Checked the weather in CO thought about changing route and going to Grand Canyon next but decided to stick with the plan
0800 – Breakfast casserole – Jack did not eat his breakfast
0900 – on the road again - Mostly sunny / Breezy / 43
Head out of town of US 64- John L Morrow Memorial Highway - bound for Great Sand Dunes National Park
String of railroad cars just sitting on track – Jerry it at measured 3 miles long
0945 – Overcast
Still seeing remnants of blizzard in sheltered ditches
Road back to two lanes - road in pretty good shape
54 miles from Raton, NM – low scattered hills in flat terrain
Just passed a Rest Area just like you would find on the interstate – main building with restrooms, sheltered picnic tables
1000 – light sprinkles
A roadside pull-off with four sheltered picnic tables – NM really wants to make sure no one misses lunch
Low hills to the west covered with small evergreens – evergreens along fence rows
Driving Sleet / 35 - coming at us from the west – estimate wind at 20-25 mph
1015 – Light Snow – visibility one quarter mile - one to two inches on the ground here – roads only wet
Two small antelope grazing in a pasture
Zero – need to wake up
1025 – no snow on ground here – still coming down though – heavier now
Dusting on ground now – snow fences
Just passes entrance to T.O. ranch – newly planted 20’ hardwoods line entrance road – must be 50 – 6- on each side – can’t see beyond that – would like to see the house
Back to four-lane divided highway
Crossing Chicorica Creek - I like the name
1050 – Raton, NM -87 Express – light snow 35 - 21.3 gal @ $2.299 = $49.00 – 227 mi
1105 – on the road again – Light Snow / 36
The snow is heavy and wet – very pretty on the trees
The road is terrible – concrete – expansion joints are murderous
NM-I25:455 – the Santa Fe Trail - roadbed cut through sandstone hills – cliffs looming – only one lane clear of snow
1115 - Traffic at a dead stop as far as we can see – we are sitting one quarter mile from the CO
line three-quarters of the way up a mountain – one male, one female state trooper directing traffic – wearing ski masks and helmets with full face visors
1130 - starting to creep
1140 – past accident – moving again
Off the mountain - Snow stopped / 35 – roads clear but wet
1200 – CO-I25:18 - El Moro Rest Area
Pasta salad, cookies
1250 – on the road again – Heavy Clouds / Windy / 44 – roads dry – visibility 5 miles
Terrain to the east flat/bumpy – evergreen covered hills to the west and north
Lots of single and double-wides scattered around – llamas
More sagebrush and very short plants that look like miniature palmettos
Sprinkles
1320 –CO-I25:49 - turn onto US160 west thru Walsenburg – very cute flower banners on light standards – Indian blankets, etc hung out for sale -
1330 – Lathrop State Park
Sprinkles / Breezy /50 – very large dark clouds coming our way - 135 miles today (1390 total)
Had our pick of campsites – four loops with a total of 103 campsites – we picked 102 – they are all semi-circular pull-throughs – concrete picnic tables – iron fire pits with cooking grates – electric – no water – no sewer – PAY showers in the bathhouses
After we set up, we just chilled for a couple of hours – now it’s Sleeting
1800 – spaghetti, garlic bread
2130 – bed
Day Five - 0715 – Snowing / 35 – Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009 – Walsenburg, CO
Woke to about 2 inches of snow and still coming down – the guys went out to play in it and Jack came back with snow balls stuck to his legs – had to use the hair dryer on him – got him dry and put his jammies on (a long sleeve onesie) and his Tennessee t-shirt on top of that
Made our coffee and latte and watched it snow
1000 – Scrambled eggs, sausage links, biscuitsJerry washed the dishes and then went outside and had an ‘accident’ with the grey-water
I went through 3 days of pictures, deleted the duds and resized/Photoshopped the rest – now have the first three days of the trip as the screen saver on the laptop
Watched the Masters – Sean must be working, he doesn’t answer his phone - called Mike & Laura & Trevor – called Mom & Dad but they had to go hide Easter eggs
