Not Quite What We Planned

 September 21-October 4, 2021

Our 157-mile ride to Horsetooth Reservoir-South Bay Campground on the west side of Ft Collins was uneventful, just what we like. We had many plans for our 14-day visit, many of which never happened.

Site 9

Horsetooth Reservoir sits on the west side of Ft Collins, South Bay Campground is right at the southern end, with easy access to Ft Collins and the northwest side of Denver. There are electric only and FHU sites, we had an FHU site which along with the daily access fee comes to just under $50/night. The FHU sites will fit big rigs but some of the electric-only sites won't fit us or we wouldn't be able to get our slides out due to the placement of rocks around some sites. Verizon signal is good but the bandwidth sometimes isn't up the traffic in the area. While we don't usually like to spend that much it's much nicer to spend it on a site here instead of a commercial private park. If we find ourselves in the area again we'd come back.  

Around the campground:

The day we arrived, after setting up, we headed to Zwei Brewing for a tasting. Dave enjoyed a few of their beers and has packed away a crowler for sharing when we get to AZ. After that things went downhill for a while. Dave finally succumbed to the super cold my Dad had unwittingly shared with him. About a week later I too fell to the super cold. My Dad had accidentally shared it with us in the last 2 days we were in IL, he was tested for Covid which came back negative. My Mom also caught it, so we all dealt with a couple of weeks worth of stuffy heads and runny noses.

So what did we do?

Amazon came through for us again with the part for the AC and a locker to deliver it to only 5 miles away. One new control board and we’re back in business and no more shocks when we touch the RV.

Larimer County Farmers Market downtown Ft Collins at the county courthouse is awesome, forgot to get pictures but we scored some awesome finds. Mushrooms, fruits, produce sweets, and best of all local beef and pork. If you’re in the area don’t miss it.

tasting at the Tap and Handle pub

We made it into Rocky Mountain National Park one day out of the three we had reserved, there were many hikes we wished we could have done. We did take the one-way dirt 9 mile Old Fall Ridge Road, a nice ride and the truck did awesome. We love the turning radius on the Ram, so much better than the Chevy.

We did take a few scenic rides and enjoyed the start of fall.

We managed to get to New Belgium Brewery, no tours these days, but Dave did get to sample some of their beers he’s never had.

The rest of our time was spent fighting the super cold, we missed seeing some friends and told our son to stay away. We’ll see Tom at our next stop in Colorado Springs and hope to also catch up with our missed friends there. We’re both feeling better, a touch of congestion lingering. One day we'll get back here and Dave can check out more of the breweries. In the morning we head to Cheyenne Mountain State Park where we have 14 days there.

Until next time...

Westward Bound

 September 15-20, 2021

Our first stop, of 30 this winter, was 255 miles away at Pershing State Park where we had reserved site 11, electric only. Site 11 isn’t an easy one to get into but we managed. Our power pedestal had an issue so soon we had some maintenance folks working on it. Once they got that fixed we still had electrical issues, our rig became energized, shocking, to say the least. Dave has traced the problem down to the AC, some kind of relay is fried. As soon as we can find a place to ship the board to we should be all good. Thankfully we don’t need it as we are heading toward higher elevations and cooler temps. We’ll be looking for an Amazon locker somewhere, hopefully in Fort Collins.

Site 11

Contrary to what we had read there is no Verizon signal, only extended 1x, but it worked well enough for a couple of nights. We enjoyed sleeping with the windows for the first time in weeks. The roads are tight and I wouldn’t want to be here with a larger rig.

Pershing State Park was built to honor Gen. John J. Pershing, commanding general of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Nearby is his boyhood which we didn’t visit.

Our full day there we walked the Locust Creek Boardwalk trail, while we didn’t see any wildlife it was a nice walk in the shade.

We also took a ride to see Locust Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Park, as former residents of VT where they have about 100 covered bridge-many of which we saw in our 20 years there. Locust Creek was part of Route 8, America's first transcontinental road. US Highway 36 eventually replaces Route 8. 

                                                                            

Another 318 miles brought us to our second stop, Mormon Island State Recreation Area, right off of I80 with a small lake between us and the interstate.  Site 65, electric-only, backed up to the small lake, decent spacing between the sites, if you can ignore the interstate noise it's a nice park, big enough to get a decent walk with a small trail system. There are some first come first serve sites, the sites in the open are big enough for most rigs, the ones in the shade not so much. The park's name is derived from the Mormons who used to winter here on their way westward.

Site 65

On Saturday we headed into Grand Island in search of beer and groceries. We enjoyed appetizers at Kinkaider Brewing and Dave enjoyed a flight of beer and a couple of samples, I enjoyed their root beer. 

There were some trails in the campground where we could get in a walk. Of course, there's always a geocache or two to find.

253 miles on Sunday brought us to our third stop, Sidney NE and Cabela's RV Park and Campground, where we have an FHU site for 2 nights. Our ride was just fine except for the drunk, or who knows what, truck driver. Dave noticed him in the drivers' side mirror weaving all over the road, we then entered a construction zone where it was one lane with oncoming vehicles in the other lane. We both kept watch out of side mirrors and I would see him just about take traffic signs and almost go off the road, Dave watched him take out traffic barrels and almost go into the oncoming traffics lane. We finally got out of the construction zone and he fell way back. Soon though he was barreling down behind us and going to pass us, Dave headed for the shoulder, though we could have gone up the exit ramp if we needed. We continued to watch him barrel down the road weaving all over around the other semi-trucks. Thankfully we only had 20 miles left of our ride and never came upon an accident. 

Site 22

Get here early, by 6 there are no empty sites

On our free day in Sidney we decided to take a ride, Scott's Bluff National Monument was our destination. Before we got there though we made a stop at Chimney Rock.

This area is steeped in westward expansion history, many of the trails including the Pony Express traveled through this area. The Chimney Rock formation served as a landmark for pioneers migrating west.

Scott's Bluff National Monument

It must be cold out, Dave has long pants on

It never ceases to amaze me the grit, fortitude, and determination the early pioneers must have had. To cross a continent in wagons pulled by oxen, the countless miles they walked every day, the dangers they faced on all fronts. 

Tomorrow we head to Ft Collins CO, we'll be at Horsetooth Reservoir for 2 weeks. Hiking, and breweries but best of all, family and friends to see. 

Until next time...