Cortez, Colorado

     I started the morning by sharing the discovery of a doe and fawn walking through the campground with the three darling little girls who were camped across from us.   The girls were great little campers and stayed very quiet as they watched the deer browse on the oak trees next to our camper.  I am so happy when I see kids learning to appreciate the outdoors.

Prickly Pear cactus in bloom everywhere

    The trip into Cortez took less time than the setup did when we arrived - the town is only ten miles from the park.  We are at Sundance RV Park which is right on Main Street about five blocks from the main part of downtown.  What a change from our lofty (and very quiet) retreat in Mesa Verde.  The campground has some big old trees which provide nice shade, not much grass, and views of the neighborhood and a trailer rental facility.  As city campgrounds go, it is nice and clean and has very friendly staff.
    This is the midpoint in our trip and time for maintenance and shopping.  We found a wonderful cafe, "Once Upon a Sandwich" for lunch.  We have been living on sandwiches at rest stops so I had an amazing salad with beets, blue cheese, dried cranberries and chicken. Yum.  Then, we went to a delightful quilt shop, Cortez Quilt Company, just across the street.  Even Rick was impressed with the many great quilts on display.  Of course, I found some fabric and a book that I had to have, of course.
    After supporting the local shops we stopped at the nearby Walmart for some basic supplies and went back to the camper to do laundry.  I was happy to find a cool, clean, well functioning laundry room and got the onerous task of laundry on the road done in only two hours.  We caught up on news, blogs, and other electronic chores.  We were wondering if the search in the park yesterday for missing hikers was successful.  We saw a helicopter flying low over the Spruce Tree area and dozens of searchers heading out.  It is so hot and there is no water.  It would not take long for someone to be in big trouble if they were lost.  But there was no word on the news.   It is probably a pretty common occurrence.
     After dinner, when the cool evening breeze began to slide through the campground, we sat outside in the falling dusk and talked with our new neighbors.  An ordinary day of life on the road.