We continued heading west in Colorado all the while squeaking like an annoying mouse (dang strut). We drove from Breckenridge back to Devil’s Thumb Golf Course in Delta, CO. We had to make this drive in one day due to construction beginning the next day on Hwy 50 which was going to shut down this main travel route. Devil’s Thumb is the Harvest Host location that we so enjoyed at the beginning of our road trip. Unfortunately, during this visit it was MUCH hotter with temperatures nearing 100 degrees the day we arrived. Since we live in a van (i.e. a tin can) which does not have air conditioning in the back living area, we were very HOT and a bit grumpy. It did cool off some at night, we did have privacy to take yet another outdoor shower (note: I thoroughly scoured the area for video cameras as this is my biggest fear of showering outside), there was another gorgeous sunset and we had a peaceful, albeit a bit sweaty night’s sleep. The next morning we played golf again but sadly my gloating about my golfing prowess in an earlier blog post came back to bite me as I played one of the worst rounds of my life. I swung and missed the ball, I “worm-burned” a lot of balls and sometimes the ball would shoot out at a 90 degree angle from my stance. I couldn’t putt or chip to save my life. It was pathetic! I also had an embarrassing fall where my foot got stuck in the strap of my backpack as I was jumping out of the slowly moving golf cart resulting in me face-planting hard in the rough. Thankfully, my ample bosoms cushioned my fall or I might have lost a few teeth. Tony played really well including scoring a birdie on one of the hardest holes and paring several others. The course was very SLOW playing so we were joined by a local named Greg who was playing behind us. He told us all kinds of trivia and information about the area and even shared with us some of his “secret” boondocking spots which we will be checking out in the future. We arranged to meet up and play with Greg again when we return to this area in the Fall.

Next up was Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. What an amazing national park! We are first time visitors to this park but we are already planning our return. We have been to a lot of National Parks and this one is a Top 5 for us. I would visit this park over the Grand Canyon any day of the week. The park has red rocks, canyons, a river and VIEWS. We spent our time on the south rim which had a dozen or so overlooks with short walks/hikes to each viewing area. One overlook has a better vantage point of the canyon, another the river and other overlooks show different parts of the colorful canyon walls. We made it to most of the overlooks and also hiked the Oak Flat Loop Trail. Tony was able to bike several times on the South Rim Road and safely get some exercise as this road is twisty and steep resulting in slow moving vehicular traffic. The other great thing about this park is that it was not very crowded and at most of the overlooks there were only 1-2 other people, but usually we had it all to ourselves. I would venture to say the lack of crowds is because the park is not the easiest place to get to as there are no interstates in the immediate area making this a place you have to really want to see. The city of Montrose, CO is 10 miles down the road if provisions are needed and if you hold a directional cellular antenna in just the right way, you can get a few bars of AT&T broadband service within the park, too.

Our 2^nd night in the park, we had our first campsite with electrical hook-ups on this road trip. During this trip, we have been solely relying on our Battery-to-Battery (alternator) charger to provide juice to our house batteries and it has worked surprisingly well, but we did take full advantage of our electrical hook-up to recharge blender and vacuum batteries and we did leave lights and fans on with reckless abandon.

Next up was the highly anticipated Telluride leg of our journey. Telluride did not disappoint and it turned out to be our favorite place we visited during this trip, even better than our beloved Aspen. There are 360-degree snow-capped mountain views from pretty much anywhere in downtown Telluride. The daytime temperatures were in the low 70s with nighttime temperatures down into the low 40’s. The town itself is a super cute collection of bars, restaurants, boutiques and outdoor stores located in historic storefronts or converted historic houses. There are literally flowers EVERYWHERE…growing in pots and planters on steps, porches and tabletops, growing in full-on residential gardens and growing all up and down the street verges. I recognized many of the flowers as the native alpine flowers we saw at the Betty Ford Alpine Garden in Vail just a few weeks ago. All of the flowers made this area feel loved and so alive. There are almost no national branded stores, restaurants, or hotels in downtown Telluride, as the establishments all appear to be small businesses. The speed limit throughout town is 7 mph, so it is a walker’s and biker’s paradise. There are a mix of tourists and locals and although there is a lot of wealth in this area, there is not a high display of obvious wealth by most people. Don’t get me wrong, we saw an Earthroamer and more $200k+ Revels than I could count, but we also saw an equal number of Vanagons and DIY RVs, too. Bicycles and motorbikes are just parked and left unlocked on the streets without a second thought by the owners. YogaFest was happening during our stay as well as the 3-day Telluride AIDS Fashion Show benefit, so there were a lot of travelers in town.  We learned there is a different festival or event going on each week in Telluride throughout the entire summer season. Rain was our enemy while we were there, but luckily it would rain for a few hours than clear for a few before the storm returned so we took advantage of these rain breaks to get out and explore. Tony biked several times, we hiked several trails, we did a historic walking tour and thoroughly explored the downtown area including drinking a few $10 plant-based smoothies. We took the free gondola up to Mountain Village on our last morning. We really enjoyed the free gondola (which is paid for by several of the area HOAs to provide an example of the $$ in this town) although we did not love the actual Mountain Village itself. Mountain Village is where most of the hotels, timeshares, condos and national branded and fancy restaurants are located. It has a distinctively Vail-like vibe which is not our jam. Pretty and planned? Yes. Does it have any soul? No.

We decided to attempt to stealth camp in Telluride and the first night was a success, but the 2^nd night we awoke to find a little note on our windshield that read :“Hey guys. You can not overnight park/camp within Telluride city limits. This is a friendly warning. It you park here again, you will be ticketed and towed”. I found it funny that the note was written on J&J Janssen letterhead, so I would venture to say it was probably a security company vs. the police. Stealth camping is so much more difficult than it used to be. When we first purchased Homer in 2012, we pretty much stealth camped everywhere and nobody batted an eyelash at us. Now, there are so so so many more vans and RVs and the rules have gotten strict with many towns passing “no sleeping in your vehicle” ordinances. Our van is fairly benign and non-descript looking, hence the name Tofu, but even with the black-out shades in, windows and fans closed and talking in hushed voices, the “man” knows we are an RV and illegally camping. However, if I have to be arrested somewhere for illegally camping, I pick to be arrested in Telluride. Just saying.

Tony and I are always on the look-out for a summer location where we can buy a summer home to get out of the heat of SW Arizona. We gave up our Seattle place in late 2019 and we have been on the hunt to replace it ever since. What I decided is I have a Durango budget but Telluride tastes. OMG, is Telluride real estate expensive. Want a 422 square foot, OK but not great condo? That will cost you 800k. All I want is a small, modern 1 bedroom condo with views, a deck, a garage and walkable to downtown Telluride. Is that too much to ask? Yes, yes it is.

We begrudgingly left Telluride with our next stop in Durango, CO before we turn south and drive home to the scorching heat of the desert. We are in the final days of our Tour de Colorado road trip but we will only be home a few short weeks before we set out on road trip #2 to the Midwest USA and maybe, maybe Canada if the borders re-open. #fingerscrossed