September 27th, 2025
GAS: in CO ranged from $2.89 $3.49
We left the rest area south of Cheyenne, WY, early today – 6:30 am in order to make it to Rocky Mountain National Park before 9. There is a timed entry system in place from 9 to 2 everyday and although we got online right at 7 pm last night when today’s entries are posted, we did not make it. However, if you go in before or after those times, you can get in no problem.
To reach the town of Estes Park, we drove through the Big Thompson Canyon which was quite a beautiful, albeit slow, curving drive:
We pulled in to Estes Park around 8 and these fellows were causing a traffic jam:
We went straight to the Estes Visitor’s Centre by 8, found one of 5 RV parking spots (3 were already filled!), unhitched the trailer, grabbed some drinks and snacks for the trip without the trailer. We pulled into Mickey Dee’s for some drive thru breakfast next and headed to the park.
Traffic was slow through town to the park entrance and continued to be slow for quite a while – just a big line of cars on the only road into the park all getting in before the time entries start. We weren’t the only ones with this idea it would seem and it’s a beautiful day as well as a Saturday.
It was an absolutely picture perfect day weather wise; not a cloud in the sky and although it started out colder and got colder the higher you went, the sun was warm and just made everything that much more spectacular. As we really only had the morning to visit, we did not plan to do the entire Trail Ridge Road nor did we plan to hike at this altitude! The highest point on the road is at 3713 m / 12, 183’ and when we did get out of the truck, you could sure feel the thin air!
The views were majestic – here are a few videos and shots.
We only drove on by the Lava Cliffs viewpoint due to lack of space:
So the first stop heading up was at Medicine Bow Curve – just past the Alpine Visitor’s Centre which we passed on as there was a big line up to get INTO the parking lot.
We went as far as the Fairview Curve Lookout (so about halfway) and turned around as it was all downhill after that point down to Granby Lake. We stopped at most of the lookouts on the way back, figuring the traffic would be less and parking spots might actually be open then.
This was the view at Fairview Curve where we turned around:
We didn’t stop at Rainbow Curve as the sun was in the wrong direction for photos. Views after that:
We did pull over at Many Parks Curve and walked the little boardwalk between parking lots for these views:
Then we returned to Estes Park Visitor’s Centre on a different road past Sheep Lakes:
The trailer was safe and sound where we left it, Doug hitched up, we had to air up the trailer tires a bit and then we left the lot (we’d meaning to do this for a few days). This turned into another traffic jam as we had to go left out of the lot onto a busy road with no centre lane and make the first left again. This took a while and the first part of the drive out of town was another follow the leader type drive but it eventually thinned out and we continued on the CO HWY 36 into Boulder stopping once for gas.
As mentioned in the last post, Doug signed up for the Boulderthon half marathon since the full marathon was sold out so we drove into the city skirting downtown and parked at the Best Buy which has a huge back parking area. We walked the 2.4 km / 1.5 miles downtown, Doug picked up his bib, shirt and free beer and we wandered the expo a bit before walking back.
The weather was pleasant and no too cool for a late September day in the mountains.
It was nearly 3pm and we reach out to Barnaby to let him know we were close by. We arrived at their house and parked along the front of the house.
We sat and chatted with him and their son, Cope, for a bit, then his wife, Tsugumi, arrived. It was nice to catch up. Barnaby had plans for the night already so he left around 5 and Tsugumi made us a nice Thai dinner before we went into the trailer to watch a show before bed. Their elder child, a daughter named Portia, was not home that evening.
Tsugumi always gets up very early and she offered to drive Doug to the start line of the race. They left at six for the seven o’clock start. Fran showered and waited for Doug to return to do a load of laundry and Tsugumi went off to play tennis – she plays almost every day!
Portia was home for about a half hour while both Doug and Tsugumi were out and she chatted with her dad and Fran for about a half hour before she had to go to her part time job. She’s a senior this year and getting ready to apply to colleges.
The race went well for Doug and he was surprised how there was virtually no hills – just one overpass to climb. He got a nice medal and a tied die pink/blue long sleeved shirt. He walked back to the house after the race on his own.
Fran got laundry done when Doug came back. Tsugumi made us a delicious lunch called “Singapore Soup” and we were left to continue on our way. As it was already after 2 pm, we only went 60 km / 40 mi, as far as El Rancho, shortly after getting on the I-70 and called it a day. If we went further west, it would just get higher and be pretty cold over night. As it is, here in El Ranch at the Walmart, we’re at 2194 m / 7200’ and it will drop to 7C / 45 F tonight. We stocked up on groceries and chilled.
It was a cool morning on Monday and we decided we needed to get much lower tonight; it was over 300 km / 200 miles to Grand Junction before the Utah state line but it meant crossing the continental divide at 3400 m / 11, 183’ before we begin to get lower; even at Vail the elevation is over 2500 m / 8200’. We left around 8:15 am and stopped for petrol in Frisco before continuing west. Barnaby had told us about a Costco in a small place called Gypsum and we thought we would fill our propane bottle there. Since we were there, we went into the store and did some shopping afterward. Back on the east side of Denver a couple of weeks ago, we’d paid well over $4 a gallon and here at Costco it was $2.86. We seem to need to fill our propane about every three weeks (especially boon-docking as then the fridge is on propane – we do not have the ability to power it from the solar). We had a quick cheap lunch of a hot dog and a drink (still $1.50 after more than 15 years!) and continued west. The I-70 is a pretty scenic drive (unlike most interstates) and we didn’t mind driving as far as we did and as it was all interstate driving, it was relatively easy.
There were plenty of trees changing into their fall colours:
Here are some views along the I70 west bound from Boulder to Grand Junction:
We pulled into Grand Junction around 2:30, filled the gas tank again (as the price is higher in Utah) and Doug found a place for us to overnight; this time a Sam’s Club, not a Walmart. The sun was still shining and here at only 1388 m / 4555’ it was much warmer. The store Wi-Fi did not reach us but the cell reception was excellent.
Today we passed through six tunnels.
When Fran saw the dermatologist last week, she gave her a cream to use on her face for 3-5 days as there was a small precancerous spot she was concerned about. This morning she began to use it. It needs to be done twice a day and it will turn your skin quite red, so she wanted to wait until after we saw our friends in Boulder. Time will tell….. Her knees are still doing great and everyday she feels very grateful. As for her back, until she can get the other two prescriptions delivered (need an address), she’ll have to wait to see how that goes.
We left Grand Junction around 8:15 am and stopped in nearby Fruita at the Colorado Welcome Centre to take advantage of the free dump site with potable water before continuing west along the I-70 to Utah – destination: Moab for a few days.
At 8am Fran got online and got us a permit to do the White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park tomorrow – hurrah! Off to Moab we go!
If you are interested in all the photos we took, check them out RIGHT HERE.
