Colorado Tour Guide

Tobey and I don’t always travel together. Last week two of my dearest friends came from Iowa to Colorado for their vacation and I got to play tour guide. We had a blast!  

After picking them up at the Denver Airport at 7:30 a.m. (I didn’t know there was a 7:30 a.m.!!) we stopped for breakfast then headed west on I-70. The goal: drive up Mount Evans on the highest paved road in the United States. You turn off I-70 at Idaho Springs onto Hwy 103 (elevation 8,700 feet) and climb to 14,240 feet at the summit. WOW! It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do with women accustomed to living at 971 feet. All of us actually experienced the high-altitude distress symptom of headaches, and they did have a little nausea – but we all decided it was worth it! We hiked around Echo Lake, drove the narrow roadway to Summit Lake with a stop at the Mount Goliath Natural Area on our way to the Summit and the Crest House.

When we arrived at the parking lot it was sprinkling and the wind chill was incredible. I’ve lived in Colorado for 30 years and this was my first trip up Mount Evans. We did not climb the last trail to the summit because of the weather (and headaches), but that gives me a reason to go back!

On the drive back down we were lucky enough to come across a small group of mountain goats  - conveniently grazing in an area where there was actually room to park along the road!

 

 

We also drove through clouds, hail, a downpour, and the sky was so dark we thought it was night!  

If you are planning a trip to Mount Evans, you might check out this website: http://www.mountevans.com/MountEvansCom/Mount-Evans-About.HTML

We took one day to drive up the Poudre Canyon, sit by the river, and watch rafters bouncing along in the record high chilly water. Another day took us back up the Poudre to hike at Gateway Natural Area. What a great park – and again, I had never been there! We took Penny; made sure she was wearing her harness, and let her chase sticks and play in the water. I only had to reel her in a couple times when she got too far out into the water!  

Everyone’s favorite part of the week was the 3 days we spent at Rocky Mountain National Park. We rented a 2-room, 3-queen bedded room along Fall River just 1-1/2 miles outside of Estes Park. It was wonderful to sleep with the patio sliding door open letting the river sounds lull us to sleep and cool our room. There was a nice hot tub and BBQ grills available, too.  

No trip to RMNP is complete without a drive to Bear Lake and a hike around the lake. In the past we have hiked to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes, but decided to drive Trail Ridge Road instead. Our favorite drive to the Alpine Visitors Center along Old Fall River Road was closed due to snow – they had over 247 inches this year and they have not gotten it plowed out yet! We took the main Trail Ridge Rd up and back stopping at several overlooks and taking loads of pictures. We were lucky enough to spot a herd of elk near the road and got a picture of a 6-point buck.

 

The wildflowers were blooming everywhere and weather was grand.

 

 

 

We did hike the Calypso Cascades trail off of Hwy. 7 south of Long’s Peak. What a great 4-mile hike!

 

 

 

 

Calypso Cascades–Rocky Mountain National Park

On our last day, we drove to the Alluvial Fan area near the Fall River Visitor Center entrance to the park. It was the anniversary of the 1982 Lawn Lake dam flood that resulted in three deaths and flooding the town of Estes Park with 6 feet of water and mud! 

One of the saddest things about visiting Rocky Mountain National Park is observing the devastation created by the pine bark beetle infestation and kill. There are so many brown, dying trees in the park – more than 65% of the park has been affected so far! Efforts are being made to mitigate the situation, but it is very expensive and there are so many areas of the park that are not accessible. My recommendation is you visit the park as soon as possible and enjoy the sights!

All good things must come to an end, so Tobey and I drove the girls back to the airport on Sunday for their flight back to Des Moines. There is something special about time spent with good friends and I look forward to our next trip together!

Trail of the Ancients … including Hovenweep National Monument

Tobey and I left home on Father’s Day, June 19, to explore the Trail of the Ancients in southern Colorado. I had seen a very small article in the newspaper months ago and thought it sounded like a “must-see” area, so after a little research, off we went.
 
We wound our way south along Colorado Highway 285, enjoying the majestic mountain scenery. Our first night we boondock camped in the national forest about 6 miles north of Mancos, Colorado. It was a beautiful wooded area with a small pond – and open range cattle grazing. Penny had a great time trying to prove her worth as a herding dog. I think the cows are STILL laughing at the memory of this 20 pound wonder dog!  
 
