These pictures are taken out of the window of the RV! Can you see why I wanted to turn around go back down before we went any futher up & rent a car to come back!!!!
With the hairpen curves & cliffs with no road side to work with is too scary for me!!! Joyce
I could not handle the cliffs, heights, curves & the big RV on this road going to go rent a car!!! Joyce
Can you see over the cliff right next to the roadno road side!!!!!! Now you know why I'm going to get a car to see this site!!!
Great Metal Art Work!
Entrance to Cliff dwellings
UTE Mountains
Not sure but the town ahead is called Shiprock ??
Could it be because several Mountains here look like large ships out in the middle of the desert
Oh thought we had done it again Statue of Liberty in NM
My goodness what size do you think the Indian is that fired off these arrows!
9-21-10 Sheila's Comments:
We drove up hwy 491 from Gallup, NM to Cortez, CO and Mesa Verde today about 173 miles on one of the straightest but bumpiest roads yet. Since I had not gotten much sleep last night because we were next to the railroad tracks at the campsite in Gallup and because I was up at 3:30am emailing my boss about billing and cash flow I was a bit sleepy and punchy. Joyce was still feeling a little weak and sick because of her blood sugar levels and the high altitudes still so she was a little punchy also. This road 491 was really straight and we could see it for miles ahead with desert all around and some really poor looking houses (Indian we think) and poor ghetto looking villages/towns. They were doing construction on the road so it was 2 way traffic in spots and really bumpy especially on an RV so we both started getting a bit car sick! Even though the road was straight I don't think they know how to pave it flat they still had a lot of little dips and valleys in the road so it felt like a roller coaster ride to some extent. We felt as if we were riding a bucking bronco but we laughed and made jokes about the road and tried to chew chewing gum and eat salty snacks to keep from throwing up! We started reading signs the wrong way like mowing ahead we thought said mooing ahead or moving ahead and putting America to work we thought was putting (like golf) America to work, I think we were having the desert hallucinations or something.
As we were driving we went through a town called Shiprock which we think was named for the rocks we saw on the highway that could appear to be a big battleship. The rocks looked like big castles on top of the sand dunes and stuck up all over the place right out of the clear desert sand.
Once we got into Colorado we were in the Ute mountains and there were even more of these big rocky top sand dunes that were absolutely wonderful.
We drove through the little town of Cortez, CO and on to the Mesa Verde national park and we had to drive up the mountain to see the Indian Pueblo villages in the mountain cliffs. Well, by this time Joyce and I are getting tired of mountains and we were enjoying the flat desert area but guess what we have yet another steep mountain to climb in order to see this next wonder of the world. As we start driving up the mountain the roads have been freshly paved but they are very very narrow and you are not allowed to stop on the edge of course we couldn't anyway because there is now room unless we want to drive off the cliff. We have not driven each other crazy yet so we are not ready to go over the cliff like Thelma and Louise so we have to figure out how to get up this mountain without Joyce having a heart attack. She is really scared and clenching the steering wheel so tight her hands hurt. I of course am the brave one ! Ha ha! The drive to see the Pueblos is about 25 miles up to the top which is then supposed to be a flat table top (Mesa Verde means Green table). We only get up about 5 miles to the campground area and all ready Joyce is ready to stop so we stop there and walk the dogs and eat picnic lunch. We go inside the campground store and purchase our normal magnets and talk with the ladies about the rest of the drive. We did see a sign that said no towed vehicle were to go any further on this road to the top so we got even more scared and decided we would go back down and rent a car to see it tomorrow.
While in the store we met a guy, Jerry from Kerry, Ireland that had been up the trail and run out of gas and had to walk down 5 miles to this store. Well, the night before they had an electric storm that knocked out the gas pumps and so they did not have any gas for him. We offered him our 2 gallons gas can with about 1.5 gallons of gas but we told him we could not drive him up to his car because we were too scared. The ladies at the store called the park ranger to come and get him and he gave us his last $10.00 for the gas and gas can but we tried not to take it and he even said he would bring the gas can back to the store for us to pick up later. We then headed back down this perilous mountain side and I truly think Joyce is going to pass out or hyperventilate or something so I am coaxing her down the mountain as she drives only 5-10 miles per hour. She is actually getting more frightened than before when we climbed Bear Tooth mountains which was the highest we have been on.
Anyway we made it down the mountain without seeing the Pueblos and called the rental car place. We think she will be able to go up on a car instead of the RV because she says the RV is so heavy and she is afraid she will not be able to stop it from going down too fast or going over the cliff.
