A New Home

After four delightful nights at the Centennial RV Park in Montrose, Colorado, we needed to move a bit east today. We hopped back on US 50 and started up the hill toward Monarch Pass.  At 11,312 ft, this is strenuous but not fatal for Nessie. She made the climb just fine, and navigated the long downhill with the help of her "Jake Brake", a definite requirement for a coach this size towing a car.

We approached the summit trying to divide our sightseeing between the snow-capped mountains of the Rockies and the raging river along the road. Colorado has been receiving a tremendous amount of rain, and every one of the creeks, streams, and rivers is filled to overflowing.

Just east of the summit is the Arkansas River Headwaters Park. It's amazing to think of these mighty rivers in our country starting high in the mountains with a single small stream, and growing into what we saw today.

We dropped out of the foothills and took a good long look at the plains stretching as far as we could see.

We had elected to head southeast toward Pueblo, Colorado, simply because we had not seen that road, so today's trip took a bit longer than it should have if we had gone directly to Colorado Springs. Just as we turned north on I 25 we started seeing the beginnings of afternoon thunderstorms. The radio weather indicated that the storms and possible tornadoes were going to be far to the east (more on that later….)

At about 4 pm, we pulled into Goldfield RV Park in Colorado Springs and were met by a cordial gentleman who checked us into site 8. If you own an rv even slightly larger than a teardrop trailer, please look elsewhere for accommodations. We have been able to shoehorn our various rv's into some pretty small places, but this park is near the top (or bottom) or our "do not return" list. Not only does this park have absolutely no amenities (the wifi is snail-slow and the cable is almost unwatchable), but the sites are so close together that we can share a toothbrush with one neighbor and greet the other at breakfast.

Add to this mix a busy city street within a stones throw, no dog area, no grass, and placement in a residential neighborhood without sidewalks, and you have a sense of my frustration when we parked. A judicious bit of maneuvering got us placed reasonable well, and when we turned on the tv, most of the outside distractions disappeared.

There is one important redeeming item that this park possesses: it is one of the closest parks to Pikes' Peak, which is our reason for stopping in Colorado Springs. Ok, this is where we chat some more about those thunderstorms…..We pulled into the park in bright sunshine with hopes of seeing Pikes' Peak tomorrow. By 6 pm, we were in the middle of a huge red and yellow thunderstorm and the forecast had changed to rain and snow at higher elevations for the next four days! Doggone it! The roads to the Peak have not been completely cleared yet, neither the dirt racecourse road or the paved tourist road. The cog railroad is running, but with a forecast temp at the summit of about 33 deg, with a wind-chill in the teens, we may not indulge. Just buy the video….

Not to worry, though, we have a plan B, so we'll see what the weather does and "go with the flow".