Colorado - September, 2020

 Tuesday - September 8, 2020

We got up about 6:30 and finished packing for our trip to Colorado.  After we ate breakfast Mike tried to fix the freezer door in the trailer so that it would shut properly, but was unable to get it to work.  We just had to duct tape it shut for this trip.  We got the car packed and ready, hooked the car to the trailer, then while putting the trailer lift down it broke.  UGH!  At least it was after we had everything hooked up.  Mike made some calls and found a replacement at Tractor Supply in Farmington so we just stopped there on our way to buy the new one.  Mike took the old one off before we left home.  

Had to take our beginning of trip selfie

It was very hot today - 89 degrees.  Traveling was okay after the bumpy start, we ate crackers, cheese, and ham in the car for lunch.  It ended up raining quite a bit.  We hit the advancing cold front at Wichita, Kansas.  We got to the Salina KOA around 4:30 and the temperature was 44 with misty rain and wind.  We decided to not hook up the water because it would be too cold.  We had leftover rigatoni for dinner.  This was a pretty good start to our first real vacation since February.  All the Covid stuff made everything so different - we use the bathroom only in the trailer, don't go in stores, and have masks to wear anytime we might get close to others.  It still felt good to be starting on a trip.

Wednesday - September 9, 2020

It was really cold this morning - 42 degrees and windy.  It rained overnight which made it feel even colder.  We had breakfast and coffee and after I dumped the black tank we took off.  There was a Starbucks at the gas station so we got another cup of coffee.  We took I70 west all the way to Limon, Colorado where we planned to spend the night.  We got lunch at a Burger King and ate it in the car.   It got colder as we headed west.  It was 34 degrees when we got to the Limon KOA.  There was snow in the fields in Colorado, but not on the roads.  

Snow in Colorado

Another shot of snow by the road

As we were on I70 a car pulled up beside us and the passenger was pointing back at the trailer so we pulled over thinking it was a flat tire.  However, the sewer hose had come out of the bumper on the back on the trailer and was dragging and being ruined.  We picked it up and put it in a trash bag then headed on our way.  We were glad it wasn't a flat.  We were able to get a new sewer hose at the Limon KOA.  We had chicken and rice for dinner.  It was a microwave package of rice and was just okay.  There was a small leak in the trailer while we drove in the rain that got my side of the bed wet.  I was able to use my hairdryer to get it dried.  We have been unable to figure out where the water gets in.  It only happens if it rains hard while we are driving, not when the trailer is just sitting.  We went to bed early.  The 2 days of driving have worn us out.

Thursday - September 10, 2020

We got up early, had coffee and breakfast in the trailer, and left the campsite about 8:00.  We drove through Colorado Springs stopping at a McDonalds in Woodland for lunch.  After we got out of the Colorado Springs area we saw a herd of about 30 elk not far from the highway.  Apparently the cold and snow had driven them out of the mountains.  As we drove through the Hartsel area we saw about 20 pronghorn.  There was a lot of snow in the mountains.

Snow on the mountains

More snow and fog west of Colorado Springs

View of campsite from hiking trail

View of mountains from campground

We got to our campsite at the Buena Vista KOA around 1:00.  The views from this campground were really amazing.  It was nice enough when we got camp set up that Mike was able to put the trailer lift on.  The water at this campground must come from a well because it tasted like it was salty.  We drove into Buena Vista and bought bottles of water and other supplies.  The store was very crowded so we made sure we wouldn't have to go there again.  We tried to get the water heater running so we could take showers, but it wouldn't work.  We decided later that it was just too cold.  We decided that we would have to take showers on Friday in the campground shower house.  Not what we had planned for staying isolated.  I made chili for dinner.  It rained a little bit and was cool out.  We both called it a night by 8:30, very tired but glad to be here for a few days.

Friday - September 11, 2020

After a good night's sleep, I got up at 6:30, made coffee, and sat outside watching the sunrise.  I took a shower in the KOA bathhouse then cooked spam, eggs, and butter/grilled toast for breakfast.

Sunrise view of Mt. Princeton

Mike enjoying the sunrise

We went in to Buena Vista to find hiking sticks since we had left our hiking poles at home.  We found some at Rustic Woods Antique Store on Main Street.  We got back to camp, ate lunch then did a two mile hike behind the campground.  We saw some beautiful views of the mountains.  It was a good hike even if it was still a little cool and windy.

Mike looking at Mt. Princeton

Selfie with the mountains behind us.

A lot of snow on Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton

Mary on the trail

Mt. Princeton

Mike on the trail

When we got back to camp Mike used the KOA bathhouse to shower then we sat around looking at the views until dinner time.  We saw three dead neotropical birds that were caught by the snow and cold.  This was a good first day at Buena Vista.

