Friday June 29, 2012-Moving day-Pueblo KOA to Mountain View RV Resort

Well, it certainly has warmed up! It was 70 degrees here in the desert of Pueblo Colorado, about 15 degrees warmer than what we've had in Cody. It was nice to be out though and after my coffee, I was out and about, getting things done for the final leg of this journey.

Of course, I had to wait for Stella to get done with the inside packing but there was no hurry and we got away about 8:15. I called Pat and Lori, who said they would meet us along the road in Alamosa Colorado.

We made very good time down the highway and were soon at the exit for Hwy. 160 over to Alamosa and Creede. We found the service station where we met Pat and Lori and after a short break, we were on our way to Creede. This place is gorgrous! It is out of town, and Pat brought us in by the back way, down some hard-packed dirt roads, but this place is a jewel! There are two sides, one-the high dollar, buy your own lot side and the RV Resort side where we are staying.

We later met some of the neighbors, Bill and Mary and Jim and Alice who invited us to eat supper with all of them. We had a great meal with them and had a nice chat session after supper. It was a great way to start our stay here.

So long.

Thursday June 28, 2012-Moving day-Douglas KOA to Pueblo KOA

We were again up pretty early and with little put out, we were on our way about 8:30. It's not hard to make good time down a freeway and today was excellent! We got over 11 MPG all day, probably because we were mostly going downhill and there was no wind. Before we knew it, we were in Colorado.

 We went through Fort Collins, where the fires have been burning for some time but there was little evidence of anything when we went through. This is the mountains around Colorado Springs and as you can see, not much smoke here either.

Another shot of the hills around Colorado Springs. This major fire was a non-event for us. We are not disappointed and certainly feel sorry for those that were forced out of their homes and especially those that lost their homes.

This was a large field that is being used for a helicopter landing zone. Although we didn't see these actually fighting the fires, we know that this is their purpose.

We made it into this little KOA just outside of Pueblo. It is not a nice park at all, and after making a dificult U-turn to get to the park, we finally arrived just after 3 o'clock. We were soon set up but discovered that one of the kitchen drawers had broken due to the very bumpy roads. The bottom came loose and we will have to repair when we have some proper woodworking tools and glue.

We will make it into Creede tomorrow and look forward to seeing our friends Pat and Lori. I can't wait to get there and wash this filthy truck and trailer. Wait a minute, maybe Stella and Lori will get it done. After all, I drove all the way here. We'll see what happens.

So long.

Monday June 25, 2012-Ponderosa Campground

Here we are, entering the Old Faithful geyser. Another guest took this picture and I took one of him and his wife.

I've tried three times to get a video that I shot of Old Faithful loaded here but it just won't work! I tried, I really did!

We brought Tramp and Cassie with us to visit Yellowstone because we figured to be gone all day, and we didn't disappoint. We didn't get back home until after five and had planned to go over to Dave and Amy's house for supper tonight. We met Roy and Sally and Kevin and Nelly who were also going, and we rode with Roy and Sally because I had been driving all day.

We had a really great time at Dave's "ranch" and enjoyed looking at his haying equipment and his horses. He has about 400 acres that he has planted in hay, and sells to his friends and neighbors. This was a good way to end up our time here in Cody and we'll all be leaving soon. I won't make another post for tomorrow because it will all be routine stuff in getting ready to leave on Wednesday.

Wednesday June 27, 2012-Moving day-Ponderosa Campground to Douglas KOA

We were up and moving early this morning. I visited with Roy as he packed up and went down and saw Kim who was also leaving today along with the other Heartlanders that were still there but leaving today.

We pulled out about 9 and made good time. Stella wanted to up through Billings Montana to avoid having to go up through the mountains. It was waaay out of the way. We ended up driving over 430 miles today, so I was exhausted when we finally got to the KOA in Douglas. We got to the park about 5:15 and only set up the minimum necessary for the night. Many of the KOA's have kitchens and prepare meals for their guests, but this wasn't one of them. It wasn't a bad park but it wasn't a destination park either.

We were apprehensive about tomorrow's drive through the Fort Collins and Colorado Springs area because of the wild fires there. We've been monitoring the fires to see how much trouble they're going to cause us. We'll see...

So long.

Sunday June 24, 2012-Ponderosa Campground

Today is the day we've all been dreading, the day that most had to leave. Today's entry will show you some photos that I omitted but that I want to share with you. They will be a hodge-podge but I will explain them to you.

This was one of the most important "people" at the rally, Tucker. He is Dave and Amy's lab and is very smart and obedient. He was everyone's friend, especially if you had food that you would share with him.

This is a photo of a frozen lake on the Beartooth Pass drive that we made. I couldn't believe how much snow was up here, but learned that the pass has just reopened because of all the snow.

