Tumbling Tumbleweeds

Okay, so it's fake...

Day 18 Loveland CO to Sheridan WY 382 Miles

Jim woke me up at 6:00am! He thought it was 7:00am, but looked at the clock in the ‘ bedroom’ (if you can call it a room) and he’d forgotten to change it to Mountain Time. Thus, we got an early start on our run for the border….Canada, that is.

Norman found a new friend before we left Loveland

We crossed almost all the way through Wyoming today, Sheridan is near the Montana border..Most of the day Jim fought the wind, especially in areas where the hills and mountains separate and the wind can funnel through across the highway. Tail winds are MUCH better.

We’re in the shadow of the Big Horn Mountains. Spectacular range. Last year we came in from the west and drove across them, quite a ride! It was an 18 miles downhill.

Today’s drive was, um…boring. Yeah, that’s the correct word. We’re out in the plains, where only cattle and antelope seem to live. Every now and then we saw a house out in the middle of a prairie, with nothing around for many miles and wonder how people can live in such isolation. Growing up in such a populated and tiny place as Rhode Island it amazes us.Then again, I’m sure they could never be happy with our lifestyle either.

Thankfully, we arrived in Casper just a little past noontime and we were deliriously happy to find a Sam’s Club! All the people we met at Sam's were so nice. I was able to buy my blueberries and salmon, and stock up on the big Dunkin donuts coffee, which I doubt we’ll be able to find while we are in Canada. We also had perhaps the cheapest lunch in the country - the Sam's Club Hot Dog Combo. An extra long Nathan's hot dog and GIANT drink for $1.70! Now how ya gonna beat that?

We arrived in Sheridan about 4:30 and we were very glad to come to a stop. It was a long day. Our dinner consisted of a can of tomato soup for me and peanut butter on saltines for Jim...gourmet NOT!

Tomorrow we'll cross into Montana on our way to Glacier National Park. We haven't been there since 1991. Long ride tomorrow again...Montana is a BIG state.

Rocky Mountain High

May 14, 2009

Day 17 Colorado Springs Co to Loveland Co 122 Miles

This morning we left Colorado Springs and headed north on I25 toward Loveland, near the Rocky Mt. National Park. Almost forgot what a pain in the ass it is to get through a major city, like Denver. We remembered really fast. The area just south of the city certainly has grown in the 6 years since we’ve been here. Traffic got icky (technical word there) so we chose a newer toll road that encircles the eastern side of the Denver area.



Quite expensive for a toll road, and we’ve got four axles…about a $1 per mile. But good for the nerves! We took it to get around the worst part of the city then cut back over to I25 and on to Loveland, just north of Denver.

We arrived at noon, had lunch and headed out in the Jeep for Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Why we needed to be up 14,000 in the air again today is beyond me. Probably because Norman wanted to experience snow…. So we took him.

We promised Norman snow


The bad news was – We could only go about 14 miles into the park, the road was closed due to snow. The good new was - we could only go about 14 miles into the park which was BELOW the tree line…see yesterday’s post. We were only about a 10,000 elevation, which is fine with me.

We tried

While we were at the visitor center up at the road closure site, we encountered three ladies (from Texas…southern Texas I’m sure) who wanted to take a photo of of one of them in the snow. One climbed onto a snow bank and was shocked ‘I didn't know that it’s slippery!’. Duh, it’s ICE! I can’t imagine how she thinks skiers get down the slopes!

Yes Virginia, snow IS slippery

The way to and from the park from Loveland was beautiful. We took two different routes, the first at the bottom of a canyon following a trout fishing river and on the way back we were half way up a ridge overlooking lush, grazing lands. Although, it’s sad to see how the old way of life, farming and ranching, is being squeezed out by urban sprawl.

Yikes! Saw this sign in the canyon on the way to the Park

Shopped for a few supplies on the way back. Made a tasty supper out of stuff thrown together. TRIED to get on line, but one has to be a computer geek to figure out all the authentications, encryptions and key index out. They make it impossible on purpose to keep people off, I'm sure. First time in ALL our travels for a WIFI like that. Also, no cable and only a couple of channels that had poor reception. I would NOT recommend JC Corner RV Resort in Loveland. I also think the evaluations in the camping books were a little offf.


Tomorrow headed to Wyoming. Hope to get through most of it.