August 9 – 22nd, 2019 – Montana & Colorado…
Friday 8/9/2019:
We have really enjoyed our stay in the Fort Steele Campground and have made good friends with the owners/proprietors Bob & Rhonda Young. We would like to stay here again someday though we have to continue our trek South today and will be crossing the border into the USA/Montana this afternoon… The drive towards Glacier National Park and back into the US is not as picturesque as yesterday but nonetheless a short drive. We still have about $35.00 CA money to use so around Cranbrook, BC Mike gets a haircut while Joanne visits the dollar store and we end up with two Canadian dimes left for the crossing back into the US. All of our 7 different border crossings the last 3 months have been uneventful and this one is no different. A few standard questions and being honest with all of the border patrols we have crossed without once having anything taken from us or our rig searched.
US Border Crossing…
Back in the USA!!!
Big Sky Country…. Montana
Feels good to be back in the USA!
The campground we decided on is Glacier Peaks RV Park. Since it is in a tourist area we know it will be a bit more pricey. We decide on full hook ups since the price difference isn’t all that much and we would have to go somewhere else to dump and pay for that anyway. So $53.00 per night is what we pay. We are close to the West Glacier park entrance.
An afternoon of divide and conquer, as Joanne does laundry and Mike heads out on a wine run and getting prescriptions filled which we couldn’t fill while in Canada. Tomorrow’s plan will be visiting Glacier National Park and drive the “Going to the Sun Road” – Can’t wait as this was one of our favorite stops when taking our cross country camping trip in 2001 with our young family…
Saturday 8/10/2019:
As we head into Glacier National Park and turn onto the “Going To The Sun Road” we take drive through the Apgar Campground inside the park (the only one that would take our size rig) but as we drive through we see that many of the sites are narrow and would be tight for our slides or are nowhere near level. It would have been cheaper but we agree that where we are is best for us.
Glacier National Park…
“The Going to the Sun Road” is again a spectacular drive and it brings back so many great memories of when we did this with the kids in 2001. We stopped at the visitor’s center and Joanne gets a stamp in her passport book right next to the stamp she did in 2001! Surprisingly we notice it is almost 18 years to the day since last being here. (Actually we are only 1 day apart! ) We were doing this drive on August 11 that year!! Not much snow around compared to back then and not much glacier left. We do see some sheep and the lakes, rivers, mountains, wild flowers, glaciers and clouds certainly make for an awesome drive in the mini with the top down.
“Going to the Sun Road”
“Going to the Sun Road”
Clouds rolling in on the – “Going to the Sun Road”
Glacier in all it’s Glory…
Bumped into this guy on a short hike…
As we finish the drive we decide to drive back into Whitefish. We had driven through this town on our way yesterday and it looks like such a cute town! We find the Great Northern Brewery and sit outside on the top deck and people watch as we share a flight. Loved some of their beers! Then head next door to Craggy’s for a bite to eat.
Perfect day!!
Rewarding ourselves with a flight in Whitefish, MT…
Guilty Pleasures…
Sunday 8/11/2019:
With us now only 2 states away from Colorado where we might be able to surprise our Clinton, CT friends at their son’s wedding we decide to try to spend the next 2 days driving across Montana , Wyoming and then into Colorado. Our hope is to arrive in Estes Park, CO for Geoff and Rachel’s wedding on Wednesday 8/14/19. Geoff worked for Mike’s company BEAR Sports for years and he is our son’s best friend from our CT hometown and his parents are great long-time friends… Also, we haven’t seen our son Sean whom we hope to surprise the day before the wedding in Fort Collins, CO.
It’s a long drive and a push for us the next 2 days though the stakes are definitely worth it:
1) Surprise Geoff & Rachel for the wedding
2) We’ll get to see our son Sean as he will be at the festivities
3) We’ll get to see Katie (Geoffs younger sister -who also worked for BEAR Sports and meet her new fiancé Jordan from Memphis)
4) We’ll get a visit in with friends our Doug and Mel (Geoff & Katie’s ) parents from Clinton, CT
5) And we could ever not get enough of “Rocky Mountain National Park”…
We are trying to keep it a surprise but we don’t have a lot of details so we’ll just try to be flexible and take what we can get. We know we may not get a lot of time with any of them but we remember loving the area the last time we were there in 2013 when Sean was working here and Caitlin joined us for a few days. We put a call in to Manor RV Park (same park we stayed in the last time) and they can put us down below in the same area we were in in 2013 so at least we know we have a place to stay.
