In the morning we are warned that there will be strong crosswinds so we have to be careful. It's a horrible drive as the wind hits the RV making it sound like it's falling apart but it's still very scenic as we drive through the canyonlands. James gets very scared when an oncoming driver flashes his lights at us and waves his arms around so we pull over, get put the ladder and make a precarious climb to the roof. Luckily nothing looks broken yet! We realise that we miscalculated the days that we had left before we needed to be in Denver, we have an extra day which means we have time to stop earlier than usual which is perfect as we want to get off the road! After driving through Canyonlands we find a park to stop in. It's the evening again and there's nothing nearby so it's another night in the RV for us.
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| Mexican Hat at the Canyonlands |
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| Doesn't look so windy here does it? |
It's another day of driving as we have to be as close to Denver as possible. The views are amazing as we drive past snowy Aspen and see lots of skiers. It may be scenic but the RV isn't happy with the steep snowy mountains! We stop in a town called Fairplay in the early afternoon and decide to explore as we're starting to get cabin fever. Walking around the corner we realise we are somewhere we've both heard of - South Park! The town seems pretty dead with all the shops shut and not many people about until we spot some tourists having their picture taken as the characters in South Park. We take their picture for them and ask them to return the favour with two of them filling in the gaps, heehee! We take some pictures of South Park and find a bar to relax in. It's nice to be out of the RV! We do go back to it to make dinner as we have lots of food left to get rid of. We have an Everything Chili and go to bed.
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| Aspen here we come... |
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| Where the beer flows like wine! |
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| Fake Kenny, real South Park |
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| South Park high street |
It snowed last night so it will take us longer to get to the RV drop off place. We take it slow and then all of a sudden the snow disappears and it's bright and sunny. We've lost count how many times we've gone from sun to snow to sun etc, we can't handle it! We drop the monster off and a nice man gives us a lift to the train station so we can get to the airport to pick up our next car. We wait for the route C train and while we wait we hear an angry man shouting into his phone "why did you lie to me?? That's a felony on your ass right there!!" After he goes another angry man turns up and beats up a bin, grrr! Maybe it was talking rubbish to him (hahhh!!). It's weird how everyone seems to be angry here, surely legal marijuana would have chilled them out?! We're waiting ages before we realise that the C train isn't running today, doh! We finally pick up the car and arrive at our next stop at 5pm. We're staying in a small van which isn't lit very well, the mattress looks comfy though. We speak to our hosts and learn that the guy is in a Pirate Metal band. We looked it up and it's exactly what it sounds like. We go to find dinner (at Sam's Diner, where Christine gets spat on by the adorable child on the next table), have a walk around and have a few beers in Illegal Pete's. There isn't much that we want to do in Denver!
We get dressed awkwardly, (we're already glad we didn't book more than 2 nights) and drive to Dinosaur Ridge. We stop for food where James has a deep fried sandwich (Monte cristo - delicious)...hmmm. Dinosaur Ridge is an area where there are loads of fossils and dinosaur evidence at a site where movement of the earth's crust has lifted the ground up at an angle. We join a group of elderly folk for a bus tour. The guide "takes us back in time" explaining how the area would have looked 150,000,000 years ago. Then it's the good bit as he points out dinosaur fossils, bulges (...in the ground made by their feet before you start thinking something else) and footprints on the dinosaur freeway. It was a great tour and well worth the $5!
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| Stegosaurus plate fossil |
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| Footprints on the 'dinosaur freeway' |
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| Dinosaur bulges, fossil footprints to you and me |
We stand on the Golden Fault which is where two tectonic plates meet and then drive to Red Rock Amphitheatre which is a massive open air music venue, it would be amazing to watch a band play but as usual for us it's out of season, sighhh. Looking at the rocks James points to a weird shaped hole and shouts "That looks like a human footprint...wearing a shoe!" ???? He's a fool!
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| Red Rock Amphitheatre. If only we could have seen a concert. It's probably the best reason to live in Denver! |
Stopping for a drink in a nice little town called Morrison (we're putting off going back to the cramped van) Christine gets asked a question by a big hairy biker "excuse me, do you know what makes the world go round?", "Erm, love?", "no, you're wrong, it's hugs! Can I have one please?" One hug and a menacingly comment of "I got 'cha, I got 'cha now!" later and the biker is very happy, James not so much!
Back at the van we dance to music from the "now is oxy modo" speaker.
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