To Chama and beyond!

On Wednesday we packed up reasonably early, only to decide that now was the time to have new tyres put on to the vehicles. The Van needed 2 tyres and the trailer needed two tyres as well.
After considerable thought we decided to put some Goodyear Wrangler Authority tyres on the Van. Although we do not do cross country (only 2W drive) the aggressive tread of the Wranglers will enable us to get out of tight spots in snow and mud. I thought they may be noisy, but not so. So the back end of the truck now looks very chunky. The other reason being that they were the only tires that Walmart had that fitted. (they still look very chunky).
After that we now had a late start, so we set out south again to Antonito, but turned West there to travel over the Chumbra Pass. This is a beautiful journey which took us high up again into snow (so that we could try the new tires) of the Rio Grande Mountains, then down the other side into the small town of Chama, where we stayed the night.

Next day (Thursday) we set out late again, as we had taken the time to catch up with Helen and Stu (actually Sally wanted to make sure that Helen recorded the Royal Wedding).
From Chama we set out Westward again, about 2 miles up the road we reached the marker which signified that we had reached the Great Divide that we have based our trip on (Across The Great Divide). The Great Divide in question is the Continental Divide, signify hing that all the rain water that falls on to the side to the East of the sign will drain away and eventually end up in the Gulf of Mexico. While all the rain that falls to the West of the sign will drain away to the Pacific Ocean. In reality it was an almost flat piece of land, nothing dramatic at all, not like the Hoosier Pass into Breckenridge. Still it marked a significant point in our journey, as now we were running downhill to the Pacific Ocean. As we drove on we started to find the sedimentary geology of the Mesas, and Buttes. High ,flat plains, with deep narrow gorges, or wide flat areas which stepped down from one sandstone layer to the next. Soon the forests of the high mountains gave way to the desert scrub of Morman tea plants. At one point we could see far away in the North West the Mountains behind Durango, Pagosa Springs and to the North East the Wolf Creek Pass, all covered in snow. The land was by now quite level, but with frequent cliffs that stretched into the distance. One thing we noticed was the large number of oil wells in the area, Farmington is a real Oil Town.
By late afternoon we found a little RV Park in Farmington called 'Dad's RV Park'. We are planning to stay here for a couple of days to recuperate and gather ourselves for the next major excursion - Into the deserts of the Colorado Plateau, seeing places like Monument Valley. We think that Farmington is really the last place you can find an RV park at a reasonable price, from here on we think that we will have to be self sufficient for water and electricity - should be fun