We wanted to say thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on our upcoming itinerary. Here is a map of what we are planning for the weeks and months ahead. We haven’t researched everything fully and we don’t know if this route is something we’ll want to take the RV along, but for the moment this is a rough sketch of what we’re planning.
Where Next, an Update
13 Comments on “Where Next, an Update”
What do you think?
Meet Brian and Shannon
Fulltime wanderers since 2010, Brian & Shannon are traveling the world on a quest to see everything there is to see . . . at least once.
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Everywhere Once 
If you are not going to take your RV consider staying at Kelly Place (http://www.kellyplace.com/) near Mesa Verde. They host Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) programs there and have wonderful contacts with local experts. We took a 4 hours hike with an archaeologist on to some nearby federal land and explored cliff dwellings there before going into the Park.
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Thanks for the suggestion. We’re definitely bringing the RV, I just don’t know which routes we’ll want to drive it on. We may stop in to Kelly Place anyway.
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Arizona will get hot fast when summer starts to come. Colorado tho is perfect for the summer months. I travelled in an rv for 2 years and spent most of one summer in Colorado . Love that state. So beautiful.
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We’re going to be picking up the pace. I don’t plan on staying in AZ for the summer. 😉
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When you are up in Ouray ,Co. , dont miss going to Silverton as well. The highway from Ouray to Silverton is very windy and maybe not so fun for a big rv but I did it allright in my 20 ft. rv. I went to a super nice Folk festival in Silverton . If you like that sort of thing , you might want to look it up and see if they still have it there. Small, intimate crowd with lots of great bluegrass and folk music for 3 days. Camping right there.
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I think we’ll definitely do the drive along 550 from Durango, through Silverton to Ouray, just don’t know if I’ll take the RV on that route. I may take a longer route around with the RV, but then back track with the Jeep for the scenic drive. The Folk festival sounds like something we’d check out, but we never time these things right so we often miss them. We’ll look it up, though.
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From Ouray to the Black Canyon, go to Sapinero and then back track on the North Rim of the Black Canyon to Hotchkiss. You have another choice for scenery before getting to the Colorado Natl Monument by taking hwy65 north to I70. Hwy65 is also Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. If you do a google search for this byway, you will get a closer view of all the areas that you could see along this byway. There are many lakes up along the Grand Mesa and a lot of trails. Oh and definitely…I’d take the RV. Happy trails!
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Thanks for the recommendations!
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Have you been to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico on earlier legs of your journey? If not you may want to detour that way
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Yup, we hit Carlsbad on our way south: https://everywhereonce.com/2012/01/23/carlsbad-caverns-new-mexico/
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I thought you had, but been reading so many blogs from so many people! Lol
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If you get down to the southeastern corner of Arizona, Bisbee is a must see… An old mining town rescued by artists in the 70’s when the big corp. abandoned the town… An interesting back eddie of America.
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I agree with Dugo about Bisbee. It is a very cool, artsy little town filled with interesting characters.
Also, if you’re going to Monument Valley, you might want to think about a little detour to the Valley of the Gods. It’s a sensational loop, the roads are in much better shape than those in Monument Valley and, while MV will likely be packed with tourists, Valley of the Gods was nearly empty when we drove through last summer.
Just want to say again how much I enjoy reading your blog – both the tales of adventures and the philosophical musings.
Safe travels.
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