COLORADO AND WYOMING
Well, after what was a very pleasant two weeks or so at South Dakota, time was edging on and what with Pete’s Dad and Caroline arriving at Denver Airport, in just over 8 Days, it was time to move on. They were staying with us for 3 weeks and what lied ahead of us was a 2300 mile journey, starting from Denver and taking in Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada and returning to Denver. All had to be completed in less than 21 days!!
We said our goodbyes on 8th September and headed Southeast and out of Custer. Todays journey take us out of South Dakota, through Wyoming, and into Colorado from the North, some 300 miles. Our destination was Boyd Lake State Park, Loveland. Located 70 miles North of Denver, it would serve as a brief 2 day stopover, before we headed closer to Denver and the International Airport, located just East of Denver itself. By now these State Parks were becoming favorites of ours, each pitch having ample room, a picnic table, personal BBQ’s and a fire-ring for log fires outside in the cool evenings, they really are very well equipped. We will miss these facilities for RV’ers when we return.
After setting up at Boyd Lake, we needed supplies, as there was no Wal-Mart near Custer, so off we went to ‘Wally-World’ (Named after the great National Lampoons Vacation Movies!!) , just 8 miles away. We stocked up at Walmart, and on our way home called in (as you do) at a rather large RV dealer that we had seen on our way down. We spotted a great RV which was suitable for us to bring back to the UK when we return next March. We had been told, before we left the UK, that 40ft was the max length that we could legally register in the UK, however, this was not the case, and the superb Monaco Dynasty, our current RV proved to be 5 inches too long. After Pete had used his ‘bartering’ skills, we had negotiated a deal, with a view to collecting our new home after our trip with Pete’s Dad, some 3 weeks later.
It was now the 11th September and time to move yet again, leaving behind the most fantastic Chinese Restaurant called ‘The Great Wall’ All you can eat buffet (over 100 different dishes) with a Mongolian BBQ, for $6.29, which included a free drink!! There was even a chef, waiting to cook the fresh meat, fish, vegetables and seasoning that you choose! Our ‘base camp’ was to be Chatfield State Park, which was located at the foothills of the ‘Rockies’ the scenery was just breathtaking and would be an excellent start to ‘The Tour’ Upon arrival at the entrance gate, the most foulest of smells filled the RV, the guards little cabin and the surrounding area!! At first we thought ALL of our tyres were on fire, it really was that intense, Pete proceeded to check everything, he had the lockers open, (sometimes critters get into your lockers and chew through the wiring!) checked all the tyres, and also went through every inch of the interior of the RV! To no avail!! Even Amber got blamed at this stage, as it couldn’t be anything else! Poor dog!
In the meantime Sue was talking to the now ‘green looking’ park ranger, through his window and was asking him what he thought the awful, awful smell was? “Smells kinda like Skunk to me” was his reply.
After proceeding to our pre-booked pitch, we had to find out where the stench was coming from, and guess what??? Yep, its true what the cartoons joke about, and Boy, did it take us a while to find where it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the passenger front tyre and wheel arch, it was everywhere. It was even making Pete wretch whilst he was under the RV trying to see what it was. Sue proceeded to wash the entire area with all different sorts of disinfectant , but the smell remained, even inside the rv!
It rained that night and all the next day, and this seemed to dilute the smell, slightly and it wasn’t till later that morning on our way to the Airport to do a ‘dummy run’ that Sue spotted the ‘culprit’ and there it was, a dead, flat Skunk! We must have run over the carcass just prior to entering Chatfield, and all its scent had sprayed under the wheel arch and all over the mud flap!
As the saying goes ‘you can laugh about it now’ but take it from us, we have seen lots of ‘road kill’ Skunks, and have swerved to avoid every one of them!!
Well, the day has arrived and it had been a sunny day so arriving at Denver International Airport at 6-30 we were hoping they would see the beautiful sunset as they were landing , it was great to see them coming through the exit but they looked exhausted after there 15hour journey .
After arriving back at the RV site and having a good meal which Pete had prepared an early night was in order ,so after a good nights rest they were up and ready for the first day of “ The Tour”
We thought to be fair it would be better to let them relax and enjoy the first day of sunshine before taking them on a long drive so we stay at Chatfield for an extra day . We did take them to Wal-Mart and an amazing Beer and wine shop called Tipsie which must have had every named beer and wine known also a cooler room just for all types of expensive Champagne it really was worth a look.
Thursday morning it was’ up and at em ’as we had a lot of miles to cover , lots to see and do and Pete had planned the route very carefully so we could see and do as much as possible in a short space of time so leaving Denver for the first leg of our tour which would take us to Utah , a distance of 360 miles.
