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Road Trip to the Rocky Mountains 2022

We did the lower loop of Yellowstone today, saw old faithful and drove by Yellowstone Lake. It was snowing a good part of the day. At the Lodge at Old Faithful It was cold, windy and both my daughter and I felt like we were at a ski lodge in NC, I was ready to strap on boots and skis and hit the slopes! The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is an awesome site to view.

Yellowstone is a place where everything is so different, from the 8500 ft mountain pass to the Yellowstone Lake to the geysers, wildlife and waterfalls. Truly a National Treasure.
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It is raining now, supposed to turn to snow tonight, 1-3 inches. Will probably have to buy camper propane before we leave, the furnace has been busy today and with a cold night the bottles will be low. I have unhooked water from the camper due to the below freezing forecast.

Off to SE Idaho tomorrow, hopefully we can get over the 7500' pass without issues.
 
We are within eye shot of the Utah border, 37 degrees out and a chance of rain today. We are planning on doing a day trip to Salt Lake City to see the sights and the Great Salt Lake. I want to see if we can stop by where the last spike was driven for the first rail line was completed.

Tomorrow we will go to a cave and walk thru it as well as see other sites. Bear Lake is called the Caribbean of the Mountains, and for good reason, it is a beautiful blue color.
 
I can't begin to tell you the excitement Lisa and I have with our impending trip out west and I keep showing Lisa the pictures and she's packing her heart out. She wants to begin this new chapter of our life as soon as we can, and I'm right there with her.

Don't take this time for granted with Lisa and your daughter. Savor every minute of it and use it to gain clarity in your life.

Most of all, ENJOY!
 
I waited way to long in life to do this trip and we are already thinking about the next one.

The camper and truck have so far performed very well. I was having a camper water pump issue but I just fixed it, took me 5 minutes. The water pump would cycle on and off after being used, there is a strainer filter in the pump. After turning the pump off and relieving system pressure I then unscrewed the housing, removed the strainer, cleaned it and reinstalled. Problem fixed.

The truck to this point has only needed a servicing that I had planned to do, no other issues 3000 miles in. The Camper has had a few loose screws here and there and the refrigerator shelf came loose from the door, all have been fixed. , We also needed a propane refill and some replacement bumpers for the rear rack, they were worn out.

So far this trip has not been easy on either rig, from 100 degree weather to freezing temps, heavy crosswinds and headwinds, Eastern and Western mountain grades, poor quality paved roads, city traffic, gravel and dirt washboard roads, heavy rain and mountain snow. We have never used the furnace this much and our electric fireplace has been on constantly. Hopefully most of the "rough" roads are behind us. We may have rough roads in Western Kansas on our way to another stop. Past Kansas we will be on US Highways and Interstates all the way home except for the planned stops.

After this stop we will start our Eastbound run, Fort Collins KOA is our next stop in a couple of days. There we will do laundry and resupply as needed. The truck will be put to the test of I-80 and I-25 grades. It will also travel to 12,000 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park without the trailer.
 
So go ahead and flame me for this but I do not like Colorado.

We arrived 2 days ago, was an easy but long drive across Wyoming. If you are out this way there are very few services on I-80 from Laramie West so get fuel when you need it and see it and stop for food when you can.. We did see the Wyoming State Patrol getting ready to use spike strips on somebody.

We got to the KOA Lakeside with no issues. The site is typical KOA, smaller and over priced. We did Laundry and settled in for the evening.

Yesterday we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive is easy from Ft. Collins. We drove to Bear Lake and did a short hike around the lake and did a second hike.
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We had heard the Trail Ridge Rd. was closed due to snow and a boulder but while we were on the part of the road that was open they were able to open the road. The boulder was still there but they set up portable stop lights to single track around it.
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Trail Ridge Road is the name for the 48-mile (77 km) stretch of U.S. Highway 34 that traverses Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park, Colorado in the east to Grand Lake, Colorado in the west. Together with the connecting 6.9-mile (11 km) Beaver Meadow Road (U.S. Highway 36), Trail Ridge Road forms the 55-mile (89 km) Trail Ridge Road/Beaver Meadow National Scenic Byway, an All-American Road. With a high point at 12,183 feet (3,713 m) elevation, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in North America. The higher portion of Trail Ridge Road is closed from October to May.

We drove up the road, very beautiful to the summit. It is a little stressful driving it sitting on the edge of cliffs, snowing, lightning and steep grades.

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So why do I not like Colorado... We drove down the Western side of the mountain and we made the decision not to go back that road. We made our way to US-40 to head back over another pass. The mountain areas are very touristy and the area is getting very built up. The roads are rough. We made our way up another 11,700 ft pass on US-40 and came down to I-70. IMO people were running way too fast up and down the mountains, but I live close to sea level. We got on East I-70 following very confusing signs and kept going down the mountains. The Interstate is rough, steep and a lot of traffic. I have driven highways on he East Coast from the NE to South Florida including the DC area and I have never felt so uneasy with road conditions, speed and traffic. We got down into Denver area and came to a stop, traffic jams. We were in back ups all the way back up I-76 to I-25 to Ft Collins. Road construction is everywhere, highways are rough and traffic is heavy. We got back into Ft. Collins, back to the KOA. What a day. We have decided to skip the park today and go back tomorrow. I guess I have gotten use to the open space of the West that Salt Lake and Denver / I-25 corridor doesn't have.

I-70... I will not take my rig up that road in the future. It is a very long grade, as in MILES and MILES, and heavy traffic. I-80 was perfect for getting around the pass and Wyoming is beautiful. I do not see stressing equipment on hills like that if there are ways around it.

Today we need to find a grocery store and will look around the Ft Collins area.
 
Majestic views, thanx for the pics! Remember, Colorado is a lefty state, so they're roads are not being maintained.
 
cheveslakr said:
Majestic views, thanx for the pics! Remember, Colorado is a lefty state, so they're roads are not being maintained.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you can see it is lefty, another reason I am not fond of it. I have decided to change my route to our next stop to get away from the traffic. on I-25 and avoid Denver, heading directly East out of Ft. Collins then South.
 
I-25 close to Denver is terrible anyways. I took the toll road around once, that was good.
 
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