Day 52 - Rocky Mountain Fever

It was a real treat to travel I-70 through Colorado from the west side (Grand Junction) to east, ending at Estes Park, near the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Today was a total travel day, meant to be boring. Not so – the photos tell a much different story.
The western side of Colorado has amazing red rock mini-mountains with boulders and rocks that spill down to the interstate. The central area contains the heart of the Rockies with high-end ski areas like Vail and Aspen. Those hills challenged Whitey as the tow vehicle, but he responded like the auto champ he is.

You’ll notice a photo of a steam-powered railroad, which was recreated and updated from an original railroad supplying resources to the silver mining industry in the late-nineteenth century. Now it’s a tourist attraction complete with curly-cue tracks and trestles that we viewed in operation from a highway lookout.

As a minor aside, today was the eclipse passed over

us in about a minute of dusk-like shadows. Kind of anti-climatic with all the hype. We were glad we didn’t drive up to Wyoming for full exposure, given that 600,000 Denver-area residents were there to create this year’s worst traffic jam in that area.

At the end of the drive, we came down a mountain and the Estes Park village was laid out before us like a storybook picture of Switzerland. The campsite on Paradise River has the Airstream backed up to a rushing, babbling brook (smaller that a real river, but nice). We’re five minutes from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, and look forward to taking it in tomorrow morning. One potential downside – rain in the forecast all week. After several weeks of pure sunshine and real hot afternoons, we’re looking forward to it. That’s what rain gear’s for.

One last thing…on check in the owner told us to lock our cars and not to walk around after midnight due to bears that will be out looking for food. She explained that other areas residents do not secure their food and garbage inside, encouraging them. Why lock the car? They’ve learned how to open car doors. Great.