Going up to Cripple Creek

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Greetings from Royal Gorge, CO. It’s been an interesting couple of days.

Friday was an easy and uneventful day driving from Grand Junction to Canon City. US 50 is a better road than I thought it might be, and I got across the Continental Divide before the high winds began in Western Colorado.

It was a beautiful drive. Once I crested Monarch Pass, elevation 11,312 feet, I began to drive alongside the Arkansas River. Hard to fathom the headwaters of the Arkansas River (yes the one that runs through Arkansas) begin in the Colorado Rockies. I followed the river’s path with my atlas and realized I’ll be driving somewhat near it for quite a while. It runs along my route to Dodge City, then turns a little north going through Wichita, KS, before turning south an Arkansas City, KS. It then goes through Tulsa, Ft. Smith, and Little Rock and flows into the mighty Mississippi just north of Greenville, MS.

I’m staying at a campground just a few miles from the Royal Gorge Bridge. I went into Canon City last night and stumbled into a street festival on Main Street with a small car show.

The winds caught up to me during the night. I was awakened a couple of times with the wind rocking the RV. Saturday morning I had a good time at Royal Gorge. From there I took a fun drive up to Cripple Creek, CO. The town was a disappointment but the drive was a lot of fun. It was a LOT cooler in Cripple Creek at 9494 feet.

As I got back to the Royal Gorge area early in the afternoon and started downtown to attend a large car show it was so windy the visibility was reduced due to blowing sand. It was so bad I stopped and put the top up when I got into town. I met a lot of classic cars as I was driving into town. Even though the show ran until 5 pm, a lot of cars were leaving early due to the wind and blowing dust. I decided to forego the show and came back to the RV.

The Weather Channel says winds are 42 mph but I’m pretty sure the gusts at the campground are well over 50 mph.

I sure hope the winds die down a little before I get on the road Sunday or it will be a slow drive.

The upgrades to Taz are sweet. I’m really enjoying my performance modifications.

I have internet here, but it is quite slow so I’m not able to upload any images with this entry.

Tomorrow I’ll be “east bound and down, loaded up and trucking”.

Thanks for ‘traveling along’ with me on this fun journey. I’ll try and post a few images from Royal Gorge if I have time and a good internet connection on the way home.

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