Saturday - September 12, 2020

I woke up around 7:00 and noticed that I had missed a call from The Meadows.  I didn't realize that the ringer had been turned off.  I called back and they told me that Mom had fallen and got a small cut on her shin.  When something like that happens The Meadows has to call the family to let them know.  I called Mom later in the morning and she was doing fine.  After breakfast we drove west of Nathrop between Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton to the Narrow Gauge Trail on an old railroad bed.  It was a nice trail with great views.  We did have to walk through some snow, but it wasn't difficult.  It is 2.25 miles to the end of the trail, but at the 1.24 mile point we had to turn around.  There was an avalanche covering the trail and all of the rocks were snow and ice covered.  Some people just climbed over the rocks, but we didn't trust our footing and the drop off was steep and a long way down.  This still was a good hike.

Sign at the trail head

View from the trail

Mike on the trail

One of the snowy sections

Mary on the trail

Another view

Another shot of Mike on the trail

Beautiful view behind us

A final view from the trail

We drove out the road to St. Elmo.  It was very busy there but it was a nice drive.  After lunch, we drove to Twin Lakes to see Mt. Elbert with snow on it and to check out fishing.  The lake was low and the spot we used to fish had changed.  We decided to wait until we get to Ridgway to fish.

St. Elmo

A building in St. Elmo

Mt. Elbert

Twin Lakes

We got back to camp about 3:00.  It was a sunny, beautiful day.  After talking to Scott we sat outside to see the sunset.  It was only okay.  We were both in bed by 9:30 since it was too cloudy for star gazing.  This was a very nice day.

Sunday - September 13, 2020

I got up at 7:45 after a good night's rest.  We had egg, cheese, and spam burritos for breakfast before leaving camp at 9:30.  We drove up Cottonwood Pass looking for the Lost Lake Trailhead.  We missed it on the way up to the pass so we stopped at Cottonwood Pass to look at the pretty views.  It was too cold, windy, and icy for us to hike on the trails at the pass so we headed back down toward Buena Vista.  We found the Lost Lake Trailhead (first pullover on the east side of Cottonwood Pass), but the parking spots were full and the trail was icy.  

Cottonwood Pass sign

View from the pass

Another view from the pass

We went to Cottonwood Lake where we ate lunch.  When we got back to Buena Vista we got ice cream cones for a treat.  Then we went to the Buena Vista River Park and hiked 1.7 miles on the Bridge - Bridge Trail.  The trail crossed the Arkansas River on a bridge to get to the east side of the river and was very steep on that side.  We crossed back over on another bridge and walked the level west side of the river back to the car.  This was a nice hike with more really nice views.

Arkansas River

Mary on bridge with Arkansas River view behind

Mike enjoying the hike

Mary on the trail

View of Buena Vista and mountains to the west

Mike looking at the views

We got back to camp around 2:30.  I cooked skillet spam and fried rice for dinner.  It was good, but the rice took a long time to cook.  We were pretty tired after the busy, fun day so went to bed fairly early.

Monday - September 14, 2020

We got up around 7:40 and had a light breakfast before hiking on the trail behind the campground.  We hiked about 2.42 miles on the Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More trails.  These trails went east of camp up a hillside to an overlook then back down to camp.  We took about 2 hours hiking and enjoying the view at the overlook.  It was a very nice hike.  

Enjoying the nice weather

Final shot of Mt. Princeton

When we got back to camp we had lunch then cleaned and organized the car and trailer to get ready to head to Ridgway on Tuesday.  We took showers in the trailer.  We were able to get the water heater to work.  We think it was just too cold the last time we tried to use it.  After that we sat around camp enjoying the nice afternoon.  We had leftovers for dinner then sat out enjoying the sunset on our last night here.  We enjoyed our time at Buena Vista and were ready for the next part of our trip.

Tuesday - September 15, 2020

We got up about 7:40, made coffee, broke camp, and went to McDonalds in Salida to get a sausage, egg, McMuffin for breakfast.  We took Hwy. 50 west to Montrose where we got lunch at a Wendy's.  We went to the WalMart in Montrose to get fishing licenses and supplies and so Mary could get her glasses fixed.  The nose piece on one side had fallen off.  There were a lot of people in this WalMart not wearing masks which bothered us.  We won't be going back there.  We got to Ridgway by 2:00, set up camp, then went fishing at the Big Pond.  We didn't have any luck.  

Reservoir near Gunnison

Another view of the reservoir

I made grilled ham and cheese and corn on the cob for dinner.  The weather here was much nicer than it was at Buena Vista - sunny and warm.  After the full day, we both went to bed early.

