Day: December 28, 2021

Aside from really strong winds, our drive out of Colorado was pretty uneventful. I actually appreciated the scenery of Kansas and Nebraska after the dust clouds and tumble weeds of eastern Colorado. We stopped at Hunter Cove Park in Republican City, NE for one night. It was in the middle of nowhere,  and off-season, so very quiet and uncrowded. It was nice to take a walk and unwind after a day on the road. The next day, we drove to Walnut Woods State Park in West Des Moines. It was also a nice, quiet place walk and rest.

We had reservations at Indiana dunes State Park, for the following 2 nights. We were watching the weather and they were getting torrential rain. The forcast looked terrible for the next 1 – 2 days, so we canceled our first night (losing about $25) and found a spot at Fisherman’s Corner near Moline, IL. It would allow us to make progress toward home, but still have decent weather. We were unable to tour the John Deer Museum because it was closed, due to the panndemic. We did have a great lunch in town and enjoyed walking and checking out the Mississippi River.

The weather forcast for Indiana Dunes was still terrible, so we booked a site at Starved Rock State Park, where the forcast looked good. It’s a beautiful park with many miles of hiking trails. We had a great day hiking and enjoyed the warm, sunny weather.  We forfeited two nights of camping fees, but in return, we avoided torrential rain, had 2 beautiful weather days and  discovered Starved Rock. It was a great way to wrap up our 38-day adventure.

On September 24, we arrived home, having traveled 4,760 miles. We absolutely loved our time in Colorado and it remains one of our favorite states. We had as much fun as we possibly could, getting there and returning home, discovering some very cool small towns and beautiful parks along the way.  The RV is put away for winter, until March, when we will head south for a spring trip. In the meantime, we plan to head to Maui to enjoy our other favorite place. Aloha!

Driving through Kansas

Creede

When we arrived in Creede, were were happy to see that we had chosen the best local RV campground. The Antlers is located away from the main highway on the Rio Grande River.  At check-in, we were advised to eat at the Antlers  restaurant because there are few places to eat in the area. We were also advised to buy supplies early, since almost everything closes at 5pm. Also, we should get gas right away, because the local gas station runs out of gas on busy weekends. The sites are very well cared for and have full hook-ups. All of the facilities are nice, including laundry, which we took advantage of. There is a lodge, cabins and restaurant with an outdoor deck and live music, where we had a fabulous dinner. We were fortunate to be there, as it was the last weekend the restaurant would be open, for the season.

We really enjoyed the town, where we had the opportunity to meet some of the locals, as well as a large group from Frankenmuth, MI, who were in town for a wedding. It’s a very small town with a handful of shops, restaurants and a hotel with only 4 guest roooms. We were told the town becomes nearly deserted in the winter. It is quite the bustling place during the daytime in summer, with many Texans owning summer homes in the area and people day-tripping from other towns. We met some wealthy ranchers from Texas at the Antlers restaurant. They told us they come to Creede to cool off in the summer. We toured the underground mining museum and checked out the annual, local car show, Cruisin’ the Canyon. It appeared that the event was the “last hurrah” for the season. We had some great mexican food at Kip’s Grille. Fortunately, the only place open on that fall evening was really good.

Colorado Springs

We stopped in Colorado Springs because it was on the way home and because a long-time customer of Dave’s told him to stop in at the local brewery, if we were in the area.  We managed to book a site at Cheyenne Mountain State Park for one night. The park is located roughly half-way up the mountain and overlooks Colorado Springs. The view is especially beautiful at night. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is located farther up the mountain. We were joking about how the military personnel were watching us with binoculars and checking out Slushie (like they have nothing better to do).

Bristol Brewing company is only 6 miles from the park. Since we were only staying one night, and we had a lot of driving ahead of us,  our only plan for the day was to meet up with Nikos and have a beer. Expecting to meet a friendly bartender at a typical brewery, we were quite blown away by the experience. Nikos is the director of marketing and advertising for a pretty large operation and he gave us the grand tour. Bristol purchased an old school to house their milling, brewing and bottling, as well as multiple tap rooms, restaurants, a coffee shop, distillery, outdoor space and more.  The former art teacher at the school helped decorate the place. The former principal’s office is now the administrative offices. In the old gym, a band was playing and people were dancing. People were playing cornhole outside. We had so much fun talking to Nikos, tasting some great beer, and seeing everything. We even had some excellent Detroit Style Pizza. It was a great final day in Colorado.

We really want to return and see more of Colorado Springs. We would actually go back, just to go to Bristol Brewing Company.