Making Decisions

May29-30, 2012

On Tuesday, we went into town to take care of a bunch of things.   We got a propane tank filled.   Then we went to a tire place to see if they could replace the fitty tire.   They said they’d have to order the tire, so we could come back on Thursday or Friday to have it installed.   We thought this would be perfect timing, because we estimated we’d need to come to town right around then to dump our tanks and take on freshwater.  

After the tire place, we headed up north to check out the next set of possible campsites.   A few miles up the road, we encountered a parking lot that had a giant bulletin board which was labeled “Fire Info”.  Uh-oh.   All the roads to the campgrounds were closed.  We knew the fire was in the area, but from the maps it seemed to be quite a bit away from the sites we were considering.   Perhaps they were just being cautious.   Better to keep campers out unnecessarily then to have to roust them later due to encroaching fire.  We were both bummed that our plans were thwarted.   I felt a little more vulnerable, thinking about how high the fire danger is around here.   Missy claims she’s not scared at all.

We walked the dogs for a bit on a random trail, and then went back to town.  Now we were going to have to make decisions about what to do after getting the new tire.   We finally decided that maybe we’d just go right back to the site we’ve been at for the last 2 weeks.

We went to the city park to get some more water.    We set up under some great shade trees and watched all the people and the river.  Did a little bit of internets.   Tried and failed to connect with Jeremiah.  Apparently he has a boondoggle story from creeking, but we’ll have to wait to get the whole story.

I convinced Missy to check out a used sporting goods store with me.  I wanted to see what they might have for bikes.   Missy was reluctant, she thought any bikes there would be too expensive.   But I prevailed.   And I’m glad I did…we found a bike!   It’s a yellow mountain bike, and it’s probably a little too short for us but it’s a good deal for just trying it out to see if we’ll like biking.   Brakes and tires and shifting all work.   Only $120.     Now we have a non-rain-dependent activity!

On Wednesday, we spent a lot of time mulling options for where to travel next.   We realized when we got back to camp that due to a jerk parking his rig close to us, we could no longer pull through into the spot again.   Backing in might be possible, but we decided to look for other options.   We looked at a couple of other sites further down the forest road.   Missy was in love with one that would have been all but impossible to park in.   I told her we can try it again next year, after we’ve had more practice.    Next, we considered going east to the Sand Dunes National Park.   However, it’s almost a 3 hour trip, and it’s east whereas the other areas of CO we’re interested in are West or North.    So we nixed that.

Missy took the scootie up the road until she got reception, and she checked out campground options in Durango.   We decided to head there tomorrow, after getting the new tire.   Most of the sites in the campground are reserved.  But there are a few first come/first served.   Hopefully by getting there on a Thursday, we’ll get one of those sites.   If not, then we’ll be screwed.

Oh- we both took the bike out for a spin.  It’s interesting how much more you can see when you’re not confined in a car.   I thought the bike handled great…even when I chickened out on a downhill sandy part and applied the brakes, it didn’t skid or slide!  So far, we’re both optimistic that we’ll enjoy bike riding.

That’s all for Pagosa Springs.   I’m going to miss this awesome campsite.  Wish us luck in finding even more awesome sites in the future.