Wednesday - September 16, 2020

It got really cool overnight.  I got up at 7:00, made coffee, and had yogurt for breakfast.  Mike got up about 8:00.  It had gotten smokey from the California fires so the views are not very clear.  We fished Ridgway Reservoir at Dutch Charlie access and caught 8 trout.

View of our campsite

View of our campsite from the other side.

Mike fishing at Dutch Charlie

We went back to camp for lunch then did a 1 1/2 mile hike in the campground, primarily by the Uncompaghre River.  We both took a nap then went back to the reservoir at the Dallas Creek area to fish.  This time we caught about 10 trout.  It was a lot of fun!  We went back to camp and I fixed Hamburger Helper Lasagna and corn on the cob for dinner.  It was a nice evening.  After sitting out a while we both went to bed early again.  This was a really good day.

Thursday - September 17, 2020

We both slept in this morning.  It was cool, but otherwise nice.  I cooked spam, eggs, and toast for breakfast.  We washed dishes then went fishing at Dallas Creek where we caught 7 trout.  

View of mountains from Dallas Creek area -
it was really smokey this day

Mike fishing at Dallas Creek area

We went back to the trailer for lunch and naps.  We really took it easy here.  We took showers in the trailer then went back to Dallas Creek about 3:30 where we caught 4 more trout.  We didn't keep any trout, just did catch and release.  We went back to the trailer about 5:00 and had left overs for dinner.  Nice easy day and evening.

Friday - September 18, 2020

We got up about 7:30 and had breakfast then headed to Dallas Creek to fish for a while on our way to Ouray for the day.  We didn't have any luck fishing.  We stopped at the visitor's center in Ouray to find out about hiking trails in town.  The woman told us that the river trail was a nice and easy trail to hike.  She also told us to drive south of town to a camping area to hit another trail.  We decided to hike the river trail first.  It was only a mile long and was not a good trail.  At least half of the time we were walking on a street in town.

View of the Uncompaghre River from the trail - 
the river was very muddy in Ouray

After hiking by the river we drove south of Ouray, up the mountain, to the amphitheater parking by the Cascade Falls trail.  We hiked down steeply to the Lower Cascade Falls.  They were okay to look at .  We turned around to hike to the Upper Cascade Falls.  It was extremely steep going up and the falls were dry.  When we got back to the car we had hiked 1 1/2 miles of extremely hard hiking.  

Lower Cascade Falls

Mike on the trail

View of mountains from the trail 

Had to have our selfie while we hiked

View of Ouray from the mountain south of town

We drove back to Ouray to get lunch.  We had planned to get takeout from Colorado Boy's Restaurant, but since they had outside dining with the tables 6 feet apart we ate there.  We got chips and salsa and I got an order of carnitas enchiladas and Mike got chicken enchiladas.  We both got a local beer also.  The lunch was really good and we had leftovers for Saturday night.  After we got back to camp we walked to the Big Pond next to the campground to fish.  We didn't have any luck.

Big Pond

Mike fishing at the Big Pond

We had a very light dinner since we had such a big lunch.  This was a very nice day overall.  We hiked about 5 miles total today.

Saturday - September 19, 2020

This was a lazy day.  We got up about 8:00 and had a light breakfast before going to fish at Dallas Creek.  I got a couple of trout before we headed back to camp.  There were a lot of stand up paddle boarders and kayakers at Dallas Creek which made it hard to fish.  We just laid around camp all day resting.  Late in the afternoon we fished in the Big Pond using spinners.  I caught one trout, but Mike didn't have any luck fishing again this day.  We had leftover Mexican food for dinner.  We didn't do much this day, but it was still a nice day.

Sunday - September 20, 2020

We got up at about the same time as the previous mornings.  We decided to drive to Telluride this day so that we can see some fall colors in the aspens.  We stopped at Dutch Charlies on the way to fish a little.  I caught 2 trout but Mike still didn't have any luck.  The drive to Telluride was beautiful.  A lot of aspen and other trees had begun to change colors.

Some pretty aspens

Another pretty view

Telluride was very busy when we got there.  We had to drive around a while to find a parking spot.  This is an interesting looking town in a beautiful location, but very touristy.  After walking around a little bit we decided to get pizza for lunch.  We were able to sit outside again and the pizza was really good.  It was big enough that we had leftovers again.

View from the restaurant

Mike ready for some pizza

Telluride

Some pretty trees in town

After lunch we drove back to camp.  On our way back we got really excited because we saw a very large herd of elk, however we soon figured out that it was a domesticated herd.  Still fun to look at.  Some of the bulls  were bugeling and chasing the cows.  

