9/20/2014

Today is catch up day, get some things done.  I spent the morning on the internet, locating part numbers for a knob for the oven, among other things.  Then about 1 pm, we went looking for the parts and locating the place we need to be on Monday morning to get the motor home looked at. Most of the parts places were closed, it being Sat afternoon.  We will have to probably order it when we get home.  The most important thing is to get this overheating issue resolved on Monday.

At 5 we met up with a friend, who also happened to be celebrating his birthday, and he drove us downtown Denver for dinner.  We had a nice time at a Mexican Restaurant and telling him about our summer adventure and catching up with his life too.  After dinner, we went looking for a supposed Octoberfest celebration, which we never found.  So Robbin showed us around the city, and telling what we were looking at.  Those personal tours are fun, and seeing the buildings after dark was pretty cool.  I took some pictures and we talked about Colorado life....fun evening.

We made our way back to the camper, in the dark, again.  Tomorrow, we are going for a short ride in the Colorado Rockies foothills and then spend the day getting ready for the rest of the week.

Steve & Barb Larson

Where we had dinner

The view of downtown Denver

Colorado Capitol

Museum of Art...cool looking building

Denver County Admin Bldg

9/19/2014

We both have a case of the lazies this morning, but we get going about 1130 for a ride through Rocky Mountain National Park, a mere 32 miles from our camper to Estes Park.  We went and found a car wash first, as the car got pretty filthy between Green River & Longmont, road construction and all.

Our drive takes us through several small towns and our elevation changes from 4800' at the camper to 7500' at Estes Park.  At Estes Park we stop at the Visitor's Center and get some literature and also gas up the car & get a sandwich for a later picnic stop up in the park.  As we head into the park, there is another visitor's center and we stop so Barb can get her National Park Passport stamped...she is near to having her second book filled.  We have visited a lot of the National Parks & Monuments and we have visited with a lot of the volunteers & Park Rangers as we go...they are always so helpful and fun to talk to.  This time I asked a very nice young lady to explain the differences between Aspens & Quaking Birch trees...she spent probably 20 mins. describing how to tell the difference.  I know everything I need to know about that subject :).  I also told her the story about the Humpback Whales feeding outside of Juneau...she seemed to really enjoy hearing about that incident in nature.

We moved on, used our Senior Pass to enter the park for free...that pass has paid for itself about 20 times in the last year...great investment.  As we drive through the park, we notice 1000's of dead Spruce trees, just like in Canada, Alaska & several places in Montana & other places throughout the west.  We finally find a sign that describes the problem in detail.  It is very sad how many affected trees there are out here, and a little bitty beetle is to blame, along with warmer winters that allow the larvae to hatch.  Here is part of the story: http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/spruce-bark-beetle.html.  The next thing will be forest fires when all the dead trees catch fire...yikes!

The Aspens are in full bloom, beautiful bright yellow.  Patches are everywhere and amazingly, the lower elevations are where the trees are most abundant.  I also learned from my friend at the Visitor's Center that there are 8 species of Aspen and they all become a slightly different color in the Fall. Barb has never been all the way through the Park, so she really enjoyed the scenery, it is a pretty place.  We tried to go through in 1995 with our son Mark, but the road was closed by 24' of snow in early June and we had to go back to Estes Park.  We make it all the way through this time and stop at Lake Irene on the way down from the summit (12,183') for a picnic by the lake...pretty spot.

We drive west through the Park, and south through Winter Park and Idaho Falls and back east through Denver. Thankfully, this time it is late enough that there is no traffic.  We get back to the camper about 815...long day considering we left just before noon.  But it is another day of seeing the beauty that is the western US...amazing places.

We are going to relax on Saturday and then go for a little ride and go to the races tonight.  It is a beautiful day today...not a cloud in the sky.  Our luck continues to hold regarding the weather.

Steve & Barb Larson

Patches of blooming Aspen are everywhere, along with dead Spruce

Lake Irene...beautiful spot for a picnic

Female Elk tending to yearlings and having lunch

Different species have different colors

9/18/2014

We are off early, as we have 375 miles to go and a motor home we aren't sure is going to perform like it has.  We also have a lot of steep hills to climb and a lot of beautiful country to see.  We also have one goal...try not to drive through Denver between 4 & 6 this afternoon.

As we get started, all is good, engine is running cool, even on the hills we have to climb.  As we pass into Colorado, the landscape changes dramatically.  A thought even flashed through my mind that the folks who drew the state boundaries on the map must have done it so the two states have very dramaticly different looks, but then I think, nah, they couldn't have done that on purpose, could they?

The drive along the Colorado River in western Colorado is an interesting ride, and trying to follow the railroad is just as much fun.  The tunnels for both I-70 & the railroads make for some cool driving.  But as we venture east, the hills start to make the motor home revolt and the temperature gauge climbs into the stratosphere along with the road. But we just pull to the side of the road, put it in park and leave the engine running, and the gauge goes back to where it should be, and we move on.  This happens 4 or 5 times and each time we get the same result.  A state trooper checks on us one time and we thank him...nice to know they are looking out for us silly folks from Florida.

We have two very serious climbs to make between Vail & the Eisenhower Tunnel and a couple of lesser ones after that.  We are patient, but it is still worrisome.  We make a couple of phone calls during one such stop and make an appointment to get it looked at on Monday, near where we will be staying.  This needs someone's attention who can further diagnose the cause...we move on.  But all the delays has caused another issue...rush hour in Denver has started.  But the stop & go is actually in our favor, as the engine temp stays down.  We arrive at our camp site about 2 hours later than we expected, but it is a nice park and there is a grocery store close by.  We go get some needed stuff like bread & other essentials.  We went back to the camper & set up the grill & had a steak for dinner :).

Tomorrow is Rocky Mountain National Park and a ride through the Rockies.  Bet there is trees to look at.  And there is a race track just down the road with Sat. night racing...haven't been to the races since last summer on Prince Edward Island...hope they have some medical help stationed at the track.

Steve & Barb Larson

9/17/2014 (cont)

From Dead Horse Point, we drove back to US 191 and turned south to Arches National Park.  The only disappointment was that the Visitor's Center had already closed.  But we went for a drive anyway and as we made our way to the end of the Park, the sun was getting low and close to setting, which gave the formations a very cool color and the shadows became very dramatic as we went.  We drove & walked and took pictures until we ran out of light...and drove back to Green River in the dark, again.  The days aren't long enough anymore, what a difference since we were in Homer, AK.

We have a lot more pictures, but this is a good example of what we saw.  Check out the sunset we saw as the sun sank behind the mountains...and then it got dark real quick.

We are moving east tomorrow...Longmont, CO is our destination.  I have done what I can to the cooling system in the motor home engine...tomorrow will tell the tale, lots of big climbs coming up.

Steve & Barb Larson

9/17/2014 (cont)

From Canyonlands, we drove south to Dead Horse Point State Park and drove to the lookout.  It is a very cool spot, 2000' above the Colorado River as it makes its way to Lake Powell and eventually through the Grand Canyon to our south.  The landscape is absolutely amazing and the Colorado River is the focal point for most of its 1400+ miles...it has carved a lot of beauty along the way.  Check this out!!

Steve & Barb Larson