May 14 to May 16

It was a nice quiet night at Snowy Peaks and we got a fairly early start Thursday morning. It wasn't long before we were well on our way on Route 24 towards Colorado Springs. Charlie figured we were going more down than up, and we didn't feel any wind, so it was easy driving at 65 mph or more. We got to a pass that didn't seem very high, and we stopped at a U.S. Forest Service Visitors Center there, but it wasn't open for the season yet. We could see the snow covered mountains way off to the west and north, and the wind was steady and hard, pushing from the west. It was also pretty cold, but there was no snow. Charlie got back in the RV to check the GPS, and found that we had gone up to 9,500 feet. We could see Pikes Peak way off to the east, and it was covered with snow. We drove on and visited the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. It has some petrified redwood tree stumps that are huge. We could see Pikes Peak very clearly from there. Charlie talked to a park ranger in the visitors center who had moved his family from Chicago. He said it took them 3 months to get used to the 8,000 foot altitude here. He also said that his mother couldn't take the altitude so they either visit back in Chicago or she only comes as close as Denver. At times Charlie said he could really feel the lack of oxygen, it mainly happened right after he ate. I felt momentary dizziness when I exerted myself, which was not too often! On Friday, we took the cog rail to the top of Pikes Peak. The total trip was three and a quarter hours. It would have been cheaper to rent a car for the day and we could have taken Toby, but if both of us had been bothered by the altitude (which we were) it could mean trouble. I think the cog rail was more fun anyway. Charlie called the rail company ahead of time and they said they have Security checking the parking lot set aside for RVs. Altogether it cost $63. There is not much I can say about the trip except that it was a thrill. We were both dizzy, but it didn't stop us from taking advantage of the hour we had at the summit. It just slowed us down a little, walking slow made us less dizzy. I was too excited to realize that at first... We had a great time and took loads of pictures. On the way down from the summit we saw a marmot. It is different from the marmots in Yellowstone. Much bigger and has a tail like a beaver. He moved too fast for a picture though. We were on the first trip of the day, so we were back to the RV a little after noon. It seemed to be over with so quick. But the high altitude did wear us out, so we went back to the same campground we had stayed in the night before; the Diamond Campgrounds and RV Park in Woodland Park. It was a big place and wooded, so Toby and I walked all over and had a good time. Today, Saturday, we drove through the Pike National Forest and on for most of the day. Tonight we are staying at the Riverview RV Park and Campground just west of Loveland Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park. We got a little side tracked on the way here and drove along Route 67 for about 10 miles until it turned into a dirt road. I loved it because the road followed the South Platte River the whole way and we saw many fly fisherman in the river. There were signs posted indicating that this was where the Wigwam and Scraggy Clubs fish and the rules were posted. They included the limitation of 2 trout with a 16 inch minimum. Many of the fisherman were camping and some had their families and dogs with them. When we got on the correct route (285) we drove through miles of hills with burned pine trees and huge rocks. Then we drove through the outskirts of Denver, a very busy interstate. We encountered one of the few traffic jams of the trip. I thought of my friends at ULA, but we did not go anywhere near Littleton.