A Quiet, Rainy Day

We woke up this morning to rain.  Because it was raining, we decided to do some grocery shopping and rest around the camp until suppertime with John, Linda and the kids.  We headed for everyone's favorite grocery store...the Walmart.  This one is huge.  It is much bigger than either of the two in Decatur and it was set up differently so we had to take our time to find what we needed.  Of course, we spent some time looking before checking out.

We decided to eat an early lunch out.  We ate at a Smashburger.  We had never heard of it and wanted to try something different.   They serve hamburger patties in four styles:  beef, chicken, turkey, and veggie.  You can have anything on the pattie with a special Smashburger sauce and, then it is served on their onion bun.   We aren't very adventuresome when it comes to hamburgers, so we both got the beef.  The sandwiches were very good.  They give you a number and bring your food to the table on mini-medal serving trays.  They picked up the trays when you are finished.  It was basically a hamburger place with a touch of class.

When we got home, I put groceries away and then we both got comfortable in our recliner chairs, relaxing, reading, and napping.  It continued to rain so we took the time to rest our bodies.  Almost every day of this trip, we have been busy either driving between places or driving to see places.  Seldom did we spend the entire day doing nothing.  It felt good.

Finally, about 4:00 p.m. it stopped raining and I took Sandy for a walk, and then snapped a few pictures along the walk.

It really is a pretty lake.  In season, you can swim and fish in the lake.

There is a concrete path around a good part of the lake.  People jog, walk, and walk their dogs.  It is nice to walk on an even surface in such a pretty surrounding.

We do have a view of the mountains in the distance.  

On the way to John and Linda's we passed this Latter Day Saints church.  It is very impressive.  After dark, it is all lit up.

We enjoyed a nice supper with John, Linda and the kids at their apartment. Spent the evening talking and enjoying each other's company before heading back to camp.  It still is not raining; although, more rain is in the forecast.  We have decided that we are going to Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow rain or shine.  We are hoping for sun but will be happy with overcast.  Going to the park means one more day of posting pictures of mountains!

Goodbye Wyoming, Hello Colorado

I will begin today's entry with yesterday's pictures.  There was a beautiful sunset as this picture shows.

We always walk in the evening.  As we walked, we met this dog named Kobe.  He is a pure-blood Sheba Inu.  He was a cutie.  We talked for awhile with the owner and compared notes.  Although Sandy does favor this dog in looks, she is more like him in temperament, constant shedding, and personality.

We only had 200 miles to go so we took our time getting packed up.  We filled our propane tank just in case we have some more cold nights.  We filled up the motorhome gas tank to get that task out of the way.  Finally, at 10:00 we got back on I-80 east and begin to drive.  It was a nice day with blue skies and a few white puffy clouds.

It didn't take long before we saw the first snow-capped mountain range.

Along with snow-covered mountains, we began to see snow fences.  I would say from the number of fences, this part of  Wyoming gets LOTS of snow.

We saw several small herds of prong-horned antelope.  They blend in nicely with the Wyoming terrain so much that we usually didn't see them until we had passed them. 

This is a sentinel prong horn.  Each herd posts a sentinel to provide an alert for the herd.  The antelope would warn the rest of the herd of impending danger.

This is The Lincoln Monument erected on top of Sherman Hill which is the highest point of I-80.  It is an 11-foot bronze bust of Lincoln.  This pass is 8,640 feet high.  The first transcontinental highway was named in honor of Abraham Lincoln.  Interstate 80 absorbed much of the original two-laned highway.

As we got closer to Cheyenne, we could see this mountain to the south in Colorado.

We arrived at Boyd Lake State Park around 2:30 p.m.  We found our campsite and got set up.  We were able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures.  We can see the Rocky Mountains in the west and there is a blue lake in the east.  Friday, John and family will camp with us for a couple of day.

We met John, Linda, Katie, and Aidan for supper at Famous Daves BBQ.  We enjoyed the good food and getting caught up.

Here is a picture of the happy family.

We parted ways and we arrived back at camp about 8:00 p.m.  As we were walking Sandy, we could hear a coyote in the distance.   I am not sure what we will do tomorrow.  We want to go into Rocky Mountain National Park but we need to do some shopping and other small tasks.  We are going to John's for supper tomorrow so we will probably stay in town tomorrow and go to the park on Thursday.  I think it will be a cool night but not cold like last night.

Goodbye Utah, Hello Wyoming

I am starting off my post with a picture of our campsite at KOA Salt Lake City.  It was a nice place to camp in the heart of Salt Lake City.  All sites are paved and level.  We were on the road by 8:15 just in time to get into the morning rush hour traffic.  We discovered that not all entrances to the interstate are both east and west.  Finally, we found the east entrance and headed east.  Salt Lake City is in a bowl of mountains, most of which were snow covered.  Carol was hoping to be mountain-free driving today but that was not to be.  We first had to cross the Wasatch Mountain Range.

As we were leaving Salt Lake City, this was our view - the Wasatch  Mountain Range.

We are finally seeing the trees changing their colors.

As we left Salt Lake City, we could see low clouds hanging in the valleys.

As the clouds cleared, we were able to see the mountains again.

I downloaded these pictures as we experienced the sight.  The views were varied from snow-covered mountains, to large rock outcroppings along the highway.

The highway goes by Lake Echo. 

Echo Lake

The landscape became more rock outcroppings when we passed into Wyoming.

Snow on the  ranges in Wyoming.  We crossed the Continental Divide two times.  One was 6,300 feet and the other 7,000 feet.  The motorhome did its job.  It just kept going up and down big mountains.  Sometimes, the speedometer dropped to 40 MPH but it kept on pulling itself and the car up the mountain.

This sign was across the interstate reminding drivers to obey the speed limit so you can enjoy Wyoming's scenery.  Carol usually drives around 60 MPH so there is no doubt we can enjoy the scenery - and we did!

We arrived at Rawlins KOA, Wyoming about 2:30 and got set up.  We are in for the evening.  Right now it is raining.  We were told in the office that we need to unhook our water tonight because it is going to get down to 30 degrees....brrrr!  We are only 200 miles from our next stop which is Boyd Lake State Park near Ft. Collins.  We can eat breakfast and take our time packing up.  We enjoyed the drive from Salt Lake City to here.  I usually read as we drive but this trip I haven't read much because there is too much interesting and beautiful scenery at which to look.