6/24 - 7/8/06 On to Colorado - The new quest begins

6/27- Well, we have a lot to catch up on. For starters I've had more technical problems, this time with my Internet satellite equipment. It was down for much of last week & is still giving me fits. Today was the second day in the last week that I had to work from a coffee shop that provided wireless Internet access. Here in Pagosa Springs at the Higher Grounds shop, the service was free vs the $10 I had to pay for a day at Starbucks in Glendale.

Our trip to Phoenix worked out well & we got everything done. The summer heat was something of a shock, but fortunately Liz has a pool & we used it every day to cool off. There's no more storage space in Gypsy now than there was before, since we brought back all kinds of new fun stuff: 2 bicycles & a bumper rack, an inflatable raft with oars & floatation jackets, 3 lapidary/gem cutting machines, plus more rock hounding equipment.

We arrived back in Taos late Friday night, after taking the scenic route back. It was my first time along the Mogollon Rim (just "the rim" to Arizonans). Very nice country, with dense ponderosa forests. It's a great contrast to the southern deserts. We watched the outside temperature reading in Egor drop from 108 to the 80s as we climbed into the higher country.

Saturday I installed the bike rack on Gypsy's rear bumper, then we repacked everything & headed for Pagosa Springs. We took US 64 west back across the Rio Grand Gorge & through the Tusas Mountains to the Chama Valley. The drive through the mountains was lovely, 50 miles of park-like forest with expansive views in all directions. We were shocked by a massive aspen die-off across most of the western valleys, apparently the work of some incredible number of leaf-devouring tent caterpillars. West of Chama we took US 84 north into Colorado. Almost immediately the valleys seem to transform into lush green meadows with the towering peaks of the San Juans high in the distance.

We arrived near Pagosa about 5, rather late to go prospecting for a boondocking site. But we dropped Gypsy at a state wildlife area (closed to camping) & drove up a couple of Forest Service roads. We found a nice spot that's only about 5 miles out of town among ponderosa pines & dwarf oak shrubs. We have a fine view of the San Juans stretching in a great arc from the northwest to the east. We share the area with a herd of steers that wander by about once a day. Fortunately they don't congregate here, so there's no "pie" problem.

Afternoon thunderstorms are an every day occurrance here, though actual rainfall tends to be isolated. So far we haven't fallen behind on our solar charging, but only because we haven't been able to run our satellite equipment. After hours on the phone with HughesNet, I still don't know for sure if it's the satellite, my modem or my transmitter that's acting up (or all 3). But given the flakey nature of the problems & my need for reliable service, I decided today to replace my equipment & in the process get assigned to a different satellite. I'm throwing out the baby & the bathwater & starting fresh.

7/2 - It figures that as soon as I ordered the new satellite equipment, the old stuff would start working reliably again. I am quite suspicious of HughesNet. I think they had satellite problems but weren't forthcoming about it. Well, the new hardware is supposed to be twice as fast, so that will be nice, especially when I am working.

July finds us near Del Norte, Colo., about 60 miles from Pagosa. I was a bit leery about taking on Wolf Creek Pass over the San Juans, but it's a great road & all went well. It's also a gorgeous drive, tracking along the South Fork of the Rio Grande the last 30 miles.

We really enjoyed the Pagosa area & we've placed it on our list of possible places to relocate to one day. Liz hiked several of the trails in the forest near our camp. Friday afternoon as we were heading into town, Liz spotted a large black bear ambling along about a half mile from camp. He had gray "grizzling" on his back, but he was still a black bear. As we grilled dinner in the evening, we were wondering if the smell would result in a call from our new neighbor, but no, we didn't see Mr. Bear again.

Here we're camped again on National Forest lands, though the only trees nearby are small pinions. That will help us in the solar power department because we won't be shaded early & late as we were near Pagosa. The weather here is just the same: thunderstorms every afternoon. Today's lasted until dark, with some spectacular lightning nearby. Timmy has been taking Star of Bethlehem (flower extract) drops which has really helped him cope with the storms. But tonight's strikes almost overhead still got him trembling.

Liz wanted to come here for the rock hounding possibilities. Although we found a lot of agate fragments near our camp, it wasn't until we got up to the base of Twin Peaks this morning that we started to "hit paydirt." Lots of large, multi-colored fragments, much common opal & other treasures too.

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