10-8-16 - Heat Escape - Day 58

                                                            last night

                                                            this morning

                                                                 we riding Shiprock pic

Last night, I went to bed with the heater on, 2 blankets, and a comforter on the bed.  I finally got over the chill from yesterday's ride around 2 o'clock this morning,  Ahhh finally warm!

We decided it was a take it easy kind of day.  We were slow to get going today, couldn't figure out a destination, so we headed west toward Shiprock  We got up close and personable to the "rock." She is  a beauty!!

                                                                          another

We made a quick trip into Arizona, turned around and came back into New Mexico.  We took an unplanned loop and  almost made it to the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness.  When we got to the loose gravel road construction, we shut Amber down. We had a picnic lunch on the side of the road, and headed through the farmland back to Farmington.  It is the first pumpkin field we have ever saw and it was a beauty, in the middle of corn fields and hay fields.

                                                                       Arizona

                                                   another Shiprock in the distance

                                                         southbound on US Hwy 666

                                                                       lunch stop

                                                                   pumpkin patch

When we got back to camp, Fernykat sat by the door with her head up, waiting for her collar so she could go out and explore.  Of course, we obliged.

                                                      when we got home, she did get up finally

Our take it easy kind of day turned into 175 miles of a relaxing ride, with low humidity, and beautiful scenery, enjoying going nowhere.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/sD9iPVVXRa91ahgJ9

10-7-16 - Heat Escape - Day 57

The 30 degrees temperatures this morning delayed our ride.  We layered up and left around 11:30. It was in the mid 50's and sunny skies when we headed to Durango.

We stopped and shopped at Harley Davidson in Durango, then continued to Mesa Verde.  We ate our picnic lunch at a nice park in Mancos.

                                                      Lunch stop in Mancos

We had been to Mesa Verde 5 years ago in the summer time.  We thought it was pretty then until we saw the fall foliage today.  It was Absolutely Gorgeous. There were less people here today than before.  Our kind of place.

We stopped and looked at some of the cliff dwellings, most of which we had already seen before.  We decided today was a day to ride, not hike, being we were overdressed.

We took a ride on Wetherill Mesa Road. It was  12 miles one way of sharp curves, steep grades, and awesome scenery.  We were hoping to find wild horses. We did not find any, but saw plenty of horse poop in the road.  The horses are still there.

The delay of take off this morning resulted in riding  home at dusk.  It was a cold enjoyable ride, watching the sun set and seeing Shiprock in the horizon.

The temperatures today ranged from mid 50's to mid 60's.  We stayed layered up all day.  We went looking for cooler weather and we found it.



Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/K4v2Pg4Y3Et6wuDj9

10-6-16 - Heat Escape - Day 56

                                                                    Beautiful start to the day

Our plan was to ride to Durango today.  We waited for the temperature to warm up, we packed our picnic lunch, and  left around 11 am, Unfortunately, we were calling HOG, (Harley Owners Group,) for a tow truck a few minutes later.  Amber ran hot.

Luckily, we had good phone service, was in town, and had a big pull off area.  The SWAT team arrived, AKA Southwest Area Tow, Lauren and the tow guy got Amber loaded up, and away we went to Four Corners Harley Davidson.  Along the ride in the SWAT team tow truck, we saw the real deal, San Juan SWAT.  Glad we didn't need their service.

                                                                 Real deal swat team

                                                            Four Corners HD

The dealership took Amber right in, fixed her up, took her on a test ride, and cleaned her up within an hour and 45 minutes of arriving.  Awesome service from Four Corners Harley Davidson!!!!!

Our plans changed for the Durango ride today.  We decided go to Lake Navajo State Park.  Another beautiful lake.  It was cooler today and the temps were dropping, so we layered up for our ride back to camp.

We left the windows open when we left.  When we returned we could hear Fernykat meowing loudly as soon as we turned off the key.  It was on!! She was lovey dovey (which is unusual for her), she got her treats that she demanded, and was holding her head up at the door wanting her leash on to go outside.  She checked out the brush on the sandy hillside and dug in the sand.  \We finally got the  Fernykat approval for this campground.

The temperatures continued to drop so we are inside.  The Northwest New Mexico Plateau is under a freeze warning tonight.   This is a little cooler than we wanted for our heat escape.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/4x2EyHa4tYB5kxMMA

10-5-16 - Heat Escape - Day 55

                                                             we are in a big city, lol

We had 2 blankets and the comforter on the bed last night. The 30'ish temperatures had Fernykat in the bed with us.  I woke up this morning and realized that we have electricity, a heater unit over our bed, and we were all cuddled up trying to keep warm.  I guess we have been dry docking too long.

We were ready for a take it easy kind of day.  We got on Amber around noon and rode to Four Corners Harley Davidson.  We saw 2 Walmarts, a Sam' Club, and all kind of other retail shops and restaurants before we got to the HD dealership.  it's been a while since we have been in a big city, as Julianna would say, "We are back in civilization".

We stopped at the visitor center at Farmington and received a lot of  helpful information of things to do in this area.  We decided to go to the River Nature Trail.  It was a really nice trail on the Animas River with a great Veteran's Memorial.  We were overdressed for hiking, so we took a few pictures and plan to return for a longer visit.

We went to Aztec National Monument.  It was a really impressive national monument.  We took the back roads on the way back to camp.

Our take it kind of easy day ride was about 6 hours long.  Can't help but ride with the temperatures in the 60's on a beautiful sunny day.

                                               hard to capture a sunset in the city

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/nHMZ8h3AoGLfguxD9

10-4-16 - Heat Escape - Day 54

                                                               Bye Bye

The wind finally quit howling during the night.  We woke up to a cool, sunny, 39 degrees.

 We were sad to leave the beautiful Lees Ferry area, but it was time for our next adventure.  It was a beautiful day to relocate.

A couple hours after we left, we were looking for a place to pull over and have our picnic lunch.  The first convenient place was in Kayenta, Arizona.  It was in a parking lot near Church's Fried Chicken.  No need for a sandwich, when you got hot fried chicken.  Dang it was good.

We traveled 226 miles to Homestead RV Park in Kirtland, New Mexico.   The campground is owned by the Mayor of Kirtland.  Jenny is the campground host, we really enjoyed talking to her.  She is a hoot and a half.  The campsites are crowded but they have everything we need, and then some, including direct TV.  The laundry room is the best we have ever seen in a campground.

                                                                Kinda tight

                                                                   Fantastic laundry

Fernykat is so happy she can drink running water.  (She thinks her drinking bowl of water is to play in).  I have to psyche her out when dry docking by pouring water in her bowl at the sink for her to drink. She has explored outside and given her ??? approval.

The cool air sent  us inside. We are watching Animal Planet with the heater on.  (Obviously, we don't really need the Direct TV).  This will be our home for the next week.


Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/7KmDJRk1UAfYp1jL9