Back in GA, Our Whirlwind Detour is Done

I left you in Santa Fe on our way to Texas to see our daughter, Kelly and Brian on our detour to Florida.  We did a quick overnight in Amarillo, then to Weatherford, TX.  We had a nice, but short visit which of course including a lot of food, lunches and homemade dinners:-)  Didn't get any pictures of us all together, but you'll have to put up with a few food pics.

Kelly found a new sushi place nearby, so we went over for lunch, very good, and I was able to order takoyaki for the first time.  I had never seen them on a menu before, they are round small octopus balls, kind of like a fritter, and very good as it turns out.

The tuna tower was very good

We also went to another brand new restaurant, more eclectic and had lunch as well.

Fish tacos

And a fish sandwich

We were only there for 3 nights total, and had a good time, but then it was time to boogie.

We made 3 stops before arriving in Bradenton, FL, long days.  We stopped in Boyce, LA, then Robertsdale, AL, and Madison, FL before we arrived.  We did have one surprise, the blind in front of me gave up the ghost after 218,000 bumpy miles.  It wasn't real convenient as we were heading east right into the sun each day.  But I think I can fix it.

That got us in on a Sunday night and my first doctor appointment was on Monday for my surgery clearances.  My first appt went well, then the next day I had labs and an EKG, all good, so other than the dentist clearance I am all set for the new hip, I guess:-)  We also had a nice lunch and visit with BIL Tom, then it was time to move again, this time across the state near to Jacksonville to Green Cove Springs, our residence, where we had to renew our driver's licenses in person, in Florida the license is good for 7 years, but can only be renewed on line once.  

We stayed at a nice, huge park with large sites, and nice sunset.

We got that done along with our vehicle registrations and then found a very good restaurant in Green Cove Springs, Corky Bells, great seafood.

Dynamite cole slaw

Excellent conch fritters

Delicious shrimp and fantastic hush puppies!

Broiled scallops, and although the fried oysters were small, they were great

So then one more stop in Wharthen, GA, kind of in the middle of nowhere, nice evening, even got a light show during Happy Hour!

So now we are back where we started, Talona Ridge RV Resort in Ellijay, GA, and strange for us, it marks the end of our travel this year.  Working on house plans and getting my surgery and recovery will keep us here for quite awhile.  We still plan for 2 months in Florida, though it won't be until Feb and Mar.  At least that's the plan for now.

A Quick Update Before Running East

We had a whirlwind few days in Santa Fe, yes almost all surrounding food:-)  It was just a stepping stone along the way, but we had a couple things specifically in mind in case we don't get out here again.  

The sunsets and clouds did not disappoint.

First on the agenda was a particular plate of nachos and awesome chicken tortilla green chili soup, the nachos mainly to share and a quart of the soup as take out, except for the little bit we ate with our nachos.

We also wanted to get the best green chili cheeseburger in the entire world.  Many years ago we discovered Bobcat Bite, a tiny restaurant with famous burgers a bit outside of town, we're talking more than 25 years ago.  They served a huge burger 10 oz, cooked to order that was ground to their formula and never frozen with, of course, green chili and cheese.  It was a masterpiece and was featured in many publications and on several TV shows.  We found it extraordinary.  They closed up Bobcat Bite in 2013, and moved into Santa Fe proper renaming the restaurant to Santa Fe Bite.  We visited it many times while there.  It then closed up in that location in 2018 and moved a little farther out and is still in that location today.  We are glad to know that a part of the original ownership is still active, but for the most part it is now owned by the employees.  But the most important part is the burgers are still the same huge juicy amazing ones they always have been. Jan and I have said many times, it is the best burger we've had anywhere even ignoring the green chili and cheese, they are amazing!

And then just before we left for Texas, one more stop, The Pantry, another favorite, established in 1948, a real institution.  So fortified with awesome Huevos Rancheros with excellent green chili for breakfast we made our way to Texas to visit our daughter Kelly and Brian after a very quick overnight in Amarillo.

Durango

As I said we didn't plan to go directly to Durango, but the weather and road situation had us change plans.

Since there is no way on earth I would drive the motorhome down the Million Dollar Highway, let alone the truck, we took a alternate route around through Ridgway, skirting Telluride, through Rico, Delores, and Cortez, a little longer, still with great views, just not terrifying:-)

Near Telluride.

Our lunch stop.

I should also report that the new clock spring did not fix the cruise control problem either, working on a few more things:-(

So we had several must do things while we were in Durango and one of them was pizza, I would say it's the best pizza we have found anywhere, Fired Up in downtown Durango.

