9/20/2023. Rocky Mountain National Park

Sandy and I are now at home. Our last stop on our trip East was Rocky Mountain National Park which is located not too far from Denver Colorado. The elevation in the park ranges from 8000’ to 12000’ above sea level. 

Day1:  We drove from one end of the park to the other end stopping to check out all the overlooks, Visitor Centers, and any other things worth seeing. At 12,000’ we had to be careful not to over exert ourselves

Day 2:  We hiked around Bear Lake which is very pretty.

To be honest I am glad to be done with the extreme elevations as both Sandy and I grew up in 1000’ or less. Yes, they call us Flat Landers for a good reason😀

Attached are pictures:

9/8/2023. Cowboy Perfume, OAKLEY, KANSAS

When Sandy and I started on these Adventures I bought her two maps.  One of the United States and one of Canada.  Each map started with an outline of the country with individual decals for each state or province.  The idea was that you apply the decal as you visited the area.

I then purchased two separate pieces of Plexiglass and mounted each map.  This way we can display them in the front window when parked and keep the maps for ourselves once we sell the COW.

Well then came the decal debate.  What rules apply to enable the application of a decal to the map.  I said:

1. If I drive through the State or Province then the decal should be applied.  STRIKE 1
2. If any of the three “Ss” are done.  You know Shit, Shower, or Shave  then the decal should be applied.  STRIKE 2
3. If we have SEX in the State or Province then the decal should apply.  She said “Yah Right, not going to happen, nice try”.   :-) 

         STRIKE 3

So the rule that she decided applied is we must stop and sleep overnight in the State or Province in order for the decal to be applied to one of the maps

That led up to our recent stay in Kansas.  You see we have most of the states and provinces now covered with the exception of a few here and there.  One being Kansas.

I need to preface my next statement with if you have been following the blog you know that Sandy is obsessed with reading romantic cowboy stories.  She has been looking throughout our travels for a true cowboy and only within the last couple weeks has she found one.  I put a picture of them together a couple blogs ago

Well in Kansas since we were just passing through and fulfilling the overnight stay requirement we chose to overnight in a huge Travel America parking lot.  Since we fill with Diesel the Management is OK with us overnighting with the truckers.

We were early (5:00 PM) and had our pick of location.  I chose a perfect spot for us.  Next to a truck that was already parked, pull through parking spot, on the end so I can extend my bedroom slide, near a Blue Beacon Truck wash, and away from the other trucks that leave their diesel engines run all night. 

After parking I did my end of day routine getting ready for the next day.  That is I started the car and ran it for 10 minutes to put a charge on the battery and I cleaned the front windshield (lots of bugs in Oklahoma).  The wind was blowing slightly so I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.  I should state that it was a HOT 91 degrees.  As I cleaned the windshield I noticed that there were flys everywhere.

After finishing my work I went inside to sit down with Sandy for dinner.  As we were eating she said did you notice the smell.  After taking a big whiff I said “Oh that, it is COWBOY PERFUME” ;-).  I’m not sure how I came up with that statement so fast but I was proud of myself

Here probably 5 miles past there was a huge Cattle Ranch.  Sandy had remarked that they had Black Cows, Brown Cows, White Cows, and Spotted Cows.  Yes I know they are all different breeds, but we are city people and we identify them by colors :-)

I had also noticed two Cattle Semi trucks (typically haul pigs or cows from point A to B) filling with fuel.  I have learned from previous experience that you do not park next to them.  They stink!!!

Well guess what, either the heat and the wind carried the fragrance of all those cows to the T/A (Travel America) or the Cattle trucks that hauled all of those cows regularly stopped at the Blue Beacon Truck Wash to wash out their rigs and trailers after a haul.

YIPPEE!!  At 91 degrees “COWBOY PERFUME” is very ripe.  Made for a memorable night BUT at least I got another state decal added to our map :-)

9/1/2023 Red Rock Amphitheater. Lookout Mountain, Golden Colorado, and Buffalo Bill’s grave

The other day we arrived in Golden Colorado.  Our plan is to get a vibe of both Golden and Boulder Colorado.

