Salt Lake City, UT

We had a great excuse to meet up with a good friend in the SLC area because our route back to Boise was taking us right through the city. We stopped for a few days and were able to get in two hikes, both of them fantastic, and had a full day to spend catching up with Jake. Thanks for hosting us, Jake! Our first hike was to Lake Blanche. The trail just recently cleared of snow and it was fairly busy. The hike was beautiful and the lake did not disappoint. Our second hike was to Grandeur peak which offers amazing views of the SLC valley and the surrounding mountains. It was nice to get back to the mountains and do some miles on the trails. Off to Boise!!!

Pony Express RV Resort, Salt Lake City, UT

A very nice RV park conveniently located in Salt Lake City just off the freeway. The easy access to I-215 makes it easy to get around the area. The sites in the park are mostly pull through. Each site has a concrete pad for parking with a small grass area with a picnic table. The park has multiple restrooms and showers located around the park, a clubhouse and a nice small pool area. The wifi worked decently and the staff was very nice during our check in. We rate this park a 4 out of 5 and will stay here again.

Laramie KOA, Laramie, WY

Convenient to I-80, but that comes with the expected road noise. The park is a mix of long term residents and short term campers. Our site was a pull through site on the edge of the park nearest the freeway. The freeway noise was significant. The roads and sites are gravel with a small grass area and picnic table between each site. The park has a small restroom and laundry service at the main building and a separate building that is a fitness room, TV room and recreation room. The wifi worked well, which was a bonus. We rate this park a 3 out of 5 and will stay here again when passing through the area.

Colorado Springs, CO

Colorado Springs, CO

After our exciting "adventure" in Denver, we were looking forward to getting on down the road to CO Springs. As the traffic thinned a bit, so did our stress. CO Springs is what Denver used to be before it got huge. It is beautiful and clean and the mountains are right out your back door. Of course it was raining and storming when we arrived (since that is all it has been doing since we left AZ) so we went to the movies. Yes, sometimes we do every day things like take in a movie. ;) The next day we were able to meet up for lunch with some friends from Boise who happened to be in town. Afterward we decided to drive up to Pike's Peak. It sits at 14,000+ feet and it can get cold. Of course the afternoon started out nice but by the time we got to the top, the clouds came in and it snowed....and snowed. We couldn't see a single thing but for the first time ever, Gary and I felt the altitude. It was a bit disconcerting. The next few days it continued to storm off and on so we tried to do things that were either inside or could be seen from the car. We were able to meet up with my brother for a drink and a chat. (Who knew we would see so many people in a town we've never been to?) We drove through Garden of the Gods and got out for a few pictures. We went to the Western Mining Museum which ended up being a very big hit with Gary. We enjoyed panning for gold and walking through a simulated mine shaft. The sightseeing highlight though was visiting the USA Olympic Training Center. We were so excited to be able to see where some of our athletes live and train. We found out they train 6-8 hours a day if they live there. It made me tired just thinking about it! We even got to see some of our athletes training for their various sports. So inspirational! Afterward, we hit the store to buy some merchandise and support our team. Our last day in town looked beautiful and clear so we decided to brave Pike's Peak again. We made it to the top and it was clear for miles on end. This time no altitude was felt and we got pictures upon pictures. :) It is called America's Mountain since Katherine Lee Bates was so inspired by the views she saw she wrote "America the Beautiful". I can see why she did. I am so glad we decided to try again. To top off that great day, we got to visit with 2 of my friends I have known since 2nd grade. It was a fun night catching up and a great ending to our time in CO Springs. We will definitely visit again!

Colorado Springs KOA, Fountain, CO

Great KOA conveniently located just off I-25 right outside of Colorado Springs. Most of the sites are pull through with a gravel park pad and a small grass area with picnic table between each site. The park has a great pool with a water park area and a game room to help keep the kids occupied. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Wifi worked well for us during our stay. We give this park a 4 out of 5 and would stay here again.

Denver, Colorado

We rolled into Denver and a major confrontation with the managers at the RV park that we reserved several months ago. They threw our check at Danelle and told us to leave. See the review under the Reviews link for all of the details. Avoid South Park Mobile Home and RV Community at all costs. We got on the phone and found a MUCH better park in Loveland for our stay. We started off seeing the Colorado Rockies for a day game. The Gilliam curse continues as the home team once again lost to the Cubs. We attempted to see the Denver Mint, but they give out all of their tickets for their tours very early in the morning and are closed 3 days each week. Since we were in Loveland and so close to the Rocky Mountain National Park, we drove up to see Estes Park and a little sightseeing in the park. We drove the Trail Ridge Road which crested at a little over 12,000 feet. The views were breathtaking and we cannot wait for our chance to hike the mountains this fall when we return to the area.

Riverview RV Park, Loveland, CO

Great park right along the Big Thompson River just outside of the main area of Loveland giving easy access to Rocky Mountain National Park just 30 minutes up the road. The park has a ton of trees and has a true camping vibe. It has a large portion of their sites for the short term campers set up along the river. These sites are all back in and go right to the edge of the river with a picnic table set up between the sites. The roads and sites are dirt and gravel and it can get dusty at times when there are several vehicles moving around. The staff was very friendly and accommodating for our changing plans. There were a lot of families with kids using the playground, volleyball and grass areas. Approximately half of the sites along the river give satellite reception, but most of the park will be blocked by the very large and mature trees. The wifi never worked well for us. We rate this park a 4 out of 5 and will stay here again when in the area.

South Park Mobile Home and RV Community, Denver, Colorado

I have never had a near altercation at a park with an employee before today. We pulled into this park, paid and drove to our site. The site had the water and sewer hook ups under the RV. Yes, under the RV. Once you pull in over the hookups, you get to climb under your RV to connect a hose and the sewer hose. Hopefully you have enough room between the hook up and the bottom of your rig, otherwise you are out of luck. While we were hooking up, the park manager stopped by for the second time during our parking and I asked him why the hookups were under the pad as that is horribly bad for RVers. He jumped in my face, poking his finger at my nose, telling me that he didn't like my attitude. I asked him with a "please" to not poke his finger in my face and he asked me if I wanted to try to assault him. LOL. I told him it was just a bad set up for a full size RV and he proceeded to lecture me about how he was doing me a favor by letting us stay at the park and that I could F off and leave. My wife and I went to the office to see if we could talk to someone more reasonable and he was waiting in the office with who we guess is his wife. She started in on us before the door closed that we had a bad attitude and that we should leave because they had no use for our bad attitude. My wife asked if we would get our money back and the office manager threw our check at her, gave us a few more F offs and told us not to ever come back. Deal! The park is seriously sketchy. They would have gotten a 1 star review even before the altercations. The park is mostly long term/full time residents that have super old park models, trailers, etc. with junk all over the place. They have cars parked randomly around the sites and along the streets making it nearly impossible to get to your site. I try not to be negative about the parks, but the managers here and the trashiness of the park in general make this one to avoid at all costs.

Scottsbluff, Nebraska

We picked Scottsbluff as our stop in Nebraska. The bluffs, which give the city their name, are also a National Monument as they acted as a key landmark for many pioneers on the Oregon and Mormon trails as they moved west. Danelle also has many relatives in the area that we were able to see during our stay. One of the many benefits of exploring this great country in an RV is the ability to stop at sites that are not as well known as others. One of those sites is Carhenge. A local man decided to recreate the iconic Stonehenge using cars. The attraction is located in Alliance, Nebraska and it gets up to 100,000 visitors each year. Nebraska is the last state that we cross off the list for this year. 46 of the lower 48 are now completed. Off to Colorado...