We arrived at TT Blue Mesa in Gunnison, Colorado on September 2. We are staying here for a full month until the campground closes for the season. We got the same site as we did the first time we stayed here. It is a great site and this time it was much easier for me to back into!
We spent the first 2 days getting settled in and then I flew to Dallas for a week. It is so nice that Montrose has an airport that has a direct flight to Dallas. This year, Hwy 50 isn’t under construction, so that made for a better drive to the airport also!
I returned to Gunnison on the 9th. On September 11, my aunt Anita called and let us know that our dear aunt Jan passed away. It was unexpected and broke my heart right open. Aunt Jan is such a beautiful soul and while I am happy that she has been reunited with her love, Uncle Dennis, it is shattering to know that she is no longer bringing her light into this world. I will miss her greatly. I cannot imagine how my cousins/her daughters are feeling. My heart is with them. This sunset was the evening I found out.
On the 16th, we drove to Grand Junction and drove the Colorado National Monument.
On the 18th, we drove to Crested Butte. We stopped at the Gunsight trail and hiked a bit.
We drove Kebler Pass Scenic Drive and it was really beautiful. We saw a rouge lamb just trotting down the road! The leaves are changing and so pretty.
We took the truck in to get the repairs done, new tires and stabilizers installed. We ended up renting a car for the week while the repairs are done. On the way home, we stopped at Morrow Point Dam and found this cool train.
On the 21st, we drove the million dollar highway to Durango. We started off the morning with Dunkin Donuts for Ed and Scooby and a breakfast burrito for me from my favorite little drive through Sunrise Burritos! We stopped at Honeyville to pick up some goodies for Mama and myself. We ended up trading the rental car for a Jeep Compass at the Durango airport.
We rode the Durango-Silverton Railway. It is such a gorgeous and enjoyable trip. We had lunch at Handlebars in Silverton. We had supper at Gazpacho in Durango.
On the way back to Gunnison, I opted to drive the longer way, up through Telluride and down through Ridgeway. The mountains had some snowcaps and I wanted to capture them for Mama.
On the 25th, we drove over Monarch Pass.
We then went to St Elmo’s Ghost Town.
We then drove over Cottonwood Pass to Almont. We saw bighorn sheep! It was a great day and a gorgeous drive!
On the 26th, I woke up to discover that we had a mouse in the camper! It had dug into my plant and left droppings all over the camper! I was hysterical!!!
I sent Ed out immediately to get traps and heavy duty cleaner. I spent the entire day scrubbing the camper from top to bottom. It was exhausting. I was pretty sure of where it had gotten in, so I had Ed put a trap right where I expected it to access the camper. Within an hour of going to bed, the mouse was caught! I had Ed repair the area and tried to relax a bit. It took several days of examining all my surfaces for me to be convinced there were no more mice getting in. SIGH!
On the 29th, we went into Montrose and visited the Museum of the Mountain West. It is a really cool spot. The main building is really neat in that it is set up like an entire main street town inside the building! The outer buildings are really fantastic also. We really are glad we stopped.
After visiting the museum, we picked up the truck from the dealership, returned the rental car and went back to the campground to pack up for moving. The campground closes tomorrow for the season and we will be headed for Raton, NM.