Day 7 - Black Canyon - often overlooked (pun intended)

Thursday, June 16, 2016
Posted from: Mancos, CO

Miles driven: 247

Total trip miles: 1404

Total National parks visited: 2

We left Gunnison, CO on our way to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. To be honest, I had not heard of this national park prior to planning this trip. It wasn't a national park until 1999. Prior to that it was a national monument. It has some of the lowest annual visitor numbers (175,000 in 2013) but honestly, it was a great stop. If you are driving through Colorado, get off the interstate and take the back roads! We went over 4 mountain passes to get there, so make sure you have the right equipment if you are towing. Having said that, it isn't a park I would go 100's of miles out of my way to see. It made sense for us to stop on our way from Rocky Mountain NP to Mesa Verde NP. 

Here we are ready to leave the Mesa Campground in Gunnison, CO. I'm actually supposed to be taking a picture of the camper at our site in each campground...I am not doing a great job so far. 

Here is our worthy and able driver stopping for a quick stretch. It actually hurts if you look at this picture for too long. (Yes, his foot is on the dash.)

Every time we drive on newly black topped road, we play the Sh-Boom song that they played in the Cars Disney movie the first time they drove on the "new road that Lightening McQueen done made for us." (As Mater says in his strongest southern accent.)

Matt was actually taking a selfie when suddenly three other people joined him. 

We pulled the camper through this national park. It was only once we were deep in that I thought to ask a ranger if there was a turnaround. (Oops) Thankfully, there was one.

The kids completed their Junior Ranger books in record time. It was actually a difficult little booklet. We attended a ranger program on raptor birds, and the nice young ranger offered to swear in the kids as junior rangers while we were on the lookout. The junior ranger badges were very cool. They weren't plastic like most. They were wooden.

When they were done, it was high fives all around!

We stopped at the turnaround and ate lunch. We met and chatted with a really nice family. They gave us some helpful tips for our next couple stops. You really do meet some nice people when you travel. They told us to avoid the Million Dollar Highway (550 between Ouray and Silverton). We had already been warned by my parents about trying to pull the trailer on this stretch so made plans to avoid it. They said it was scary in a minivan. Yikes. 

Matt wanted me to take a picture of one of the many cattle signs we saw. He thought we could place them every 20 feet or so in Iowa.

We left the park and several miles down the road I navigated us into a wrong turn, and we ended up in the middle of a big bluegrass festival. We could see them laughing at us as we pulled up to the edge of the town called Telluride where there were 4 lanes of ticket takers. They politely asked if we were there for the festival. We said, no, we were headed to Mesa Verde NP. The lady laughed and said, "Then you took a wrong turn." (Not the words any self respecting navigator wants to hear.) We then asked (for the second time today) if there was a place for us to turn around. Then she said the magic word: Yes. Whew! 

On the bright side, had we not made the wrong turn, we would not have seen this or known that Telluride existed other than a dot on the map... And it was a cool place. We marked it as a potential future trip. 

It is a bit hard to see, but there was a giant tent community set up for the festival.

As usual, the scenery was fairly ho hum... 

And this is how Caleb slept for 2 hours.

Another long day of driving in the mountains, but with a lot of great stops and views along the way to help it not seem so long. We left Gunnison at 7:30 am and arrived at Mesa Verde NP at 4:30pm. 

Day 6 - Through the mountain pass

Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Posted from: Gunnison, CO

Miles driven: 256

Total trip miles: 1158

Well today we fought the road and, well, let's just call it a tie. 1) We sought out road construction like its was our new hobby. 2) We ruled like kings and queens at tight fitting gas stations (because no one else could move when we pulled in and blocked everyone). 3) The rumors are true; Colorado really does have good beer.

Construction: 

A particularly special stretch of construction was 9 miles of rarely applying Matt's foot to the accelerator. One hour and 20 minutes later.... We really wish that was an exaggeration. But what made it special was the guy in front of us smoking weed while we sat there. He was higher than a kite. 

