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Alans17

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So we’re one week into a national park tour and general outdoors vacation, starting from Texas and looking like this:

New Mexico:
Hyatt Regency Tamaya (Albuquerque)

Colorado:
Mesa Verde National Park
Imogene Pass (Ouray)

Utah:
Arches National Park
Fins and Things (Moab)

Wyoming:
Grand Tetons National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Wild mustang tour (Cody)

South Dakota:
Mount Rushmore
Black Hills
Badlands National Park

Pics to follow
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Alans17

Alans17

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The Hyatt Regency Tamaya was mostly a way station on the way to Colorado, but it’s a pretty neat place. It’s on the Santa Ana Pueblo and is directly adjacent to a horse rescue with something like 50 horses. They have nature trails right out the back of the hotel and hot air balloons launches right on the property. Plus they have Golf Digest’s #5 golf course in NM (all the top 5 are in the same area).

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Alans17

Alans17

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We headed north from New Mexico to stay in Durango, CO. It’s a place I’ve been several times in my life, but we did some new stuff. Unfortunately the Mesa Verde pictures are still in the camera, but I got plenty on my phone of the Million Dollar Highway and Imogene Pass.

We traveled Imogene Pass from Ouray to Telluride. My whole family agreed the Ouray side was prettier. It also had way fewer shelf roads if that sort of thing freaks you out. We got a late start of about 1pm. We encountered virtually nobody up there - maybe 15 or 20 vehicles the whole way through. I’m not sure what’s typical, but this felt especially slow. Just as well, though. This is my favorite part of the trip so far.

We intentionally picked this trail for the views and scenery over any sort of technical challenge and it was just amazing. My wife is in love with Colorado now and Imogene Pass has a lot to do with it.

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Olympusreptiles

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Really want to know how it did on those trails?? Modified or stock??
 
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After a couple of days in Durango, we headed west to Moab, UT. The original plan was to see both Arches National Park and Canyonlands, but we ended up spending all of our time in Arches. The whole place isn’t so big that you can’t knock out most of the highlights in a couple of days. If you’re going in summer, plan on entering the park early to avoid the crowd and heat. There are several 4x4-only roads inside the park, but we turned back on one since it was getting progressively more difficult, we were traveling alone with kids, and were outside cell coverage.

We also completed Fins and Things to earn a badge, but it terrified my wife. As in, there were tears involved and she honestly thought she might die. (Our seven year old daughter was bored in the back seat.) So we won’t be doing any of that again. I didn’t stop for pics out of deference to her, but I do have GoPro video which I’ll edit when we get home.

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Alans17

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Really want to know how it did on those trails?? Modified or stock??
It really did fine. I’ve got a Max Tow with Rubi front shocks and springs (never did the back), Mojave wheels and tires, and 1.5 Teraflex levelers up front. I bumped my rear twice, but both times I was going faster than I had to and one of them was completely avoidable except my wife was recording so I took it as a dare. 🤣

EDIT: I forgot to mention the bed is full to the brim with camping gear that weighs it down a bit.
 

Olympusreptiles

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It really did fine. I’ve got a Max Tow with Rubi front shocks and springs (never did the back), Mojave wheels and tires, and 1.5 Teraflex levelers up front. I bumped my rear twice, but both times I was going faster than I had to and one of them was completely avoidable except my wife was recording so I took it as a dare. 🤣

EDIT: I forgot to mention the bed is full to the brim with camping gear that weighs it down a bit.
Awesome! Mine is stock, and not max tow but should be fine then. Which trail did you bump tail on? And we talking the hitch, exhaust, or body damage?
 
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Alans17

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Awesome! Mine is stock, and not max tow but should be fine then. Which trail did you bump tail on? And we talking the hitch, exhaust, or body damage?
Imogene Pass. No damage, but I have a hitch skid. So I’m both more prone to take bumps and less prone to take damage.

On a separate note, I scraped my butt a LOT on Fins and Things in Moab. Not bumping, but scraping. The hitch skid helped, but I do have some superficial scrapes on my plastic rear bumper.
 

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Great trip indeed. Where are you in Colorado in the first couple of mountain shots?

Love Moab! Thanks for sharing.
 
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Alans17

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Great trip indeed. Where are you in Colorado in the first couple of mountain shots?

Love Moab! Thanks for sharing.
The first couple of shots are on the road between Silverton and Ouray. One is from the One Million Dollar Highway and the other was just pulled over on the side of the road.

Moab is awesome. It’s all-new for all of us. We’ve seen similar formations near Zion National Park, but this is on a whole other level.
 

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Alans17

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You missed all the good stuff in NM.
It’s a 3-week itinerary. We could only put in so much and we’re close enough to NM that we can go back. It was a conscious decision to spend less time there in order to have more time in far-from-home places.

That being said, we’re already earmarking places to come back to and spend more time in the future. I see you’re in Albuquerque. What activities would you recommend in that area?
 

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@Alans17 Loved the pics and the journaling. You're very good at it.
 
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@Alans17 Loved the pics and the journaling. You're very good at it.
Thanks! This is our first big family road trip (and first trip of any kind since COVID started), but we’ve been documenting our family travels for many years. Our favorite souvenirs are photos and stories. We try to impress it on our kids as much as we can.
 
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Hard to believe the Colorado pics and Utah pics were taken just a few hours drive away from each other. And the temperature difference was 40 degrees between them.

Next stop -> Grand Tetons NP. Cell reception will probably be spotty at best.
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