Driving the Red Roads

What is that? No pictures!? What was I thinking?
We've been driving the "Red Roads" for the past two days. We headed out of Buena Vista, Colorado on Friday morning to beat the bikes. No... not motorcycles, a bicycle tour was going to be coming through town. We decided playing pinball with the fiver and the bikes might not be a good plan for summer vacation, so we beat them out of town! We drove North on the "Red Road" up to Leadville and over Freemont Pass to a "Blue Road". You see, Red Roads are U.S. and State highways... usually two laners. Those Blue Roads are Interstate Highways. We prefer Red Roads. We have always found easy places to fuel up and are able to enjoy the scenery of small town America. The Blue Road on Friday was I-70 west of Denver... a road that makes me nervous. The truck and professional driver did just fine! But none the less, I was relieved to be off that stretch. Onto another Blue Road I-76, to Sterling, Colorado for the night. As we pulled up to the Gate Station, out of the mountains and into the flatlands, the heat was evident.

"We'd like a vehicle pass and a site with electricity please," said Chris.

The attendant replied, "Do you have reservations?"

To which we said, "No!"

"Well..., " she said, "we have 1 site available."

"We'll take it!" .... it was 2:30 in the afternoon!

Apparently North Sterling State Park is a popular weekend destination for boaters of all kinds! We hooked up to our electrical site and before we could sit down, Caleb was suited up to hit the beach! We walked up a trail around the reservoir to the swimming beach. The mosquitoes were looking for a feast, but I disguised myself as a beach towel. The dark afternoon thunderstorms were moving in, so we tried to find a short-cut back to the 5er. With a bit of a jog, we beat the storm.
Saturday morning we left early for our 13 mile drive back to the Blue Road in town to fuel up and hit the road. We stayed on the Blue Road until we reached North Platte, Nebraska and then we hit the Red Roads for the remainder of our day. Well, almost. We had tentatively planned to stop for the night in Nebraska, but the day was young and we kept driving. Ahhhhh ... South Dakota. Laundry was on the agenda for the evening so we stopped at a KOA.
Tomorrow we will spend a bit of time on the Blue Road just to get to our next Red Road. Our plan? We are aiming for Aberdeen, South Dakota for none other than Wylie Park. How cool is that?

Buena Vista, Colorado

We left Durango and headed through Pagosa Springs, up and over Wolf Creek Pass, to Buena Vista, Colorado.
Our annual mini-golf competition was hot. Caleb won the round by 4 strokes!
We dined at Quincy's steakhouse in Buena Vista for some filet mignon... three steak dinners for $30.... and Caleb claims that it's better than dad's. Then the dogs needed some R & R at Turquoise Lake in Leadville. They don't understand why they can't swim in the Arkansas River! Leadville is the highest town in elevation in the United States. There are plenty of high elevation thirsty skeeters there as well, so Caleb and I high-tailed to the truck!
This morning we layered up for the 1/2 day river trip on the Arkansas River with Wilderness Aware. The Arkansas Headwaters are the #2 rated river for rafting in Colorado, and we are at peak flow of 2350 cubic feet per second! Wilderness Aware is a top-notch company that I highly recommend. With an overcast morning sky, we paddled our way through some raging class 3 and 4 rapids! Caleb sat in the back with the guide to help navigate our way 10 miles down river. He wore a wetsuit and was soaked with the 45 degree water! But he's a pro and paddled better than some of the adults on the trip.
Friday morning we travel again, to Northeastern Colorado...

Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Our day started early with the 8:15 AM departure on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad! We were in an open gondola car, equipped with sunglasses luckily! The sun was shining brightly through the steam and smoke put out by the locomotive and we were quickly removing layers of clothing. We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day... Silverton, home of only 14 frost-free nights, showed us 70 degree sunshine! Departing from Durango, we took the train up to Silverton and took the bus back for the return trip. Not only did the bus give us a tour of the Million Dollar Highway, but it shaved two hours off the time for our return trip.
The train stops a few times along the way to take on water from the Animas River, each time taking on about 400 gallons!

Approaching Silverton the mountains beckon you to venture further into the wilderness... as the steam engine stops just short of downtown.
A step back in time on the steam powered locomotive ... a day well spent.
(Note to readers... technical difficulties! The new EnV3 phone is not cooperating to tether for internet, campground wi-fi is weak, and Picasa is giving me fits!....)

Tomorrow is a travel day ... towards Buena Vista,Colorado.