Wyoming to Colorado

The trouble with delayed blog posts is memory. I am already starting to forget the details of our trip. I did keep notes in a little travel diary, which helps... some.

So the above pictures are from Wyoming or Colorado - thus the blog post title that was going to be "Colorado, Part I" became "Wyoming to Colorado", because I am pretty sure these are from Wyoming.




I have a ton of pictures from the road. I got very skilled at sliding the RV passenger side window open - fast - and then sticking my camera out the window to snap a shot. Yes, I had to delete hundreds of blurry photos, but I had 'some' keepers, too ;-)

The antelope photos are blurry, but they are the only ones I have, and they were so neat to see I wanted to share them here, also. (Confession: I actually had to google what these deer like creatures were.)




The landscaping changed when we entered Colorado. The welcome sign said: "Welcome to Colorful Colorado", and it really did become more colorful than the Wyoming scenery.




It was a subtle change, but we saw more vivid yellows, and even the blue sky seemed bluer.




More green, even though this was middle of October.




I also enjoyed driving through small towns, imaging what life is like in them (probably fairly similar to life in Small Town, East Coast, too, despite the different landscaping).




Gorgeous. So gorgeous.
(Did you spot the four-wheelers in one of the photos above? Fun!)




We really enjoyed every place we went to, but really loved the colors and scenery in Colorado.




All these photos were taken on 10/18. My notes from that day say:

Saturday 10/18:
- Trouble w generator, couch battery, maybe out of propane too, driving toward CO & Utah
- Beautiful Wyoming!
- Into Colorado
- Staying at Grand Junction KOA
(Showers, laundry, plug-in)



We got to Grand Junction in time to see the sunset and to do a lot of laundry. So good to plug-in and charge all our devices (including the camera battery:).

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Ajoimme Wyoming'in osavaltiosta Coloradoon. Kuten kuvista näkyy, kaunista oli matkan varrella, ja kuvia tuli otettua - asuntoauton ikkunasta:)

Wyoming

After Mount Rushmore we continued driving west. This was our family's first time in Wyoming (in South Dakota, as well). We wanted to do our driving in the daytime, so we could absorb the beautiful scenery in our travels.




We spotted Devils Tower pretty far away, and that was our Wyoming destination.




Most of my pics were taken from the moving Mothership:)

Still strikingly beautiful colors in October.




We got to Devils Tower National Monument late in the afternoon. There were so few people there. But. We spotted two climbers! Crazy!! Funny thing was we could totally hear them talking up there:)

Since I know you'll now wonder what they said, one thing was: "Am I almost there?" As he was not even half way up:)




The early evening light was so gorgeous at Devils Tower. We took a short hike up a little ways.

 

You could only go up a certain point without letting the park people know.



On our travels we were blessed with wonderful fall weather. Some really cold nights, but most days so perfect - not too cold, not too hot.




Prairie dogs in Wyoming, too!

As we pulled over to sleep (on the side of the road) in Wyoming, we were a bit in rough shape. The generator would not start. It had been acting up for a while now, but totally conked out on us. Which meant no coach electricity - other than a bit on battery.

Which meant no water, fridge turned off, no way to charge anything - since we were boondocking.

That was roughing it a bit.



We bundled up, still slept (pretty) well, and were able to continue driving in the morning.



We made a reservation at a campground in Grand Junction, Colorado, for the night, and an appointment at a generator place there, too. We knew we'd get coach power as soon as we'd plug in, and sure enough, that is what happened. Plus, at the generator service we found out while our generator did need servicing, the reason it conked out was the altitude! We were so high up.

But our stay in Colorado is another blog post:)

Beautiful Wyoming - we will be back some day - Yellowstone National Park is calling us!

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Wyoming'in osavaltiossa kävimme Devils Tower-kansallispuistossa. Hurja nimi, mahtava paikka! Muutenkin Wyoming oli kaunis. Joku päivä vielä menemme sinne uudestaan, Yellowstonen kansallispuisto odottaa meitä vielä. Meidän piti lähteä eteläänpäin, generaattori lakkasi toimimasta ja löysimme huoltopaikan Coloradosta. Yhden yön ja puoli päivää olimme ilman sähköä asuntoauton sisällä, mutta heti kun pääsimme leirintäalueelle Coloradossa, saimme sähköt päälle taas (jääkaapin myös).

Kävi muuten ilmi, että vika oli Wyoming'in korkeudessa! Generaattori tarvitsi huoltoa, mutta se lakkasi toimimasta, koska olimme niin korkealla!

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

From South Dakota Badlands we drove to Rapid City to see Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Again, we experienced a gorgeous sunset on the prairie as we drove on.




After shopping and boondocking at Sam's Club (with permission, of course), we drove to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore in the morning.

I didn't really know a whole lot about this monument before we went there, and were surprised to see the presidents' heads even before getting to the National park.




The shot that had to be taken.




After taking in the monument and watching a short video about Mount Rushmore, and the making of it, we walked the the Presidential Trail, and saw the monument from different sides. The trail was very easy, and definitely worth taking. The views were beautiful.



The Avenue of Flags.



After a wonderful morning at this National Park, we hopped back in the Mothership and continued driving west.



Coming up next: Wyoming!

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Ennen kuin lähdimme etelä-Dakotasta, kävimme katsomassa Mount Rushmore monumentin presidenttien päineen. Vau. Todella vaikuttava näky. Kannattaa katsoa noin 15 minuutin video, joka kertoo monumentin teosta, ja kävellä presidenttipolkua, josta näkymät ovat kauniit ja kauas. Helppo reitti.

Mount Rushmoresta jatkoimme matkaa länteen, seuraavaksi Wyomingin osavaltioon!