Wyoming to Colorado

On Sept 21 we left Creekside Mtn RV Park and proceeded south on 385 through Custer to 85 which took us in to Wyoming.

Our first stop in Wyoming

The Lusk, WY rest area

Our destination for the day was a place we stayed at last year - Terry Bison RV Ranch in Cheyenne, WY. It was much as we remembered it - a good stopover for a night, with a nice restaurant that featured Bison- Short ribs, meatloaf, you get the picture.

And yes, it was really a bison ranch.....

I mentioned the restaurant. We kind of enjoy the place......this year we got a treat - they had live entertainment.

Some random shots from Terry Bison RV Ranch.....

Our spot

Part of the complex- housing Office, store(where you could purchase Buffalo Meat), laundry, game rooms, etc

We saw quite a few of these critters running around. In fact, Molly out to pee, almost bumped in to one.

They not only had buffalo, but..........

We left Cheyenne the next morning and headed south on I 25, destination - Pueblo/Colorado City KOA, but first we had to get through Denver. And for us this particular day, it was not an easy task. We got trapped in a lane that would not let us get to I 25 cut off and ended up getting a tour of the city. Probably delayed us about 1/2 hour (it felt like more), but eventually we got back on I 25 and were on our way. Below Denver we traveled through Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy. Certainly a beautiful(and populated) area. There are a number of schools in this area, what with the beautiful views and everything......

And finally, after an adventurous day, we made it to our destination KOA....

Views from this park were awesome

Our Spot - with perfect SatelliteTV reception

We stayed over here for 1 night and really enjoyed the place. A very nice little park. Perfect layover place. Easy on, easy off I 25. We'll for sure be back. When we headed out the next day, it was with a threat of high winds, so we wanted to get an early start and hopefully miss them. Turns out, we did and had quite a nice trip to our next stop, Durango. We traveled through the San Luis Valley, and towns like Alamosa, Monte Vista, Del Norte, and South Fork. I want to remember those names because I would love to come back to this area. It is something really special. After leaving South Fork, we hit Wolf Creek Pass. Which is an experience. And then it was on into Pagosa Springs and a stop over to feed Molly, take her for a walk, and then to have lunch ourselves.  We learned that Elk season had just started, so the restaurant had it's share of hunters in camoflage. We finished up and headed out for our days destination: Durango and the Durango KOA.

Our home for 4 days

While there we met a couple of workcampers that we knew from Benson, AZ - Ed & Stephanie. Small world.

Our spot

Our neighbors for the first 3 days at Durango KOA were from Missouri and we couldn't help but notice another person with a turtle fascination. I thought Mary was the turtle person.....

On saturday, we traveled over to Bayfield to meet up with old friends Dick & Patti and enjoyed a great meal, a beer, some wine and good conversation. By the way, the view from their back deck is pretty incredible.....

View from Dick & Patti's back deck- pretty incredible

On sunday, we did the tourist thing and traveled from Durango to Silverton to Ouray. What an unbelievable trip. In all it was about 74 miles to Ouray and the scenery we saw is really hard to describe. A year ago we did  a similar trip and couldn't get over the colors - the bright yellows of the Aspens. This year, had the same yellows, but with snow added to the picture. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.....

Silverton, CO

When we arrived in Ouray, Mary had to use the facilities, and what better place to go than one that had a sign out advertising Restrooms. It just happened to be the Ouray Brewery. So, I followed her in and asked about restrooms for Mary. The waitress was so nice, I felt guilty, so bought a brewery tee shirt and a 24 OZ(to go of course), can of their best IPA. Definitely could not imagine anyone navigating the road back to Silverton and Durango after having had a few beers. By the way, did I mention that Durango is at an elevation of approximately 6500' and during the course of our travels to Ouray, we traveled through Molas Pass at 10,910' and then Red Mtn Pass at 11,075'. Kind of hard to describe, let alone experience.

The Ouray Brewery

Main Street Ouray

We left Ouray for our return trip to Durango, but first a stop in Silverton for lunch.....

The Grand Restaurant - formerly Grumpy's

The view from where we parked

Another view of Silverton

Our stay in this area was awesome. We finished it up with breakfast in Bayfield with Dick and Patti and their friends, Jimmy & Loretta. Then it was back to the KOA to get ready for our departure the next day. Lots to do to get ready for the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.