Adventure . . . Abort!

Day 3 was our last long drive day before we will slow to ~150 miles/day. We started by driving through very interesting scenery near Cuba, NM. 

Scenery west of Cuba, NM

Bebop enjoying the roadside scenery

As we entered the southwest corner of Colorado, we could see a few rain clouds to the north.

Entering Colorado

 

We intended to go to Monticello, UT for the night but decided to take an adventure to the Delores Canyon Overlook in CO. It’s BLM land and we could camp there for the night. It’s an 11 mile gravel, then dirt road, but reviews said it was OK for two wheel drive vehicles. We made it almost all the way. We had just 2 miles to go when we found a few deep mud puddles that we powered through. Then we found a pigsty masquerading as the road -- just one mile from the end. We decided not to risk it and made a multipoint turn around on the narrow road. We had seen one other pull-out about a mile back and headed to that. As we approached it a sudden rainstorm formed right over us. Big giant drops that sounded like hail pelted our RV and the road was getting muddy and slick. We barely got into the rutted pullout and got in just enough to be out of the main road without going into the giant ruts at the pull-out. We had a full water tank, empty waste tanks, and a fully charged Volta battery, so we planned to stay for the night. The rain broke and we got out to see how much muck we could cake on our shoes. Paul won.

We then noticed more dark clouds coming. We had no cell service, so we couldn't check the radar. The road was slick, but not too bad yet, so we decided to make a break for it. About halfway down the road another heavy storm hit and we slid around a bit, but we finally got back to pavement. We ended up in Monticello for the night, but with many pounds of clay caked on the vehicle.  

Our pullout on the road to Delores Canyon Overlook

Elena pulling the mud cakes off the Travato

 
The Delores Canyon Overlook road was beautiful, and it would have been nice to make it to the end, but we decided we were grateful to have made a run for it when we did! Instead of being stuck in a mud hole for days waiting for the road to dry, we are camped in a lovely place called the Mountain View RV Park, which has fancy new bathrooms, excellent wi-fi, and a road we know we can drive on in the morning.