Mancos Colorado

Just East of Mancos Colorado off Hwy 160 you will see a sign for “Echo Basin RV Park” (www.echobasin.com). We picked this park as our next camp spot because it looked like it was in the trees. We have been in the desert for a month now and thought a change of scenery would be good. This park looked great on the website, plenty of spots for big RV’s, close to Mesa Verde National Park and a good central point to visit Durango and Telluride.

The website said it is about three miles from the main road. Well, it is but it’s on an old road that you climb up to the park. I was getting worried the further we went up but have no fear, you can make it. We pulled in, registered, and was escorted to a beautiful spot for the next five days. We had to back in the RV and when I was doing this, the owner came down in a golf cart just to make sure I didn’t need any help. He goes by “Papa Bear” and is great guy. He will tell you all about the place and make sure you have everything you need.

That evening after getting settled in we went down to “Fenceline Cider” (www.fenceline.co)in Mancos for dinner and some cider. They are located right on the river and have a great patio to sit at and watch the water go by. We had a flight and then ordered some food from the food truck they have. I highly recommend a visit. The people were very nice, the cider and food were very good so naturally we had to take some cider back to the RV.

The weather report was predicting snow in Telluride in a couple of days so we decided this would be our first stop. We plugged in the GPS and off we went. We went through a huge and long valley up to Telluride. I can say the scenery was gorgeous and the mountains were still covered in snow. The river coming down was flowing fast and hard and you could see where some places were fighting to keep it at bay.

We made it to Telluride in about two hours and found the place to be in full transition mode. They were trying to get everything changed over from winter to summer but because of the late winter, they were way behind schedule. Most of the shops and restaurants were closed. We walked the old town section and did some trinket shopping but then decided to head over to the newer village and see what that was like. When were driving into the new village we both looked at each other and said, “We found the money’! The homes in this area are amazing, you can easily get a starter home for about $5.0Mil! Again, we walked around, had a quick lunch and then headed out. The weather was turning on us and it was starting to snow.

We pledged we would come back in the fall and check it out as it looks to be a cool place. There are so many slopes that maybe it’s time to plan a ski trip for 2024, who knows but I would have to get in better shape.

Back at the RV resort we decided to check out their lodge and bar (open wed-sun). One of the owners works as a cook and they have a server who is very nice. We immediately made good friends with them and would end up eating and having drinks here a few more times. The drinks and food were both well above par and very cheap. We also made some new friends in the site next to ours who were from Texas (we have seen more people from Texas than anywhere else). They gave us some pointers to see things in Mesa Verde Park so the next day we were in the park.

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK

I did not know much about this park or what it was about. This was one Lori wanted to see so we headed out to visit the next day. First stop is the visitors center which is right off the freeway, then you can ask the rangers about what is open and what is not. We just stood back and listened to them answer questions from others for about 10 minutes and we had the whole thing down. What we did learn is to get into the cliff dwellings, there are only a certain number which let the public in but you have to be on a tour with a guide and you needed to have a reservation and ticket (recreation.gov), oh by the way they don’t start tours until memorial day (great for us) and they were repaving two of the main roads so that knocked out a bunch of sites also (mental note, check ahead for information).

We decided we would go all the way to the furthest part of the park (about a 30-minute drive) and work our way back. We did so and started to see some of the dwellings from the lookout points along the road. Now, if you are going to visit, I have one word for you – Binoculars! Good powerful ones. By the time you get done with this park you will feel like a “Great Cliff Dwelling Hunter”. And it turns out to be a lot of fun.

We hit every available open turnout and viewpoint. We visited the museum and went through the exhibits and found the information very informative. We learned quite a bit about the history of the people who inhabited the park and their ways of life.

On the way out, we pulled out into “Far View Sites”. This is a walking tour of several ruins and really shows you how they lived back then. You can even go through some of the old home sites and learn their day-to-day living arrangements. In addition, there is a reservoir they built that is still there and you can see the ruins of the agricultural systems they built.

FOUR CORNERS

The next day we headed down to Four Corners to take a picture of us in four different states at one time. First thing to know, eight dollars per person to get in (credit card only) and depending on when you visit, there may be a line to take a picture. We were lucky as there were not too many people there and we were able to snap a bunch of pictures.

There are many souvenir shops there and we visited them all. I never thought a picture at Four Corners would cost us $100 but it did when you get trinkets and a tee shirt.  They do have vendors there selling “Navajo Tacos and Frybread” if you get hungry on the trip.

DURANGO-SILVERTON

We were planning on taking a day trip on the Durango Silverton railroad, but we had to cancel due to bad weather. Snow and rain were predicted in both towns, so we decided to hit that one in the fall. We decided to have a “down day” and work on the website. Most of the day was spent on the computer looking out the window at a huge thunderstorm and some people having a wedding, it was really cool and lasted all afternoon.

Next stop is Monument Valley!