Monday, January 16, 2017

Day 15 (full version)

Day 15
Tuesday, July 9, 2013

0600 Wake up

0728 Leaving - only half an hour behind schedule

0735 Starbucks line is way too long so don't stop

0737 Wag-n-Wash

0744 Gas, $3.61/gallon

0806 Heading up Ute Pass

0807 Fire danger is Extreme

0819 Stop at McD's in Woodland Park.  The GPS lied to us.  It said there is a Sonic (there's not) and there isn't a McD's (there is).  Oh well.  At least I got food and coffee.

0844 Rocco is making a weird noise in the back.

0846 Painted lizard rock grafitti

0850 Rocco making weird noises again - what's wrong with him?!

0855 South Platte River

0905 Pike National Forest and Wilkerson Pass.  Elevation 9,507 feet

0909 Cows

0912 Antelope

0932 San Isabel National Forest and Trout Creek Pass.  Elevation 9,487 feet

0940 Chaffee County.  "Now *this* is Colorado!"

0947 Buena Vista, elevation 7,954 feet

0955 Sign advertising a 10 day rafting trip

1016 Arkansas River

1024 Leadville, elevation 10, 151 feet.  "On top of it all!"

1037 Tennessee Pass and Continental Divide, elevation 10, 424 feet.  Current weather conditions - 66 degrees, sprinkling and breezy.  Feels cold!

1050 Top o' the Rockies Scenic Drive.  Looks like a nice area to camp and hike.

1055 White River National Forest

1100 Eagle River

1105 Notch Mountain, elevation 13,237 feet

1106 Old mine town

1108 This road is super curvy but has an awesome view!

1118 I-70

1131 Bellyache Ridge Road

1151 Colorado River

1153 Glenwood Canyon

1158 a long tunnel

12:06 p.m. No Name, CO

12:08 p.m. Glenwood Springs Hot Springs pool - the place is packed!

12:30 p.m. Rifle, CO - roundabouts in this town - yuck!

12:32 p.m. Sonic for lunch.  Program the GPS for Heber City.  205 miles away as the crow flies.  Current ETA is 6 p.m.

1:01 p.m. Gas, $3.89/gallon

1:08 p.m. Show on the radio about fire-adapted communities.  We have moved farther and farther into the mountains and forests and we need to learn to live in an environment that has fires.

1:18 p.m. Smells like rain

1:33 p.m. Construction stop

1:51 p.m. Stegosaurus Ridges

1:53 p.m. White River

1:56 p.m. Sheep

2:10 p.m. Rio Blanco River

2:37 p.m. Desperado Mine Road

2:40 p.m. Kenney Reservoir.  Maybe next time we should plan a break to swim in the lake.

2:47 p.m. Two plastic pink flamingos stuck in the rocks.

2:48 p.m. Cool globe statue

2:53 p.m. Chevron oil field

2:59 p.m. Pretty desolated out here in this corner of Colorado

3:07 p.m. Dinosaur, CO - elevation, 5,900 feet

3:08 p.m. Brontosaurus Blvd/ US-40

3:12 p.m. Utah

3:23 p.m. 97 degrees

3:27 p.m. Green River

3:43 p.m. Highway Patrol drives a pickup truck here

3:50 p.m. Gas, $3.73/gallon in Vernal

4:21 p.m. Uintah River

4:28 p.m. Best Western Plus - seems like a pretty nice hotel for a not-so-scenic area

4:32 p.m. Roosevelt, UT, 100 degrees

5:02 p.m. Starvation State Park

5:20 p.m. Wahsatch County

5:39 p.m. Chicken Creek East

5:46 p.m. Summit, elevation 8020 feet, 80 degrees

5:49 p.m. A semi truck is going 10 mph down the hill

6:02 p.m. Another one-lane construction road.  We are so close to our destination.  Will we really be there in 15 minutes?

6:20 p.m. Jordanelle State Park.  Are there campsites available???  Yes!!!

6:28 p.m. Campsite selected.  There is some highway noise but otherwise pretty quiet here.

7:17 p.m. Camp it set up so head over to the beach.  The kids made a new friend - Ted the Rock.  They helped him become a Driftwood Sailor and gave him swimming lessons.

7:50 p.m. Back at camp to make dinner.  Tacos.  The refried beans smell funny so we throw them away and Bella ate a quesadilla instead.

