenery was great all along this portion.
I was expecting a geological formation rather than tourist trap souvenir shop
on the other side of this huge rock!
Wilson Arch visible from the highway
These are huge dump truck boxes being transported.
They pulled over oncoming traffic to make room.
When we reached Monticello we pulled into a gas station and I rechecked the lug nut torque. After a quick pottie break for all concerned we headed east and south on US 491 and the scenery started to change. 16 miles east of Monticello we crossed from Utah back into Colorado.
The further east we traveled the more agricultural the fields became and the flatter the land is. They use lots of irrigation on the crops. I did not get a picture of it, but the cattle were enjoying the water spray from the irrigation!
Silos, just like Iowa!
Machine sheds. This picture could have been taken in Anywhere rural Iowa.
US 491 took us down to Cortez CO where we turned east on US 160 to our final destination. Cortez is pretty good size with the major grocery and shopping stores and restaurants. We stocked up pretty good at Moab, so we may not need to do much shopping while we are here.
Not too far east of Cortez we started seeing signs for Mesa Verde National Park. Our campground is literally a half mile from the park entrance. This will help us as the travel distances are substantial to the various sites within the park. We always have to be concerned with how long we are gone with little miss Liberty being on a diuretic and another heart med. Most of the National Parks are NOT dog friendly even if she were in a carrier or the stroller. So are the trials and tribulations of traveling with pets.
We arrived at the Mesa Verde RV Resort at 1131 hrs after traveling just 124 miles today. We had a bit of a hiccup here as for some reason they changed our site assignment and gave away our large pull through site. After some "discussion" with the owners we arrived at a compromise which will involve us moving the last day we are here to a nearby site. No problem at all.
The park is nice, under new ownership. A lot of the sites in the older portion offer some shade, but the tree branches hang low. OK for some, not so OK for us with a 13 ft 4 in tall coach with the satellite dish on the roof. Our site is in the newer area and the sites are super huge, probably 120 ft long and nicely spaced.
They have a nice laundry facility, super clean, and a nice pool, hot tub and family picnic/barbecue area. I saw a propane refill facility, playground for the kids and a well-stocked camp store.
There is a general lack of grass which Liberty noticed right away. Gonna have ta pee on the rocks, little girl!
Tomorrow we will explore Mesa Verde National Park for the first time. Our guided tour reservation is for Cliff Palace on Sunday afternoon, so we have some time to look around before then.
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