August 15-19 Montrose CO

There was spectacular scenery on the way to Centennial RV Park in Montrose CO.

Again, can you spot Ray in the photo of our campsite?

Speaking of our campsite, the view from our picnic table was pretty nice too.

While in Montrose we visited two museums, the Ute Museum and the Historical Museum.  Both very interesting.

On the spur of the moment, we decided to drive 50 miles to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was well worth the drive.  Here we are at the rim of the 2000 foot deep canyon.

Here's the view into the canyon. 

We drove down a 16% grade road to see where the river was diverted in 1906 to provide water for the surrounding communities.  The diversion tunnel is under the house. 

We were shocked to find someone we knew at the visitor center! Unknown to us, Sarah, one of Brian’s college friends, had accepted a ranger position at the canyon. It was a great surprise which led to a very pleasant evening at the local brewery.

The next day we took the Morrow Point boat tour in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. There were 232 steps to climb down to the water and a ¾ mile walk to the boat. 

Ray was extra adventurous.

The entire trip was very picturesque. That's a 355 foot waterfall in the middle of the picture below.

Montrose was a great place to visit.

August 11-15 Gypsum CO

We left Golden and drove through some incredible scenery on our way to Riverdance Resort in Gypsum CO.

The “resort” was not really a resort, but it was a beautiful place to stay for a few days.

The surrounding countryside was lovely,

including at the golf club where we had drinks.

Ray started each morning playing with the campground owner’s boxer.

Each day we took a different drive. The first was to Glenwood Springs which meant a drive through Glenwood Canyon. That was an impressive road.

Once at Glenwood Springs we might have visited Doc Holliday’s grave (No one is sure where he is buried in the cemetery.  This is a "memorial" to him.)

On another excursion we went to Sweetwater resort. Enroute we saw a black bear but were unable to get a recognizable picture. We had better luck with the resort’s Hummingbirds.

Our last excursion was into the White River National Forest on a dirt road—pretty but not as striking as our other two drives.

Aug 4-11 Golden CO

Our next stop was Dakota Ridge RV Resort in Golden CO. Although it was a bit crowded,

we decided to stay a whole week because there was so much to do and see in the area.

First up was Buffalo Bill Cody’s Grave and accompanying museum. The view from the parking lot was impressive. 

Next came Lookout Mountain Nature Center—another lovely view.

We stopped at the Bison Herd Overlook

and then drove up Genesee Mtn to enjoy that view.

Downtown Golden had a lot of offer.

The Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum had an impressive mineral exhibit.

The Pioneer Museum had period housing and bees.

Clear Creek Park had tubers to watch and sculpture to appreciate.

Coors had a tour that started at a flower filled parking lot and ended in a beer tasting lounge. Ray was in his element.

Near Golden, we visited Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a really beautiful outdoor concert hall.

Thunder Alley, a dirt bike track

And Dinosaur Ridge, a mile and a half walk offering dinosaur tracks, geological wonders and some pretty hardy plantlife.

Back at the campsite we encountered hardy wildlife too. This rabbit was right by our trailer door!



Aug 1-4 Seibert, CO

Shady Grove Campground in Seibert Colorado was a stop convenient to Interstate 70.

The campground wasn’t much to look at, but it was half price (through CampClub USA) and the owners turned out to be really nice, giving us free use of their DVD collection.

We did no touring except to drive down Main St. Not much action.

Luckily we met June and Roger Post, full time RVers who were great conversationalists and card players.

We enjoyed Roger’s wood carvings, many of them quite intricate, like this one of the dwellings at Mesa Verde (a future stop).

We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife—except for a neighbor’s dog who kept visiting us and a preying mantis on the next trailer.  Both provided entertainment.