Sep 20, 2019 - Day 4

After spending a couple of days in Grand Island, NE, we headed to the mountains. It was so cool to see signs for Loveland, Vail, and Steamboat. We're at 8700 feet. Old Winnie was really struggling. Her top speed was 35 mph a couple of times. Let's pray the old girl has it in her to conquer these mountains!! We're spending the night dry camping at a scenic lookout. We're here with about a dozen trucks and RV's. I have a couple of apps that tell you where free overnight camping is in your area. Tomorrow we head to Slickrock Campground near...

Sep 17, 2019 - You Got a WHAT?

You Got a WHAT? When I retired nearly six years ago, or was it seven, I never expected I would want a job again. But when my neighbor told me that someone would be in BV interviewing locals to work at the upcoming Seven Peaks Festival over Labor Day weekend, I thought that sounded like fun. So sweaty and messy after pickleball, I showed up at the Surf Hotel to meet the recruiter from Live Nation, the big company that runs concerts and shows all over the country. Sonja and I had a great talk and she told me to email her the days and hours I...

Sep 14, 2019 - Lamar, Colorado

Continuing on Hwy 50 we stopped at Sundance High Plains RV Park in Lamar, CO. We planned a couple days stay here because it's laundry time and journal catch up time, but discovered several things in this area to see and do. The park is a very interesting laid out park. It started out as a truck stop and a few motel rooms, which later the owner added a few RV sites. The next owner put in a few more sites, but laid out sites just along the perimeter of the parking area. Very odd, but very nice people now own the park and Dale had several...

Sep 13, 2019 - Canon City, Colorado

We headed back out on Hwy 50 up over Monarch Pass of 11,000+ elevation. Little spooky, but Dale is a good driver and we made it to Royal Gorge KOA. This is absolutely the nicest KOA we have stayed in and had an amazing view. This is a big recreation area and you can travel into Royal Gorge where a LARGE bridge spans the gorge. Only problem is that this is private land and they have incorporated an amusement park into this area and charge you to get in ($28) even if you just want to see the gorge. We spend enough money on these trips and do...

Sep 11, 2019 - Montrose, Colorado

Wednesday morning we headed out Hwy 24, to I-70 to Hwy 50 in Colorado where we stayed at the KOA. In studying the map while in Torrey I discovered a Black Canyon of Gunnison Nat'l Park out of Montrose, CO that I had never heard about so we decided to visit this National Park. Again, so glad we did. The Black Canyon so named because the walls are often shroud in shadows making them appear black, has some of the world's oldest exposed rock - Precambrian or "basement" rock that is nearly 2 billion years old. This canyon is carved by the...

Sep 7, 2019 - Mesa Verde National Park

Very nice drive today, we went across Wolf Creek Pass and the 7 mile 7 percent grade with switchbacks. It was only difficult because I was required to not exceed 25 MPH due to the weight of the Motorhome. Tomorrow we hit the park I hope we can get on a tour or two tomorrow but we are here three nights so we should get a few guided tours of the cliff dwellings. Marci is a bit worried about the ladders and tunnels but I am confident she can do it. We visited Cliff Palace and Balcony House today as well as several lesser cliff houses that are...

Sep 5, 2019 - Ophir & Imogene Pass

Forest Road #630 (Ophir Pass Road) is an OHV (off-highway vehicle) route that provides a connection between U.S. Highway 550 (Million Dollar Highway) north of Silverton, CO. to the historic mining town of Ophir. The road traverses over 11,789 foot Ophir Pass, offering alpine views of the upper Ophir Valley and neighboring peaks. It is generally an easy 4-wheel drive road, but is rated as moderate difficulty due to a narrow one-half mile section (on the Ophir side of the Pass) where it is difficult for two vehicles to pass each other....

Sep 4, 2019 - Atv

We took the atv right from the cg up to Clear lake which is probably at 12,000 ft. The dirt road up is bumpy and rocky but the atv had no trouble. The scenery is some of the best around with 13,000 ft peaks surrounding the lake. We then drove up to an old mining area back near the cg, another 3 miles up.

Sep 3, 2019 - South mineral springs

We left Leadville after staying there close to 3 weeks and headed south to Silverton. The road from ouray to silverton is a guardrailess steep drop and the right side. If heights get you, don't drive it! We stopped and camped at the SMS cg which is about 5 miles off the main road. Nice and cool here!

Sep 2, 2019 - Hike

We drove up cty Rd 3 to 30 and hiked 2 miles up through the mining country. Beautiful views of Turquoise lake and the MTN range, nice places to camp. Came back down and took Ed and Jeanie to Mile high pies for pizza. Going to make a campfire tonight and leave tomorrow.

Aug 30, 2019 - Neighbors

Our neighbors from home, Eddie and Jeanie, met up with us in Leadville. They've been traveling the US since April and happened to be within 100 miles of here. No need to travel over Labor day weekend! We caught up on each other's trips and are going to cook steaks tonight. Great seeing them!

Aug 29, 2019 - Hike

We had thought we would go up Mosquito pass with the atv but then read how difficult the trail was so we mixed that idea. Then we thought we'd go back to Lost Canyon but the weather was getting cloudy looking at Mt Elbert. So we ate lunch and decided to hike the Clinton gulch reservoir north of Leadville. It was a bit steeper than we thought but still hiked about a mile and a half. Our legs are still a bit sore from our big hike but we made it.