April 20, 2024 - Territory Route 66 RV Park, Hinton, Oklahoma
We actually spent on overnight and drove directly on the original Route 66. It was a bit unsettling to know that the tornado shelter was next to us. Fortunately for us, we avoided the storms that hit them just about a week later. Very quaint little RV park right on Route 66.
April 21, 2024 - Eufala State Park, Eufala, Oklahoma
On this leg of the trip, it was a lot of driving daily to get back east. This was a very nice state park that we stayed at just for an overnight. As you can see in the video, Tom thoroughly enjoyed the evening by the campfire!
That's about it for Oklahoma for us!
April 22, 2024 - Mount Magazine State Park, Paris, Arkansas
This was a beautiful state park with the highest point in Arkansas. We had a picturesque lunch at the Mount Magazine Lodge.
That afternoon we met our new Airstream camping friends from Canada; Jean & Jane, along with Charles & Diane, who were camping next door to us and were going to the same campgrounds in Memphis and Nashville, just a day later than us! SO...Much more fun to follow! 😉
April 23 - 25, 2024 - Branson, Missouri
Off to Branson for 2 days, staying at the Willow Ridge Marriott Vacation Club. Branson is not what I had expected. Very touristy and very family orientated, which is fine but I thought it would have more music options.
We visited the Titanic Museum gift shop for our grandson Cooper who is obsessed with the Titanic!
We opted to do the Dolly Parton Stampede dinner show which we thought was a bit hokey but was actually enjoyable!
We also visited historic Branson, Branson Landing and did the Branson Scenic Railway!
Sorry I had stopped posting every few days but I was attempting to feel more engaged in our travels, rather than worrying posting!
So here goes from where I left off:
April 18, 2024 - John Martin Reservoir State Park @ Hasty Campground, Hasty, Colorado
This was an add-on for a quick overnight due to making changes from leaving Mesa Verde early, and it was on our route.
John Martin Reservoir State Park is a state park in Colorado. It contains John Martin Reservoir, which is the second largest body of water in Colorado by capacity. It is also known for being a prime birdwatching location. Bent County, Colorado has been documented to have over 400 different species of birds.
Then we were onto driving to Dodge City, Kansas. What we saw during our drive to Dodge City from south eastern Colorado all through Kansas; Cattle feed yards, Wheat fields, a huge Wind Farm distribution parts plant, and very flat, flat land!
April 19, 2024 - Dodge City KOA Journey, Dodge City, Kansas
Luckily the campground was right downtown so we walked everywhere we went.
Prairie oysters and the best steak ever @ Cowboy Capital Saloon & Grill
Yes, of course, a few cocktails at Boot Hill Distillery and Dodge CIty Brewing
What a couple of weeks it's been since my last blog post. We've both been on extreme sensory overload and lots of altitude adjusting. We're on the way back towards Rhode Island and have less than 2 weeks left.
So to pick up where we left off, we started on our drive from Vegas to Zion. We surpassed a wind storm and got into Zion in record time. That's when the jaw dropping, picture taking, and sheer excitement to see our country's beauty resurfaced once again.
Zion is an extremely biker friendly park, actually not allowing cars into the park but the shuttle buses and bikers only. So we took advantage of that and rode the 8-9 miles in and out. When we arrived at the north-most point of the park, we did the short hike to The Narrows. People were not able to actually go into The Narrows as the river was running too fast.
We stayed at the Zion Canyon Campground, directly on the Virgin River, which I highly recommend. We had been unable to obtain camping within the park but this was even better. Located just outside the gate of the park. Our views from our site were stunning.
Upon our leaving Zion, we took the Mt. Carmel Junction 1 mile long tunnel and roadway. You need to check in and get a pass for the tunnel and they stop traffic and let you go if over the normal vehicle limits.
We arrived at Bryce Canyon and again we were overwhelmed by its majestic beauty. We stayed at Ruby’s Inn campground right outside the park. Bryce Canyon National Park is very biker friendly and we were able to ride our bikes to all the sites within Bryce Canyon Sunset point sunrise point inspiration point. We went to sunrise point at 6:15 in the morning and were the only bikers there we were able to capture sunrise. Although it was very cold, we managed it well and went and had a great breakfast at the Bryce Canyon Lodge.
The drive from Bryce Canyon to Moab took us through Red Canyon.
We did drive into Arches National Park but didn't know you needed a timed entry ticket for the steep, scenic drive and we opted not to do it.
According to legend, the park is so named because of its use as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century, where horses often died of exposure.[6] Dead Horse Point has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[7]
We also met a woman who grew up in Turin, NY and had the same ski coach as Tom. They knew some of the same people.
On our way out of the park we encountered REAL COWBOYS, (I thought I saw RIP!!!!!!!) corralling the cattle off the roadway!
While in Moab, we also visited Canyonlands National Park. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped at several lookouts for picture taking.
Then we were on our way to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. This was a magnificent, winding and steep drive but the visit to The Palace was worth it!
The travel to Pinon Flats, at Great Sand Dunes Park, Mosca, Colorado, over Wolf Creek Pass, San Juan Mountains, was admittingly a drive that put us both in some wacky altitude and vertigo states, that took a few days to overcome. We had definitely had our fill of up and down canyon drop driving!
And yes, I drove the almost 11,000 foot pass!
The Great Sand Dunes Park was very interesting and we stayed in a very beautiful campground within the park and visited by deer that night!
A little perspective the size of the dunes in comparison to the vehicles.
Tom then drove from Pinon Flats on the North La Veta Pass in Sangre De Christo Mountains to arrive at Dodge City, Kansas. View our normal banter while driving, completely unedited and Nancy dropping F Bombs.....
A long journey from mountains with snow, sleet, and rain to FLAT FLAT lands!
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