Retired and Trippin

Weather when we left Salida, CO this morning at 8:45AM was sunny and 59 degrees. Another beautiful day! From Salida we drove west on Hwy 50 to Poncha Springs, turned south on Hwy 285. North of Monte Vista we we turned west on 112, which took us to Del Norte and Hwy 160 westbound. At South Fork we took a break at the visitor center before continuing west on 160 headed to Wolf Creek Pass. The drive up to, over and down from Wolf Creek Pass was beautiful though there was a lot of beetle kill in the pine trees. We stopped at a pretty scenic overlook on the down side. And then we stopped at Treasure Falls which was 15 miles east of Pagosa Springs. It wasn't much of a treasure today with just a trickle coming over the top. There were some interesting fuzzy trees there too. In Pagosa Springs we stopped at Mountain Pizza and Taproom for lunch, where we enjoyed some LARRAPIN good pizza and salads. The men's bathroom had an interesting urinal made from a beer keg. After lunch we continue...

Mt Evans, which has the highest paved road in North America, was first on our agenda today. We left our hotel in Idaho Springs, CO at 8:00AM under sunny skies with a temperature of 54. Hwy 103 took us south and west to the point where we start up Mt Evans. Tops went down on the convertibles for the trip to the top. Hwy 5 took us to the summit, where it was 51 degrees. On the way up we stopped at Summit Lake for a little walking and picture taking. It was hazy/smokey at the top, as you can see from photos. The Rocky Mountains looked like the Smoky Mountains in the south. I was surprised to see a monument to Rotary International there. On the way up Trish pointed out a marmot ( Marmots in RMNP ) sunning on a rock on the side of the mountain above the road. On the way down a marmot was sunning himself on a rock right next to the road and he sat still while all three of our cars stopped next to him to take pictures. Also on the way down we encountered a herd of young big horn sheep crossin...

 We woke up quite early this morning. Early enough to grab a breakfast sandwich at McDonalds when they opened at 6:00AM and to get a little walk around Burlington near our hotel. It was a wonderfully cool morning. At 7:40AM we were westbound on I-70 under cloudy skies with a temperature of 61. A short distance down I-70 the temperature dropped to 57. Our route today was I-70 west to Limon, CO; Hwy 24 southwest to Colorado Springs; I-25 north to near Denver; Hwy 6 west; I-70 west to Idaho Springs where we stopped for the day. We arrived in Colorado Springs a little before 10:00 and it was 66 degrees. Clouds and smoke haze blocked our view of Pikes Peak. We gassed up and made a stop at Scheels because I failed to bring a jacket. I'd been meaning to replace an old jacket anyway so it all worked out. My cousin, Deb, and her husband, Jim, live in the Springs and when we're through the area we like to visit. This time, Deb's brother (and another cousin of mine), Mark, came down f...

 Chris and I are off for Colorado, where we will rendezvous with Mel, Moyer and their women for some fun in the Rockies. We left home at 8:15. It was 75 degrees and humid. I worked up a sweat just packing the car. The route today was I-70 westbound from Kansas City to just past Junction City, Hwy 77 north, 18 west through Lincoln and Plainview, Hwy 24 west through Colby, I-70 west to Burlington, Colorado. As we were approaching the Manhattan exit (#313) on I-70 we passed a cool looking old Chevy. If Gary or Wild Bill were here they could tell me the year and model of this old Chevy. We stopped for lunch at a hole-in-the-wall looking place called Burgers and Beer in Plainview, KS. I had to try one of their burgers, a double, and I was not disappointed. I had to remove one of the patties so I could get my mouth around the burger. And I could not pass up the tots for a side. It was LARRAPIN good! As we approached Damar, KS on Hwy 18 we could see a double-steepled church on the horizon...