Hello! Welcome back to another family adventure, this time our journeys took us into the San Juan mountain range where we camped near an old ghost town, the Grand Mesa where we got to camp near the most beautiful and pristine lakes, and Mesa Verde with the indigenous cliff houses! We had a blast and I am now finally recounting our trip some two months later and finally decided to make the post about it.
A few portions were cut short because my engine developed a knock and I didn’t want to be stranded on a 4×4 mountain pass with a disabled engine if it completely failed. So I did not get to take the kids across Imogene pass nor did I get to take them on Last Dollar Road near Telluride. We still made the best of it and had a heck of a good time, and cannot wait to have another adventure with these three amazing kiddos!
Day 1 The journey to Animas Forks, CO
We left home early in the morning and headed west through the boring and stinky panhandle of Oklahoma. Along the way we made a few pit stops to take pictures and see some cool stuff. Somewhere around guymon bypass I noticed a slight chirp in the valve train of my engine I nervously pushed on hoping it would go away as the tick had in the past. The first stop was the 3 corners marker which marks where Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma all meet. Ahri didn’t want to wake up so just me, Ellie, and Owen got in on the pictures there. A short while later we stopped at the New Mexico welcome sign, which is only a couple miles down the road from 3 corners.
As we continued on we made our way through New Mexico, until we found ourselves in Colorado and headed towards Animas Forks down 160 through the Alamosa Valley.
Eventually we hit Durango and headed up 550 to Silverton where our path finally turned off road onto county road 2. The kids were great this entire trip and got along well. When we got there it immediately started raining which was kind of a let down, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin our first day. I let the kiddos sit in the truck and stay warm while I set up camp in the chilly rain (it was in the low 50’s). I only deployed one tent because my hands kept getting too cold to run the zippers, but I got both awnings out and the fire pit setup so we could roast some weenies and stay out of the rain.
We finally got a break from the rain and we had some visitors come really close to camp, a doe and her fawn. The kids eagerly stood while I snapped a couple pictures of them with the deer just a few yards away, keeping their distance yet. Bub must have had a touch of altitude sickness because he complained about a headache but said it wasn’t too bad. After dinner and cleaning up, I hooked our diesel heater up to the tent and got it warming up so we could all dry up and keep warm for the night. There was still plenty of room for all 4 of us in the big tent, we all slept great and woke up the next morning well rested. The rest of the trip me and Owen shared the small tent and the girls got the big one… except the night we slept in the truck… we will get to that disaster on day 3.
Day 2: Animas forks to Montrose. Avoiding the rain.
I woke up early on day 2, the clouds were rolling into the gulch we were in and it was so foggy I couldn’t see 10 ft away with the sun shining. I got breakfast made and eventually the kids woke up and ate. It was quite chilly still, when I woke up it was in the 30’s, but once the sun broke over the mountains it warmed up fast.
We packed up camp and headed to the actual town of Animas Forks which was slightly up the mountain from us, less than a 2 minute drive. The kids and I walked around the ghost town and went inside most of the old houses and they got to see some neat stuff. Crazy, I was just there a couple weeks before and there was still a couple feet of snow on the ground which made it difficult to make it from house to house, but now it was completely clear.
From Animas Forks we moved on and headed up California Gulch, we made it up across the pass and headed on to Corkscrew pass, and at this point I called it. There was no way I was going to continue going on these trails, though I wanted to take the kids on a couple more. My engine had started to make a ticking noise, though faint it was disheartening and made me really nervous, that is definitely not somewhere you want your engine to die. So I made the executive decision to move on and head to a dryer place because the forecast on my garmin called for more cold temps and more rain.
I messaged my friend via my Garmin satellite communicator and they helped me find out if the KOA at Montrose had any spots available and they did. So we got off the trails and headed on 550 towards Montrose because both places we wanted to go (Grand Mesa and Alpine loop) forecasted rain and I’d rather be somewhere warm and rainy than cold and rainy. I also didn’t want to sour the trip for the kiddos.
We made it to Montrose KOA and setup camp, their tent sites are tiny and I’d recommend the extra money for an RV site, lots more room especially if you’re using a rooftop tent like us. But the site had running water, and electricity so we couldn’t complain too much. The KOA had a swimming pool and since the kids brought their swimming suits they hopped in for a swim while dad drank a couple cold ones and supervised.
While we were on the trails the diesel from the diesel heater had leaked out onto the tonneau cover and dripped onto the cooler and made its way into the cooler and made our drinks all stinky. We took advantage of the running water and dumped a bunch of dawn dish soap into the cooler and filled it up with water then had the kids agitate the drinks and we got rid of the diesel smell which was getting to be nauseous when trying to drink anything out of there.
After we set up camp and had sleeping arrangements in order and got everything dried out from the previous days rains, I made some bomb street tacos and we just relaxed the rest of the evening with a sprinkle of rain here and there and a single very short lived downpour.
Day 3: Montrose to The Grand Mesa
The morning of day 3 we woke up and made a game plan, we decided we weren’t going back to the rain and cold of Animas Forks and the San Juans so we loaded up camp and headed to Montrose for some supplies. We got our groceries loaded up and got on google maps and found the Lego store I had visited my last trip to Grand Junction, I knew Owen would love it.
So onward we went to Grand Junction, engine ticking away and my stress levels started to rise, and would continue to rise for the rest of the trip as the engine tick got slowly louder. That would be the reason for the lack of content in the coming days I skimped on pictures and stuff because I was just too concerned about the engine making it back home because we had a 14 hour drive home from where we were.
We got to Grand Junction and went straight to the lego store after getting fuel, we went through a lot of fuel, lol. The kids had a blast, I gave them all a spending limit and they all met it. They had every lego set you could imagine in there, a lot of them ranging in the hundreds of dollars. I was intrigued by the Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings sets, but couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on any, mostly because I don’t like doing legos that much, I don’t like instructions… like any other man.