0840 p.m. Finishing up dinner.  The sun is down now and it is cooling off nicely.  We play some Crazy 8's before bed.

Day 14

Day 14
Monday, July 8, 2013

0545 Rocco wakes me up early - again!  I let him out and he comes back with muddy paws.  :(  I clean him up and then go back to bed to play on my iPad.

0700 Get up. Have a cup of coffee.  Try to get another updated long version posted to the blog.

0830 One half-cup of coffee later, Day 3 has been posted.

0945 Walk Rocco

1030 Go shopping while the kids stay home to play Wii.  I go to Sonic, DSW, Whole Foods, Archivers, and the thrift store.

12:45 p.m. Back home to watch Rocco and get the van clean and prepped to get back on the road while the kids go to lunch and a movie with Grandpa.  Lunch at Schlotsky's and Despicable Me 2.

More afternoon activities...  pay bills, wash dishes, find a campground for tomorrow, and fold the last load of laundry.

Dinner is bratburgers on the grill (yum!), beans, and peas.  Grilled cheese for Bella.  Then a couple more roads of Mexican Train.  We end on the 2's.  It's late and I need to sleep.  We have a long drive ahead tomorrow.

Day 13

Day 13
Sunday, July 7, 2013

Grandpa made bacon and eggs for breakfast- yum!  Ron and Ryan took Rocco for a long walk out in the park behind the house.  Afterwards we all drove out to Black Forest to see the fire damage.  Sandwiches for lunch when we get back to the house then I take Ron to the airport.  We stop at the auto shop along the way so he can fix my headlight (thanks!).  I get to stop at Target on the way back.  The afternoon rainstorm passes through.  For dinner we go to SMASHburger.  After dinner we play Mexican train dominoes until bedtime.

Day 12 (full version)

Day 12
Saturday, July 6, 2013

0550 Wake up

0725 Leaving camp

0730 Stop for a train crossing

0734 McD's for breakfast and coffee.  Ron even ordered it right.  :)

0744 Another train.  There were so many trains passing through last night.

0745 Question of the morning... How was the campsite?
     Felisa: Scary!
     Bella: I would've slept through the storm if Felisa hadn't been crying.
     Ryan: The pavilion was nice.  Everything was nice until... the storm.
So next time we need to set up with better wind protection and more stakes.  The wind out here on the prairie is no joke!

0813 Cows and antelope grazing amongst the snow fences.

0818 Medicine Bow River

0819 Thunderstorms predicted state-wide today.

0823 All of these snow fences look new.  Not sure I've ever seen new ones before.

0825 Windmills (very appropriate for all the wind around here!)

0902 Gas, $3.33/gallon

0910 Wyoming Territorial Prison
What did we learn here?
Ryan: Before the stockade was built in 1875, 25% of the prisoners regularly escaped.
Felisa: Every day 720 brooms were made in the broom workshop
Bella: One prisoner gained the trust of the guards and was allowed to have a pet antelope.  One night when he went out to feed it, he just walked away and escaped.
Favorite parts?
Felisa: broom factory
Ryan: cell blocks
Bella: none of it

1013 Headed through Laramie

1041 Colorado

1120 Fort Collins

1136 Stop for lunch at SMASHburger

12:11 p.m. Leave SMASHburger.  Drive past DSW.

12:16 p.m. Peloton Cycles.  We give Ron 13 minutes to look around.

12:23 p.m. His review... they have "every specialized bike around".

12:53 p.m. Day 11 summary has been posted to the blog

1:05 p.m. Entering Denver and hoping for no traffic jams but the highway has been pretty busy so far all the way down from Ft Collins.

1:36 p.m. Castle Rock

1:40 p.m.  And there's the traffic jam...  down to 2 lanes.

2:19 p.m. Grandpa's house!  Showers for all!  Laundry is started!  Time to relax and tell stories from the trip.  Rocco enjoyed some free time in the back yard looking for rabbits.

5:46 p.m. Going to Saltgrass Steakhouse for dinner.  Rocco waits in the car.

7:19 p.m. Back from dinner.

Rocco enjoys even more outside play time - he doesn't seem to want to go to bed tonight.  I'm all caught up on my iPad games and I have posted the full version of the first two days on the blog.

10:00 p.m. Bedtime!