When we went to bed last night, we could hear the wind howling and we knew a cold front was forecast to move in. The wind howled all night and through the morning. We got ready to leave, said our goodbyes to our nice neighbor, Ron, and took off at 10:00. The sun was out with some wispy clouds and the temp was a pleasant 62 degrees. We would have a 24 mph headwind for a good part of the day and we hoped the roof would stay on. The wind caused dirt to blow everywhere.
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We climbed into the mountains as we returned on the same highway that we came in on.
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As we neared Hole in the Wall for the 2nd time, Bob noticed something high on the rocks.
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Sure enough, someone had put a jeep out there.
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Further down the road, we came upon Wilson Arch again. There were many people making the climb.
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According to what we read, the air quality of this area depends on how much dust has been stirred up and in the air. It was pretty clear considering how windy it was.
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Once we got to Monticello, we took Highway 491 to Cortez, CO. The terrain changed after crossing the border into Colorado from rocks and tumbleweeds to farmland.
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The mountains were gone and we had some low hills with grazing land. The farther east we went, the hillier it became and we could see Ute Peak (Elev. 9978 ft.) off in the distance.
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As we neared the town of Cortez, the trees were ablaze with yellow everywhere.
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The town of Cortez was larger than we thought it would be. It was quite a busy place.
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Leaving town, we could see a mountain range in the distance.
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We arrived at 1:00 at our campground for 2 nights, Mesa Verde RV Resort.
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It was still breezy, but sunny and the temp was up to 67 degrees. We registered and set up camp. Auggie really loves this site. It’s got plenty of trees and wildlife.
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We have this view of the mountains from our campsite. We are up on a hill all by ourselves and there are only 13 campers in the campground with us.
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A few magpies came to visit, but he chased them away. He spent the afternoon laying in the sun outside on the door mat.
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I had some work to do for the Co-op and Bob checked the roof to see if it was still attached. It was! Then we relaxed until dinner. Tomorrow we would explore Mesa Verde National Park.