Road Trip 2018

This was a quick overnight stay at a Nebraska State Recreation Area. The camping fee was minor (cash envelopes only, no staff). I drove for nearly 12 hours on the first day to get as far as I could. I met a nice couple ending a grand trailer tour after their retirement.

Frisco and Breckenridge are most known for ski resorts, but there is also an extensive paved bike path system. I stayed at the Prospector Campground on the far side of the reservoir for two nights and enjoyed the mountains on two wheels. 

Staying at the National Park Campground for three nights, I explored the ruins of the Ancestral Puebloan people and satisfied a childhood dream: to see these miracles of architecture from long ago. I enjoyed a guided tour at Wetherill Mesa first, and then the more popular tour on Chapin Mesa of Balcony House. 

Opting to view the Grand Canyon from the quieter, less busy north side, I drove from Mesa Verde along US89A through page and along the Vermillion Cliffs. This drive was a highlight of the trip and totally unexpected. The North Rim had perhaps the best campsites of all the places I stayed. (Pictured right.) 

While at the Canyon, I couldn't go on a bike ride I had planned because of a fire on the Cape Royal Road, but I took incredible hikes to Widforss Point and down the Kaibab Trail to the Supai Tunnel. Climbing back up was just as hard as they said it would be. 

I didn't really know Zion was as close to my route as I had planned, so I detoured and traveled the Mt. Carmel Highway on a whim. The park was so busy that I couldn't find parking, and so I didn't stay long--but the drive was spectacular and now I desperately want to return!

I stayed for two nights at Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef National Park. A less known park, it is named for its enormous reef-like shelf of red rock that rises out of the desert. I biked the scenic drive and hiked along into the water pocket fold. This part of the trip really stole my heart away.

On my way to Rocky Mountain, I stopped at the Colorado National Monument for one night. I heard that the scenic drive here was a cyclist's dream. It was amazing indeed--despite my relative lack of strength and physical ability. I chugged along at 8mph but loved every minute of it. The campground had the most amazing view, and I also realized that pitching a tent on the side of a mountain can lead to blown-in tents in the middle of the night.

After being in mostly desolate places, I crossed upper Colorado on dirt roads and back highways to go to Granby, CO. Entering the park on the West side, I drove across the Trail Ridge Road, up through the highest peaks of the mountains. It was cold and foggy, and I discovered a bit to late that I was indeed quite afraid of heights whilst in a motor vehicle. I stayed at the Glacier Basin Campground for one night, and took a stroll around Bear Lake--which seemed to be everybody's idea of a nice afternoon. After being out in the middle of nowhere for so long, Rocky Mountain felt like a crowded return to society, and a bit disorienting. The incredible alpine lakes, though, seemed indifferent to how many people took selfies in front of them, and for that I was grateful.

After Rocky Mountain, I hit the road and returned again via I-70 through Nebraska. I ran into a catastrophic rainstorm while listening to Obama's first book, and even his calm intellectual voice couldn't calm my nerves when I ran into a semi-truck induced pile up. I stopped for the night at a KOA and got a cabin. It rained for the next 24 hours--maybe even the next week, but I returned home safe and sound.