A bit of a novelty, we visited Burger Boy Drive In, located in Cortez, Colorado. There are drive-in chains like Sonic, but this place had a certain 50’s charm, complete with a window-mounted tray, even though the staff weren’t on roller-skates.
Window tray with burgers and tots:
We had shakes, tots, and burgers:
A rather unremarkable burger:
But hey, it was an experience.
We visited Mesa Verde National Park again. This time we saw several of the major highlights of the park.
The mesa on entering the park:
The tunnel again, this time in sunshine:
We stopped at Park Point, the highest point in the park; read the info sign for details:
Views:
Info signs:
Fire lookout:
More views:
Info sign:
Then we proceeded to the Far View area, and the gift store there:
We got some pretty basic food from the small food court there:
Then we proceeded to the Far View Community sites, hiking between some fascinating Puebloan ruins:
Further into the park, Square Tower House is an impressive cliff dwelling:
Fire Temple:
And the main feature of Mesa Verde, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, Cliff Palace:
Finally, the nearby Sun Temple:
Hovenweep National Monument has multiple units in Utah and Colorado. We visited the main one, site of Hovenweep Castle and several other ruins:
A sign with a map of the various units:
We hiked along a canyon-edge path, with a view of several structures on both sides of the canyon:
Hovenweep Castle:
We visited the Navajo Nation Four Corners Monument; the only place in the US where four states meet:
A line to stand on the four corners:
Navajo merchant stalls:
Us standing in the center of the Four Corners monument:
The marker by our feet:
State and Navajo flags:
Colorado:
New Mexico:
Arizona:
Utah:
Flags:
Outside the monument were some frybread food carts:
We had frybread tacos:
So we parked in Arizona, bought our lunch in Colorado, and ate it in New Mexico. Fun!
The line was longer as we departed:
We visited Mesa Verde National Park several times while staying basically across the road.
The first time was a quick scouting trip on the afternoon of our arrival at the Ancient Cedars RV park.
The entrance sign:
It started raining, resulting in a fuzzy picture of the tunnel:
We stopped at the Far View Lounge for dinner; the view wasn’t all that far, due to a dust storm:
Pretty basic food:
On the way back down the hill, it started to snow!
We stayed at Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park in Mancos, Colorado. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:
As close to Mesa Verde as you can be!
We totally lucked out and got the most massive site in the park, complete with a full view of Mesa Verde. It was absolutely wonderful in that regard. The other sites near us were not so spacious. Water pressure was pretty low (about 35 psi) so we just filled up our tank and ran off of that. They also need to trim some of the trees the park is named for, as it was a little hard to navigate some of the roads with our 40′ motorhome. The main draw is to visit Mesa Verde National Park. The visitor center and entrance station were very close, allowing us to make nearly daily trips to check out the park at different times of day. There are other national monuments within easy driving distance as well. We camped at Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Park in a Motorhome.
The RV park map:
The weather was a bit changable:
Since this was a new state for us, after we had slept there the first night, we were able to add a new state to our map:
After visiting the Mesa Verde National Park, we could add that sticker too:
As Jenn mentioned, our site was the largest in the park:
Other RV sites weren’t so large:
A nice old barn and a view of the mesa:
The office:
Cabins:
A hot tub:
The pool was closed for the season:
A nice mini golf course:
And a very large dog park with agility obstacles:
A central open area:
Next to our site was a community fire pit, but (fortunately for us) it wasn’t in use due to a fire ban:
Our site again:
The ground was covered with these little flowers:
The utilities weren’t ideal; a bit far, low water pressure, and not a good seal on the sewer:
Me working outside, though it wasn’t particularly warm:
Jenn playing a game outside:
Our truck and coach getting ready to leave:
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 149 miles from Monument Valley, Utah to Mancos, Colorado.
We drove our coach 149 miles, about 3 hours, from Monument Valley, Utah to Mancos, Colorado. Another new state!
The map route, heading east — through four states:
Leaving Monument Valley:
Horse riders:
Rocks:
Dusty road into the distance:
Rocks:
Another straight road over the horizon:
Having gone from Utah through Arizona, we briefly crossed into New Mexico near Four Corners, the only place where four states meet:
Then a minute later into Colorado:
We stopped on the side of the road for a lunch break:
Mesa Verde:
Cinema in Cortez, Colorado:
Liquor store in Cortez:
Mesa Verde:
Our destination:
I bought a Coach Proxy device for our 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP coach.
This is hardware and web-based software to remotely control the Spyder coach systems like lights, fans, etc. Everything that can be done from the main touch panel.
It is also obsolete technology that has a new lease of life. It was a commercial product a few years ago, but was discontinued. But many people enjoyed it, so it was released as an open source project, and some people have continued to make hardware for it using off-the-shelf components.
The device I purchased was an example of that; it was made by a guy named David Earnest, housed in a 3D-printed case:
The logic board is actually from a Raspberry Pi 400, with another board to interface with the Spyder network:
I had a spare Spyder connector under the dash, so I mounted the box there:
The software side is a web app powered by that hardware, with controls for the various lights etc. Here is the top of the Interior page of Coach Proxy, with the main lights; the ones with a slider can be dimmed:
Scrolling down, the living room TV lift (that TV raises up in front of a window when wanted), and more lights. At the bottom the MEM ON turns on the lights that were on when the ALL OFF was used:
On to the shade controls; day and night shades on the driver and passenger sides, or all at once:
The Exterior page has lights, locks, and water systems:
The Climate page has fans and heated floors (very nice in cool weather):
A nice thing one can do via Coach Proxy that one can’t do via the touch panel is assign presets, to turn on or off custom sets of lights; I just have a couple so far:
The Status page has tank levels and power stuff:
The Notifications page lets me get a notice when certain conditions occur:
Plus there are a couple more pages for settings, including options to set up remote access, so these controls can be changed when away from the coach via a secure connection.
A very useful device.
We visited the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Utah.
This museum focuses on Puebloan peoples and artifacts from AD 825 to 1225, and has a 1,000-year-old underground kiva that can be entered.
The exterior of the museum:
Museum exhibits:
The Puebloan great house:
Info sign:
Great house:
An info sign:
Enter with caution; yes, people are encouraged to climb down into the kiva:
Inside:
