Rocky Mountain High

We got on the road yesterday as Jimmy mentioned after our Wal-Mart stop and tutorial on how to "dump". What Jimmy forgot to mention about the dumping was how we learned to NOT pull the hose out right away. You see, its like a snake hose that connects from the RV to the hole in the ground. There is a stopper that secures the hose into the ground. When you are getting the rest of the stuff in the hose through after you've flushed it out, you need to hold down that stopper with your foot. I didn't realize this so I just lifted the hose up without securing the stopper. Lets just say that my flip flop wearing foot got a little bath that totally grossed me out. It was just water we had dumped down the sink, but still....I knew what ran through that hose before the sink water. A quick rinse of the foot and I was taking this leg from Colby, KS to Breckenridge, CO.

It was a 50 mile drive from where we were in Kansas to the Colorado border. When you enter Colorado their state sign is a huge wooden one that says "Welcome to Colorful Colorado":


I was curious if the entrance through Kansas would be any more colorful than the one through Nebraska. That's the route I had traveled with Tina as I mentioned in another blog I made. I remembered getting to the state line and thinking THIS is Colorado? It looks just like the rest of flat Nebraska that Tina and I had been driving through. Crossing from Kansas into Colorado was much the same. Colorado looked just like the farmy part of Kansas. Of course its not until you get close to Denver that you can really see the Rockies, especially yesterday since it was pretty hazy in the distance.

The drive through the mountains was stunning. The RV hugged each twist and turn as we continued to enter one beautiful scene after another as we blasted John Denver's Rocky Mountain High. It seemed fitting:


The RV chugged slowly in the right lane up some steep grades. The pedal was to the metal and we even kicked it into overdrive a few times which helped. I ended up driving all but the last 40 minutes of the drive. When we stopped to fuel up we decided to switch drivers. Jimmy brought us into Breckenridge and I checked out the scenery while he was in the office checking in. Its amazing that you can look in any direction here and see real life Bob Ross painting's. Happy little trees, fluffy clouds, snow capped mountains, just breath taking. And speaking of breath, the air just feels so clean and fresh here even if it is thinner than what we are used to at an elevation of 9,603ft. Jersey City rests at 20ft above sea level, I believe. We both love living in Jersey City but standing in the middle of the mountains breathing its fresh crisp air did make us question exactly what we're doing there in its sometimes smelly and definitely more polluted air.

The Tiger Run RV Resort already seems like a 4-5 star resort compared to every other place we've stayed at. In spot #299, we've got our own landscaping and our own trees!

Its the little things that make us feel more at home. Of all of the other rigs in this lot, we're definitely 'that' house on the block. I say that because most of our neighbors are traveling in top of the line 40 foot legit motorhomes. They are like the rigs that rock stars travel in during tour. They've got TVs in them the size of our flat screen at home as well as multiple slide outs, cherry cabinets, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances...the works! I'm hoping to make friends with someone who owns one of these as I'd LOVE a tour:

Though that could be dangerous considering I'm already ready to buy our own RV and hit the road for at least 6 months.

There is a free shuttle that runs every hour form our resort to the center of Breckenridge so we planned a night out on the town for last night. We were so excited to be able to leave our RV hooked up with our pets resting comfortably inside while we went out on our first date night from the road! We got into town and went to the Breckenridge Brewery for dinner. A little side note - this is actually my 3rd time in Breckenridge. Tina and I stopped here to visit our friends Frank and Jen when we traveled cross country to move her to San Francisco. As Jimmy mentioned, we got engaged here too which was my second time. This makes my 3rd. All three visits have landed me at the Breckenridge Brewery because they have great food and beer. We definitely wanted to toast how far we've come with a pint so we asked about their special seasonal. I heard Agave Wheat and didn't need to hear another word, that's what I wanted. Jimmy went with an Avalanche Ale. We clanked glasses......

....said "Cheers" and enjoyed our beers along with a really nice meal. It was a little after 10 when we were finished and since it was Sunday all of the little shops were closed. We took our time walking back to the shuttle station in the evening briskness (it was a low of 42!! Brrr - No AC needed last night!) and caught the 11pm free shuttle which dropped us off in front of the entrance of Tiger Run. Its a ten minute walk back to our little site #299. On the way back, we talked about our curiosity of how Daisy would be since she does have a little separation anxiety. When we walked up to the window of the front of the cab, she was passed out in the passenger seat. We tapped the glass and she sprang up, excited to see us. We were exhausted and all called it a night before midnight, I think.

This morning, I slept in until 11am, ahh! Much needed since we've been having a lot of early mornings and late nights on this trip. I sprang up thinking, wow, Daisy MUST need to go out. But when I popped my head up from the bed, I saw her passed out and curled up on the couch. She usually sleeps in bed with us, but she's become independent lately at night by doing her own thing. I got her leashed up and we took a little stroll. We're right next to a little trail along the river so we walked up it a bit. I decided to turn around and come back to grab Jimmy so we could test something out together. Daisy has never been swimming in water besides the bath tub. We've always been curious to test it out and this shallow babbling brook/river-like in parts would be a great test. The water was cold so we'd have to watch how long she was in it if she liked it. We walked all of the way down the path until the bank wasn't as steep and encouraged her to check it out. It took all of 2 minutes before she was galloping through the water and batting at it.......
....We only brought her regular leash with us for the walk, but had we brought the retractable, she would have loved prancing back and forth. We both agreed that if she was completely off leash she would definitely swim down the river away from us. I'm hoping we'll get to take her to a lake soon so we really can let her swim. Those webbed paws are a part of her for a reason, I guess!

We're back in the RV straightening up a bit. You wouldn't believe how messy it'll get in here over time. Its a small space so we always try to put things back when we're done using them. I imagine we'll shower soon and then head into town early to do some shopping. We'll grab dinner out in town too and enjoy our last evening in this cute little mountain town. Tomorrow, our travels will bring us to Moab, Utah!

The link for the pictures are here.....updated today! Newest photos start at #80...
~*Jennie*~