ROAD TRIP! Oh boy, what a road trip it was!
I had told John awhile ago that if he needed anyone to drive to Montrose to pick up papers, I would do it. So, today I did it. I drove John's truck, and I left mid-afternoon. The first challenge was right by the Roadhouse. It was the road to Navajo Lake, and as I approached the lake, I saw a road at the side of the lake. I didn't know I would have to drive it. It was very high overlooking the lake, with dropoffs on both sides . . . one dropoff to a road far below, and the other dropoff to the lake far below. That part of the road wasn't very long, but it was pretty scary! And it was just the beginning.
Then I drove past the Indian casinos in Ignacio. I don't mind the Native Americans using the casinos to take advantage of the white man. It just makes me sad when their own people are affected. Those casinos didn't get that tall from people winning.
Next on the road was Silverton . . . I had to go up a mountain pass or two to get there, as Silverton is very high. It's a beautiful, old mining town. It still has the same character it did many years ago.
After Silverton, I had a couple more mountain passes to go down to reach Ouray. I remembered the road being especially scary. On the way down, all the dropoffs (with no guard rail) were on my side, until I got about ten miles from town. Ouray is another beautiful, little mountain town. It's expanded quite a bit since I saw it over twenty years ago, but it still seems pretty peaceful.
Then, finally Montrose, Colorado. I got there just before dark, which was good, because I needed to find where the printer was. I found it, paid for the papers, and loaded up the truck. They were just small bundles, but I had expected someone to help me. The woman there, just put some of them on the tailgate of the truck, so I had to do the bulk of it myself. Oh, well. Done. Got a motel, and settled in for the night. I was exhausted.
I got up at dark thirty the next morning, and secured the tarp that was over the papers with chains. The chains were heavier than anticipated, especially that early in the morning! I had figured that I would arrive back in Ouray at dawn, so I wouldn't have to go over the scary pass in the dark. I got there a little early, but what a blessing that was. It's one thing to know that there are scary dropoffs, and it's another thing to see it. I couldn't see it, and it was much better! The road, though, was tough, with many, many hairpin turns where I had to go only ten or fifteen miles per hour. Scary stuff.
Then, back over the rest of the passes, and I could hardly wait till I got to Durango, which meant the passes were finished! Instead of coming home the scary Navajo Lake way, I decided to come home via Aztec. I knew it was longer, but I figured it would go faster because I wouldn't slow down so much on scary, twisty, turny roads. And I thought I remembered the road, (which I used to take all the time when I lived in Durango), being pretty much a straight shot. It was.
Although, Aztec didn't have a sign for Bloomfield like I had hoped. So, I got partway to Farmington and had to turn around and go back through Aztec. I stumbled upon I street I recognized from trips with Pat, and then found my way to Bloomfield, Blanco, and then to the Roadhouse where I met up with John and gave him the newspapers. I told him I didn't think I wanted to do that again!
Pat picked me up and we drove back home. Pat put a halter on Skeeter, and we had a leadrope on each side of him. We started walking around. We walked over a big, black tube and it scared Skeeter. He didn't want to go over it. He pulled on both leadropes and then started rearing up. The rope pulled out of my hands, and then pulled out of Pat's. She told me to get some gloves so I could hold him better. I told her that I didn't think I could hold him when he reared like that whether I had gloves on or not. He is small, but he is still strong. But, I put the gloves on and we continued to walk him. Then, we went over to a pole, and Pat said to let go of the leadrope. She tied the leadrope around the pole and then tried to get him to rear up and pull away again. He did, but she held onto the rope. She wanted to show him how "strong" she was and to teach him not to try to pull away when we lead him. This horse training can be tough stuff!
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