Another Camping Trip Wraps Up

I slept in a bit this morning … it was past 6:30a when I rolled out of bed. Mui had been up since 6:00a and was sipping his morning coffee. It was only 53F outside, so breakfast was once again at the dinette indoors.

Check-out from the KOA was at 11:00a, so we took our time breaking camp. Even then, we were out of our site at 9:00a. Twenty minutes later, tanks dumped and the toad hooked up, we were ready to begin the trek back home.

There was no traffic to speak of as we drove up CO-133 to Carbondale, and then along CO-82 to Glenwood Springs. The construction area on I-70 where the traffic is two-way was stop-and-go for a bit, but our eastbound direction fared much better than the vehicles heading west. Soon, we were flying down the interstate at just under the speed limit. There was more traffic than I expected, but it flowed, so no complaints.

Except for a couple of rest breaks for Mui, we did not make any real stops until we got to Dillon Reservoir. At a scenic overlook off I-70, we stopped for lunch. The lovely scenery once again made me think about looking for a camping rez there. Alas, except for a night here, a night there, the campground is booked solid.

By 1:00p, we were back on the road. Instead of taking I-25S through Denver, this time we took Exit 260 to CO-470, connecting to US-85, CO-67, and CO-105. All back roads that we’ve driven before in the CR-V … smoother pavement, better views. Traffic was nil, but of course, the two-way roads meant slower speed. No problem … we were in no hurry. Surprisingly, at 235 miles, this route was a couple of miles shorter than the route we followed on our outbound drive.

By 3:30p we were at the storage place. We unhooked the CR-V, loaded up the essentials, locked up the Cruiser, and headed home … arriving at 4:00p. We were glad to see it was only 85F, with a cool breeze mitigating the heat. If the forecasters are to be believed, the temp will be rising into the mid-90F range for the rest of the week. But it’s a dry heat … so we’ll survive.

We’ll be home for six days — busy ones with several appointments — before we head south for our next camping trip. I’m keeping fingers crossed for a bit of a lull in the high temps so we can get out and do some hiking. If not … well, we’ll have to wait and see.

By the way ... all of the photos from the trip are uploaded to my online gallery ... https://eenusa.smugmug.com/PhxCrzr/CO-Day-Short….Read more