Does this Look Like a Coyote to you?

July 10 - July 13, 2015

We left Colorado Springs and headed for Montrose, CO, and a national park called Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was a lovely drive following the Arkansas river through the mountains. We enjoyed the scenery which included rafters on the white water.

On the way we pulled into a Walmart to eat some lunch and do a little grocery shopping. When we went to leave, the engine wouldn't start. The battery monitor showed a full charge but the engine wouldn't crank. We called the roadside assistance and settled in to wait for service. While we were waiting Rick tried to start it one more time and it started! He turned it off and tried again, and once more, nothing. A few minutes later, it started again. We called the roadside assistance again and were told that if we were no longer "disabled" we were responsible for seeking repairs on our own but that they would help us if we broke down again. Afraid to turn it off again, we continued on to Montrose, leaving the engine running the whole time, even when we stopped.

We had reservations at the campground at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We had made reservations for one campsite for the first night and another site for the next two nights. Unfortunately, the second site was way too small for us, though the website had said that it was appropriate for our length vehicle (35 feet 8 inches.) But another bizarre event made us anxious to leave that campground post haste. Several mule deer in the area had recently given birth and the coyotes had been harassing them, trying to get the babies. When Rick was walking SiSi, a doe emerged from the woods and started to come toward them. It continued to advance on them, so Rick turned and began to walk the other way. But the deer continued to run toward them, chasing them out of the area! Another camper had to put her car between Rick and the deer in order to get it to back off! After it happened again the next day we reported the incidents to the camp host and he told us that a deer had recently attacked a woman who was walking her dog, putting her in the hospital for 10 days. Apparently the deer thought that SiSi looked like a coyote.

We moved to a really nice private campground, Centennial RV Park, outside of the park in Montrose and spent a few days touring the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The canyon is "black" because of the color of the rocks and because the rims are so close together that very little sunlight enters the canyon. Unlike most of the other western national parks, Black Canyon is relatively dog friendly (unless you count the deer.) We were happy to be able to take SiSi on one of the hikes that we went on and to the short trails to the overlook points. Here are a few pictures from those walks.

When it was time to leave Black Canyon, we got everything packed and ready to go and, you guessed it, the engine wouldn't start. Luckily we got a wonderful mobile service to come out to our RV, diagnose the problem (a bad starter), come back with a new one, and install it. And best of all, the price was reasonable. If you're ever in the Montrose CO area and need service, I highly recommend Gary's Garage. Thanks, Gary.