After the lego store we went to the local farm supply store and I topped off our propane and we grabbed some quick lunch to go and then we headed towards the Grand Mesa! The road there was about like a mountain pass and there was about 5 times we had to pull over to let the engine or transmission cool down, which ever got hot first.
When we got up there I loaded up my offline maps on my ipad and started scouting places to camp, we drove all over the top of the mesa in search of the perfect place to setup camp. I made dinner and the kids explored the lake we were camped next to in-between the showers of rain. We ended up eating dinner in the truck because a massive downpour came right as I was finishing the steaks.
Being as there was a big thunderstorm coming in that night we opted to stay in the pickup that night so we didn’t have to be stuck at camp waiting for the tents to dry out to explore the mesa a bit more the next day. That was a terrible decision. I volunteered to sleep on the back seat next to Ahri, she got the seat for her legs, I put my legs down in the floorboard, I got no sleep hardly at all, but they all rested well and we stayed dry aside from the condensation dripping on us from the windows.
Day 4: The Grand Mesa
I awoke at the butt crack of dawn before the sun was showing it’s face and started some much needed coffee. While the kids were asleep I walked around camp and did a little exploring myself, it was such a beautiful area.
As the kids started to wake up I made some breakfast and asked them what they wanted to do today, and being on the mesa which has over 360 lakes we decided to try fishing. After breakfast we loaded camp up and cruised around the mesa visiting each of the lakes we came across and attempted fishing in each one. The fish weren’t having it, we had a couple bites but didn’t catch a single fish the entire day.
Having no luck fishing all morning, we decided to setup camp for the night and actually put up the tents and break out the heater so hopefully we have a less miserable night than the night before. Never again will I sleep in the cab of the truck. We had a pretty leisurely rest of the day with a few trips down to the lake we were camped next to to try fishing every once in a while, but no luck still. We did notice why no one swims in these lakes though, mid day when the sun was shining through the clear water, we could see these huge 6″ long leeches swimming around! And to think I almost took my shoes off and dipped my toes in the water at one point!
The rest of the day went smooth and we just enjoyed each others company and watched the people cruise by on their dirt bikes and 4 wheelers. We had a quick dinner, started up the heater and as night came we sat by the firepit for a while and then went up into our tents to stay warm and get some much needed rest.
Day 5: Grand Mesa to Mesa Verde
The next morning we got up early and made breakfast then packed up camp we had decided it was time to move on, and we were headed to Mesa Verde to check out the Native American cliff dwellings built back a thousand years ago! We packed up camp, ate breakfast and hit the road.
On the way south we made a pit stop and took a quick walk through Telluride, the kids enjoyed it and got a couple souvenirs, but soon as that was over we were back on the road and this is where my engine started to make some really not good noises, I’m guessing this is where the roller came off completely. The soft tick turned into a whack that didn’t get better, only worse the closer to Mesa Verde we got.
When we arrived we went and picked out a campsite, then hit the road going down to visit the dwellings. It was kind of rushed as we wanted to get it all done that day so we could start to make our way home, which at that point was a 14 hour drive, I hoped we’d make it to the Alamosa Valley to camp for the night before making the rest of the trek home.
There wasn’t much anything that was exciting the rest of Mesa Verde, the kids saw the pit houses and some of the cliff dwellings and I think once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all to a kid. Unless you count the BB8 car we saw at the museum parking lot which the kids got a kick out of.
After the trip down the loop we came back to camp, made some tacos and just enjoyed the cool, yet warmer evening than we had in a few days, while dad knocked back a couple cold ones by the fire thinking about the great time he’s had so far.
Day 6: Mesa Verde to Alamosa KOA
The next day we got up early yet again and quickly ate some pancakes and bacon then packed up camp and started to make the long journey home. We planned to stop at the Alamosa KOA so I didn’t have to drive the full 14 hrs in one day, instead it would only be 9.
This day was quite uneventful except the ticking now sounded like someone was smacking the side of the engine with a sledge hammer, and it was making me anxious. The mountain passes were exceptionally scary, the engine was screeching and banging it’s way up the mountains and I thought for sure any moment I was going to have to call out on the garmin for help to get a tow truck.
Mile by mile the truck made it though, and after several anxiety driven hours on the road we made it to the Alamosa KOA where we set up camp and geared up for the 4th of July celebration, as today was indeed the 4th of July.
The KOA had pizza delivery so we ordered a pizza and the kids swam in the pool and we just hung out and hade a nice evening together. The KOA also had a parade with all the kids from around camp on their bikes and a line of golf carts that went all through the campground. After swimming and all the festivities we just relaxed at camp and let the kids burn some sparklers while we waited for the fireworks.
After googling where the fireworks display was I saw we had a clear shot of it from the campgrounds so we opted to stay at camp and setup the tents, because if we left we’d have to pack them back down, the one downside to the roof top tents. As darkness came we looked that way to see the start of the fireworks, and we walked out near the highway to get a better view… I didn’t realize how far 4 miles was but the fireworks were tiny and far off so that was kind of a let down, but the kids still seemed to enjoy themselves!
We went back to camp and sat by the fire and talked about the fun we had on our trip, and discussed possibilities for future trips (we’re headed to the east coast) and I thought about the long stressful trip home with my engine likely grenading itself from the inside out.
We went to bed and the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, we made it successfully the remaining two mountain passes and 9 hours later we arrived safely at home where we unpacked and wished we could have stayed out longer.
Now as I write this I am in the middle of rebuilding the engine so we can go have more adventures as a family!
the aftermath, this came out of the oil pan and below is my lifter.