But never fear! We had lots of ways to entertain ourselves. We had books and crossword puzzles and-- Oh wait, the passengers all get car sick, so we didn't have any of that. We had... Well, let's just say we had to entertain ourselves. And it got a little bleak for a while when flatulence became funny...Then Matt thought it would be funny to lock the passengers ability to roll down their windows. My eyes are watering just thinking about it.

Gas stations:

We are kinda big for your average gas station, but when you are not on an interstate or a main trucking route, that's about all you get. I seriously look like the people on the Tarmac at the airport with the little orange lights attempting to advise Matt in and out. Now don't get me wrong, all of the talent is on his side. I just stand there and try to look like I have a clue. 

So in one lovely locale of the fuel variety (aka a gas station), we wedged ourselves in and blocked the entire half of the station. The guy at the pump next to us informed us it was the busiest station in the area. And the diesel was flowing at an incredibly slow rate. Matt went to use the loo and it was only at 6gal when he came back. So meanwhile, a big concrete pumper truck pulls in and blocks us in. Matt asks the guy if he's going to be a while and he says no. So we wait...and wait...and wait. I finally decided to walk into the station and let him know that he is kinda (to no fault of his own) shutting down the place until he moves so we can move. Come to find out, he had been in the potty the whole time. An older gentleman who saw me looking around and knew I belonged to the rig causing all the problems (I think he was secretly, or maybe openly, enjoying the excitement) said, "Sweetie. Your guy is in the sh--ter." Well okay then. I guess the timing on these things can be easily misjudged. Needless to say he eventually came out and I stood like I knew what I was doing to "help" Matt back out, and we were finally on our way...28 minutes later. Our longest refueling so far. The 9 miles of construction came after this, so I am pretty sure the gas station people put a curse on us or something. 

In other news, we hit the 1000 trip-miles point at 10,000 ft on the Kenosha Pass. 

We stopped at a grocery store to pick up a couple things...Okay, let's be honest, it was right next to a brewery called South Park Brewing and Matt wanted a picture of himself in front of it. (We were kids of the 90's and immature enough to still laugh when we see the words south and park together.) We actually turned around to accomplish this. The only reason we bought any groceries was because we took up no fewer than 14 of their parking spaces while we did it. Don't get me wrong, it was not exactly a hopping place, but still.

We drove through 4 mountain passes today, but the last one was the biggest. At almost 12,000 feet, it gave the truck quite a workout. We finally reached the summit and stopped to cool the truck down. The ride down would be hard on the breaks. Matt kept saying how glad he was to have a truck with an engine break.

We finally arrived at the Mesa Campground in Gunnison, CO around 3:30pm MDT (after leaving Estes Park at 7:15am MDT). We were hungry and goofy, so we went back into town for a night out at a local brewery. It was a great time! The kids got the day off from their dish duties and we got a day off from cooking. We also learned a new game that we had brought.

To round out the day, we enjoyed the perfect evening weather and sat at the picnic table. The kids did some scrapbooking (more on that in another post), and Matt and I read magazines. The only thing that could have made it better is if we weren't down-breeze from our neighbor's sewer hookup...which wasn't hooked up all that well. Matt had the duct tape in hand ready to seal it a bit better for him, when I suggested we go for a walk. Disaster averted. We left the kids there to enjoy the fresh Colorado air.

The end of the evening was almost perfect, except that as I was filling my water glass out of a newly opened two gallon jug, the spout broke and I had 2 gallons of water everywhere. We grabbed the first towels we could find which happened to be my newly washed bath towels. Ugh. Oh well. I really had been thinking about washing the floor and doing more laundry. Check and check.

Day 5 - To the highest heights!

Posted from: Estes Park, CO

Miles driven: 75

Total trip miles: 902

Elevation change: 4,396 increase

Our third day at Rocky Mountain National Park was the coolest day yet...and I mean that both figuratively and literally! 

Here we are standing in front of the park sign to take the obligatory standing-in-front-of-the-park-sign picture. We had trouble being serious about the whole thing. As Matt and the kids will tell you, there is little I dislike more than jumping through vacation hoops like this. I just want to go experience things already!!! No time for this nonsense, but I put up with it because I end up being glad we have them at the end. 

I will take a moment now to write about the sad loss of much of the forest in our national parks due to a bug that kills them. In this picture you can see that 40% of the trees along the Trail Ridge Road are dead. It was still a beautiful drive. 