Wood fired oven with incredible crust!

Then the next day we picked up some sandwiches and drove up behind Purgatory Ski Resort to the Harris Ranch area for a picnic.  

Then the major thing for Jan was a hike to Spud Lake, she had to go solo as I am not able to hike right now with my hip.  She had a nice peaceful hike on a gorgeous day and only saw 3 people, perfect!

I went with her and waited in the truck with my Sunday crossword puzzles and after we went on up to Molas Pass, 10,910', then back to Andrews Lake for a picnic.

Molas Pass

Andrews Lake

We stuck around town the next day and had a delicious lunch at Akami Poke and Noodle Bar before running errands and grocery shopping.

Fantastic pork belly Bao buns

A wasabi tuna poke bowl

And a tempura shrimp roll

The next day we drove over to Pagosa Springs to see what the flooding had done, and thankfully, the river is back down and not a lot was impacted, although the road through town is under major construction, causing a lot of back ups.  We had a meh lunch in Pagosa and then went up to Williams Reservoir, another favorite for coffee, and then worked our way back.  Unfortunately the lake was still showing signs of the flooding and really didn't look very appealing so that is my excuse for no pictures:-)

Then our week was almost over, we went back into town, had a nice long walk around, as long as I can stay on level ground I can still get around, then had to have one more pizza lunch.

So now we are on the move, a few days here in Santa Fe, and we want to do a few things, yes they revolve around food, then make our way into Texas to visit our daughter, Kelly and Brian, then eastward bound all the way to Florida so I can get some of my pre surgery doctor appointments out of the way.

A Small Change of Plans

We left Heber City and headed south to Montrose, CO to another of our favorite campgrounds, Centennial.  We lucked out this time and got a site on an end with no one in front or beside us with an amazing view.

 

We are quite fond of Montrose and the surrounding area, Ridgway, Ouray, even Telluride are right down the road, Black Canyon of Gunnison is nearby, and Last Dollar Road.  But one of the first things we had to do was go to Gnarly Tacos in Ridgway for their amazing tacos!

Beans, they call them Whistleberries:-)
Ahi on the top and Korean BBQ on the bottom

Ahi, pork belly, and fish

Eclectic and delicious!

I related earlier of our travails with the cruise control, sometimes doesn't work, sometime works for a few minutes, and sometimes works for 300 miles?????  We replaced the controller, same results, so we decided to replace the clock spring, and like so many projects it was a 30 minute expectation that evolved into several days.  You have to pull the steering wheel to get to the clock spring, we had replaced it one time many years ago and had used a cheapo puller jury rigged with some angle bolts, but this time it wouldn't budge.

You can see the two angles in the hub, they just straightened out

So that found me looking around for a decent steering wheel puller, and after 3 auto parts stores followed up with a hardware store we finally got the wheel off.  By the way a clock spring is what allows you to turn the wheel and still operate lights, wipers, cruise etc, no matter where you turn it.  Pretty clever actually.

Inside the clock spring

The new in my hands, the old on the top of the column

But the bad news is, it didn't fix the problem, now what?  I'm trying to work on that now:-(

Enjoyed some beautiful sunsets.

Next was Last Dollar Road, a fairly famous drive through incredible mountains, forests, and fields starting just south of Ridgway and ending at Telluride, it is a fairly rough 4X4 road, but worth it, a real favorite of ours, especially in the fall.

Started it off with a shot of a house used in the filming of True Grit, with John Wayne.

It was a beautiful fall day with a touch of snow on the peaks.

And our view for coffee with snow showers over the peaks

Ha, then back for another round of tacos before our next ride.

A fish and a shrimp

2 fish and a chicken

This time we went up over Owl Creek Pass, 10,114', then by Silver Jack Reservoir, almost empty, over to Cimarron, then had coffee overlooking some of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Jan took this picture, Black Canyon terrifies me, it is so deep, 2,722', and so steep and sheer, so I do everything I can do to stay away from it, but if heights don't bother you it is amazing:-)

As for the slight change of plans.  We had planned after Montrose to go to our "secret boon docking" spot near Clear Creek Falls, unfortunately there has been huge flooding that closed Wolf Creek Pass, and parts of Pagosa Springs so our route from our spot to our next stop in Durango was impacted, and also the forecast of highs in the low 40's and lows in the 20's didn't seem all that inviting, so the two situations changed our route to go directly to Durango where we are now.