Travel Day! Not that exciting, actually, as we have a very long day today. Left at 8:30, stopped for lunch at the Casper, WY Wendy’s. Didn’t see any ghosts, though. Fueled up at Safeway (10 cent Tom Thumb discount, woohoo!) and were on our way an hour later. Pulled into the Billings KoA at 16:30 (that’s 4:30 PM for you civilians). Seven hours of driving – ugh! I don’t enjoy it like I used to. Scenery was very nice, though, so there was that. Maybe tomorrow (after we ride!) we’ll backtrack to Little Big Horn – I’ve heard it’s a very photogenic location.

Dinner at Old Chicago Pizza (The Bear had to have a pizza fix – great idea!), pretty darned good deep-dish pizza. A Guiness to wash it down, life is good!

Back to camp and off to sleep.

Well, we packed up early and headed out of Fort Collins. Tremendously long drive of just over one hour! But at least, it let us go for a ride out at Curt Gowdy State Park! Yes, The Bear and I have ridden it before (just a few days ago, matter of fact), but wanted Adrian to experience it. Nice trail!

Here are some more shots of it, first a little scenic:

We rode around that guy, and it was a lot of fun!

Here is a shot of Barri levitating her bike. Usually, it likes to go so much that it falls down on its own – here she’s teaching it to behave:

That was pretty much it for today, our travel day. Oh – but we did get rained on before the ride ended, so the curse still lives!

You know how, sometimes, you try to show off, and it really just backfires on you? Well, Adrian wanted me to take a picture of him on a big rock, so all his friends would think he had climbed it on the bike (I guess – he says no, but you know how those stories go …). Well, no sooner had he said “let me move over there after I unclip” when the mountain biking gods got their revenge! Not only did he not unclip (right away, anyway – or should I say, upright), but when he reached out to The Bear for support, he missed, and down he went! I ran forward, and snapped this:

Immediately followed by this:

Of course, his comment was “You’re not going to post that!” No, Adrian, don’t worry, I’m not going to post that … today. But it’s not “today” anymore!

He’s been much more honest about his riding since then! And just to prove that I’m really a nice guy, here’s a photo of Adrian actually ON his bike:

On the way back, Adrian wanted to put in a few more miles, so he asked us to pick him up at a place that “looks like a restaurant, with some old pickups out front”. Of course! And while we stopped to get him (at The Bunkhouse), we stepped in for a beer! They asked if we wanted dinner, but we declined, having already planned a spaghetti dinner, but we did indicate that we’d be back tomorrow – that menu looks good!

Well, today looked grey and gloomy, AGAIN, so we went grocery shopping, moped around a bit, and then decided, ok, no mountain bike trails, how about we do some of the local concrete trail that goes all around and through Fort Collins? Off we went, and it threatened rain, but never really did. It did sprinkle on us as we were packing up, though.

Well, the curse is alive and well. It rained last night. Matter of fact, it’s still raining as we try to cook breakfast! So much for Adrian maybe breaking the curse – he made it worse!

This is what it looked like outside when we got up:

Ugh! No riding today. Damn!

Well, we had heard of a scenic drive, so we took off for Walden on Colorado 14. Very nice drive! Less than 100 miles, but about 3 hours, so, kind of winding roads out here!

Here’s a photo of the drive:

And here’s another:

Unfortunately, when you get there, there’s not much to see in town! On a lark, we headed for Steamboat Springs, to try and find some lunch, which we did, at a grand eatery by the name of Wendy’s. Yes, THAT Wendy’s. Three salads and we’re on our way.

Looking at the map, the drive I’d heard about was taking highway 34 From Estes Park back towards Fort Collins, so we’d have to first be IN Estes Park to start that trip, so off we went, with Poindexter leading the way. Not so fast, pardner! To get to Estes Park on 34, you have to go through Rocky Mountain National Park, and THAT is twenty bucks! Adrian whipped it out of his wallet, prepared to take a bullet for us all, when Barri pipes up “WAIT! Is this a National Park? Will our Annual Pass work here?” Of course it does! Financial crisis averted, and we are on our way. BUT … we’re low on fuel …

Bill – “Is there Diesel fuel at Estes Park?”

Ranger – “Yes … how much fuel do you have?”

Bill – “An eighth of a tank”

Ranger – “That’ll be enough!”

Yes … well … maybe, and maybe not. My concern grew as the needle dipped, we were climbing, climbing, climbing … to heaven, it seemed … still 25 miles away … and then the low-fuel light comes on, and the truck dings to remind me I REALLY should have fueled up when we stopped to pee, back in Steamboat Springs. ARGH!!

Well, it was a nail-biter, for sure, and we were surely running on fumes, but we finally hit the outskirts of Estes Park, and there was a Shell station. A bit overpriced at 3.99 a gallon, but we were not about to quibble! As it turns out, another Shell on the way out of town was only 3.79, but, well, we had fuel. Off to Fort Collins we go, and off to bed. What a long day!

Oh, yeah, and on the way back to the trailer, we saw a sign that Colorado 14, the road we took this morning, is closed due to a mudslide! We are 8 miles from the State Park where we want to ride. What are the odds the trail is still wet tomorrow. Damn!

I’m tired! I have photos, but they’ll have to wait, sorry.

Ok, photos are up (obviously!) and here is another, from the top of Rocky Mountain National Park:

Today, we travel again! Got up a bit late, as we’re not in a big hurry – we have to check out by 10, but can’t check in until after 1, and the drive is only about an hour, so there will be a lot of something to burn time. We decided to go shopping for stuff we need for the trailer.

Left before noon, and all was going pretty well, until exit 281 off IH-25, when everything came to a screeching halt. Serious slamming of brakes, to keep from hitting the cars in front, and,since the line of stopped vehicles stretched literally as far as the eye could see (and the eye could see at least two miles down the road!), and we were only about five miles from our exit, we got off and let Poindexter recalculate the route. Gotta love automotive GPS!

Checked in, set up, pretty nice KoA, though it’s right on State 287, and thus a bit noisy. Got a good night’s sleep to prep for the next day.