6/30/2014

June 30, 2014 Travel to Wheatland Wyoming

This morning we packed up, hooked up, and were on our way north.

Interesting:

06-30-14 A Travel I-25 Longmont to WY Border (1)

We are on the plains now – with a strong headwind Sad smile.  The topography changed every 20 miles or so from flat:

06-30-14 A Travel I-25 Longmont to WY Border (4)

To rolling hills:

06-30-14 A Travel I-25 Longmont to WY Border (11)

These rocks just appeared – strange:

06-30-14 A Travel I-25 Longmont to WY Border (12)

Buffalo cutout on the hill:

06-30-14 A Travel I-25 Longmont to WY Border (15)

And into Wyoming:

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (4)

We stopped at the rest area/visitor center at MM-4.  Beautiful center with lots of parking plus an RV dump and water fill – we used both.  From there, we stopped at exit 7 and filled with gas at Flying J. 

Back on the road – snow fences – oh-oh:

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (9)

Roads that roll with the rolling hills – LOL!:

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (20)

Another cutout – cowboy on a horse facing his dog:

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (26)

Even more changes:

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (30)

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (35)

The Laramie Mountains in front of us:

06-30-14 B Travel I-25 WY Border to Wheatland (39)

We arrived in Wheatland, Wyoming and are staying at their city park – donation only:

06-30-14 C Wheatland Lewis Park (6)

Our site (with electric too):

06-30-14 C Wheatland Lewis Park (4)

They have a water spigot near us (the fifth wheel in the picture is filling with water) and a dump station at the other end of the park.  We had hoped to stay here until after the holiday but not sure if we could after seeing this sign:

06-30-14 C Wheatland Lewis Park (8)

Will see!

After setting up we took a walk around the park and then a ride around the little town – cute Smile  We also found another Moose Lodge and stopped in for their Happy Hour – another good time.

Tomorrow we will be doing some sightseeing so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled:

Routes Traveled:

Colorado: Pratt Street; SR-66; I-25

Wyoming: I-25; W. Mariposa Highway; 16th Street; Cole Street: 8th Street

June 26-29, 2014 Our time in Longmont Colorado

So what have we been up to?

Well, on Thursday 26th, we met up with Bruce and Sue and went to Golden for the Coors Brewery Tour.

A little info:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (47)a

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (43)a

More information here: http://www.millercoors.com/Who-We-Are.aspx

We parked and then had to wait for the shuttle (almost an hour – popular tour).  The line for the shuttle:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (1)

This is what greeted us as we left the shuttle:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (2)

The tour is a self guided audio tour with various stations throughout the plant.  There are employees at some of the stations to answer any questions.  There is taste testing halfway thru the tour and then at the end of the tour.

At registration, we were given our audio guides and a wrist band saying we were over 21 – yes, we were carded Smile.

One of the stops – various Coors Brands – I was surprised by some of them:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (3)

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (4)

And away we went.  I am leaving out the brew process (lots of info on the internet) but I am posting some of the areas that I found interesting.

The kettles – they were HUGE!:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (5)

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (11)

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (13)

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (17)

There was a lot of information in that area so we did spend some time learning about the process and the different craft beers.  Most of the kettle processes are controlled from this room:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (15)

We made our way down various hallways with information about Coors and a halfway stop for taste testing – Smile

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (29)

The packaging area:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (33)

Bobbi, this one is for you –Smile:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (36)

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (38)

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (39)

The end of our tour as we headed to the bar for more taste testing:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (42)

So what did I try: Batch 19 and Banquet – Both yummy!

We made a quick stop to the gift shop and then outside to the shuttle – this is the water used in many of their processes:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (48)

The shuttle dropped us off at the parking lot and we decided to walk into town and get something to eat (based on recommendations from the folks we talked to at the brewery.

The entrance to historic Golden:

06-26-14 A Coors Brewery Tour in Golden (54)

We had a great dinner on the outside patio of Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza Restaurant – YUM!

And at the end of the evening we said our “see you laters” to Bruce and Sue.  Hopefully our paths will cross again later in the summer.

Wednesday, 27th

Our adventures today took us first to Boulder to the Salvation Army.  I am slowly going thru all my stuff in the motorhome and getting rid of things/clothes that I do not like or use anymore.  While there, we did see a piece of furniture for the motorhome – see later in the blog.

Our next stop was Red Rocks Park in Morrison, Colorado.  In 1974, my girlfriend and I did a trip to see Colorado and one day coming out of the mountains, we saw this long line of cars going into Red Rocks.  Of course, being young, we got in line.  Long story short, it was a John Denver concert and we ended up getting scalper tickets for third row seats.  So I wanted to come back and sit in that third row again.

Red Rock Park consists of an amphitheater and a park with trails, overlooks, museum, and nice scenery. (Free to enter – Smile

Our first view:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (2)

Heading to the amphitheater parking lot – we had to go thru the tunnel:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (43)

We parked the car and took the back trail:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (4)06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (6)

The amphitheater – check out that view.  Imagine sitting here in 1974 having John Denver sing: Rocky Mountain High – oh my!

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (16)

I went to the third row and walked in to sit and….. was literally yelled at to get “behind the rope”.  No amount of begging and pleading helped – Sad smile.  Bummer.  Apparently there is a concert coming up and the first 20 rows are blocked.  Still not sure why since this was 11 AM in the morning and the concert wasn’t until 8 PM.  Oh well!

The top of the amphitheater – those rocks are huge!:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (24)

We had lunch at the grill, then went into their museum.  Check out the date – exactly 40 years ago! 

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (26)

We made our way to the parking lot and saw one of the CCC statues.  These statues are in various places in the US as a dedication to the hard work of the Civilian Conservation Corps.  We have seen a few of these on our travels.  I truly admire all the work these young men did.

More info can be found here:

http://www.ccclegacy.org/CCC_Statue_List.html

This is statue number 27:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (32)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (33)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (36)

We continued our ride through the park:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (47)

The theatre is among those rocks:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (59)

Views from one of the overlooks:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (48)

The Dakota Hogback:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (62)

These beautiful white wildflowers were everywhere:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (68)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (87)

We continued on the road as it wove around the rock formations:

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (81)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (93)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (94)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (97)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (99)

06-27-14 A Red Rocks Park (111)

Awesome, isn’t it.

We continued our adventure by driving around Golden.  In 1976, I lived here for a while looking for work.  Tried to find where but could not.  Lots of changes in 38 years.

What a nostalgic kind of day for me.

Saturday, 28th

In the morning, I did the laundry while Andy changed the oil on the motorhome.  After lunch, we headed back to Boulder to the Salvation Army to pick up a nice lateral file cabinet.   We have some plans to do remodeling and this was just what we have been looking for.  Yea!   So the rest of the afternoon we spent cleaning it up, securing to the floor, and transferring files.  It looks pretty nice!

Sunday, 29th

I spent most of the day cleaning and cooking (yes, one of my cooking moods again), and grocery shopping while Andy did some repacking and cleaning up outside.

Late afternoon, we had dinner with our neighbor Tim at a nice Mexican restaurant by the lodge – walking distance.  What a wonderful time.

We have had a nice time in Longmont, but, alas, it is time for us to continue our journey.  Tomorrow we are headed to Wyoming to stay tuned and enjoy today.

Sayings (16)