Sep 20, 2012 - Estes Park Elk

One last day in this fabulous area, it's going to be hard to leave. We first checked out a park along the Big Thompson Canyon that commemorates the flood of 1976, the power plant was destroyed and generators are all that remain along with a marker to show the height of the flood. Then we took Hwy 43 from Drake through dead mans gulch up to Estes Park, a canyon that has homes along to road, but very scenic. We checked out the local museum to learn about the settlement of the area and the floods that occurred 7/31/1976. From the museum we...

Sep 19, 2012 - Nederland and Central City

Today we took the peak to peak highway from Estes Park to Nederland, then on to Central City. We saw Aspen in full golden color on the mountains and in the canyons, really a stunning and beautiful sight. I was disappointed in Blackhawk and Central City as we were in the historic downtown areas and they are all gambling. Surprisingly, very few places to eat that weren't tied directly to gambling. We ate at Millies in a historic building and thankfully the restaurant was on the second floor so not right in the middle of the slot machines. The...

Sep 18, 2012 - Cache la Poudre canyon

Today we took a break, went to the fruit stand and got Utah peaches, sweet corn and jam. Then we visited the Goodwill store and Ray picked out a Columbia jacket with a liner, guess he thinks he may see some cooler weather sometime. We also found replacement glass for Reggie, he just broke one. Although we didn't find any 50% off tags, the lady at checkout gave us the Senior Citizen discount and told us about a 10% off Goodwill club. I will have to check that out when we get back. We then drove through Ft. Collins to get onto Hwy 14 into the...

Sep 17, 2012 - Rocky Mountain National Park and Elk

We are fortunate to have bought tire monitors for the motorhome. One tire was low and Ray had to add air on our way to Salt Lake City. Then, on the drive to Loveland, we stopped again and he filled the same tire. The monitor went off, he checked and it was going down while we're in the campground. A tire service came out this AM and fixed the leaking valve stem. Luckily it wasn't a nail in the tire. Today we went into the southern part of the park and took the shuttle bus to Bear Lake. The road is under construction and the only way to get...

Sep 15, 2012 - Loveland CO

We are staying west of Loveland with acess to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. The campground has trees, no satellite or 3G for the IPad. Luckily, cable and internet is available for $1 a day. Yesterday the cable was cut about 2 spaces from us. Ray supervised the repair by campground personnel. WOW - we drove to Rocky Mountain National park. From our campground we took Big Thompson Canyon on Hwy 34, just spectacular - then drove the dirt Old Fall River road in the park up to the Alpine Visitor Center. This is a road from 1913...

Sep 12, 2012 - A day in the Rockies

It rained all night so this campground is Muddy! We left around 8:30 , that's as early as he can get me out. Right after we left the campground it was beautiful huge rocks and a nice road with a beautiful stream running along the road. I have always been afraid of heights and I had worried a little about being in the mountains. So far I have done real well so I was relieved when I thought this was what the Rockies were going to be like. After driving about 20 miles we came into a pretty good size town . We were surprised because we...

Sep 11, 2012 - Moving to the Rockies

We left the campground around 8:30 planning on driving 70 miles but ended up driving 191 . Another campground that is just dirt. We decided not to get on the interstate so we ended up going right though Fort Collins . Very narrow busy roads with lots of low hanging limbs. We were glad to get out of there. Of course since we are in a dirtcampground it has started to rain . Why do we wash the trailer and truck.

Aug 20, 2012 - Sculpture Park in Loveland

We pulled up stakes and headed east about 9:15 a.m. The first 20 miles we drove along the Big Thompson River. The drive was stunning. After about an hour we were in Loveland. One of our friends told us about a Sculpture Park in Loveland. We weren't sure we could find a place to park, but there was plenty of space for us to pull over and park our 70' length RV and car being towed. It was an overcast day and pleasant. We had fun taking Holly with us as we walked around to see the sculptures. They are by many different artists and have been...

Aug 8, 2012 - Loveland, CO

We left Laramie, WY around 11am and headed to Loveland, CO. I drove the car to the peak of the Laramie Mountains and Jay followed in the RV. Then we hooked up the car and make the rest of the trip pretty easily. We drove through part of Cheyenne, WY , where we stayed last year. We even saw the RV Park where we stayed but there were no buffalo that are usually grazing in the pasture near the RV Park. Our RV park in Loveland is on the Big Thompson River and is a really large park. While Jay set up the RV, I took Duke for a walk and we found...

Aug 6, 2012 - Colorado

We eventually got back to the Canada/US border and were given a real grilling from both sides. The fact that we had 5 year Visas didn't count. We had to re-prove that we were not going to become a burden to the US tax payer and just stay for the rest of our lives. I was going to tell them we were Mexican so we could stay here forever. Anyway we eventually got it all the paperwork necessary done and allowed back into the US. We now have a dossier which we update and carry all the time. A relaxing drive back to Colorado. We had a couple of...

Jun 11, 2012 - Day 30 Loveland

Jim scouted out the road route to follow tomorrow to drive through Denver. He found the best route he could. He picked Barbara up at the airport. The fire rages on - 30,000+ acres. It's very dry and wind is high. Officials have determined the fire was started by lightning.

Jun 9, 2012 - Day 28 Estes Park

Jim went to the Wool Market in Estes Park. They had alpacas, llamas, goats, sheep, and rabbits. Jim watched dog herding, sheep shearing and a llama obstacle course. There was a market that sold yarn made of all kinds of wool from many animals including buffalo. Note: Alpacas are simple to raise and require little attention. They produce babies every 11months 1 week, then mate again in 2 weeks. This is the day the big High Park, CO wildfire began. There was lots of talk about it at the Wool Market. The smoke could be seen throughout the...