We visited the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, a museum that interprets the history and culture of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and the Four Corners region. What a well-done exhibit! We spent 3 hours browsing the exhibits, watching the video, and marveling at the artifacts. After lunch we headed to the Lowry Pueblo. The road was VERY rough, but well worth it. (Top speed – 15 mph!) It was then on to Hovenweep National Monument. We arrived about 4 p.m. and made a quick stop at the Visitors’ Center to get a map and inquire about last minute camping spots. The park ranger told us the campground rarely fills up, our leashed dog was welcome on the hikes, and that we needed to watch out for the biting gnats. He also encouraged us to join the Holly Solstice Panel interpretive talk at 6 a.m.!  
 
We set up camp, filled our water bottles, leashed the dog, got clean-up bags and headed off on the 2-mile Little Ruin Canyon hike. It was absolutely incredible … and the gnats really do bite!

We have since discovered that I am allergic to the bites! After 4 weeks, I finally gave in and went to the doctor. Two prescriptions and two over-the-counter meds later I am hopeful that the itching will stop soon!

Tobey did convince me to get up at 5 a.m. to leave our campsite on the scooter and go to the Holly Unit to view the solstice phenomenon.

The Holly Solstice Panel utilizes the coincidental location of two large boulders that have fallen away from the canyon wall. As the sun rises on and around the summer solstice, a small slit formed by the upper edges of the two boulders allows only a narrow band of light to pass through. This “dagger” of light lands on the surface of one boulder that is protected by an overhang. At its maximum intensity the dagger connects the centers of two petroglyphs – a spiral and a set of concentric circles – which are several feet apart.

As the ancestral Pueblo people became more dependent on agriculture, they used this as a method of measuring the seasonal cycle. I am not a morning person, but it was well worth the effort – especially since it occurs only 4 days in the spring – and we were there!
Another stop on our trip was at Mesa Verde National Park. It had been several years since we had been there and Tobey convinced me to take the additional tour of the Balcony House. This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing a 32 ft. ladder, crawling through a 12 ft.-long tunnel, and climbing up a 60ft open rock face with two 10ft ladders to exit the site. Did I tell you that I do not like heights? I made it. I do not need to do it again! Ever!
 
We rounded out the week by meandering our way home on several of Colorado’s Scenic Byways through Dolores, Telluride, Montrose, and Carbondale before coming out on I-70 at Glenwood Springs. We have decided that the area near Telluride deserves another trip in the future.

You may want to check out the American Byways website http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2597/ and the National Park Service website http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm and http://www.nps.gov/hove/index.htm to see several of the places we stopped.

RV Toads

Traveling by RV has been wonderful – passengers can move around, use the bathroom without stopping the vehicle, grab snacks for the driver, or even cook dinner to save time! (Be careful to observe seat belt laws!) We have discovered there are disadvantages to being a motor home owner, however. Once you arrive at a location and set up camp (leveling, hooking up to electric & sewer), how do you get around to see the sights?

Bicycles are fine for short distances, but not great for more than a few miles and not great for grocery shopping. Tobey thought he had solved our problem of a light weight "toad" by purchasing a 1967Baja VW. His search began and early in 2007 he bought the Bug. It only needed a little work – a "project" car – and it was the same year as his first car! He forgot one little detail – while he is great at a lot of things, car restoration is not his strong suit. He got the tow-bar installed, a roof-rack on the VW to hold our bikes, we were ready to go. Sort of.

Our first long-distance trip was from Colorado to Kentucky and back – 2-1/2 weeks. Off we went with our sleek, silver Bug behind. One of the first things we discovered about towing a vehicle behind the motor home was that you can’t back up. I’m sure that more experienced campers were trying their hardest not to wet their pants laughing at us as we pulled into our spots & unhook our little Bug. Oh, then there was the little detail of no air conditioning (unless you consider unscrewing a PVC plug in the floorboard air conditioning) – not the most pleasant in the humid Midwest summers! You also have to remember that we were traveling in June – and it tends to rain in Iowa, Missouri, and Kentucky during the summer – and our little car did not have any windshield wipers! We discovered that if we drove faster, we could see out better! Not the ideal situation, but we made it work.

After spending quite a bit of time and money trying to fix things on the little Baja Bug, we decided that it probably wasn’t really OUR best choice for a toad so we sold it.
Because our motor home is only 24’ long, we really need to consider our toad’s weight. We were back to the drawing board when Tobey thought we should consider a motor scooter. Test-driving several models locally, Tobey got busy and went online to look at less expensive options. We ended up ordering a 170CC Chinese BMS scooter from a distributor in California. It arrived mid-February in a crate – partially assembled. With the help of our mechanically-inclined son, they put our little Pathfinder together.

The first time we ventured out with RV & scooter, we borrowed our neighbor’s trailer and attempted to load our new scooter for a trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Okay, where was the video camera for America’s Funniest Videos?