View of mountains in Telluride

Pretty trees as we headed out of town

Beautiful fall foliage

More pretty trees

View with the mountains

Selfie with mountains in the background

After getting back to camp we rested for a while then went to the Big Pond to fish.  Mary caught one trout and Mike was still getting skunked.  We had canned soup for dinner.  This was a very good day.

Monday - September 21, 2020

We got up around 7:30, had egg, cheese, spam burritos for breakfast, and washed dishes before heading to Dallas Creek to fish one last time.  Mike caught 7 trout and I caught 3.  We had leftover pizza for lunch then rested for a while.  We cleaned the car and trailer to get ready to leave the next day.  We fished the Uncompaghre River then the Big Pond.  I got a bite while fishing in the river, but nothing else.  Mike caught 3 trout in the pond.  

Mary fishing in the Big Pond

Another shot of Mary fishing in the pond

We had a light supper then went to bed early.  We really enjoyed our time at Ridgway.

Tuesday - September 22, 2020

We got up by 7:30, made coffee, broke camp, and were on the road by 8;30.  We stopped at McDonalds in Montrose for breakfast.  We drove back over Monarch Pass and the trees, especially aspens, were beautiful with fall colors.

Fall colors on the way to Monarch Pass

More fall colors

View as we head up to the pass

Aspens were beautiful

We took Hwy. 50 east to Poncha Springs, 158 south to 160 in Monte Vista than 160 east to Alamosa.  We had to take a 25 mile detour because Hwy. 17 was closed for construction.  We stayed at a KOA east of Alamosa.  It is an okay campground and the owners were very friendly.  The views were not as good as we hoped because of smoke, rain, and sand from the dunes in the air.  

Evening view from our campsite

Our campsite at Alamosa

I made soup and cornbread for dinner on the stove in the trailer because it was too windy to cook outside.  There was a bright yard light in the campground so it was not good for star viewing.  We were very disappointed.

Wednesday - September 23, 2020

We slept in this morning.  We drove 20 miles to the Great Sand Dunes National Park planning to go the the Visitor Center.  However, the Visitor Center was closed.  Another disappointment.  We drove to the Sand Dunes area and walked about 1 mile up onto the first dune.  It was very hard to walk on the sand.  There were people there with boards for riding down the dunes.  That was interesting to watch.  

Entrance to the park

Sign with sand dunes and mountains in the distance

Great Sand Dunes and Sangre de Cristo Mountains

On top of a dune - higher ones further out

Mike on the dune

Mary on the dune

A person boarding down the dune

After visiting the Sand Dunes we went back to camp and just sat around reading the rest of the day.  There is not as much to do in this area as advertised so I called the KOA in Amarillo where we are staying on the way home and changed the reservation to a day earlier and cancelled the last night at Alamosa.

Thursday - September 24, 2020

We got up about 8:00 and had coffee and breakfast.  We drove to the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge hoping to begin by visiting the Visitor Center, but it was closed.  We walked about 2 miles on the Rio Grande River Trail.  The walk was okay, but the only wildlife we saw was a sandhill crane and a snake in the trail.  

Entrance sign

Rio Grande River

The trail

A snake in the trail

We drove into Alamosa and bought lunch at Wendy's which we ate in a small park in town.  After lunch we went back to the wild life refuge and drove the car tour.  This was another big disappointment because there was nothing to see and all the information signs had been removed.  We went back to the KOA to get ready to head home on Friday.  This is one place we don't plan to visit again.  

Friday - September 25, 2020

We got up about 7:30, made coffee and had breakfast before breaking camp and getting on the road by 9:00.  We took 160 east to I25 south to 64 south to Amarillo, Texas where we spent the night at a KOA. While we were in New Mexico we saw lots of pronghorn.   It was very hot in New Mexico and Texas.  When we got to the KOA at about 4:00 it was over 100 degrees with no shade at our campsite.  We did see the prettiest sunset of the trip here.  

Sunset in Amarillo

Our campsite - there was a light on the pole

We went to bed fairly early, but the yard lights at the campground were so bright that they bothered our sleep.

Saturday - September 26, 2020

We got up at 5:30, broke camp, and got on the road by 6:00.  We stopped at Love's for gas and got coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the Subway.  The sunrise this morning was beautiful.  Eventually we began to see flashing red lights that flashed on and off in unison.  We didn't know what it was for a long time, but eventually figured out that it was lights on the wind turbines.  Very interesting to watch.

Sunrise

Blinking lights on wind turbines

Not much else to view this day.  We drove I40 east to Hwy. 59 at Sallisaw, Oklahoma.  Since we left so early we got home by 3:15.  This was our first trip just for travel since the pandemic began.  We had to cancel two cruises, our summer family beach vacation, a camping trip to Texas, and the Cummings family reunion.  It felt good to get to go somewhere.  We drove a total of 2360 miles on this trip.