Well, we left Wyoming and drove into Colorado headed straight for Denver to see friends Monta and Don, but the gals got to looking at the National Parks book and discovered a great sounding place called Rocky Mountain National Park. It was only 35 miles west of Denver and would have some trees and rocks and water for all of us to appreciate after all those miles of prairie in Wyoming. So they called Monta and told her we would arrive a day or two later and we turned west. Estes Park was this yuppie, touristy, very expensive little town we drove through just outside of RMNP. You could smell the money just passing by! We found out the affordable campground in the park was full so back we went to Estes Park and found a funky place outside of town that was steep, all dirt, and dirt cheap. It was after dark so we were grateful but had to inch our way up a hill and into a very small spot. I’m sorry to report my Podhouse did get a crack in its rear bumper, nothing duct tape and Gorilla Glue can’t fix, the gals say.
Next day we headed up Old Fall River Road, first road built in this park way back when and it was a fun, switch-back filled, gravel and dirt adventure. Kae did some tricky maneuvers to get the Pod around some switchbacks and over some ruts but there were spectacular mountain vistas, alpine meadows and lakes, fall colors and the tundra at over 12,000’ elevation. I saw and smelled so much wildlife; we photographed elk herds with bull elk in full rut, many birds and strange colorful high alpine plants. It was rich and wonderful. We stayed a day longer and then headed for the old part of Denver.
Don and Monta recently bought a fine 1880’s Victorian, 3 story, brick and stone house in one of the older, gracious parts of Denver. Unfortunately there was no room on the street for the somewhat broad Pod to park for a week so we moved into the alley. Now alley RVing is a whole different trip! There are things that go on in the night that even I don’t want to know about but it really worked out pretty well and helped me practice my guard dog postures. Don and Monta have a nice back yard (with a fun frisky squirrel) and a big deck so I got to spend lots of time there. I liked the fact that they were good hosts and great chefs and I could help with the cleanup. Monta was gracious enough to drive us around so we saw several interesting places in Denver such as the Botanical Gardens, the October fest celebration and fine old parks and architecture. My favorite spot was the Cherry Creek State Park. This was a place where I could be let off leash and run and swim and just be crazy to my old Lab heart’s content. I love the gals for thinking of me like they do. Of course I think my ‘guilt trip’ routine works pretty good too. I get to get out and swim or run pretty darn often even though there are so many regulations about pets on leashes and only on certain trails, etc., etc., etc. Somebody in the National Park Service should get a life and a few more dogs! We all went for a long ride up into the mountains on the weekend, this time more south and west to a sweet little town where D & M used to own a house and some acreage. We dropped in on some old neighbor friends of theirs and had a great lunch in a beautiful country atmosphere away from the big city. I sensed D & M sorta wished they still had the mountain house; I know I would. We drove all over and saw more terrain, fall colors just starting and lots of quaint little towns tucked into the folds and valleys, each with its own flavor, flowers and atmosphere. Colorado is very diverse in its scenery.
The next day we drove to the Denver Airport to pick up our friend Valda, who was coming for 10 days to travel with us. Remember we have that nifty guest bedroom tent setup for friends. Valda is a great gal and I can tell you she knows how to treat an old dog; she made sure I got my walks or runs in at least once every day. Valda likes to exercise and I do too, so we had a ball together. The four of us left for Greeley, CO. to visit a mutual friend, Michele and her partner, Valerie, and their fun kids, plus two great dogs – Frankie and Jenny, some “scaredy cats” and a funny smelling thing called a guinea pig named Tribbles. We had a fun few days there and enjoyed ourselves completely. Truth is I think I fell in love sorta with Jenny. But Frankie was sort of a pain in the b---, if you know what I mean. That guy hung around all the time, so to speak; I could hardly walk anywhere.
We left Greeley and turned the Pod toward the Four Corners region, south and west out through the plains, mesas, passes, past little western towns like Poncha Springs, Gunnison, Ridgeway, Ouray, Purgatory, heading for Mesa Verde NP. Cokie said she thought the colors were amazing around Ouray and environs with the quaking aspens, pines, rocks, bushes and mountains; at one spot even the river was yellow! I just know that there is nothing that smells like fall; you can actually taste the tang of the yellows and oranges in the air if you know how to draw them in across your tongue and roll them around your molars and up into your sinuses. If there is any color at all in the area where you are right now I highly recommend that you take a moment, step outside, pull the colors in through all of your senses and savor the flavors. 
Mesa Verde, now what a place that turned out to be! I never thought 7000+ feet in elevation could be so warm, so dry and so dang different! I did have to spend a lot of time in the Pod but I got to sit in the driver’s seat and lots of folks stopped by to talk to me. I spotted some of the local wildlife and I got to smell and taste all of the great odors of that ancient place. I could just imagine the hustle and bustle of the everyday life of the Anasazi, now called “the First People” or Puebloans. What amazing places they left for us to try to decipher and preserve and what a mystery it all remains. The gals hiked down and around a number of the ruins with intriguing names like Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Spruce Tree House and Square Tower House. They climbed down ladders into kivas and up ladders to the mesa tops, followed stone steps cut into cliff faces and crawled through hand-hewn tunnels, listened to Park Rangers lecture and the silence of the sandstone. We all watched the changing weather which was spectacular with great storms rolling across the mesas casting sunset colors that almost made you weep with their beauty.
Cliff Palace
Balcony House Window
Spruce Tree House
Balcony House Ladder
Spruce Tree Kiva
Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee
Square Tower House
Now it’s on to the Canyonlands, Island in the Sky, Needles, Monument Valley and all the great red rock areas. Hope you enjoy the marvelous pictures the gals have been taken and there are hundreds more!
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