A long-awaited journey

Luna makes herself at home

We finally got on the road by 3 and made it to Deming NM by around 8. Next day we stopped in Albuquerque at our cousins' wonderful b and b.  One more short day of driving got us to Pagosa. Had a quick walk-thru of the house with our realtor, closed the next day, stored the trailer nearby, did some grocery shopping (with the rest of the town) and headed home. I should mention there was a winter storm watch for 3-4 feet of snow over the weekend. As of today, Saturday, looks like about 6 " or so. Feels great to be in our new home.

Overhang of snow from the roof looking out our upstairs window.

Moving Day

Everything went smoothly, the movers got done in about 4 hours and we were on the road by 3-ish. Luna is settled in for her new adventure.

WE ARE MOVING TO PAGOSA SPRINGS, CO!

 Our house has finally sold!  I guess we expected it to go more quickly than it did, but everyone tells us it took about the average length of time, 93 days.

How can 2 people accumulate so much stuff?  We have been making regular trips to Goodwill for 3 months now, and our garage still looks like this.  We are lucky to have the trailer to toss in our closet full of clothes and last minute items.

We will spend the first night in Deming, NM, unless the mover arrives really early and we get done....everything is very "fluid" at this point. And we are watching the remote webcam in Pagosa as it snows and snows and snows.  This will be another excellent adventure!  Stay tuned!

GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL MONUMENT

We climbed over the top of the Rockies with no problems, even though it was snowing at one point!  Love the new truck.  Here are the largest sand dunes in North America, and they are awesome.  The backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo mountains is beautiful, and Mt Blanco towers above it all.

OVER THE UINTAS, AND DOWN TO DINOSAUR

 After crossing Flaming Gorge, we went up and over the Uintas, just in time for some fall color before the rain knocked the leaves down.

 Landing in Vernal, Utah, we went to Dinosaur National Monument and viewed a whole hillside enclosed in a building for viewing purposes.  So interesting.  Below, I stand next to a dinosaur femur to show the size comparison.

YELLOWSTONE AND THE TETONS

 We drove through Paradise Valley, into Roosevelt Arch, and after some re-configuring due to road closures, we were on our way through the park to West Yellowstone where we stayed 2 nights.  The elk were loitering in Mammoth Hot Springs, and bison were still causing traffic jams.

 We tried to do a selfie with Old Faithful spewing in the background, but it was hard....so I decided to do a play on words, and we had fun with it.





On our circuitous drive south through the park, we stopped at Canyon, where they are building 3 new huge lodges.  This cabin is what we stayed in when we visited Amber back in her college days when she interned at Yellowstone.  They were rustic then!

 On to the Tetons, we were blessed with good weather for picture taking, and camped in Gros Ventre campground,  We thought it would be dry camping, but we had a nice, paved electric site!

 The new visitor center near Moose Junction is beautiful. Afterwards, we just drove around taking pictures.  Even though we've been here several times before, we always see it with fresh eyes.

MUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES

On to Bozeman we went, stopping at the Museum of the Rockies, a beautifully curated museum containing wonderful exhibits of dinosaurs found in Montana, plus a visiting art exhibit we wanted to see.  Just before we left Kalispell, my cousin and her husband came through on their way here.  We got to have dinner, and Dean shared that his friend, Clyde Butcher, was exhibiting his photography at MOR.  So, we decided to make it one of our stops.
This photographer takes photographs similar to Ansel Adams, but these are huge, some 4 x 6 feet!
It was a great exhibit, and we had fun seeing Bozeman again.  It has grown a lot!

On the road again.....

 Our first night heading home was spent at the Lewis and Clark Caverns campground.  The next morning we headed to the top of the hill and just made the first tour.  These caverns were much more "hands on" than Kartchner Caverns, and not quite so huge as Carlsbad.  Lots more narrow passageways, steep climbs, and a slide down a well worn chute!  Really cool in our opinion.  Glad we finally made the stop to see them.

FINAL COUNTDOWN TO END OF SUMMER

This is our last week before we hit the road for Tucson, so we are hitting our favorite spot one last time.  We had gorgeous weather for a trip up to Logan Pass, and were able to squeeze into a parking space down the road from the visitor center.  It was really busy!  

 Back at Les Mason the next day, the swim buoys are coming in for the winter.   Our swim platform, the kids' favorite, has survived another summer of use, both by kids and grownups of all sizes, and quite a few ducks!