This is the ski lift that I told you about. There are a couple of trailers for the employees to rest in as well as a couple of vans with equipment in them. They had a couple of porta-cans that were not open to the public. They would have made some friends if they had been...

We went to the Buffalo Bill Cody museum and saw many artifacts of his life and adventures. This is a typical tent and quarters for Buffalo Bill while in the field.

This is a Deadwood SD to Cheyenne WY stage coach as it would have been back in the day. This was reportedly the most comfortable way to travel then.

 A cowboy chuck wagon. Notice the amount of gear carried on this wagon, extra harness and gear for the horses or mules, tent poles and boxes and tools. The other side of the wagon contained a large barrel for water and much more gear.

The rear of the wagon carried the cooking area which had a folding cover that became the work area for the cook and compartments for food and supplies as well as kitchen utensils and dinnerware. A rolling cafeteria!

 There were several stuffed animals that were beautiful and life size. A large elk shared a scene with the below mule deer.

These animals are so much larger than the normal white tail deer that we see in Texas. Mule deer can be found in west Texas but are somewhat smaller.

 There was a large area devoted to American Indians. Here two braves overlook a teepee as it might have looked many years ago.

Here is an Indian family on the move.The brave rides the horse while the woman walks beside the dog, which also has a pack that he is carrying on a travois.

In the last couple of days I made some repairs on the trailer. We had a water leak on the icemaker line that was repaired by Doug and me by replacing the entire water line. So far, so good! While working on this problem, Dave noticed how dificult it was to get into the underbelly to make repairs, so the next day we went back to Ace Hardware and bought a couple of hook and eyes and latches and made it much easier to remove the back wall to get at the water lines.

Back to the present, almost everyone pulled out today but about ten rigs remain. Some will leave tomorrow, some on Tuesday and we along with the others that are still here will leave on Wednesday.

We are all sad to see our new friends leave, but glad that the rallies are over for awhile so we can get back on track on a diet. We always overeat at a rally because not only is the food very good, there is a lot of it! We'll have to see how it goes from here on.

So long.

Saturday June 23, 2012-Ponderosa Campground

Today is the last full day of the rally and I want to bring you up to date on the "happenings" here in the last couple of days. Since the rally kicked off, we have pretty much stayed around here. We did go to the Buffalo Bill Museum, pictures of which will be showed to you in a later post.

 Here are Dave and Amy, Chapter Leaders for the Wyoming chapter. They have done an excellent job on this rally, especially when you know that this is their first large rally. They held another with only two rigs showing up but this weekend there were 27! They should at least win a prize for most improved chapter!

 Here we are, enjoying a meal in the area between Dave's trailer and ours. We had two meals back here, one of burgers and hot dogs and the other a potluck dinner.

 Here is another part of the group, behind the trailers. We used every bit of the yards that were shaded. The weather was just about perfect for us, warm in the daytime and cool at night.

We had more than just delicious food to enjoy at the rally! I'll give you more of a wrap-up in tomorrow's post when everything is completed. Oh and thanks to Jimtoo for sharing these pictures of the rally activities.

So long.

Wednesday June 20, 2012-Ponderosa Campground

To begin today's entry, I must tell you that this is post #1000! It's been a long time since May of 2008 when I began writing this journal but its been fun. I hope you've enjoyed it too!

Today we took Doug and Judy with us as we went over Beartooth Pass. It was the most beautiful drive in this area of the country, and quite possibly the most beautiful that we have seen.

We pulled into a pull through rest area for a "bio break" and this was the view. Quite nice, isn't it?

Doug spotted this Great Owl sitting on a post beside the road. We returned to take some photos of the bird but he flew away. We found him just off the highway, facing toward the woods. As Judy snuck up on him, I took a picture of how close she was to him. Neither of us got a good shot of it but we did get to see it.

A small unnamed lake with a beautiful snow-covered mountain behind.

It is hard to believe that this photo was taken in late June. It looks like the middle of winter here.

Beauty is all around you when you take this drive!

This shot of my GPS with the altitude displayed near the top of the pass. As you can see, we were at nearly 11,000 feet!

Another shot of the snow on the top of the mountain. You can also see some skiers that are using a ski lift to come back to the top. This lift doesn't use the traditional sit-down lift chairs but gives the skiers a handle attached to a cable so that they can actually ski up the mountain! I watched the lift for about ten minutes in 35 degree weather but didn't see anyone come up on it so I could take a photo of it.

We also entered Montanan at the top of the drive. We went to the small Montana town of Red Lodge where we stopped for a break and a snack.

We saw these mountain sheep or goats. We didn't see a lot of wildlife along this drive

This shot is out of sequence, but it is taken at The Top of the World, a small store that is near the mountaintop where we stopped for a rest and to get something to drink. It is an amazing place!