These two days are very long driving days so Joanne does help Mike a little with the drive. The first day (Sunday) we find a Cabelas in Billings, MT but the last two hours of driving is very strenuous as there were tornado warnings all around us and the wind was incredible. Mike is doing everything he can to keep the rig on the road with many tractor trailers nearly tipping over in front of him. Joanne continues to monitor emergency reports on her phone and watch the very dark clouds and for any sign of a funnel… We both will admit this might be the scariest moment of driving since starting this Revolutionary Journey! Aside from the eminent threat of tornadoes Montana is really a beautiful state, unfortunately there is really nowhere to escape a tornado along this stretch of road..! Only field after field, after field! We are so happy when we finally pull into the Cabela’s RV parking lot although the wind is still bad. Now if we have to abandon the RV we fortunately have a large building to shelter in… The night ends up quiet with many RVers in the lot. We find out several days later that nearly 11,000 birds were killed in the winds we traveled in that night found strewn along the highway…We definitely dodged a dilemma this evening!
Tornado Watch!!!
Saved by Cabela’s for the night… (Morning Rainbow…)
As luck would have it, our Cabela’s overnight spot is right next to a Sams club so Mike goes inside to grab some groceries while Joanne cleans up breakfast. Then we see that Sams also has gas! Awesome! We fill up before starting another long driving day. Mike does go in to the store but doesn’t see anything he must have so our drive begins! Though Wyoming has a different feel altogether, the scenery is still beautiful though the roads are not good. We are shake / rattle/ and rolling all over the place! After Joanne drives for awhile Mike notices that the temp control in the dash has disconnected and is just laying in the hole? another fix it to add to the list!
Welcome to Wonderful Colorado…
We pull into Cracker Barrel in Loveland, CO and decide to spend the night before traveling up to Estes Park early the next morning. Mike has tried to reach out to our son Sean a few times just leaving messages; though just as we get settled in at Cracker Barrel he calls Mike back and we spill the surprise! He immediately comes over with his yellow lab “Otis” as his new apartment is incredibly only about 15 minutes away. Sean & Otis share dinner with us and we are all excited to catch up. Sean also tells us he is meeting his cousins (Jeremy and Tara) from Florida the following evening for a concert they have flown in to see at the famous Red Rocks of Colorado venue… Good thing we reached out to him this evening as we probably won’t see him again until the wedding day up in Estes Park… It seems the wedding is a loosely planned event so noone has definitive ideas of what Wednesday and the wedding festivities will bring.
Surprising Sean & Otis at in Loveland, CO…
Tuesday: we have some time to kill because the drive to Estes Park is only about an hour and we can’t get on our site until at least noon. So we head inside Cracker Barrel to have a relaxing breakfast. After we get all set to go we pull into another Sams club for gas as it’s right on the way! The drive up 34 through the canyon is another spectacular drive that we remember from 2013. We make a stop about a mile from the campground where Mike has found an RV wash place. Takes about 1/2 hour and $20.00 to wash the RV and Mini, but it looks so good finally clean again!
We get into Manor RV Park and get situated. Already relaxing! Sit by the river with a gin and tonic and listen to the water flowing! Take a stroll in town and eventually meet up with The Elliot’s at their condo. So at this point everyone knows except Geoff and Rachel. The difficult part is that no one really has any details so they can’t help us figure out when or where we need to be someplace tomorrow. Head back to the RV and get some salmon going on the grill. Peaceful and relaxing!!
Wednesday 8/14:
We spend the bulk of the day relaxing at the camper. Mike working on the computer. Joanne takes an afternoon walk from the campsite. Around 5 we change and head to town for dinner then on to the “reception” held at Elkins Distillery. We are one of the first to arrive and Rachel is truly surprised. Geoff didn’t seem as surprised but is grateful that we made the effort. We have an enjoyable evening talking mostly with Doug and Mel and we meet Courtney- the girl Sean is sharing a condo with. She is very nice and I hope he can stay in that living situation for awhile. She also housed Geoff when he was doing grad school in Fort Collins a few years back.
Geoff & Rachel’s wedding…
Father of the groom our great friend Doug from Clinton, CT…
The new Elliot Family…
Congrats Geoff!!!!
Thursday 8/15:
Today is our designated day to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park. The plan is to drive up to the visitors center at the top of the Trail Ridge Road. The drive is amazing (just as we remember with the kids in 2013); The only drawback is the road construction close to the top. Going we had about a 20 minute wait. Returning we had about a 40 minute wait. But it was all good as we had the top down, country music playing and a lone coyote strolled by a few times! On the way back we took the path that led through the flats where we saw mountain sheep in 2013 but no such luck this year.