Selfie du jour! (You should have seen the one I tried to take. We all had half a head because my arms are short. Don't worry, pics like that will be in the "out takes" post at the end of the trip. We look forward to embarrassing ourselves at that time.)

Cameron took this picture for Grandma Colleen to make sure she knew that he was being safe while climbing. Notice the strong footholds. 

There was a path carved through the snow that was taller than the truck.

Once we got to the Alpine Summit visitor center, the kids decided that this would be the best place to be sworn in as Junior Rangers. We brought their completed workbooks, and a ranger quizzed them a bit. Thankfully they passed and were sworn in with a short ceremony. It was really kind of cool. 

Yeah, the elevation was a bit high, but no inhalers were needed. This poor moose did not fare as well. 

I forgot to snap a pic when we were at the top where it was 34 degrees. Brrrr! (My lovely nails are enjoying their brief moment in the limelight.)

When we came back down we stopped at Alluvial Fan, and enjoyed a short hike and relaxing time watching the falls. 

And look! We still like each other! (Okay, I know. It's only day 5.) 

Day 4 - Relax a little

Posted from: Estes Park, CO

Miles driven: 38
Total Trip Miles: 827

Weather: Sunny; no rainy; oh wait it's sunny; oh shoot it's raining; look at the sun!; oh darn where is my rain jacket?

The weather could not make up its mind today, and we were very glad we didn't try to make the trek to the highest point. A storm would roll through followed by strong sunshine...wash, rinse, repeat. There were times we could not see the mountains due to the dark stormy clouds. 

We headed out for a 10:30 ranger program about long horned sheep. It was really interesting. There was a ranger who led the program and two volunteers. They sit at this station all day long watching for the sheep to come down out of the mountains. If they do (30-40% of the days), they block traffic and do whatever they can to make them feel safe so they can get to the pools of mud that contain minerals they need. 

After the program, storms were moving in so we stopped to pick up a couple groceries and headed back to the campground. The rest of the day went something like this:

- We ate lunch

- A storm blew through

- We went swimming

- And stopped when a storm blew through

- The kids went to the playground

- A storm

- We went mini golfing

- We ate a great dinner (steak, veggies)

- We had to put the awning out while we ate to accommodate a storm

- The kids did dishes and a double rainbow came out ( I figured this was a sign from God that we were good parents for having the kids do the dishes each day)

- We sat around the fire

- Until a longer storm moved through...It was now after 8, so we gave up, took showers, and went to bed. 

And the kids made a new friend that they tried to spend every moment of the afternoon with. Making friends at campgrounds was one of my favorite things about camping. That just doesn't seem to happen when you stay in a hotel.

Tomorrow promises to be much dryer... So onward and upward to the top!!!

Day 3 - Exactly why we came

Posted from: Estes Park, CO

Miles driven: 41 (We are back on speaking terms with the truck.)
Total Trip Miles: 789

Miles hiked: 2.5

Well this is it. This was what we pictured. This is exactly why we came. 

We relaxed a bit in the morning and Matt made pancakes. I don't know if it is the altitude or what, but they were the best pancakes. Ever. In the history of ever. Apparently certain articles of clothing were optional at today's breakfast table. 

We then took Highway 36 into Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way, we stopped to get a picture as we drove into Estes Park.

We drove to Bear Lake and fortunately found a parking spot. This where we ate lunch. Wow. 

Then we saw snow. Caleb was amazed that it was summer and warm and he was wearing a Tshirt while holding snow. 

Then the camera man got serious... Or passed out. It was actually hard to tell which. 

But we got some great pictures.

We walked around Bear Lake and had lunch. Then walked to Alberta Falls. 

Why take the bridge when there are perfectly good rocks?

All in all, the day was a success. Though Cameron seems to really be struggling with the high altitude. We will likely change our plans for tomorrow and relax a bit more. The climb we were planning is probably not a good idea at this point. We might try on Tuesday. This trip is about having a good time. It isn't about sticking to an agenda no matter what. And besides, the campground has mini golf... With an amazing view of the mountains. How can we go wrong?!