Mining – TooBusyForWork

Quartzsite still

We are still in Quartzsite, but we will be leaving soon. The last Greater Quartzsite Ukulele Orchestra concert will be on Saturday, 7 March. We will either leave on the next day or we will wait a couple of days. I will decide when we find out if there will be a party for the ukulele group.

It got really hot in Quartzsite last week, so we chickened out of boondocking in the desert and went to a campground. This time of year places are really clearing out, but there were also a number of folks like us who came in from the heat. While we absolutely can run our AC when needed using the generator, I really dislike doing it for hours on end. But I kind of stop feeling comfortable when the temps get much over 85, so in to town we went! We stayed at Rice Ranch again, the place we will be staying seasonally next year. The temps were only high for 4-5 days, but we stayed a week on a discounted rate (7 days for the price of 6). We got all the laundry done, enjoyed having power available, ran the AC as needed, and we were able to heat the rig with the built in electric fireplace heater. Even when the desert gets to 90 degrees in the summer, it can be in the 50s at night so a bit of extra heat is needed for this temperature sensitive gal. I think I could get used to just how easy it is to stay in a real campground!

We took a side by side ride of course, even with the heat. We went out on just a semi-local around the Dome Rock area. There is still an awful lot of gold mining going on around Quartzsite, and here are some pictures of some of it.

This is actually six active claims. You can rent If you want

We also took our yearly trip to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. We usually go in late January or very early February, so it was interesting to see the differences 5-6 weeks can make. There were a lot fewer birds for sure! In a good year we can see hundreds of duck and geese of many species plus another few hundred sandhill cranes. These time of the year, not nearly as many.

Pond has 1/2 or less the number of birds

Great White Egret in foreground with some sandhill cranes behind

We took a trip to the more remote Island section of the refuge that is located between the current Colorado River and the historic Colorado. I love the mountains contrasted with the flooded ponds.

Island section of refuge shows how important water is in the desert

And of course I will end with sunsets, these from Rice Ranch.

Last days in Del Norte

We went back to Creede on Wednesday to drive the Bachelor Loop Byway. It is a relatively short high clearance route driving by many of the mines that made Creede the biggest boomtown in Colorado with 10,000 people.

The mines and mills were impressive. The Amethyst mine was the biggest

Tram and rail lines were laid along the mountain face

The same day we went to the Bachelor Loop we also went to Great Sand Dunes National Park. However it was so crowded we didn’t do anything except drive through and double park briefly for some pictures. The reason I wanted to go so much was because the river was running. There is just something impressive about a flowing river backed by the sand dunes. However i didn’t check that the picture I took was any good before I left; it wasn’t. You will just have to take my word for it.

Our first blooming cactus! Found at Great Sand Dunes

Our last day at Del Norte was Thursday, and we decided to go to Pagosa Springs across Wolf Creek Pass for lunch. As usual, the drive was gorgeous.

We had a lovely brunch, but Pagosa Springs was so crowded we didn’t do anything except drive through the edge. What a crazy time, and it is only mid June! The biggest tourist time is usually mid July, so I will far, far away!

We left this morning for our next spot in Salida. We are staying at a Boondockers Welcome spot again. This time we are at the edge of town and parked in their driveway. It is pretty unlevel, but there is a reason Kevin keeps a LOT of leveling blocks. The hosts are very nice. The best thing is that we had absolutely no need for AC after we set up! Finally we are getting cooler weather building in.

I am not quite sure what we are doing tomorrow, but we will figure it out!

Back with internet so more about NM and into CO

We are at a nice little RV park in Del Norte, CO called Woods and River. We got a lovely shaded RV site right on the Rio Grande. The only problem is there is a major mayfly hatch going on! I am talking enough mayflies to make every trout in the river gain a half pound without really trying. Mayflies by the hundreds! Add to it the cottonwood fluff that is coming down, and we look like we are in a blizzard. We haven’t been able to stay outside, but at least I can get a good river view out of the motorhome front window. However their in-park WiFi is bad, and my Verizon Mifi is experiencing network management, so I have to tether to the phone. It is a pain. We drove out a few miles to a BLM site, and the Mifi is screaming fast! I will try to mostly catch up on my pictures.

The nearby town of Del Monte, CO has an old fashioned drive -in movie! We had a great time watching “In the Neighborhood,” a musical with modern, rap style lyrics and lots of dancing. It was a great show, but we got back way past my bedtime! Worth it though.

I left off with the Dawson cemetery on Saturday, 12 June. We continued along the road to Cimmaron. The town has really invested in tourist infrastructure with lots of signs and historic markers. I particularly liked this old mill.

There was lots of beautiful country, as one might expect. I took pictures of the views, not the towns. Every town was crowded. Taos was dreadfully crowded, and we didn’t get out of the car at all. I was bummed because it was one of my favorite places. Interestingly the Taos Pueblo has been cut off for COVID precautions. The road is closed except to key card access.

Bighorn sheep were grazing along the road

On Sunday we headed to Capulin Volcano National Monument. Nice place. The views are amazing.

The view from the top of Capulin National Monument are spectacular

A nearby much smaller cone to show the shape

The next day we packed up leisurely and went to Del Norte, CO as I noted in the first paragraph. Tuesday we took off on more sightseeing, this time along the Silver Thread National Scenic Byway which is basically highway 149. Much of the road parallels the Rio Grande, and I particularly wanted to see the headwaters. Couldn’t quite get there because a creek had the road flooded, but we did get a decent long distance view.