Departed Hohenwald headed west in hopes of avoiding Harvey - or any significant weather associated with it. It was a good travel day as the weather was still south and west of us and we were headed in a north westerly direction. It was a good travel day and we made good time....goal was in the vicinity of St. Louis but we made it farther and settled down for the night in Columbia, Missouri. My co-pilot had been looking at an app that told her the Cracker Barrel there was "RV Friendly". We were not sure if that meant that they had parking or if they also allowed overnight parking. Since we hadn't had dinner we decided to eat there and see.....turns out they have no issues with overnight parking so we did. Lesson learned - park a little farther away from the dumpster :-( In addition to the smell it was also a pretty noisy night in that parking lot but the price was nice.
Wednesday - 30 August, 2017 - Travel Day
Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and on the road again. We started looking for places to camp and quickly learned that almost all places were getting full for the upcoming Labor Day week-end. We decided to try a place we'd stayed on our trip last year in Lee's Summit, Missouri - a suburb of Kansas City. Luckily they had two nights available and we booked both in order to rest from the road and get in a round of golf....we really like the Blue Springs Lake campground here. After getting settled in and recognizing the problem with reservations we decided to go ahead and find places to stay in Colorado leading up to our Estes park reservations that begin on Monday. Many phone calls later we made a two night reservation for a park in Greeley, Colorado. This will be a maintenance stop as I address a minor plumbing problem. I've already ordered the part and had it delivered to the campground ahead of our arrival....thanks Amazon! After getting all of that squared away we had time for a long walk down to the lake and dam.
Thursday - 31 August, 2017 - Rest Day
After a nice breakfast we headed for the Nicklaus Golf Club at Lionsgate in Overland Park, Kansas. Even though Kathy won the bet we had, it was a great day....weather was beautiful, golf course was really nice with fast greens, and the staff there treated us well. Back at camp I grilled some dinner while Kathy did laundry. After dinner we walked the campground before doing some preparation for the next morning's departure.
Friday - 1 Sept, 2017 - Travel Day
Headed out for the long journey through Kansas with an overnight stop in Oakley, Kansas on our way to Greeley, Colorado. Once leaving Kansas City on I-70 heading west there was mostly open farm land....lots of it and when we got to our RV Park in Oakley there was just more farm land. That evening we needed to run to the store in the next town and hoping to see some different scenery we took back roads but the scenery didn't change. A good nights rest though and on the road again next day.
Saturday - 2 Sept, 2017 - Travel Day
With a fairly easy drive to Greeley we headed out and made our way into Colorado. As usual we stopped at the welcome center for Colorado where I engaged in an interesting conversation with the nice gentleman working there. He asked where in Colorado we were planning to visit and I told him....to that he said "you're gonna have to enjoy some of the Colorado peaches in the southwestern region". I said "man, we're from Georgia and we sure as heck didn't come to Colorado to eat peaches"! That got the attention of some nice folks who we met there from Missouri who also bragged about them so when we get some we will give you a report.
As we continued west on I-70 to within 30 miles of Denver before turning north in the direction of Greeley I kept telling Kathy that I thought we should be seeing the Rocky Mountains in the distance by then but we didn't. After making our way to the Greeley RV park and checking in the attendant told us that there was a heavy smoke haze in the air from the western wildfires and that was ruining the visibility. During check-in we asked about restaurants and they recommended a Mexican spot that we visited....food was pretty good but the worst margaritas I've ever had. Beer for me from now on.
Sunday - 3 Sept, 2017 - Touring
So, this was just a down day while we wait for our reservation in Estes Park (Rocky Mountain National Park) that begins tomorrow. We reviewed several brochures for attractions to consider and after putting a plan together we headed out. First Stop - Boulder, Colorado where they had a festival by the river for the Labor Day week-end that we enjoyed and also took a walk through the downtown area of Pearl Street pedestrian mall - lots of eateries and shops. I had read that Boulder was one of the happiest cities in the USA and I was wondering if you had to smoke anything to experience that feeling :-) It was a great town and I'm thinking most of the old hippies landed there. I was in a t-shirt shop and a guy passed out (hit the floor) right in there....not sure what he'd been doing but he was under the influence of something.
Pearl Street - Boulder Colorado
Highway Scenery leaving Boulder
Next stop was Golden, Colorado for a drive thru and then on to a visit at Red Rocks park and Amphitheater....pretty impressive. Kathy and I want to return for a concert there but the show that night was nothing we were interested in....or ever heard of for that matter. Still a beautiful place to see. An attendant we talked with told us it was build by the Corps of Engineers which I found to be interesting.
Stage Area
Amphitheater
Red Rocks Park
Red Rocks Park
After leaving there we drove to Blackhawk, Colorado but were disappointed.....mostly large casinos and we are not big gamblers. I knew it was a casino town but I guess in my mind I was thinking an old west type town, but instead it was big modern casinos. From there we drove to Idaho Springs which is another pretty cool mountain town where we enjoyed a snack, re-fueled and headed out for the drive back to the campsite. It was a very long but great day. Rest tonight and moving to Estes Park in the morning.
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