Sunday, June 10, we left the rain in Gulfport, MS and headed up to Memphis, TN where we met Mom and Dad. We stayed overnight at T. O. Fuller State Park. It was a nice park close to the state line. We didn't see much of it, though, because it was dark when we got there, and we left early the next morning.
Monday, June 11, we started west. We went through Arkansas and Oklahoma on the I-40.
We stopped for the night at Red Rock Canyon State Park which is on the west side of Oklahoma City. It was an interesting place because when we pulled into the park, we were thinking, "Where are all the campers?" After we passed the guard gate, suddenly the road was leading us down into a canyon whose walls were carved from red rock. The road was steep and full of hairpin turns. We were wondering if campers who go down in here ever get out. And indeed we did see some campers that looked as if they had been down there for a long time.
Wednesday, June 13, we left Trinidad Lake State Park and immediately got lost in Trinidad trying to get to the interstate. After meandering around and getting into impossible situations, we got on the interstate heading to Loveland, CO.
On the way, we stopped at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We were considering going through it, but decided against it. We had all been there before, and we didn't want to take the campers in there, so we pressed on to Denver.
We drove straight through Denver, then to Loveland to Boyd Lake State Park. We found the park okay, but had problems finding campsites because they were all marked "reserved". The camp host suggested looking at the dates on the posts to find the ones that weren't reserved for the next couple of days. We were fortunate to find two sites together. This was the second place we stayed where we had electricity, but no water hookups. We had to use the water in our camper's tank.
Many people have asked if we saw any of the fires where we were. We did see the fire in Ft. Collins from a distance.
Thursday, June 14, was Flag Day, so we put up our flag at the campsite. We unhooked Dad's truck and headed to Rocky Mountain National Park, our first National Park for this trip. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed many of the sites. We were a bit disappointed not to see any of the elk we had seen the last time we came here, but the scenery was wonderful. We ate dinner in Estes Park, and enjoyed our ride through the Big Thompson River Canyon on our way up and back to Loveland.
From Alpine Visitor Center
One of the trails at Rocky Mountain National Park
Alluvial Fan at Rocky Mountain National Park
Friday, June 15, we packed up and left Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland and headed to Cheyenne, WY. The gas was much cheaper in Wyoming than it was in Colorado. We pressed on until we got to Casper. We stayed at the Casper KOA where the kids got to swim, and Mom and I washed clothes. Woohoo! Clean clothes!!
Saturday, June 16, we left Casper and headed to Cody. We got there at a decent time and stopped at the Wal-mart to replenish supplies. Vince and Nathan went on ahead of us and found that Buffalo Bill State Park had plenty of campsites. We found them and got campsites close together. These had water and electric, thank goodness. There were no bath houses, so we had to shower in the campers. We had a gorgeous view of the mountains, and a visit from a grouse who liked greeting new campers as they arrived.
Anna Marie actually got to set up her hammock for the first time at this campground. Believe it or not, she is lying in it in this picture. :)
