And Our Plans Change Once Again!

 April 19 - 21, 2021

Moving on, we left James Robb State Park and headed across the Rockies! We originally were going to take I70 across, stay at a campground about half way then through Denver and northward. Weather again had us changing our minds. I talked more about this in my previous post: Somedays Can Be A Bit Rockie!! So we decided to head in a more southerly directions and cross through on Route 50 instead. Found a campground that was open again about halfway that we could stop for the night. Oh My what a ride!

The Rockies are majestic, formidable, awe producing, and BIG! One has to experience them to truly feel the emotions they produce. Driving through them on Route 50? Eye opening, exhilarating, all but terrifying at moments. They bring you in gently, allowing you to feel their strength, slowly building giant rock walls first on one side, then on the other. These walls grow higher and higher, so soon you can not see the tops as you look out your side window. As you reach that point of no return, they do several different things: the rock wall moves closer to the edge of the road, the other side of the road drops off to shear cliff, or you have giant walls on both sides of the road that gets narrower and curvier.   

We were so glad we had secured a campground half way across in order to unwind and relax before venturing on. HA, I, ever watchful of the weather, decided to check once again about ¾ quarters of an hour before our destination. WHAT! Salida was now expecting 4- 6 inches of snow over night!! The storm system decided to move further down the Rockies, oh joy of joys! We looked at each other and the decision was made, we were not stopping until we got to the other side of these mountains! Yes it added several more hours to our day but so be it! I struggled to find spots where I could get a signal in order to find somewhere to stay but success. On across those monstrous beings, yep, we were both white knuckling at times, oh and did I mention high gusty winds and curves you can't see around. And then, just for more fun, Construction! Yippie. Good Grief

Needless to say, we made it through and believe me when I say, Pueblo, Colorado was a beautiful sight. We breathed such a sigh of relief as we started to relax our shoulders and shake off the tension. Turned north onto to I25 towards our home for the night. Yeah, not so fast on the relaxing, Got off at the exit indicated, stopped at the crossroad to make our left and what do we see? Oh goodie, a one lane road under the overpass with no way of seeing if someone was coming the other way. This should be fun. We crawled around the corner on through the tunnel holding our breath. Will this day of nonsense never end?!?! Do I need to tell you we found a different route to get back on I25 the next day!

Anyway, all said and done, the Rockies are incredible we just came across at a bad time. Should we wish to cross them again at this or more northern point it will be after the winter period when ever that may be. We stayed the night at Pueblo KOA. Nice campground, friendly staff, well kept facilities. Let's face it it had to be good, it had a gargoyle!! At that point, we didn't even care when the weather report changed once again and that area was now expecting 2-4 inches of snow overnight. Bring it on, we were done!

As I mentioned in a previous post, sometimes things happen for reasons you can't even think of. Woke in the morning to a beautiful but cold day, temperature in upper twenties, and a light dusting of snow. Sat drinking my coffee, staring out the window, watching the sun come up. Such a pretty purplish sky. We had already decided to start out later then we usually do due to the weather expected over night, up in the Denver area. This way if they got the snow expected it would give time for the interstate to be cleared. With this in mind, Paul slept in getting some much needed rest. I am usually an early bird so gave me a little time just to be. Once Paul got up, probably around seven, we started opening the curtains on the left side and front letting the world know we were awake and ready. So glad we did, as no sooner than they were open, we got a knock on the door, (again, I talked about this in my previous post: Somedays Are Rockie). The poor woman next door was locked out of her rig and had been sitting in her car since 5! We got her in, coffee and blankie, and had a lovely chat until her husband could get back. So glad we were there for her.

Finally, got on the road and away we went, up through Colorado Springs and Denver, to Fort Morgan, Co. Denver is, well, a big city, with lots of traffic, people, and construction! I'm sure the outskirts are lovely, but we weren't looking to discover them. Slowly, the landscape changed and somewhat flattened out, made our way to Emerald Park without to much issue. If only the winds would let up might not be bad at all.

Emerald Park or as we affectionately called it in jest, Emerald City, is well, lets just say a good place to park for the night. Not much else. Moving on.

We left in the morning and continued heading north, through Nebraska and into South Dakota! A one night stop just outside Hot Springs, SD which I will talk about in a different post as we came back to this campground to stay for several wonderful days. But for now, one night and then on to the BADLANDS!!

Ta!