A Regular Travel Day Made Long
Our day of travel from the Chuck Wagon RV Park in Laramie, WY to our destination, the East Denver KOA RV Park, in Strausburg, CO, on I-70, would be a reasonable drive of 240 miles. However, we planned a stop in Ft. Collins, CO, to meet Connie’s son, Jason, and family for lunch. We found a spot big enough to park the RV in a Target parking lot, near where Jason worked, about 1 p.m. We had to walk at least a quarter mile to meet them at the restaurant.
I should mention that we made a stop at the Visitor Center at Cheyenne, WY, on the way to Fr. Collins. We were very impressed! It was the best rest stop we have seen in our travels.
After lunch, we got back out on I-25 south toward Denver. The traffic was slow and often stop and go. This was Wednesday! There was construction in several places and a lot of traffic. It finally got better as we got past the Denver Airport. We caught I-70 in Denver. From there the drive took us toward the open prairie and the little town of Strausburg and the KOA, which would be our home for two nights. We arrived about 6 p.m. We had started about 10 a.m.
Preparations for the Days Ahead
The following day, Thursday, August 3, 2017, was a cool day, starting at 53 degrees with a high of 75 degrees. It was a good day for maintenance, which we opted to do since there was no tourist sights nearby.
Connie cleaned inside the RV and did laundry. I did things outside. I did a repair to our propane door, which I had damaged by hitting an orange barrel (oops!). I had been keeping it closed with duct tape. It was time to actually fix it to stay closed and clean off the duct tape glue with alcohol.
I, also, organized some tools, re-packed the storage boxes on the back of the truck, cleaned and polished the chrome wheels on the truck, and vacuumed the truck. Whew!
In the process, I met our neighbor, Paul, who had a large motorhome. He was a retired mechanic from Nottingham, England. He had his own mechanic shop, which he had sold the year before. He was spending the summer in the states with his wife and two college age daughters. They store the RV in Florida, when they go back to England. He was a hoot! And, he gave me a lot of good advice for maintaining my RV.
Paul suggested, for those who are more mechanically inclined than I am, that I should get a Torque Multiplier and a Torque Wrench with needed sockets. I still might get a set.
Then, he suggested that I get some lubricant online called ACF-50 to use on the electrical connections. He had some real-life examples of just how critical that could be for the endurance of your electrical system.
As we were preparing to hook-up the following morning, I had one more visit with Paul as he was hooking up his car to the back of his motorhome. I could tell he was a hard worker but I was even more impressed that he had delayed getting his car hooked up until 9 a.m. because he had taken his daughter to the airport for an early flight that morning! And, his planned stop for that evening was 500 miles away! I would not call that casually going back to Florida.
Back Toward the Mountains and Family Again
Our next park was the Fountain Creek RV Park, on the west side of Colorado Springs. The drive was not long but did include stop and go traffic in the Denver area with the suburban towns on the south side. After that, it was off to the races as we made our way to Colorado Springs, which had a lot of construction along the highway through town.
The construction caused some confusion with using our GPS to get to our destination. We had to drive in a circle twice before I saw the road sign we were looking for. The RV park was hidden from view from the highway by a row of trees and the entrance was a bridge over Fountain Creek, off a street which led to Old Colorado City, to the east, which is a National Historic Landmark.
We could see this was a busy park, as most RV parks are in Colorado in the summer. However, this one was on the low end of the quality scale! They checked us in quickly and led us to our site. As we drove back to our site, I noted a good many “upside down speed bumps” (potholes!).
Once we were set up, we tried to get on the internet service. No luck. Called the office. Oh, we need a coupon for each day of our stay. We ordered two, which were delivered to our RV pronto. We took a deep breath. After all this was a temporary stay until we moved onto another KOA, nearby for four days. And, compared to the Chuck Wagon RV Park in Ft. Laramie, this was not too bad!
Poor Planning Reveals Itself
Had I called a month earlier, we might have been able to stay in the same RV park that Jason had parked their Minnie Winnie motorhome. They were staying in the Garden of the Gods RV Park, which even the name sounds more attractive than our temporary home. And, it WAS much nicer, with smooth paved roads!
We drove over to visit with Jason and family until their friends from Overland Park, KS were to arrive. We stayed until they arrived and long enough to hear the story of their adventure driving up to the top of Pike’s Peak! Though Jason had smoked a rump roast, which they were warming up for dinner and had drinks to share, we excused ourselves. This was Friday night and I usually take Connie out to dinner.
The Drive Toward Manitou Springs
At that time, there was considerable road improvements being made on the drive into Manitou Springs. We had not gone far when we came upon a nice-looking restaurant called Adam’s Mountain Café. As Connie noted, the food was good but we could have eaten for less in a different part of town.
Weed or Ice Cream?
Across from the Mountain Café, we noticed a retail marijuana store. I sent a picture to a good friend with the caption, “a lot has changed since Woodstock!”
We wanted ice cream for dessert. Our search led us to a well-known ice cream shop in Old Colorado City. We found this area to be a hot spot on a Friday night. We had to walk about three blocks to get our ice cream cones. We really like ice cream!
Back to the RV, we finished the evening with a movie, called The Quick and the Dead, with (my man) Sam Elliott!
The Garden of the Gods
The Garden of the Gods is a state park located in Colorado Springs, CO. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. That was our destination on Saturday, August 5, 2017, which happened to be Connie’s son, Jared’s birthday.
You have the option of hiking through the formations in the Garden of the Gods, however, you will walk for miles to see it all. With bad knees, Connie took pity on me and we rode the 1909 Trolley Tour. We got many photos of some very interesting rock formations.
At the visitor’s center, we watched the movie and took pictures of the formations in the distance, along with Pike’s Peak, which is often hidden in the clouds. After leaving the center, we drove north along 30th St. until we came upon a sign for the Glen Eyrie Castle. We drove in along a very scenic drive to the Castle parking lot. Apparently, there are areas for camping on the grounds and a fee to tour the castle. We did not take the tour, just lots of pictures of the buildings and the grounds and the formations on the property. You should take the time to see this place!
We Topped That with some Fruit
Our driving around took us past a Safeway Store and a fruit sale sign caught our attention. They had a very good deal on bowls of pineapple, strawberries, and watermelon, already processed.
We bought one of each and some ice and went back to the RV, where Jason and family joined us for fruit, chips and humus, and wine. They were headed out to eat. We were eating leftovers and watching a movie from the Red Box, “The Circle”, with Tom Hanks.
By the way, Jason had done a lot of repairs to his older motorhome and voluntarily fixed an issue we were having with our screen door. Thanks, Jason!
More Pictures in the Next Issue
This segment of our travels was not filled with as many of the sites and adventures we have had earlier. However, the next few days would prove to be more adventurous, fun, and offer better photo opportunities! Until next time, safe travels!