We had NO ramp, so we (Tobey) thought we could just use some plywood as a ramp, start the scooter & hand-drive the scooter into the trailer, and then tie it down with straps. Nope. Not a good idea. Our good intentions resulted in the scooter driving itself into the trailer and sliding sideways. I guess it is good to put the first scratches on your new vehicles right off the bat so you don’t feel so bad about it when it happens later! We worked out the kinks and finally found a way to make the trip with scooter in tow – however, once again, we were towing a vehicle. We were in need of a ramp/rack that would fit into the trailer hitch in the back of the motor home. Back to the computer & research for Tobey! He finally found a rack, had it delivered and installed locally where the welder recommended adding two additional supports for stability. It was perfect – except the ramp was too short to accommodate a scooter, so back to the phones to order a longer ramp! Once the new ramp arrived, we were in business.

Now we can load and unload our scooter in no-time, backing up is a breeze, and we have the flexibility of parking at our campsite, then heading out to sight see or grocery shop!

 

 

 

We still would like to be able to take our bicycles and are trying to figure out where we can attach those to the RV …

RV DOG

We got our first dog in 1992 when our son was 6 years old, a black Cocker Spaniel. Nita was a great dog. When she died in January 2007, I knew I would want another dog, but it couldn’t be a Cocker because there would never been another as smart as her. She could roll over, shake, play dead, and crawl all the way across a room, but she didn’t fetch. She figured if you threw the ball or stick away it must not be worth having, so why go get it? That was the one thing Tobey wanted when we got another dog – one that would fetch.
I started researching dogs. The new puppy needed to be a small, RV-sized dog that didn’t shed a lot and would fetch. I wanted another female. When I came across the Mini-Australian Shepherd breed it seemed like it might fit the bill, so I started looking for breeders in our area. That was tough. Finally, in July, we found a woman whose mama dog had just had her first litter of 4 pups, so we were on the road to check them out. I fell in love with our Penny the minute I saw her! She is a black, tri-colored with brown eyes.

Penny at 9 weeks old – what’s not to love!

Penny is a people-loving dog (other dogs not so much) who loves to eat and loves to chase balls and sticks. She is happy to do tricks when treats are involved, and Tobey got his wish – she will fetch 24/7! He used chasing sticks to teach her to swim, tossing it further into the pond each time she retrieved it. Now she is a fiend for water & loves swimming! She also loves to go in the RV. Whenever we bring it home to load for a trip, she races from the house to the motorhome to be sure she is not left behind! At 4 years old and 20 pounds, she has managed to become a great little traveling companion.
 
Riding in Tobey’s lap is one of her favorite things to do, but RV travel is hard work!

And so we begin ...

Tobey and I like to travel. Before we got married I had never been outside of the U.S., but that would soon change. Our honeymoon trip to the Club Med on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas sparked the travel bug inside me. Since that week in 1980, we have had several opportunities to travel all over the world. I even went to school in 1995 to become a travel agent! Tobey has often joked that he was worried that something was wrong if I didn’t already have our next trip planned before we had even returned from a current trip!

Several years back, Tobey also started reading International Living Magazine and the Hobo Traveler Newsletter which prompted another twist to our travels – Tobey’s fascination with the possibility of retiring to a warm, tropical climate.

With that idea in mind in the fall of 2006, we purchased our 24’ Jayco Greyhawk motor home. Tobey thought we could drive to Panama (one of the hot spots for US expats according to IL) and check out locations in Central America along the way.
　

However, since we were new to the RV world and I was still teaching, we would need to limit our forays to summers for a while. We started off slowly – our first night was spent parked in front of our house! In the spring we ventured out to Rocky Mountain National Park and included our college-age son & our high-school age German exchange student. The 3-day weekend was a success so we were ready for bigger & more extensive travel. Our German student & his family flew back to Colorado in July and we planned a 2-1/2 week trip to Yellowstone & Glacier National Parks and into Canada to Banff. We all had a great time & Tobey & I were becoming quite adept at packing/unpacking, planning/cooking, limiting water usage (boondocking), and dumping our home on wheels.

I retired in June 2010 so the planning for the Panama trip began to take shape. We began to search travel forums for groups to caravan with and read others’ experiences in earnest. Christmas gifts included Mike & Terri Church’s Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping and 99 Days to Panama by Dr. John Halkyard.

After using Microsoft’s Streets & Trips software to plan a six-week summer trip, Tobey started mapping our Panama Experience. He soon discovered that we really were not ready to devote the time necessary to do the trip justice so we have scaled back to make this a Mexico only trip. And so we will begin …