I have migrated over here from having first posted in the "HELP! i'M GOING TO DIE ON THIS TRIP FER SURE I NEED HELP I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING" thread.

After having been given wonderful help from this forum (you people saved our lives in a literal way) I've modified my trip and I thought I'd just post it here for your amusement. It's a pretty ambitious trip even still, and I'm a newbie in the EXTREME, and simply renting my r-pod.

I'm pretty sure I'll be desperately posting in the "HELP!!" thread soon enough, specifically with respect to: "HOW THE HECK DO I PACK AND HOW THE HECK DO I KNOW IF I'M STILL UNDER WEIGHT AND WHERE THE HECK DO I PUT THE GAS CAN?", but I've got a few days before THAT whole issue comes up 

For now, here's my little story. I've got a city-slicker husband who refuses to step outside a museum. I've got the most incredible kid with high-functioning autism struggling against all odds to cope with life and social isolation and rejection while still maintaining her natural optimism. I've got an amazing mother who tent-camped me through my childhood but is starting to dislike the physical workload of tent-camping. Hence: road trip with an rented r-pod!

My daughter's bucket list has two entries that I think this trip will meet: 

1. see a REAL dark sky

2. explore a ghost town

I will be pulling the rented 2019 r-pod 190 with my 2015 Honda Odyssey ex-L. 

Here's the trip:

Acoma Pueblo

Chaco Canyon (we're dropping off the pod and tenting Chaco)--dark sky: CHECK

Mesa Verde (dry camp--yikes! I bought a generator that I'm scared to pull out of the box and a certified gas can that I'm scared to touch, lol)

Ouray (via 145 since the 550 is up in flames)--rent a jeep and explore abandoned buildings (safely and with a ghost town brochure)--ghost town: CHECK

Gunnison (via 50 east). pontoon on the reservoir lake, my kid's favorite leisure activity of all time.

Great Sand Dunes (via 285 south).

home.

Anybody done the ghost town thing up there in Ouray? If yes, lemme know the best ones.

Great forum and so nice to meet everyone!

Val

When you are in Ouray, see if you can find the time to go to the town hots springs pool. Really nice!

From what I can tell it's only a very small part of 550 that is impacted by the fire.  As of when I checked, only southbound was closed outside of Durango.  That's still enough to be concerned, but my point is, fires don't last forever, they can die out, move, expand, start in other places.  By the time you get there 550 might be the road of choice and 145 could be the problem.  Things are likely to change on a daily basis -- for the better or worse.

Call the visitor center at Mesa Verde; the Durango Chamber of Commerce, the jeep rental place in Ouray (they are kind of condescending to FJ Cruiser people.  They felt the need to tell me I couldn't take my Pod up Imogene Pass.  Duh.)  Anyway, try to talk to people on the ground close to the situation.

I don't know of course, but you are unlikely to see any flames.  You may have to deal with smoke though.  Idaho was on fire a few years ago when I went through.  The smoke was like a fog, sometimes a dense fog, but with a lot more of an affect on the pleasure of breathing than fog.  But really not much of a travel problem.  As of yesterday the big fire outside of Durango was "only" 8000 acres.  A big fire, but just a minor smudge on the overall map of your travel plans.

TT

Thanks for that heads up! I have one night overlap (overbooked) on each side for each stop, so that we can leave early or stay late at each place. 

I've never been to any of the planned stops, so we'll see how much we love each one, AND call ahead to each one and play it by ear.

Looking up hot springs pool! Thanks again.

Is there more besides the actual dunes themselves at the Sand Dunes park? It looked like a huge place.

So.....ooookaaaaay. If the roads close, well, then, they close :) We drive wherever they say we're allowed to drive and we just play it by ear. 

As planned, we don't stop anywhere along the 145. I tried to book something about half way, like around Rico, but there wasn't anything, so we plan to drive all the way up 145. If highways stay open, that seems like it means we'll be able to drive it, just not pull off and try to camp anywhere.

Thank you so much for the heads up. I live where it's too wet for that kind of fire to even be conceivable, so the idea that a fire could go on for days and days and days and days, and spread so wide is hard to get my bones to fathom.