Crushin' on Colorado
07.08.2018 - 08.02.2018
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2018
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The last three weeks have FLOWN by! Its unbelievable our month long respite in Fort Collins, Colorado is over next Wednesday. We are in love with this area and have been having such a good time. Why, you ask?
THE WEATHER!
Days are between 85-95 and the evenings are in the 60's. Perfect! It's almost always sunny and when it rains it's only for a brief time, usually in the afternoon. Since we understand that the East Coast is having nothing but rain, it's even more sweet to be out West. Of course, when you venture up into the mountains, the day time temps are more in the high 60's or low 70's so packing a jacket for our touring and off-roading is a must. Needless to say, we are VERY happy we made the decision to come south. Look at these blue skies!
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
It's been such a pleasure to have this extended time with my mom and dad. I am fortunate to have them both still with us and there's nothing like moving in with them to make us appreciate them even more! As they tell it, they couldn't refuse taking in their "homeless children"! As serendipity would have it, my mom had foot surgery during our stay, so Scott and I are able to help out in ways she likely wouldn't let us otherwise - grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning up, etc. It's nice for us 'cuz we don't feel like total freeloaders! At 81 and 88, they are still an inspiration. Here's a couple photos of them from their recent trip to Scotland and Norway.
We also had the pleasure to have my cousin Carol and her husband Jim come down from Laramie to visit. It was really nice to catch up with them again. And as I write this, we have our friend Steve Lowe out from Maryland for a week's visit. It's nice for Scott to have someone to play with other than me! Ha!
THE AMAZING DRIVES
We wouldn't feel right if we didn't spend five hours driving Ruby through the open country once in awhile. To that end, we've climbed Mount Evans...
Yes, that's the road! Better suited to mountain goats than cars!
This is the highest paved road in North America and the only place you can get to the top of a "14'er" without hiking.
Of course there were wildflowers and alpine lakes!
But there are also Ponderosa Pines that are hundreds of years old!
Rambled through Rocky Mountain National Park from the valleys of the Falls River Road to the heights of the Alpine Lodge...
And driven part of the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway.
The amazing part of these drives, other than the mountain scenery, are the canyons that you navigate to get up from the plains into the mountains. We have a debate about our favorite but they all have their own beauty. The Cache de la Poudre, the Big Thompson, and the Saint Vrain - you need to see them all! Here's some footage of the Cache La Poudre to wet your appetite.
ROCKY OFF-ROAD TRAILS
For the first time since taking Ruby to Pennsylvania just after we got her, we've had to air down to drive off-road. They don't call them the Rocky Mountains for nothing. We've had some "take your breath away" moments, for sure and nothing but fun getting onto the Colorado trails. We're looking forward to more of it next week as we head to Durango. We never tire of the country around here. Scrub pine, sagebrush, grass lands, wild flowers, and ROCK! This was out favorite trail so far
RODEOS AND CONCERTS
This is the West after all and what better way to celebrate it than with cowboys and country music. After missing the Stampede in Calgary, we were pleased that we finally timed an event right and made it up to Cheyenne Frontier Days for the rodeo and two concerts. We borrowed my parents motor home and parked up in Cheyenne, Wyoming for the weekend. It was a blast!
The Rodeo was great fun.
We saw Toby Keith Friday night...
...along with, strange enough, Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots...
What a weird show that was!
Kip Moore and Dierks Bentley were on Saturday.
Drunk on a Plane!
We had "Fun Zone" tickets both nights, a.k.a. "the Pit" and boy was it on Friday night. The pit was on the rodeo track and the mud was ankle deep on Friday!
It's been such a great three weeks. One more then we're off to:
Durango, Colorado
Bonneville, Utah
Las Vegas, Nevada
Nashville, Tennessee
San Diego, California
and then MEXICO!
You may notice we updated the map and the trip ends in Mexico now. We have five months to figure out what's next - and that's the fun part.
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Posted by mrb430 09:45 Archived in USA Tagged mountains colorado wyoming off-roading Comments (0)