Jeff and Melissa go to Colorado...

[Fish and Dear]

We thought we would try our hand at a making a video log of our Colorado Springs trip. If we're any good maybe we'll have or own RV Travels YouTube channel.

Day 1...Friday 7/12 was the first leg of our trip and the longest drive of the 2 weeks. We left Maumelle, AR and drove to Hutchinson, KS where we spent the night at a Harvest Hosts location. Only made one stop on the way here for a root beer float from A&W in Tonkawa, OK.

I can't seem to add the videos from my mobile device, so I'll throw in a few pictures here and there until I figure it out.

[Fish and Dear]

Day 2...7/13 we toured Strataca Underground and started inching our way west. The salt mine tours were fantastic. We were underground 4 hours and still didn't see everything.

The next stop was Kinsley, KS, the midway point of America. Cute little place with a museum. We also stopped at some Santa Fe trail place, but it was nothing special.

Boondocking again tonight just outside Lamar, CO.

[Fish and Dear]

Day 3...7/14 We met up with some friends at Royal Gorge Bridge. Interesting and pretty place. After a few hours there we headed back into Canon City to another Harvest Hosts location, The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey.

After sampling every wine they have we carried a mixed case of the ones we liked best back out to the NeverLand and had an early dinner. A nice walk around this beautiful place was a nice end to the day.

[halfprice]

Looks like a great trip so for.

How do you like the chf???

Jerry

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Looks like a great trip so for.

How do you like the chf???

Jerry

I thought this thing handled just fine before. Now I feel like I'm driving a pickup. Headwinds and crosswinds across OK and KS and several big gusts, a few bad roads, and some sharp curves and it just doesn't sway anymore. Thanks for the help!!

[pmorris92223]

Originally Posted by Fish and Dear

I thought this thing handled just fine before. Now I feel like I'm driving a pickup. Headwinds and crosswinds across OK and KS and several big gusts, a few bad roads, and some sharp curves and it just doesn't sway anymore. Thanks for the help!!

Got a chance to drive ours this morning down to the Morongo Casino to fuel up for the trip and OMG what a difference in ride and handling. Now DW is "hey watch your speed", it really does drive like pickup truck.

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Fish and Dear

I thought this thing handled just fine before. Now I feel like I'm driving a pickup. Headwinds and crosswinds across OK and KS and several big gusts, a few bad roads, and some sharp curves and it just doesn't sway anymore. Thanks for the help!!

Now to get the rear Z bar fixed

jerry

[BYoshida]

Looks like a great trip so far. Enjoy and keep posting pics.

[pmorris92223]

Do you have a residential fridge at your RV and how is that working out on an overnight dry camping.

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by pmorris92223

Do you have a residential fridge at your RV and how is that working out on an overnight dry camping.

We do not have a residential fridge. I prefer the RV gas/electric, especially for boondocking.

[Fish and Dear]

Day 4...7/15 We arrived at Garden of the Gods RV resort in Manitou Springs. Not our favorite sort of place, but it is nice and very convenient to everything here.

We drive through Garden of the Gods for a first look and plan some short hikes. And Melissa likes her e-bike.

[Fish and Dear]

Day 5...7/16 We went to the summit of Pikes Peak. What an amazing place...so much more than just a road to the top. We spent 7 hours exploring the park, and we could have stayed until they closed (another 5 hrs).

We drove to mile 16 before taking the shuttle the rest of the way to the top...exploring along the way.

[halfprice]

Very nice Jeff. Keep having fun.

Jerry

[Fish and Dear]

Day 6...7/17 We drove over to Cripple Creek and toured the Molly Kathleen Mine. It was a great tour. Our guide was a 3rd generation gold miner and had lots of great first hand info.

The town's of Cripple Creek and Victor aren't really much to see, though. Both pretty old towns, but Cripple Creek was nothing but casinos, and Victor didn't really seem to have much of anything but a giant open pit gold mine.

We took Phantom Canyon Road from Victor back to highway 115 and back up to our rig. That road alone took about 2 hours, and took us through beautiful alpine forests and high desert. I'll have to get some of Melissa's pictures from the drive. I was busy not driving off cliffs. Lol

[DenverTransplant]

Looks like they took down the most important sign. Used to be right at the entrance to the skip as just as you got to be sardines for your trip down

[taylorbob1]

We’ve been in CoSprings for the last 10 days at a family home, leaving tonight so we don’t have to drive in the 100+ temps.

Cripple Creek looks fun, but would be a long long bus ride from CoSprings.

We’re headed back to our SanDiego home, south on I-25 thru Albq and west on I-40 thru Flagstaff.
Will drive 4hrs tonight, boon-dock. Then start up tomorrow morning at 5am and drive another 4 hours before the sun bakes everything.
Will then squat at a cheap Casino RV hook-up and sleep until the evening to escape the heat.
It’s been brutal hot.
Cooler weather finally coming to Colorado in the next few days.

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by DenverTransplant

Looks like they took down the most important sign. Used to be right at the entrance to the skip as just as you got to be sardines for your trip down

It's still there. I had to ask if that was a real regulation. Lol

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

We’ve been in CoSprings for the last 10 days at a family home, leaving tonight so we don’t have to drive in the 100+ temps.

Cripple Creek looks fun, but would be a long long bus ride from CoSprings.

We’re headed back to our SanDiego home, south on I-25 thru Albq and west on I-40 thru Flagstaff.
Will drive 4hrs tonight, boon-dock. Then start up tomorrow morning at 5am and drive another 4 hours before the sun bakes everything.
Will then squat at a cheap Casino RV hook-up and sleep until the evening to escape the heat.
It’s been brutal hot.
Cooler weather finally coming to Colorado in the next few days.

We're leaving in the morning headed to Ft. Collins for a couple days. We're gonna go explore Estes Park and the national park some. Then we're gonna spend a few days getting back to Arkansas. The sun here has been rough. At least it's tolerable in the shade. Looking forward to the cool temps for a couple days, though.

[Fish and Dear]

Day 7...7/18 we climbed around the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum. It has a really interesting history, and the gift shop has some amazing crafts from local artists.

[Fish and Dear]

Day 8...7/19 we had a lazy morning reading, drinking coffee, and smoking a cigar before doing some laundry and getting a rock chip in the windshield repaired. We rode the e-bike for the 10th time this trip.

Then off to Garden of the Gods to tour again and do a little hiking to the Siamese Twins. 98° and UV index 10 makes for a hot day...but it's a dry heat.

After resting up a bit we spent our final evening here having dinner and drinks in a nice little place in historic Manitou Springs. Then we walked the entire historic district again. What a pretty little town!! We'll definitely be back again one day.

Tomorrow we're off to Fort Collins.