Colorado & Wyoming

Our last stop in Moab, UT was a decision point for us. We originally planned to make our way to South Dakota, our new state of residence, but we started to doubt the wisdom of moving further north this early. We were either going to stick with this plan or head a little south and go across southern Colorado and into Kansas and points east from there. After weighing our options, we decided to stick with the original plan and take our chances on the weather. The decision has had mixed results.

Relaxing at Silt Colorado KOA

Our first stop was a KOA campground on the Colorado River in Silt, CO, just off I-70. Upon arrival, we got talked into upgrading our site to one of their premiums sites that backup to the river and have lots of extra add-ons (someone recently told me that KOA stands for Keep On Adding). The covered table, fire-ring with Adirondack chairs, and the gas grill were nice and we took full advantage of them. This isn’t the first time we camped on the banks of the Colorado River. The first time was back in early March and was over 800 miles southwest on the Arizona-California border. We spent 4 nights here and did absolutely nothing worth writing about.

Well, we did have one noteworthy event while here. We decided to take a walk one evening and shortly into our walk, we see a 5th wheel RV all painted up in the corporate logo of Harvest Hosts. If you’ve been following our blog, you may remember that we are members of Harvest Hosts and had our first experience with it at the end of March. We stayed at a winery on the southeast side of Phoenix. Anyway, we knew that the folks sitting by the fire-ring outside this RV must be affiliated with Harvest Hosts so we walked up to them and asked, “Are you guys affiliated with Harvest Hosts?”. The response was “Yes, I own the company”. Joel Holland (owner and CEO) and his wife Mary Ashley were very nice and we chatted with them for a few minutes. Joel gave us a some sunglasses and a sticker and Mary Ashley took our picture with Joel. Hey, in the RVing community this was like meeting celebrities.

Chilly Days in Rawlins, WY

We left Silt, CO and headed straight north to Wyoming. We hit our first real construction since being on the road during this leg of our journey. For about 5 miles, Colorado Route 13 was torn up and a single lane for a couple of stretches. We were a bit concerned that things would have rattled loose but when we settled in at Western Hills Campground in Rawlins, WY, things looked pretty normal. We originally only planned to stay for two nights but ended up adding a night to give the cold weather and the snow (that’s right, snow) a chance to move through. This campground is another one of those locations that make a great one night stopover but shouldn’t be used for extended stays. Amy was able to get caught up on the laundry while we sat still and tried to keep warm.

Chalk Bluffs Campground – BLM

Our second stop in Wyoming has turned out to be quite a gem. This is a small BLM (Bureau of Land Management) campground with 11 sites located on the shores of the North Platte River. In order to get to the campground, we had to drive 3.5 miles down a dirt road off of highway 220 about 20 miles southwest of Casper, WY. The road in is a bit bumpy and washboard in places but all in all the construction on Colorado 13 was worse. Our first order of business was picking our site as all of them were available to us. We chose one in the middle of the campground for its size and it appeared to have better cell reception then the one on the river bank. We think we made a wise choice because the only traffic in this place is fishermen coming to launch their boats and spend part of the day and all that traffic is along the river bank. Being off the bank has kept that traffic away from us so that has been nice. After we set up, we drove into Casper to get our mail from the post office. Amy picked up some yarn from a local Hobby Lobby and then we stopped at Frontier Brewing to sample their craft beers. This was the second self-serving tasting room we’ve experienced. You pour your own beers and are charged by the ounce.

On our first morning here in the middle of nowhere, just as we were finishing up breakfast, there was a knock on the door. Amy had just entered the bathroom so Dan answered the door assuming it was someone from the BLM office because, who else could it be. The gentleman’s first words were “I bet you come out here to get away from people for some peace and quiet.” To which Dan replies, “Yup” to which the guy follows up with “I’m with Jehovah’s Witnesses…”. Dan was polite but sent him and his 3 friends on their way as quickly as possible. This is the very first time we have camped where we were absolutely alone and this is the only time we’ve ever had a stranger knock on our door. Wyoming is second only to Alaska in population density at 6 people per square mile. I guess when people are that scarce, you cannot leave any opportunity untried. For perspective, Wyoming is twice the size of New York and Monroe County has twice as many people as the state of Wyoming.

On Monday, we had an appointment to get the oil changed in the truck. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a diner breakfast and then Amy found a place to get her hair cut. On Tuesday, we took the bikes to the edge of Casper to ride the North Platte River Trails system. We spent the middle portion of the day enjoying the gorgeous 80 degree weather and the sights along the river trail. All and all, we covered 20 miles and had a great time. Other than the appointments and the bike ride, our time in the peaceful little campground has been spent sitting outside relaxing and just enjoying life.