Glenwood CO to Colorado Springs CO

Korkie missed the animal activity at Kay’s house. They have 2 large cats, 2 ferrets and 1 Italian Greyhound dog, Icabod. Then in the evening, Elisa would bring her 3 dogs over. Korkie was only allowed in the house if the coast was clear. The cats took care of themselves; however the ferrets were in trouble. He also had a large grassy yard to run and play in. We stayed in their drive way for about 2 weeks. Got the ice machine fixed!!!! We then took off to Glenwood Springs.
In Glenwood Springs our RV campground was on a side of a mountain. The vertical roads were at an angle \\\ and all sites were pull- through between the diagonal roads. We could look down at the Hwy and the river. Glenwood canyon is one of most beautiful places in the US. Kay & Bruce stayed in a Victorian B&B in town. A Farmer’s market was in town the first night. Afterword we decided it should be “Pizza” night. Guess what! There is no Pizza joint in Glenwood Springs! With Korkie along, we could not go inside so we came home for a “chili” night.
We had read about a trail to Hanging Lake, a water-filled rocky bowl literally clinging to the face of a cliff 1,200 feet above the floor of the canyon. Spouting Rock Creek, which feeds the lake, creates Bridal Veil Falls. Kay had heard it was a very rocky hard climb, so I chickened out. She went and said absolutely beautiful and no, I could not have made it. Now that it is past, I think I should have gone. On Thursday we said our “Good’ by’s and continued on to Clear Creek.
When we lived in CO in the 70’s, our favorite fishing hole and campground was in Clear Creek CO located between Leadville, said to be the highest incorporated city in the country, elevation: 10,152’, and Buena Vista. We wanted to see it again. Found a nice campground and settled in. Took a ride out and found a place along the creek where we could Boondock. Bob decided he needed fishing gear, so off to the sporting goods stores we went. Took several trips and he was outfitted. We waited until Monday when the weekenders left and found us a perfect spot along the creek.
The creek is about 30’ across, not very deep but has a swift current in places. The water is really clear. The creek is about 5’ from our door! On sunny mornings the birds play hide & seek between the trees and across the creek. Some butterflies and humming birds are mixed in. The other night the sky was full of stars, it looked like a diamond blanket in the sky. We are really enjoying this place and keep putting off when to leave. The weather changes fast and the forest and water colors change hourly. Accross from the creek is a mountain filled with green trees. This AM I did spot a small ting of yellow aspen trees. That means in about 6 -8 weeks the aspen trees will be bright yellow, orange and red. Buena Vista is about 10 miles down the road. A cute mountain town. We found a great used book store. So we spend our days fishing, taking walks and short hikes and reading. It has been quite warm the last few days so we have been wading out into the creek to cool off.
Then one afternoon Bob said “come on; let’s drive up the river a bit.” OK, sounds good to me. Well, after a few miles the normal dirt road ended and a sign said “Bad road ahead, 4 wheel drive only.” They were right, at some points there was no road. We went across creek beds, over rocky trails up hills where it looked like a sheer drop. Bob kept saying, I did this in the Ranchero years ago, we can do it. We came to the end, about 5 miles in and there were several jeeps and some hikers gathered. It was good, we were still in civilation. Our jeep is now covered with dirt and mud. That night Bob admitted, there was no way he could have gotten the Ranchero in over that road. We are not quite sure of the correct story.
Well our time has come. Monday the 24th we pulled out of our perfect spot. We learned to boondock meaning you go to bed when it is dark and get up when it is light. We ate fresh trout, met some nice people.
We are on our way to Colorado Springs next to see tourist sights and old friends.

St Regis MT to Layfette CO

St. Regis MT sent us off in a big bang. During the night, a burst of light flashed outside my window. Then a loud roar of thunder sounded. At the foot of my bed, two black eyes were looking at me. I grabbed Korkie. He was shaking and scared. As the thunder roared and lightning flashed he dived under the covers and to the bottom of the bed. The storm lasted quite a while.
The next morning, the sky was blue, trees and grass were green. It was beautiful! We took off to go south to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Around Butte, the sky turned really black ahead and the rain started. Going through the mountain passes we had hard rain, hail and strong winds. We decided to stop at Bozeman for the night. It was only around 3:30 but with the rain and winds we were beat so better to stop. Decided on Bear Canyon Campground and the book directions said “Exit 313 on I-90 and South 100 ft. Sounds easy! Well the GPS lady had us turn off on Exit 310 and us for a long drive thru new shopping areas, construction road sites, heavy traffic areas and ended up in a beautiful residential area with wooded small drive ways. Remember, we cannot go backwards with a towed car! So we kept driving. Finally gave up on finding the park, directed GPS back to highway. After about 45 min we got back on the highway on Exit 314. As we were going up the on ramp, we could see the park behind us. O’ well, check out book for parks in next town, Livingston MT. Found a nice park with green grass. Owner said “no credit cards accepted” either a check or cash. A discount if you have been in the Military. Bob said USMC as a reservist and we got our discount!
There is a RV park in Gardiner MT just above Yellowstone. We have driven by it twice now and each time I have said “I have to stay their someday.” It’s located just north of Yellowstone in MT on a beautiful pass looking down on the Yellowstone River. A perfect place. I had called a few days before and naturally they were full. Maybe next time! We drove down through Yellowstone Park. No matter how many times you are in Yellowstone, it is unreliable beautiful! We had decided to spend time in Grand Tetons this time. We found a RV park just south of the Grand Tetons. The reviews didn’t rate it too good but it was the only park in the area and the book said great views. We got an end spot and the views were spectacular. Toward the north were the Tetons. The sight changed during the day. Out our door was a horse farm with several beautiful friendly horses. When you walked over to the fence they came over to be petted. One time Bob had his back to the fence watching Korkie and 2 of the horses came over and nudged him. Korkie did his growling and barking but they ignored him. We took the car into the park, took some walks, took lots of pictures and drove into Jackson WY. Jackson is a cute tourist town that was full of Art galleries, gift shops, restaurants, and people. We were not in the mood for that. We did not stop nor get out of the car. Went back to our park and enjoyed the surroundings.
We had wanted to go south through Dubois and Lander, but other campers said “lots of dirt road construction”. That is not good for an RV. So we went back around through Jackson then down into Rock Springs. We hadn’t been on Hwy 80 across Wyoming for a long time. Had some wild weather, wind, rain, and sleet and sunshine. Stayed in Rock Springs one night, then on to Laramie. We arrived here in Lafayette CO Wednesday the 29th.
We are having a good time with daughter Kay and Bruce and granddaughters Elise and Kristi Rose. We are parked in their drive way. The ice machine is getting fixed. The part should come in next week. We have made reservations to stay at Glenwood Springs for a few days. Kay & Bruce are staying at a B&B there. We are looking forward to that.
We are planning on staying in Colorado for quite a while. Want to see Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National park, Colorado Springs and Ouray. We have decided that we will not go to the east coast this year. We want to winter in Texas and Arizona.