2015 Western Trip – Day 58 – Headed to Denver

We left Grand Junction for the pretty drive along I-70 to Denver, beginning with a great view of the Palisade area from the elevated road and all of the agriculture that covers it.  From there we traveled through steep canyons carved by the Colorado River, over the 10,662’ Vail Pass, and across the continental Divide at the 11,158’ Eisenhower Tunnel.  The big diesel comfortably moved us up the mountains in third gear at a respectable 40mph with no engine temperature issues.

We passed through a canyon just east of Grand Junction and the very pretty Glenwood Canyon further east – unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy it as it was two-way traffic with one side of the interstate closed.  The road through the canyon is pretty much two bridges and the river looked to provide some great white water rafting thrills.  There is also a bike path along the road - here are a couple of shots from the web.

We also passed right beside three ski resorts that we spent many, many happy hours at in our younger days.  Bev and I enjoyed reminiscing and relaying some of our adventures to Pat as we passed them.  While we only passed Beaver Creek, Vail, and Copper Mtn, Breckenridge and Keystone were also in the area and may have been our favorites.  We were able to pull off the road and get shot of Lake Dillon (water supply for Denver) just before heading up to the Eisenhower Tunnel.

We rolled into Dakota Ridge RV Resort mid-afternoon and got set up in the expected cramped quarters.  

Note the step up we must make due to the unlevel site.

The owners of the resort, who have at least two other parks, seem to be using this as a cash cow and putting little back into the park as evidenced by this common road condition.

We’d stayed here three years ago and knew we would be paying $60/ night for what should be a $30 park but we couldn’t get into one of the nice state parks in the area and there were no other acceptable options for us – capitalism at it’s best.  I would only stay here again as a last resort, just like this time.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/19/15 event date