Colorful Colorado

Since we didn’t really have far to go we slept in a little and got a late start. We headed toward Monarch. When we got to Delta, the navigator decided she wanted to see some goats and took us in a big circle through the back country. We eventually ended up back at the highway we had recently left.

After our little goat viewing adventure we circled back around to Delta and got back on track toward Monarch. When we got near Black Canyon of the Gunnison we took another side trip to see it.

After Dead Horse Point it seemed a little underwhelming but was still pretty cool.

As we were headed along the highway to Monarch, we got to see Ghost Rider sitting on his motorcycle on the side of the road. I’m not sure why he was selling his bike. Maybe he was planning to buy a horse.

After a LONG drive up Monarch Pass, we finally arrived at the Monarch lodge. We were the only car in the parking lot. We wondered what was going on as it looked like a fantastic place online. The building looked pretty rundown though. They put us in a ground floor room looking out the back at a parking area where there was a bunch of construction trucks. There was no food or gas or anything nearby. Salida was the nearest food and it was over 20 miles away. We decided to just eat the cost of the hotel and go to Salida and find a hotel there.

When we bought our car they told us there were sensors that would apply the brakes and prevent us from backing into something. The salesman told us he had never tested it so he just had to trust that it worked. Well we tested it for him. When backing out of the Monarch Lodge, our car was the only one in the parking lot. So I wasn’t really paying attention and was just backing up thinking there was nothing to hit. Suddenly the car went dunk-dunk-dunk-dunk-dunk and stopped. I pressed the gas a little more and nothing happened. I thought “crap now the car is broken”. Then Debby looked at the backup camera and noticed there was a pole behind us. The car prevented me from giving it a nice big dent in the rear. At least now we know it works.

We lucked out and the first hotel Debby called would allow all 3 of our dogs so we stayed there. It was called the Baymont Wyndham. It was actually pretty nice. The bed was VERY comfortable. We did nothing the whole evening but sit around the room and recover. We even ordered pizza delivered from Dominos. It was a refreshing evening.