Making Our Way North

Since we had raced the rain into our campground in Buena Vista, and lost, we had bypassed getting fuel at the station just south, so on our way out we went to get another load of the highest priced fuel we've encountered so far on our trip, $3.699.  We had fueled up there previously when we were southbound with Karen and Tom.  After we left Florida in May, fuel was firmly in the $2.50 range, but has been rising steadily ever since.  More than a dollar a gallon in less than 2 months!  I wonder why? :-)

We drove up to Winding River RV Resort in Grand Lake, and it wasn't until about 2 miles away that we could see any sign of fire damage.  But when we did it was astonishing to see how large and devastating it must have been.  The East Troublesome  and Cameron Peak fires consumed more than 30,000 acres.  Many, many burnt down buildings and houses, lots of construction replacing their losses.  The campground lost one big building housing a set of bathrooms, club house, and laundry, but the new replacement was almost complete.

This is at the rear of the campground, you can see how close the fire came
and some of the continuing clean up work

We had never seen the aspens bend over before

Winding River is kind of an enigma, it is a very rough, "back to nature" kind of place, there is no grass, weed, or thistle trimming, and even tree stumps aren't removed.  You have to wade through weeds up to your knees hoping to avoid all the thistles to get hooked up in your site.  And then the site, you can kind of discern it by the muddy dirt and gravel ruts that define the basic area of your site.  They call themselves a resort, but it is a big stretch, they do have horses for riding, and have equestrian campsites so you can bring your own horses, but that is the extent of their amenities.  And for all of this bliss, it cost us $84.50/night!!!

Our site

We had originally booked a week there, what were we thinking?  But managed with a lot of effort to reduce it to 3 nights only.  With the campgrounds so amazingly full it is very difficult to book and especially change any reservations.  

Jan wanted to go up into the park again, we were here 2 years ago to see some of the stuff she missed.  Yes, I avoid RMNP, it is too high and steep for a chicken like me, just the roads scare me to death.  So off she went early in the morning to beat the crowds.  RMNP, like many other national parks, has instituted a reservation system restricting the number of people entering and allowing them to meter the inflows.  If you go in early you avoid all that.

No sign of fire up top

A couple residents of the park

Some more residents

The mushroom rocks, pretty apropos I would say

Lots of smoke in the air

This road is one the big reasons I don't go

A very happy camper!

So with only one more day and rain moving in and out we drove down to Granby for a decent lunch.  It's funny, as you know we have been doing this for a long, long time, over 25 years, and this year we have experienced more rain than all the other years combined it seems, odd. 

So in our quest to reduce our time at Winding River, we booked one night a whole 16 miles down the road at a huge new resort, and this time I mean a resort, River Run.  Over 200 RV sites, lots of rental cabins, rental golf carts, kayaks, boats, etc, pools, bounce areas, stores, restaurant and bar and grill, and on.  It was busy, full, absolutely bustling, and only $107.05 for one night:-(  And that was for a standard site with a small concrete patio.

So after chilling there for the evening, we moved north to a tiny little campground in the tiny town of Cowdrey, CO.  What a difference, it has 11 sites, full hook up although only 30 amp.  No amenities, but nice views near the North Platte River, a famous trout river, one that we had fished in WY a few years ago.  We reserved 2 nights to fill up the time, and it was actually a peaceful enjoyable experience for $40/night:-)  We thought we might fish while we were there, but it turns out there is exactly one access point in Colorado, and the next is 6 miles into Wyoming, and all private land in between.  So no fishing for us.

Our site at Sentinel RV park

We passed through another tiny town on the way to Cowdrey, Walden, CO, a metropolis compared to Cowdrey.  Looking on TripAdvisor they listed a restaurant, River Rock Cafe in a small older hotel, rustic with good food, looked like something we should try, and we were glad we did.  It was a friendly, bustling establishment particularly for being in the middle of nowhere in a town with a population of 608.  But it was very good!  You knew I had to get some food pictures in:-)

Rustic, friendly, and comfortable

Luscious homemade chicken soup

Jan's delicious french dip with rings

My awesome chicken fried steak with homemade mashed potatoes
Probably the most tender and tasty one I have ever had!

What a find!  Then we took a ride on a big loop up to Summit Lake near Buffalo Pass, 10,295' which is on the back way into Steamboat Springs.  It was a pretty drive in which we came upon quite an unusual sight.

Yes, FOUR bull moose all together!!

It almost made pretty little Summit Lake anticlimactic.

We got back from our ride and Jan made the most scrumptious fried green tomatoes.  This is not something we have often, but she had found great tomatoes, both red and green in Buena Vista, and decided to make it our dinner, delish!

So now we are in Casper, WY, and had planned to take a float fishing trip on the North Platte, but the weather is not cooperating, the highs are in the high 90's, 98, 99.  To stand in a boat all day long with the heat and sun pouring down was not something either of us wanted to do, and even the fish get stressed with temps like this.  We'll make up for it later, we have our fingers crossed for a float on the Mighty Mo in a week or so.