This is part 2 of a three week Jeepin' odyssey, more or less. The first few days were a leisurely trip out to South Dakota via Nebraska. The next five days were the best Dakota Challenge in many years. Then we made a quick trip from South Dakota to New Mexico (since we were half way there, anyway.) The next five days were spent attending the UFWDA 25th convention and wheelin' in Farmington. After " adjusting " the damn Currie R & P (again) in Farmington, we decided to take a side trip to the San Juans for a few days before heading home. This page covers Farmington and the San Juans. The first part of the trip is covered here.

After the Dakota Challenge Tim joined me to run to Farmington to do some wheelin' and attend UFWDA's 25th anniversary convention. Didn't start out well. Coming out of Whispering Pines I took a lesson from Doc and drove off the road slamming the slide of the coach into a tree. Scratched up the bottom of the coach but there was no damage to the side. Amazing. Sounded like the whole damn thing was collapsing. The motor home is starting to have as many bumps and bangs at the dam Jeep.

On the way out of the Black Hills we took a short 'copter ride. Saw a lot of the forest that was burned last year. What a shame.

Made it through Wyoming and into western Colorado. Between Ouray and Durango, the Million Dollar Highway is really neat, albeit not necessarily for motorhomes with trailers. As I rounded curves to the left, the passenger side of the coach hung over the edge a few feet due to the front wheel setback. The first time that happened, Tim look down and saw nothing for about 500 feet. That really got his attention. He turned a couple shades of white. Great entertainment!

When we arrived in Farmington we passed by the campground three times before we found it. Turned out it was in the back of the local gambling joint. Pulled in and the first sign we saw was to warn of rattlesnakes in the area. Good morning Vietnam!

Now we had a choice. Go to an UFWDA meeting or wheel. Duh! We headed out to Chokecherry Canyon and played on Waterfall and Cobra. Had a great time although the Jeep was hopping all over the place. Automatic trans, 3.8:1 transfer case and a spring over = too much torque. Had a Sam's Off-Road bar to help with the spring wrap and by the end of the day the bar looked more like a pretzel. So much for that design!

So the next day I went to a meeting :( and Tim found a ride and went wheeling :) I sure learned a lot about UFWDA and how they are organized and run their meetings.

Tim had a great time. I didn't.

Then next day we both went to the UFWDA meeting and the banquet. Saw some friends and had a good time - but we were itchin' for tomorrow when we were going to the Rock Garden.

Ahh. The Rock Garden. It was a bit of a drive but worth it. We went a little to the west and did the Secret Trail. Once again, Thomas provided the entertainment. On this trail he also accomplished roll #30.

Now on the Rock Garden I tried to climb an obstacle. Tim elected to ride with me. That was another mistake. I'd get halfway up and the Jeep would start hopping and stand straight up in the air. A quick application of reverse gear got us back down safely. Our guide at the top was laughing hysterically. I thought he was laughing at me but he was laughing at Tim. He said when I started to bounce and stand straight up, Tim was like an octopus with his hands, feverishly trying to find something, anything, to hang on to. Now I wasn't going to let a little thing like a reverse endo deter me, so before Tim could get out, I tried it again - with exactly the same results. Tim walked the rest of the trail. When I bounced, I didn't realize that once again I had popped a few layers off some of the teeth on my " indestructible " , high-quality Currie Ford 9 POS. On the way back from the trail it was obvious! So we decided to reluctantly leave the land of sunshine and head to the land of mountains, specifically Silverton, for a few days of R and R wheelin'.

Silverton was wonderful. The aspens were turning and this was the first time I'd ever seen them turn. Wow!

The campground was great. It was nestled in the valley and right ahead of us was the Durango-Silverton steam train. This is way too cool!

Within minutes of arriving we were on the road. To the south of us was this humongous mountain with, what looked a trail to the top. So off we went to the top of Kendall Mountain. It was a great trip except for the Jeep that kept overheating and puking. We finally propped the hood open with some pop cans and bungeed it down and that helped. We got to the top and explored some of the old mines a little. And yes, that is the trail!!

We then went around to the other side of the mountain (to see what what we could see.) There was a nice little trail there so we took it. It got pretty narrow, but no problem. At the end we were rewarded with a great view of Silverton. After backing out for a ways, we got turned around and headed back. That night we were talking with one of the local boys at the meat market (a single home-type chest freezer with random frozen meats in it) and he asked where we were. We told him of the nice trail and the view when he said, " You couldn't have done that. Jeeps don't go there. It's too narrow. People can barely walk on the trail. " I don't think he believed that we drove it. Not bad for a couple " flatlanders! "

The next day was " trails du jour " . We did a quick tour of the San Juans. Up to Hurricane Pass, with great views of the trails, like Poughkeepsie. We then headed down to Animas Forks by way of California Gulch. Spent a few minutes watching the tourists do dumb things at Animas Forks, then headed up Engineer Pass, turned, came down, took the cutoff to Poughkeepsie Gulch. Headed back up to Hurricane Pass on Poughkeepsie (did use the lockers once....) Played a little around the lake. From there headed down Corkscrew Gulch and back to the campground by way of another, little used, " alternate " route. The rear end wasn't very happy but at this point who cared. It worked. It was just a " little " noisy and clicked on the coast side. I'd been there, done that, backwards and in the dark, knowing full well that the ring gear looked like some people I've seen (a few teeth missing.)

On the way down from Engineer we saw this full size Dodge diesel come up the trail. Now Engineer is not difficult, but has one heck of a long stretch that's got a lot of 6 to 8 " rocks. As we turned the corner in the photo, we saw this diesel coming at us. We pulled way over so this good ol' Texas boy could get through. Well, he came upon an 8 " ledge and had a helluva time. Couldn't make it. About that time his very nice looking wife got out followed by a not so happy Mama. We smiled at his wife and she smiled back. We smiled at Mama. She did not smile. Mama was not happy!

We told the good ol' boy that 40 psi was a little high, that he should take the ledges at an angle and that he needs to bump them a little, not hit them and then try to just power that big old rig up the ledge. He didn't seem to learn too quickly. So as we left, the nice young lady asks if there is more of this. We told her only about 4 miles. She replied with a nice long Texas drawl, " Oh my, this is gonna be a real long day, ain't it? " We replied, " Yup, " and off we scurried. Wonder if they every got up to the top (or down again.....)