October 10, 2022, writing from Chama, NM
Hello and Howdy! It’s officially fall – and it sure looks like it where we are. We arrived yesterday in Chama, NM. We’ve been here a few times before and we love it in the fall. But….first I need to bring you up to date of our happenings of the last month or so. It’s been awhile since my last post – sorry! We were busy with visitors and soaking up the beauty of our most favorite campground ever – Priest Gulch in southwest Colorado, between Dolores and Telluride.
We arrived Priest Gulch on September 1 and were there for almost 6 weeks. We were lucky again to get our favorite site there – site number 42. It is amazing. Huge by RV site standards. A really big yard all to ourselves, trees, and I decorated with mums and pumpkins. We’ve already made our request for site 42 again for next year – fingers crossed!
It was the perfect spot to host our visitors – first my sister, Laura for 2 weeks, then, Guy and Katelyn for 5 days. We were so happy to get to share our little piece of heaven with them. It was fun showing them all our favorite places, favorite hikes, our special coffee shop, riding the gondola in Telluride, and seeing it all fresh again, through their eyes, was so rewarding for us too.
The mountains and aspens did not disappoint – they put on their best fall show for everyone to see. Golden leaves, fresh snow on the mountain tops. Crisp cool mornings and warm days glowing with sunshine. Blue skies making the perfect backdrop for nature’s show. Really – it is that good. There are many who have tried to capture the magic that is fall in the San Juan mountains – books, magazines, photos much better than ours. But it simply cannot be fully appreciated until you are standing in the middle of it all. Or sitting next to a stream babbling over the rocks while admiring the golden leaves mixed with the alpines on the mountainside. I highly recommend it to anyone – you will be amazed at how you feel standing at the top of a mountain after a good hike up, taking in the views all around. Better yet, get an RV and really immerse yourself in it all. Just don’t try to take site 42 at Priest Gulch for the month of September or you’ll have to arm wrestle us for it!!
Of course we made our usual rounds to all the area’s farmer’s markets – Cortez, Dolores and Telluride all have wonderful farmer’s markets. And the very quirky, tiny, mountain town of Rico, which is about 10 miles from our campground, has 2 wonderful coffee shops. It’s really remarkable – this tiny, historic mining town (no stop light and if you blink you will miss it) has 2 great coffee shops run by very energetic young women. They both have great food – one focuses more on baked goods, one more on breakfast/lunch. Both using high quality ingredients and made from scratch cooking and baking. I don’t think there was a menu item left untried at either place by the time we left. So great to see young people embracing good food and the value of sharing it together over a great cup of coffee or tea in a cozy and welcoming space.
We made several visits to Telluride which is always fun. We love riding the gondola and so does Gerry! There’s a vibe to Telluride that is hard to describe but engaging and welcoming. It’s quirky. It’s beyond beautiful. It’s extremely expensive to live there – beyond imagination – many millions of dollars for even the most modest of homes in town. But it’s very approachable and not stuffy. Whatever it is, we like it and always look forward to spending a day there. Guy and Katelyn were there during the Telluride car show – many of you know Guy loves sports cars – so it was great for him to get to experience the car show there.
Hiking. Yes! We did tons of hiking. We revisited all our favorites and found a couple of new ones too. All spectacular. We always say, you simply cannot have a bad day out on the trail. And we took Laura to Mesa Verde National Park, we enjoyed seeing it again. It’s only about 45 minutes away, but has an entirely different climate and landscape. Very high desert, with sandstone cliffs and mesas.
I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. There’s something about visiting with loved ones while in the RV in the mountains. Maybe it’s the fresh air and all the natural beauty. Maybe it’s living in the middle of nature, really immersed in it. Maybe it’s all the good food and meals shared together after a great hike. Whatever it is, I’m thankful for it all. This time spent together is special and meaningful. Life is good!
All in all a perfect stay at our favorite spot. We literally took hundreds and hundreds of pictures (probably thousands!) I have tried to pick out some of the best, but be warned, there are a lot of them! So grab a cup of tea and enjoy the pictures!
Laura’s Visit: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hABTMf4veCu5LCTY6
Guy & Katelyn’s Visit: https://photos.app.goo.gl/f4S6Fcr5RzKmWXKt7
More pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qtXdtYaBCEbqK4Vg8