Since we knew we didn't have a huge distance to do today we took our time getting ready to pull out of camp. After cleaning up, having breakfast, unhooking Mufasa and making sure he was road ready, we walked over to Laura and Tom's site to get in a last round of hugs, kisses, be safe while you travel, and love you loads worked in! Sad to say good by but it is time to get on the road. We are so very grateful that we have had this week with our children. It is a totally different dynamic when, it feels as if suddenly, there are no longer grandchildren around and in the mix. It seems that there are now four adults who like each other mighty fine! Good children. Love them immensely. 

We jumped in Mufasa who seemed to be more than happy to be on the road after his week's hiatus being just a "Small House" vs our home on wheels . It really did feel good to be sailing down the highway in our private coach. I am sure Laura and Tom felt the same when they pulled out heading to Santa Fe, NM. We left camp at 9:45, driving out into blue skies with scattered thin clouds. The temperature was 65 degrees and that lovely low humidity. Our direction was west, back over Wolf Creek Pass which we traversed yesterday with the children, towards Durango, CO.
 
Stopping on the crest of Wolf Creek Pass (elevation 10,857 feet and which is also the Continental Divide), we took our Sunday morning time to do our usual devotionals. Yesterday evening we talked to Mary R. who said that she had thought of us when she and Pat were at Saturday evening mass. She felt that the devotional they had was a good one for us also and gave us the verses. Her verses were Matthew 13:44-52. Well, of course we didn't wait until this morning to check the verses out, and so we actually ended up having a devotional yesterday evening as well as the one that we had scheduled for today! We read her selection over several times, even going back to preceding verses to try to understand what they were telling us and exactly why Mary thought that they were appropriate for us in particular when she heard them . Our conclusion (and we may or may not have it correct) is that we are spending our "earthly treasure" to see God's treasures. If you find God's treasures, it is worth everything you own. Could some of the areas we have seen be heaven on earth? Thanks Mary.
 
Our devotional from our book was from 2 Corinthians 4:16 and Ephesians 4:23. They reminded us that we are being renewed day by day and are being made new in the attitudes of our minds. It was a very good devotional, but Mary's suggestion seemed to mean more to us this time, and that is OK. We had read this devotional in 1997 in Minto, Yukon on our way to Alaska, in 2003 in Frankenmuth, MI on a tour, and in Grand Teton National Park on a Thursday in 2006! Fun to look back at those memories also...seeking God's treasures perhaps?

On our way once again, we stopped in Pagosa Springs at the restaurant we ate in yesterday, Farrago Market Cafe. We had tasted one of their pasta salads and it was so good we decided then to stop on our way through today and pick up some for our supper for this evening . We did that and since we were there and even though it was a little early (11:30), we went ahead and had lunch before heading onward. By the way Laura...I got another compliment on the necklace you gave me several years ago. The lady wanted to know where I had gotten it, hoping I guess that I had purchased it there in Pagosa Springs!

Leaving Pagosa Springs at 12:00 we were heading west towards Durango, CO. Before we got too far, we pulled over to take on fuel. We paid $3.79/gal and averaged a little over 9 MPG. Further down the road we saw Chimney Rock in the distance. I was not clear whether it was on Southern Ute land or Navajo, as the signs we saw were a little unclear. I just know it was on Indian Land. 

Our drive today was through both narrow and wide valleys with rounded hills, buttes, or much larger mountains in the distance surrounding the valleys. After we left Pagosa Springs and climbed out of there, we were in much more arid land than we have seen for several days . The area reminded us more of northern New Mexico which makes sense I guess as we traveled not too far north of the state line. The temperature was warmer, 86 degrees, which rose to 91 degrees by the time we got to the Durango area around 1:30.

As we were passing on the road into Durango proper, we saw a Walmart and decided to make a stop in there to pick up a few necessary supplies. We usually never eat out or shop on Sunday but we did both today. It was warm enough that we turned on the generator in order to run the AC to keep our things inside Mufasa at a better temperature.

We left Walmart at 2:30 and headed up and out of the valley it lies in. It seemed almost instantly that we were back in more mountainous, greener, and cooler terrain. The temperature dropped to 83 within five minutes of leaving the Durango area. Amazing! We drove through the Mancos Valley on our way to Mesa Verde area. Beautiful country.

We arrived at Mesa Verde RV Park, which is a highly rated park, at 3:30. We are almost directly across the road to Mesa Verde National Park. I don't think we are going to tour it this time as we were there a couple of years ago. It is a beautiful afternoon and we have some quite nice views from our campsite...which by the way was nice and level! Very nice "Big Yard" tonight! The electricity isn't as strong as some places we have been, but the WIFI (at least until everyone pulls off the road and starts streaming videos!!) seems to be strong. We shall see when I get ready to post shortly!
 
We drove 138 miles today. Looking forward to reading Mary R's post as she and Pat head out on their adventure. Blog on Mary!