We love this park and will be sad to leave, but tomorrow we head to Pikes Peak and the area around Colorado Springs.
Rocky Mountain National Park…
Trail Ridge Road…
Hiking up our of Trail Ridge Road Visitors Center… WOW that’s some serious wind up there….
At the top!
Breathtaking views in RMNP…
More Breathtaking views in RMNP…
Our coyote friend at the top…
The Elk of RMNP…
Friday 8/16/2019:
Departing Estes Park it seems we are again playing the same pattern for this trip… it is once again a Friday and we have no plans for a place to land for the night. A few phone calls and it seems that everything is booked solid through the weekend? we push on toward Colorado Springs. We decide to stop at the Colorado Springs Walmart for some supplies with the hope we can crash for a couple of nights here. It is a very nice Walmart but Joanne notices not one RV in the lot. There is a nice parking area off to the side that is pretty empty so we pull in there and discuss how this area would be perfect for the night. When we go inside to shop Mike asks the store manager and he says no way! We complete our shopping and head back to the camper where Mike calls the large Bass Pro Shop (which we passed on the way in). The girl he speaks with is very nice and says of course you can stay here- there are already campers in the lot! You can stay for two nights (or more she says)- Yahtzee!!!
When we arrive we are delighted to see a huge parking lot for RVs and about three already parked. We find a spot around the perimeter (so we can open our slides), level out, jacks down and don’t open our slides until after we get back from driving through Garden of the Gods. Once back we put our chairs out and found it very relaxing. When Joanne checked to see what time they close for the night she noticed they have a fly fishing workshop Saturday morning (Mikes Birthday – tomorrow) so Mike goes in to sign us up! What a great find! This is the first time we have stayed overnight at Bass Pro Shop but it definitely won’t be the last!!
Garden of the God’s…
Balance Rock….
Garden of the God’s…
Garden of the God’s..
Saturday 8/17/2019:
Mikes Birthday! We start the day attending the fly fishing workshop at the little pond at the entrance to Bass Pro Shop- awesome because we just have to walk across the parking lot! We have fun but need much more practice!
Joanne practicing her fly casting at Bass Pro Shop…
Once finished we take the drive up to Pikes Peak– a pretty close drive). You can only drive 16 miles in then have to take a shuttle the rest of the way up bc of construction. Another fun drive in the mini on a cool windy road. The temp drops along the way up but we are prepared (learned to layer and bring extra jackets from RMNP Trail Ridge Road experience!)
After we descend we spend a bit of time in historic Manitou Springs– a cute little tourist town. It is very fun to stroll and peak in some store windows. Afterward we head back to the “campground” and relax for the evening. There is a cool Boot Barn Hall across the street that is having a concert this night and although we discuss walking over we eventually decide against it. It is not loud and all the festivities are over by 10:00PM. For a free camping place this was awesome! There are a few picnic tables and a grassy area for dog walking. We have a little garden area right outside our door. THANKS again Bass Pro Shops of Colorado Springs, CO!
Famous Pike Peak…
Sunday 8/18/2019:
We leave colorado springs for our drive West across Colorado heading toward of next stop “Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park”.
We usually don’t worry about getting campsites on Sundays, as most campers are packing up to get home to work or school. The campground we are thinking about was recommended by Ellen and Pat Prichard (“Rolling Along Country Roads”) and is non- reservable. Although there are only 21 campsites in the campground, the website says it rarely fills up so we are not too worried about getting a site on a Sunday. Joanne had also checked to see that there are other options just in case…
Route 50 across Colorado…
The drive across 24 then onto 50 is spectacular! The drive over Monarch Pass at 11,312 feet and past Monarch Ski Area is amazing and is definitely pushing our RV to it’s limit towing the Mini. The coach still manages well enough and the Tow-haul feature along with the 6 speed transmission works wonders on our descent without having to use our brakes too much. After passing through Gunnison, and the turn-off for Crested Butte, CO we start seeing some very beautiful lake areas which includes Blue Mesa Reservoir, and the incredible “Curecanti National Recreation Area” which was created by several dams holding back the Gunnison river. We see many lakes on Route 50 with camping directly on the water. We discuss stopping though decide to push on to our original plan.
Curecanti National Recreation Area…
Curecanti National Recreation Area…
We pull into the campground around 3:00 and just as stated on the website, there is a camp host here and two other campers. We drive the loop and find a site we think will be perfect (site # 11). We head back to the entrance to dump and take on water (this is one of the only recreation areas that allow camping that actually has a dump station).
