There are amazing sites to be seen

As promised down there - it's Sunday and we are leaving Phoenix to drive to SW Colorado. I'm praying that Dbf won't rant for a week.

As we approach NE Arizona, Monument Valley spreads out before us. We decide immediately to check it out now and not later. We drive into the valley and are mesmerized by the beauty. I'd post pics but Dbf hasn't made the CD to transfer to my 'puter. We drive to every available corner and take massive amounts of pics. (Somewhere before this I buy a nice turquoise necklace and ring from, I believe, Chief Yellowhorse's place)

We leave Monument Valley in search of my timeshare location. But before we get far there is a casino. I just want to go to sleep but Dbf wants to stop. By the way, there is no cell phone reception in most of these places. We stop at the Ute Mountain Casino to call and tell the timeshare we will be a late-check in. Instructions gathered we gamble. And lose. We arrive at the timeshare at approximately 2:30 a.m. We left Phoenix at 10 a.m. I've very tired. (Carey your estimation failed, not from lack of skill but from total exhaustion of the subjects involved. Even he was too tired for sex!)

Monday morning arrives with sunny skies. We are hungry and don't have a clue where to go to get grub. Consulting the map for ideas for day trips we decided to take it easy during the day: eat and rest. We find another casino about 45 minutes sw of Pagosa Springs. After resting we go gamble again. I do fairly well, leaving with $60 extra bucks. Not the thousands I was hoping for because, you see, I have two vehicles and neither is now worth a damn!

Tuesday we drive westward into Colorado, through Wolf's Creek Pass. There is snow on the ground. It's odd to be around snow but it not be cold. We find a waterfall, walk up to it, take mountains of pics. We try to find a mountain dirt road to climb (in the car) so we can get higher. We find one, it's partial covered with snow shortly after beginning our trek. Then we encountered a fallen tree. Not to be dissuaded, Dbf knocks the branches off the tree and we limbo under the tree with the car. We climb, encountering snow occasionally and it is fun for me to try to drive through it without tumbling into the canyon on my left. Unfortunately we then encounter too much snow/slush for the vehicle to transverse. We get semi-stuck. There happened to be a guard rail at this location. I wonder why?!?!?. After using rocks for traction we manage to turn around and our forest/mountain trek is over. We eat, shop (I bought an amazing ring), go back to the hotel to get ready for our adventure on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning comes early - 6:00 a.m. We stumble out of bed, get ready and drive 60 miles on a two-lane curvy road to Durango (where I thought we were staying but it turned out to be in Pagosa Springs 60 miles East). Here we board the Durango Silverton train which traverses through the forest, over bridges with canyons below. It is a steam engine and we are in a railroad car that is open on the sides but covered with a glass top. It is a beautiful, relaxing trip to Silverton that takes 3 hours. At Silverton, an old mining town, there are two things to do for the 2 hours we are there: shop and eat. We do both. I take pictures of the town which has attempted to look like it did when servicing the mining industry. It did have dirt streets. The trip down is boring as we have already seen the sites. We return to Durango at 6 p.m. Another day gone and the end is near. yikes I'm not ready for the reality of real life!

Thursday I decide that Pagosa Springs is just too isolated for day trips. I gingerly approach Dbf about leaving early and staying somewhere else Friday and Saturday nights. We agrees enthusiastically. PHew! I consult maps and decide that I want to go to Santa Fe Friday and since Albuquerque is only 55 miles south of Santa Fe that we should stay in Albuquerque. Wanting to split the return to Phoenix up I think we should stay 1/2 between Albuquerque and Phoenix. Dbf is more interesting in driving all the way to Phoenix Saturday. It's fine with me but doesn't allow as much Native reservation touring as I wanted. We made one BIG mistake in this planning session. We decide to return to the casino, the second one Ute Sky Casino. There, Thursday night, in a desperate attempt to win some much needed cash we lose. And we lose alot.

*side note* I do like to gamble. The thrill of winning is addicting. No one in my life, until now, shared my sickness. Now Dbf is worse than me. My luck is 99% at roulette. Indian casinos we've visited don't have roulette. They have tables with Blackjack and poker. The blackjack minimum is $3 and the maximum is $5. It would take an extremely long winning streak to gain even $100. I, of course, lose $40. I've never been lucky at slots. I can sometimes play for a couple of hours on a small investment, winning some, losing more. They have a bank of $1 machines that some people are dinging away at. One person won $900, another $650, another $300 twice. These machines are very popular. While I'm playing blackjack Dbf gets an open machine. People are still winning. He is losing. Two machines he left, the next person wins $350 and $500. SHIT! I know this isn't our day but we are stubborn people. I have moderate short-term success at the $1 slots but, overall, we lost our asses.

Life is interesting that what we want (me a fellow gambler) turns out to be what we don't want. I want to leave, he's still got the bug and hope springs eternal.**

Friday we leave and trek to Santa Fe. On the way I want to visit some Pueblo's. We find one and watch a mini Pow-Wow with children dancing all decked out in colorful costumes. Dbf is tiring of driving so we head to Santa Fe. We find a free parking place in Santa Fe and walk around. There are native vendors with much for sale on one side of the street and us white folks selling stuff on the other side. Conundrum. The shops are nice but way way expensive. Santa Fe is a quaint town which I liken to Carmel/Santa Barbara California. Cute, but no one I know could afford to live there. I take pictures and we leave for Albuquerque.

Since we are traveling on freeways Dbf can get cell phone reception. This is bad. Short story, my boys have disobeyed and entered our house at various times. Dbf is ranting and ranting and ranting. I realize that they shouldn't have, but I'm on vacation and ranting at me non-stop will not fix anything. On and on and on and on!

We find a hotel in Albuquerque around Old Town. Because of the ranting we get into Old Town as it is closing. It looked interesting and I would love to visit again.

Friday night was tense, but quiet.

Saturday, our last full day. We leave for Phoenix. The drive (I'm driving this day because, honestly I do it much better) is spectacular to me. I like the terrain, the mesas, the hills in the horizon. We leave the highway and travel though the Apache reservation which is very forested. We don't find any vendors until we leave, at the south entrance. I purchased 3 necklaces for $15. They are very nice. The drive from the end of the reservation to Phoenix is very curvy and mountainy. The road has switchbacks. As the sun begins to set we get some amazing pictures of cactus, mesas, sky. It's beautiful.

Sunday we wake early to go to the "park and swap" he wanted to visit on our first day. There are many vendors but none with the type of items (decorations) I'm interested in.

We go to the airport, fly home.

It's over. It's too short, too stressful with ranting. It was, also, quite fun and very beautiful. I would like to do Santa Fe - Albuquerque - Phoenix again.

And from the "Instructions for Life" which hangs on my bullentin board by my desk:

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer! and
15. Be gentle with the earth!