Creede Vacation

 We did it!  We escaped the awful heat of Tucson and rented an AirBnB in a small town of Creede, Colorado.  We are sitting at 8957 feet elevation, got here Wednesday late afternoon, and are amazed we are doing so well, considering living at such high altitudes.  Creede is located about 25 miles west of South Fork, and South Fork is 48 miles west of Alamosa.  Google it on a map.

     Salt River Canyon - very winding

         Traveling north towards Shiprock, NM

            Muddy Rio Grande River

We drove north east out of Tucson, drove through the Salt River Canyon, I hate going this way but there is no other way for us to get to Interstate 40 without additional miles.  The drive would be about 610 miles or a little over 12 hours of driving.  I packed lunches and snacks so we could just stop to tank up the car and go potty, then keep driving.  We picked up an hour, driving into Mountain Time, so the day would be long.  Thankfully no problems, little construction here and there, but we got to Broken Arrow Ranch and Properties about 6:15.  

       Still snow on Wolf Creek Pass

         Couple snow tunnels thru mountains

           Found Rio Grande again

        So many RV parks right on the river, and packed in

Part of the drive was going through Gallup then heading north into the Navajo Nation in Shiprock where we crossed over the Rio Grande River (really flowing and muddy) and on to Farmington, New Mexico.  Continued on through Blanca and then into the Jicarilla Apache Nation, turning north after a short stint on Route 84, then getting into Pagosa Springs, Colorado and picked up Route 160 east.  Up and over Wolf Creek Pass (still has lots of snow), then into South Fork where we picked up Route 149 (the Silver Thread Highway) heading north and west into Creede.  We remembered lots of land marks from our time we were here in 2018.  Not much has changed other than cadzillion RVers and river rafting on the Rio Grande River.

        Mountains are so pretty here

   And we arrived at Broken Arrow

We brought lots of food from home, had 3 different bags packed with ice, knowing Creede did not have a very large grocery.  We usually don't go out to eat much, typically one breakfast and then one dinner (if something looks interesting).  So we have lots of meals on hand just in case.

Our plans are to visit the headwaters of the Rio Grande River (been there, want to see it again); do a little bit of hiking on the Continental Divide  Trail which crosses at the Slumgullion Pass near Lake City, visit Lake City again where we camped for 7 weeks in 2018, and then visit some upper alpine lakes and see as much as we can.  We will be here for a week, got to get acclimated first to the altitude (have had altitude sickness and it is awful).

                             Very rustic

We got to know the owner of this ranch (actually the daughter runs the AirBnB for renting out the ranch) because we had some issues at the beginning.  Didn't have a key to lock up.  They will bring one.  We kept stuff in the car until, went back into Creede the next morning (yesterday) to talk with the Visitor's Bureau folks, and Susan (daughter who runs the ranch) got the key dropped off but the person who did it, locked it inside !!!!!  Dah.  Well, contacted Susan and she came within 15 minutes to get us in.  While talking with her, we met Abigail (we think she's about 10 and wore pearl necklace) her daughter, and the Susan is the daughter of the "homestead" owners which is what this ranch is called by her, and Abigail invited us to watch her ride the horses later in the day.  Sure, why not?

          Abigail on Taddywhomp

                            Marky

 Abigail  needs to improve her posture - only been riding 2 years                              

What a hoot.  We also met Allison, the 3 year old daughter of Susan, and Allison promptly told me that she couldn't ride that day because she does not have on her cowgirl boots. Adorable.  Abigail (proper riding gear plus her pearl necklace on) and her mom Susan had saddled up one of the horses by the time we got to the "homestead" ranch and between Dave and I we watched Abigail put Taddywhomp (really!) through the ropes, with Marky waited his turn.  Joey was left in the barn, and he whinnied at us as we left.  Susan was digging up prairie dog homes (horses could step in and break a leg) so she was busy with that while Abigail walked Taddy (I abrievated the name) with Allison giving me a blow by blow of what is going on.  Cute. Funny thing - at one point Susan said to Abigail - use your left foot to guide the horse, and Abigail said, is this my left foot? (pointing).  Oh boy,   The 3 horses have a grazing pasture right in front of us, so we see them meandering around.  Reminded me of my time riding Jerry (horse that a girlfriend owned who rode Tom) from early teens through high school.  Lots of work.