As we get set up we are very happy with both the campground selection and site selection! We are at the far end of the campground with a super wide site, no one on our awning side – and at this point no one anywhere near us! We have awesome view of the mountains, and there is a road leading up to a vintage train exhibit, dam, and hiking trail. The road actually winds through part of the black canyon.
Parked and organized, we pour some gin and tonics and enjoy he afternoon sunshine, thinking (once again) how lucky we are.
Camping at Cimarron…
Monday 8/19/2019:
Today we head into Black Canyon of the Gunnison! We have been looking forward to visiting this park for a long time! When we decided to head to Estes Park for the wedding we could see coming here as a possibility. This park is awesome! The canyon walls, river below, and the surrounding mountains make for an amazing day of viewing. The best part is the lack of crowds! We had read that this National Park is one of the least visited and with it still prime tourist season it is nice not to have to fight the crowds to get a view. The drive through the south rim takes about two hours then we make the 90 mile drive around through Delta, CO so we also visit the north rim which is very different from the South Rim. The North Side is very undeveloped. There are three other travelers driving the road in the park while we are there. As we leave we drive on Rte 92 completing the circle back to Gunnison. WHAT A DRIVE!! Do not miss this drive if you are in the area! Doing both rims on the same day was pushing it- mid 90’s each day and long days hiking out to viewing areas, and driving with the top down, is all exhausting! But that seems to be our MO- plan the day then throw in a few more hours of activity!! Hope it keeps us young!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park…
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park…
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park…
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park…
Tuesday 8/20/2019:
Loving this campground! The star gazing is amazing! And still very few people at the campground. The camp hosts (Mike and Pat) do a great job checking on sites and doing a walk-about several times each day so we feel very secure with our rig there while out exploring each day.
Today we plan a drive to Telluride. As we walked through the CG last night we met up with some people that are using the CG as base camp for exploring the area. They explain a good way to “do” Telluride. As we head in that direction, parking is FREE in the parking garage at Mountain Village (on the way) then you take the FREE GONDOLAS (2 of them) down into the village of Telluride. This works perfectly! Plus it’s like a free attraction! A great view of the area from the gondolas and we didn’t have had to pay to park in Telluride Village. (This was a bonus recommendation from other campers – THANKS).
We exit the gondola and start to stroll through town. Note: (if you forget to put sunscreen on the little information booth, right as you exit the gondola, has it right on the podium! Free to lotion up!) Looking at the shops and restaurants we find a nice walk/hiking trail along the river and come across a HUGE bear made out of pennies! Very cool! It’s just in someone’s front yard. We meet some people along the walk and chat for the walk back. We decide to get a bite and brew at the Smugglers Brewery in town, sitting on the patio. Another amazing day! We take the gondola and travel in reverse to get back to our awesome campsite!
Telluride, CO…
Views from the free Gondola into the Telluride Village…
Exiting the Gondola…
Telluride Mainstreet…
Dowtown Telluride River Walk Trail…
That thing is made of pennies… (Eclectic Art in Downtown Telluride, CO.)
Wednesday 8/21/2019:
Today is our day to drive the Million Dollar Highway through Ouray, Silverton and on to Durango. Mike always raves about this drive and these places so now it’s Joanne’s turn to see it all! The drive is beautiful through many mountain passes and ranches. The views spectacular. Ouray is a cute little western town, as are Silverton and Durango. Durango has the college (Ft. Lewis College) Sean looked at transferring to (but never did). The college is up on a Mesa right above town. A pretty cool place for a college. Nicknamed “College of the Clouds” because of the altitude and the clouds hang low over the campus.
On the way home we stop for dinner at Handlebars Saloon in Silverton. A quirky pub on the Main Street.
As we drive home in the rain we reflect on our stay here; and our trip in general. It has been incredible!
Ouray, CO…
Ralph Lauren’s Colorado Ranch… (Stopped for a pic)
Ouray, CO – Red Mountain Pass
Red Mountain Pass…
Red Mountain Pass…
Silverton, CO
Silverton, CO
Good Eat’s in Silverton, CO
Thursday 8/22/2019:
As we leave the Cimarron Campground National Recreation Area we reflect on how much we have done the last few weeks traveling from Montana, through Wyoming, and in Colorado. Looking at the pics we again can’t believe how fortunate we continue to be exploring and Full-time RVing on this “Revolutionary Journey”….
