The drive north from Albuquerque to Cortez, CO takes one through many miles of open, scenic country. We enjoyed the drive – at least until we got into some road construction between Bloomfield and Farmington that slowed us down considerably. In Farmington we made the mistake of deciding to take a break from the road and take advantage of the large Walmart there to do some grocery shopping. The reason it was a mistake is that as we moved into the afternoon the wind picked up speed and by the time we turned due north from Shiprock to Cortez we were headed directly into a 30-35 mph headwind. That portion of road is rough and mostly uphill. Adding significant wind wasn’t much fun. I really wished I had that hour we spent at Farmington back!

As you can guess, then, we were happy to arrive at La Mesa R.V. Park in Cortez, CO. The lady who checked us in was friendly and efficient and we were soon happy to be parked in a nice wide and level pull through gravel spot for a couple of nights.

We pretty much took shelter for the evening as the winds continued to blow and the temperatures continued to drop. Both nights of our stay in Cortez saw temperatures drop below freezing – not unheard off, but unseasonably cold.

You might say that this park is “handy.” The Walmart we should have bought our groceries in is a couple of minutes down the street. There are many restaurants and other businesses quite nearby. There are lots of scenic and historical places nearby but the biggie is Mesa Verde National Park – the entrance is just nine miles to the east.