I made deviled eggs while the guys went outside again – Jack was wet, but no snowballs
4” of snow now - Watched the Masters – Mom and Dad called – watched the Masters
Has never really stopped snowing but it changes from light to heavy and small to large flakes
They have the most beautiful black and white birds here – the ranger said they are Magpies
One unit left this morning, but 4 or 5 have come in – one is a 10-12 foot “Joey” pulled by a Jeep Liberty with two guys in it – may be hunters or fishermen
1730 – Meatloaf, rice with peas and mushrooms, deviled eggs
1900 – quit snowing
TV – the news people keep mentioning the ‘Palmer Divide’ – need to find out what that is
2230 – bed
Day Six - 0700 – Clear / 31 – Monday, April 13 2009 – Walsenburg, CO
What a beautiful sight – the Sangre de Christos sparkling in the sun:
I bought a package of Senseo Dark Roast pods to simplify the latte process – I run 8oz of water through a pod and add 8 oz of hot skim milk – excellent (I bought an espresso machine off a clearance rack in Wal-Mart 15 years ago and that is what I keep in the camper – it doesn’t really make good espresso or foam, but I have learned to adapt)
0730 – Jerry has climbed up on the roof to sweep the snow off the slides – we do not have awnings over them and don’t want that snow in the unit when we bring them in – there is weather-stripping and rubber gaskets to help keep debris out, but better safe than sorry
0830 – Cereal and toast
1030 – On the road again - Clear / 51
Rolling plains to the east – occasional mountains to the west
1215 - CO-I40:116 – Rest Area - Clear / 62
1230 – on the road again
1245 – CO-I25:75 – two dozen cattle in pasture – 10-15 calves so young they just lying on the ground
1310 – CO-I25:140 – Conway’s Red Top – Partly Cloudy / 65
Split giant (6 in dia) cheeseburger, order of fries, 2 diet Pepsi – not bad, but burger not as good as Hardee’s and onion rings not a good as Ankar’s
1340 – on the road again
CO-I25:160 = 4 deer on side of road – 100 yards later, two more deer
Seeing the BIG peaks off to the west now
1530 – Dakota Ridge RV Park, Golden, CO – Mostly Sunny / 65
Campgrounds aren’t cheap around here – this one is very nice, but $40/night - site J13
1800 – showers
1900 – Orange Chicken Stir-Fry
2200 – bed
Day Seven - 0730 – Clear / 45 – Tuesday, April 14 2009 – Golden, CO
0830 – On the road again, but this time we left Jack at the campground – poor baby
We drove west out of Golden headed for the Rocky Mountain National Park – what a beautiful day
The higher we climbed, the cloudier it got, until late in the afternoon and then the sun peeked through a little while we were still in the park
We crossed the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass, EL 11,307 ft
1100 - stopped in Grand Lake, CO – EL 8,369 ft – at the Blue Moon Café for blueberry pancakes
We were the only people at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center - El 8,720 ft - but the ranger offered to play the movie for us – very nice – the ranger and the movie
The whole road through the park is not open until May 22 and we thought we would only get as far as the visitor center, but they had the road open for 10 miles – to the Colorado River Trail Head
We hadn’t gone 100 yards into the park before we saw a fox walking down the road right at usThe fox, a Bald Eagle and a far off sighting of a coyote were the only wildlife we saw – too bad
The temperature varied between 47 and 51 the whole time we were in the park, so we turned the heat up and rolled the windows down – awesome views – we saw less than 10 other cars the whole time we were in the park
On the way back down we saw quite a few skiers on the slopes outside of Winter Park. Back in Golden we got fuel and went to a grocery store called King’s Sooper which carried Kroger products and took our Kroger savings card!
1700 – Dakota Ridge RV – Clear / 71
1830 – Hamburgers, sautéed asparagus
1930 – Laundry - got a bunch of "D" state quarters from the change machine
2130 – Bed
1700 – Dakota Ridge RV – Clear / 71
1830 – Hamburgers, sautéed asparagus
1930 – Laundry - got a bunch of "D" state quarters from the change machine
2130 – Bed
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