Day 16 Dewey Bridge Campground to Green River, UT

We got up this morning to a nearly abandoned campground.  There were still a tent and a couple of campers but no people.  Really quiet morning having coffee along the river with no noise but the river, and occasional jumping fish and a few birds – very peaceful.

Mary at work

We loaded up our chairs and rolled out of camp about 10am to a morning with no sun and no rain.  Our path along UT128 followed the Colorado River to Moab, UT.  We passed several more BLM primitive campgrounds (like ours last night) and saw a couple of Dude Ranches as well but the morning drive was generally just a slow meandering one that mirrored the river.

Then came Moab!  I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t the traffic, never ending No Vacancy (motel and campground) signs and dozens of stoplights that we encountered.

The Three Gossips

We quickly reversed course and headed up US191 to Arches National Park.  At the visitor center, we stamped our National Parks Passport and watched the informative film about the park and the forces that created this unique area then prepared lunch in the parking lot before heading up the mountain for the park itself.

Castle Rock

Beautiful, stunning, many wows, fantastic – then sensory overload began to kick in.  This park really needs to be viewed slowly rather than at our breakneck speed of 20-30mph.  Everywhere you look another spectacular sight awaits the eye.

Sandstone Arch

We left the park around 4 and had to drive 50 miles to Green River to find a campground that had some space (Shady Acres RV Park & Campground).  We barely got setup when the thunderstorms hit and we had a noisy 30 minutes.

Odometer: 79490   Miles Today:  199  Total: 2201

Day 15 Gypsum, CO to Dewey Bridge Campground 26mi N of Moab, UT

We got a lazy start about 10:30 this morning (what’s new)  just sipping coffee and watching the Magpies dancing through the tall grass along the river – an enjoyable start to a special day. 

Glenwood Canyon

Rafters in Glenwood Canyon

About 11am we were on I70 West passing through Glenwood Canyon, a remarkable 12 mile stretch of road along the Eagle River.  Steep sides and I70, the Eagle River and a railroad fill this canyon.  Simply beautiful.  (Note, Mary says that Glenwood Canyon was the most impressive site so far.)

View from our campsite

Our campsite on the Colorado River

We stopped in Parachute, CO for lunch before passing into Utah (Mary’s 45^th state) then left the interstate near Cisco for meandering Colorado 128 crossing the Colorado River at Dewey’s Bridge, the site of our campground.

The best banjo player in our camp!

Odometer: 79291    Miles Today: 184  Total: 2002

Day 14 Leadville, CO to Gypsum, CO

We met with Christine at the Rocky Mountain College Library where she is the head librarian.  She gave us lots of things to see and do in Leadville so we spent the next 4 hours walking the town (bring your own air) and visiting the incredible mining museum where Christine’s husband is director. 

Continental Divide.

Leaving Leadville, we headed North on US24 crossing the Continental Divide at Tennessee Gap (10,424ft).  We eventually wound our way down 24 to I70 where we headed West to Gypsum, CO and tonight’s destination of the River Dance RV Park along the Eagle River.  We arrived at 2:55pm and quickly setup, took a stroll along the river and did the laundry.

Another spectacular campground view!

We sat outside for a while but the winds started gusting and we decided to observe from inside.  Oh, we also were forced to eat the leftovers from that wonderful dinner last night.

Odometer: 79107  Miles Today: 77  Total: 1818

Day 13 Aurora, CO to Leadville, CO

We said our goodbyes and pulled away at 9:55 am.  First stop was Pilot Flying J for dump, propane and a few supplies then we began the climb up into the mountains.

Loop Railway

First stop was Georgetown, CO where we barely caught the narrow gauge train through “The Loop” (a remarkable spiraling loop and trestle built in the late 19^th century to control the grade along the line from Georgetown to Silver Plume, CO.

Mountain goats along I70!

Back on I70 we came to the Eisenhower tunnel at 11,013ft elevation and passed from a few patches of snow left on the East end to spectacular snow covered vista on the West.  We passed our high point near Climax at 11,429 ft.

Driving South on US91, we passed Copper Mountain, and dozens of snow covered peaks. Arriving at the Leadville RV Coral at 3:30pm. Friendly owner, lots of room and very reasonable pricing right in downtown Leadville made for a great place to pass the night.

Sunset over the campground

Deciding to treat ourselves after our long weekend of visiting, wedding, snow and joy so we took a stroll around the main drag and discovered Manuelita’s Mexican Restaurant where we consumed a feast of tableside made guacamole, hand made, corn husk wrapped tamales and delicious enchiladas all washed down with XX Ceversa!

Returning to our RV, I had a message from NC friend Beverly reminding me that our mutual NC friend Christine now resides in Leadville and I might not be on her good list if I didn’t contact her.  Christine had told me to look her up if I ever got to town so we decided to meet tomorrow morning then we crashed before 9pm (wimps, both!)

Odometer: 79030  Miles Today: 131 Total: 1741

Days 10, 11,12 Aurora/Fort Collins, Colorado

Nothing happened so far as the blog goes, we didn’t drive the RV, didn’t hit any touristy places. We did live in the “Overflow Housing” (Our RV) because Trish & Will are moving 5/31 and packing boxes were everywhere.  We enjoyed our little getaway parked out front.

We did however, visit with family, do laundry, watch the rain, watch the snow, eat Trish’s wonderful cooking, eat Will’s magical Saturday Pizza, get a zillion hugs from our grandkids and just have a wonderful time.

Oh, there was a wedding after the snow melted Sunday.

Chrissy and Zack

Day 9 Stratton, CO to Aurora, CO

After a quiet night – remarkable for being behind a truck stop and adjacent to I70, awakened to the sound of birds and watched a rabbit run around.  It was a cooler morning and we were glad to get on the road with the heater going about 8:45.  This was a day of steady 50mph driving over several different rough 2-lane highways.  West on US24 then North on US59 and back West on US36.

Wide open prairie

Lots of beautiful greening prairie from the recent rain and snow.  The Cottonwood Trees in the creek and river beds are beautiful and we even crossed a few flowing streams.  More cattle and bison ranching here where we saw more cowboys working herds on their ATVs.

Richard and daughter Trish

Arrived at Trish & Will’s place around 1:30 and were deluged with hugs all around.  The kids – Tristan at 6’2” (15 years) and Tia 11 years have really grown since we last saw them in 2011.  Turttlie had grown quite a bit too. With lots of out of town guests and Trish packing for a move in a couple of weeks, we were glad to stay in our rolling hacienda. 

Odometer: 78899  Miles Today: 154 Total: 1610

Day 8 Alma, NE to Stratton, CO

 It was a dark and stormy night………! 40+ MPH winds, torrential rain and a seriously shaking RV.  This account is from the co-pilot.  The pilot slumbered peacefully.

We got underway at about 9:30 and once again, followed US136 – Orleans, Arapaho (where we began to follow US34), through Massacre Canyon, Indianola and McCook.  Past the lonesome memorial for the three wives and six children drowned in a flash flood while traveling to their homestead.

We stopped in Benkelman Nebraska (Home of Ward Bond) for lunch in the park.  We drove past Parks and Haigler then passed into Colorado near Wray where we bought groceries.  Then we headed South on US385 through 50 miles of beautiful desolate prairie and rolling hills.

Ward Bond Park

We stopped little today, winds and intermittent heavy rains kept us rolling to our present campsite in Stratton, Colorado

Odometer: 78741  Miles Today: 254  Total: 1452