Tuesday, July 08, 2008

We left Steamboat Springs Colorado around 10:15 am (Ga Time... 8:15 am MT). Before leaving Frank chased some magpies around the campground trying to get a good picture... I think he probably got a good one. He said he is going to have to put a cot in the dark room so he can get all these rolls of film developed :-D


For a while a pleasant trip. The ride along highway 40 was beautiful. The mountain desert scene kept changing... then we climbed high mountains. We traveled along the Colorada River for a while.


We stopped in Kremmling Colorado for gas at $4.91 a gallon. We could have gotten gas a bit cheaper in a couple of other places, but there was not an easy in/out.


We almost ran over Alvin (chipmunk). We saw several more chipmunks along the way... they really liked the highway today. We also saw two coyotes doing some hunting in the grassland near the river (creek or stream... not sure exactly what waterway it was along there). Later on a coyote crossed the road right in front of us. Sadly to say one chipmunk and one antelope didn't make it across the highway. From Frank: We didn't hit them! They were hit when we saw 'em.


The unpleasant part of the trip was I-70 and I-25... just as bad as driving in Atlanta. We hit a little bit of rain just just past Idaho Springs Colorado for a few miles. We stopped at a Wendy's in Castle Rock Colorado to calm our nerves a bit and get a bite to eat. It wasn't easy finding a place to park in the shopping center behind Wendy's.


The rest of the way on I-25 to Peregrine Pines FamCamp at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs Colorado was not too bad. We arrived at 4:00 pm (Ga Time... 2:00 pm MT). We thought we might get caught in a thunderstorm setting up, but it skirted around us.


We had never seen a black squirrel and took a couple of pictures of one before setting up. Then I spotted a weird critter that I couldn't get a good look at (darn thundering.. had to hurry up and set up)... it is a ground squirrel of some type. I'm sure during our stay we'll get a better look at it. Our neighbors have bird feeders out and it is feeding on the seed on the ground. There are a few Steller's Jays that feed on the ground too. Hopefully we will get a good picture of one of them too. I also saw some type of grosbeaks feeding at the feeder, but with the overcast skies there was not enough light for me to even make a guess at which one.


After setting up we went to the commissary here to see if there were any bargains. It is much like the one at home... things are cheaper at Wal-Mart.


Tomorrow morning we ride the train up Pike's Peak... we have to be there by 7:15. So early to bed early to rise.


We traveled 242 miles today.