Yesterday we drove North to Boulder and toured the Celestial Seasoning Tea Manufacturing Plant. Prior to the tour they offered a tasting of different teas.  They charge $5/person for the tour, but gave us $5 each off any purchase from their store and also gave us 4 free tea bags each as a welcome package.  In the end I think we came out ahead as we did use the $10 to buy different teas that we would have bought anyways.

Today we drove up to Red Rock Amphitheater, hiked to the theater, and climbed all the rows to the top.  There is 70+ rows, but to be honest we skipped every other one :-).  Quite a feat since it is at elevation.  Unbelievable, well worth the trip.  It sits 9000 people.  Offers shows every week from April through November.  It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp.  Tickets go from $80 to $1000/seat and it fills up.  Today is a Friday and it was packed with athletes working out by running the rows, running up/down the seats, doing squats etc…. Made me feel like I need to workout more.

After the amphitheater we drove up to Lookout Mountain and to my surprise Buffalo Bill is buried at the top.  Apparently he died at his sisters home in Denver and before his death he told his family he wanted to be buried on top of Lookout Mountain.  To this day it is an issue with the state of Wyoming.  They lay claim to Buffalo Bill and I have even been to his home in Wyoming.  

8/29/23. Glenwood Springs Colorado

After leaving the desert we drove 90 miles East on Rt 70 and stopped at a beautiful small campground along the Colorado River just outside of Glenwood Springs CO.  Along the river is a paved bicycle path that runs from the campground through Glenwood Springs to Aspen.  

One of our neighboring campers booked a Horse Back Riding adventure close to Aspen.  On the way to the stables they got lost and asked a biker for directions.  The biker turned out to be Kurt Russel (the actor).  Apparently he has a home in the area.  They told us that Kurt was very friendly, did provide accurate directions, but asked that they did not take pictures of him.

While here we decided to rent electric bikes to try out the trail (we rode 21 miles), and later hit the Hot Springs.  I am attaching pictures of the campground, bike ride, and the Hot springs.

In the area there is two Hot Springs.  They are Glenwood Hot Springs and Iron Mountain Hot Springs.  We opted for Glenwood Hot Springs as the water temperature was a little cooler, it had a roaring Lazy River which was fun, and also a large swimming pool that is a little larger than the size of a football field.

Last, Sandy has been looking for a real Cowboy during our last 5 years of travel.  She loves to read romantic Cowboy fiction.  So needless to say she has been on the hunt to find the real McCoy :-).  Well low and behold we found one in Glenwood Springs inside a Western Clothing store.  I asked him if he was a “REAL Cowboy” or just dressed for the part.  He said he has been chasing cows for the last 20 years so he guessed he was authentic :-).  He looked at me funny when I asked if I could take a picture of him and my wife.  He was a good sport and Sandy loved it.  She even asked if she could put her arm around him.  Picture below ;-).   Another item off her bucket list.

Attached are pictures of our adventure:

8/27/2023 Colorado High Desert? Colorado National Monument, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison

For the last 4 days we have been in Grand Junction Colorado.  We have toured both the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and Colorado National Monument.  As you can see from the pictures below both are very scenic. For the most part both are a driving tour with various overlooks that are a couple 100 yards off the turn outs. 

Who knew Colorado has a high desert which gets little snow in the winter. In the summer its temperatures get into the 100s. This week it has been in the 90’s.  To me it is HOT, HOT, HOT.  I have been in plenty places in the 90’s and 100’s but the sun in Grand Junction at 5000+ feet above sea level is a cooker!!  I had three Air Conditioner running in the COW and the best the inside temperature was 81 degrees. MISERABLE!! I must have slept through Geography class when the teacher discussed “High Desert” as up until the last couple years I had never heard of such a thing as High Desert. Now in our travels I have experienced high deserts in Oregon, Washington, and now Colorado. Who knew that deserts exist so far North in the United States.  I would never have guessed.