We settled into the RV, cooked dinner and watch a couple of movies after I took a 2 hour nap to catch up on the sleep I missed. We watched "Her Minor Thing" and "Maid to Order" these 2 were funny love stories so we laughed and cried. What a wonderful day!
Oh thought we had done it again Statue of Liberty in NM
My goodness what size do you think the Indian is that fired off these arrows!9-21-10 Sheila's Comments:
We drove up hwy 491 from Gallup, NM to Cortez, CO and Mesa Verde today about 173 miles on one of the straightest but bumpiest roads yet. Since I had not gotten much sleep last night because we were next to the railroad tracks at the campsite in Gallup and because I was up at 3:30am emailing my boss about billing and cash flow I was a bit sleepy and punchy. Joyce was still feeling a little weak and sick because of her blood sugar levels and the high altitudes still so she was a little punchy also. This road 491 was really straight and we could see it for miles ahead with desert all around and some really poor looking houses (Indian we think) and poor ghetto looking villages/towns. They were doing construction on the road so it was 2 way traffic in spots and really bumpy especially on an RV so we both started getting a bit car sick! Even though the road was straight I don't think they know how to pave it flat they still had a lot of little dips and valleys in the road so it felt like a roller coaster ride to some extent. We felt as if we were riding a bucking bronco but we laughed and made jokes about the road and tried to chew chewing gum and eat salty snacks to keep from throwing up! We started reading signs the wrong way like mowing ahead we thought said mooing ahead or moving ahead and putting America to work we thought was putting (like golf) America to work, I think we were having the desert hallucinations or something.
As we were driving we went through a town called Shiprock which we think was named for the rocks we saw on the highway that could appear to be a big battleship. The rocks looked like big castles on top of the sand dunes and stuck up all over the place right out of the clear desert sand.
Once we got into Colorado we were in the Ute mountains and there were even more of these big rocky top sand dunes that were absolutely wonderful.
We drove through the little town of Cortez, CO and on to the Mesa Verde national park and we had to drive up the mountain to see the Indian Pueblo villages in the mountain cliffs. Well, by this time Joyce and I are getting tired of mountains and we were enjoying the flat desert area but guess what we have yet another steep mountain to climb in order to see this next wonder of the world. As we start driving up the mountain the roads have been freshly paved but they are very very narrow and you are not allowed to stop on the edge of course we couldn't anyway because there is now room unless we want to drive off the cliff. We have not driven each other crazy yet so we are not ready to go over the cliff like Thelma and Louise so we have to figure out how to get up this mountain without Joyce having a heart attack. She is really scared and clenching the steering wheel so tight her hands hurt. I of course am the brave one ! Ha ha! The drive to see the Pueblos is about 25 miles up to the top which is then supposed to be a flat table top (Mesa Verde means Green table). We only get up about 5 miles to the campground area and all ready Joyce is ready to stop so we stop there and walk the dogs and eat picnic lunch. We go inside the campground store and purchase our normal magnets and talk with the ladies about the rest of the drive. We did see a sign that said no towed vehicle were to go any further on this road to the top so we got even more scared and decided we would go back down and rent a car to see it tomorrow.
While in the store we met a guy, Jerry from Kerry, Ireland that had been up the trail and run out of gas and had to walk down 5 miles to this store. Well, the night before they had an electric storm that knocked out the gas pumps and so they did not have any gas for him. We offered him our 2 gallons gas can with about 1.5 gallons of gas but we told him we could not drive him up to his car because we were too scared. The ladies at the store called the park ranger to come and get him and he gave us his last $10.00 for the gas and gas can but we tried not to take it and he even said he would bring the gas can back to the store for us to pick up later. We then headed back down this perilous mountain side and I truly think Joyce is going to pass out or hyperventilate or something so I am coaxing her down the mountain as she drives only 5-10 miles per hour. She is actually getting more frightened than before when we climbed Bear Tooth mountains which was the highest we have been on.
Anyway we made it down the mountain without seeing the Pueblos and called the rental car place. We think she will be able to go up on a car instead of the RV because she says the RV is so heavy and she is afraid she will not be able to stop it from going down too fast or going over the cliff.
We settled into the RV, cooked dinner and watch a couple of movies after I took a 2 hour nap to catch up on the sleep I missed. We watched "Her Minor Thing" and "Maid to Order" these 2 were funny love stories so we laughed and cried. What a wonderful day!
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