Rocky Mountain High, reprise

If you've ever wandered through REI, thumbed through the LL Bean catalogue over coffee, or browsed campsites on-line, you've probably had day dreams of that perfect camping spot.  The Motorcade found one of those spots in a small US Forest Service campground not far off the Interstate.

Gore Creek

Gore Creek Campground comes complete with rushing crystal stream, wildflowers, stumps, rocks, and all other things that, to us, mean excellent camping.

Now that's a big bear locker!

Now, in case you're wondering about a "great" campground just off the interstate, please recall that we are now in the heart of the Colorado Rockies.  This campground came complete with a ginormous bear locker and night-time temperatures of 42 degrees - in August!

Yum!  The motorcade passengers tend to prefer from scratch, but these were AWESOME!

Dinner of pancakes, playing cards, playing with a campfire, and snuggled into sleeping bags… Ah…

Next morning dawned bright, warm, and perfect and it was time to pack up and hit the road again. But not without tying up some loose ends.  First, getting to know our host.

This is Tom, the Camp Host at Gore Creek.  He did a great job of keeping a clean an organized camp. Plus, he was just a very nice fellow. He lives in Sun Valley, but took the Gore Creek gig for the summer.  Not too shabby.

 Our farewell offering to what was a far-too-short campout in the Colorado Rockies.

Rocky Mountain High, part 1

Coloradans take their recreation very seriously.  I'm not sure how they keep the place open and businesses afloat, because apparently everyone is out for a bike ride or rafting today and every day until ski season. And who could blame them, really?  Our first taste of the state this time around was in the small town of Fruita.  The Colorado Welcome Center in Fruita is actually in a large, grassy park.  Useful interpretive signs are inside and out, and there are free, detailed state maps 24-hours a day.

Note the shape of the "Colorado" sign. That's what a cross-section of the
state would look like, looking from south to north.

We arrived in the evening, after our big Arches adventure.  We were eager to enjoy some inspiring Colorado beauty, but the thought of pitching the tent and getting dinner in the dark was a little daunting.  The Fruita Comfort Inn provided clean beds, a pool, and laundry facilities.  We saved our camping experience for the next day. And what a day it was...

In most areas, you want to leave the interstate to get beautiful scenery.  Not so in Colorado.  Although the Motorcade can attest to cinematically beautiful landscapes farther afield, the view from I-70 in Colorado is nothing short of gorgeous.  Soon after Fruita, the I-70 meets up with the Colorado River. The road and the river dance eastward together through the mesas and up into the mountains. Eventually the Colorado heads north for headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park. By then, however, new rivers and streams have taken up the dance, and the mountain scenery dominates the view.

We were again amazed at the postcard-worth scenery that occurs in even the most run-of-the-mill places.  At a rest area along I-70, we had a chance to stretch our legs and get up close and personal with the Colorado River.










The fellows who took the photo of our us pedaled off on a tandem bike.  We were at 7200 feet.









Meanwhile, folks were putting in for a raft downstream as if it was just typical lunchtime fun for a Wednesday. 

Okay.  This beats even the best DC food trucks.

Speaking of lunch, Moe's Original BBQ in Eagle was just what we needed. Moe's is a pretty big chain out here, but with a totally local feel:  each location is tailored to the neighborhood.  In Eagle, it's a roadhouse that hosts regular live blues.  Very family friendly, though.  It has a kids' corner with toys--including a tot-sized barrel barbecue.

Eat at Moe's

Now that we'd had feet in the Colorado river and eaten some great local food, the need to recreate had taken hold of us.  It was time to do some real camping.  Off to the Ranger Station...