July 10, Made it to Colorado

Today we started out up a gravel road near the Colorado border on Hwy. 40.

Sunrise as Jeff left.

Jeff left about 6, and Pinkie woke me up not long after. I have learned that when the Ancient IG wants to go out, you'd better take her out! She doesn't have that much control any more. So after making myself some coffee and having my shower, we took off up the road after Jeff. There was a small town called Dinosaur Colorado a couple miles into the state, so I stopped and picked up some ice. Yesterday all the ice melted by evening. I got 2 20# and 1 10# bag, hoping that our 7 day cooler would actually keep it frozen at least until I can find a store tomorrow.

Jeff found an ice cream shop, but they were closed!

While in Dinosaur, I noticed that the Colorado Information Center there had free WIFI, and they opened in about 10 minutes. So I waited, took a couple pics of their bench outside, then chatted with the ladies there and did a couple of things on the internet. (I don't think we will see AT&T for several more days, so that was my last chance to do anything probably until we reach Craig. AT&T is not happy with us, they keep sending us love notes about our usage.) But the Colorado Visitor Center has a few nice wood carvings. They told me that there is a competition in Craig, and once the competition is done, there are a lot of wood carvings that end up in the dumpster! So, they get what they can. Pretty cool.

 

Dinosaur loves their dinosaur's as well!

After checking on Jeff, we decided that we would be on our own for at least 2 more days, and Jeff thought he saw a sign indicating an RV park or something back in Dinosaur. So, back I went (really, it was only about 3 or 4 miles!) to see if I could find it. I followed the signs, and they lead me to an RV park alright. There must have been 70 spaces, but only about 3 or 4 trailers, which all looked permanent, and 1 Class A motorhome that didn't fit. And there were no trees, not even a bush. And the office was deserted. So, I pulled into a spot, dumped the tanks, filled the fresh water tank, and left a $5 bill on the table under the ashtray. I was glad to get out of there. It reminded me of something out of a Stephen King novel!

All in all, it has been a very quiet day. The road we are on, Hwy. 40, has relatively no traffic on it. I am totally surprised by that. And, thankfully, storm clouds built up off to the south around mid day. There was even thunder and lightning. I think I saw a few sprinkles, but the nice thing about it was that it brought a nice stiff breeze in, and cooled things off a bit. Even though the sky has been incredibly blue, it is still nice to get a short respite from the hot sun beating down.

The scenery here is about what I expected. More lovely landscapes to see, but mostly ranches that are few and far between. Not sure if we are in an area of BLM land or not. I know we were back in Utah. I don't see any fences around here where we stopped for the night. And, although we left those pesky mosquitoes back in Wyoming, there still seem to be quite a few gnats. In fact, last night it was so thick in the coach I had to take the fly swatter to a bunch of them on the ceiling lights. Cleaned them off pretty good. It was gross.

Yes, we are on the side of the road again. I don't think we will see even a gas station until late tomorrow afternoon. Thank goodness we are self contained!

I have found some of my most interesting
rocks in dry creeks!

 

         

We managed about 36 miles today. According to Map My Run. Which reminds me, if anyone wants to get updates from MapMyRun, it is a free app and will let you know when any of your "friends" completes a run or work out. Send Jeff Venable a friend request and you will get updates daily as to our mileage. I say our, but realistically, my 4-6 miles is a drop in the bucket compared to Jeff. He is the star! I call him the Energizer Bunny. And he always has a smile on his face!

I love the Road Ahead pics. Hope you do too!

This "Road Ahead" shot has the RV with
Jeff waiting for his next turn.

And Jeff seems to be able to find the darndest things on the side of the road! I never find anything interesting or unusual. The dollar bill a couple days ago was the best.... So here is Jeff's find of the day.

A cap to a mustard bottle with a clown head on top...

Just a reminder. We aren't doing this for a vacation (running 8 or more hours a day is NOT a vacation!), but to raise awareness and funds for our non-profit, Support For Firefighters. We really want people to understand, as well, some of the issues faced by America's firefighters. So please be inspired a bit and drop into our website and make a donation, even a small one! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We also haven't seen any flowers (well they might have had some pots at the Welcome Center) on the side of the road or in the brush. Just ant hills and holes for varmints.

We did snag a Mailbox of the Day, sad as it is. Apparently everyone in the region must come to this spot to get their mail!