July 25th - Travel Time - Monarch Pass

We really were a bit nervous about getting over the rockies.  These are mountains baby... not hills.   Buena Vista was on the east side of the rockies and we decided we wanted to spend more time on the westside. (Remember we left Durango and went south and east to visit friends in WestCliffe, but we still had things to see north of Durango).  So, we needed to get across the Monarch Pass.

Pretty much right in the middle of the state of Colorado, on US50, this pass reaches an elevation of 11,312 feet.  It is basically climb climb climb then down down down then climb climb climb and more down down down.

Mom (Minnie), if Dad is reading this to you, I want you to know that I thought of you a hundred thousand times while on this one and a half hour trip.  I remember how you used to tell John and I (20 years ago) that you were so tense on these trips and how nerve wracking they were.  I remember how I thought that so funny and knew that you had to be exaggerating,
              "They couldn't be that bad, Dad had it under control",
              "Why didn't you just relax?"   "Just enjoy the scenery".

Ummmm.  No.   I take it all back.   Fear and Worry are real and they are very hard emotions to just talk yourself out of.  No matter what,  when you are barrelling down the road in a 10 ton bus, towing a 2 ton jeep and the road drops off thousands of feet to your right (hello canyon!)  or makes hairpin curves as you descend . . . well, no matter what,  Fear and Worry sit on your shoulder and just won't leave.  John does not appreciate my help at these times either.
 
   "Watch Out for the white line!",  "There is a curve coming up!"  "Slow down!"  "John!!!"

... nope, he doesn't appreciate my help at all.   LOL

We did great.  The rig had absolutely no problem climbing and John did great on descending.  He did not kill me because he could not take his hands off the wheel, but threats were made and I did quiet down but I thought of my Mom Minnie and all she endured in 15 years of crossing these mountains.  She is a saint!

We arrived in Gunnison Colorado on the afternoonn of the 20th.  We stayed at an RV park called Gunnison Lakeside RV about 9 miles west of the town.  This will turn out to have been a bit of a mistake, which I'll tell you about later.

After this short trip, I think we both felt pretty happy with the rig and its performance.  No problems.  If it can get over that pass that easily, well we probably can go wherever we want.  Sorry no pictures.  It was beautiful but I was not really able to enjoy the scenery.

Always, Oz