Oh hey. We’re still here. Still rolling.
We’ve had a pretty impressive run of s**t-tastic WiFi and cell service, so we haven’t been able to do much online at all. But we just pulled into our site here in Montana and have found a decent connection for uploading pictures and scribing my musings.
TO THE RECAP!
Mesa Verde National Park, Mancos, CO (7/20 – 7/22)
We left Bluff, UT and finally headed east into Colorado. We stayed at a park literally across the highway from Mesa Verde called Ancient Cedars RV Park, and since we’ve already seen the park before we decided to relax the first couple of days and head in on Wednesday to explore some parts we didn’t get to last time. Laundry was done, oil was changed, shopping was… shopped. Real exciting stuff.
However, when we woke up Wednesday morning we both felt like absolute hot messes. We’ve woken up feeling like crap after a night of s**t sleep plenty of times, but the fact that we both had screaming headaches sent up the alarms. Trying not to panic, we set out into the park. Within about 15 minutes I knew I wasn’t going to make it another hour, nonetheless a whole day. My head was raging, I had zero energy to hike, I was breaking out sweating way more than the temperature would have dictated, and the thought of dealing with people on the trails just got me super anxious. No coughing or fever, but we only got a few overlooks in before I called it and we headed back to the camper to relax the rest of the day.
So Mesa Verde was a bit of a bust, and at this point we were wondering if the rest of the trip was in danger. We sure as f**k made sure we always had our masks on, I can tell you that.
Alamosa, CO (7/23)
We woke up Thursday morning feeling better, so some of the alarms were turned off. Cautiously optimistic at this point.
We drove out to Alamosa for just a one-night stop so we didn’t have to drive more than 3-4 hour per day. We pulled into Cool Sunshine RV Park in Alamosa, CO. It’s a new-ish campground so the sites are f**king massive, and the WiFi was blaaaazing. (Had I known it would be the last one in over a week I would have posted some stuff) It was also Opening Day to the s**tshow that will be the 2020 MLB season, and life was good. In the words of Crime In Sports… GRACE.
We ran out to the drugstore to buy some supplies, including some better masks, a new thermometer, and an oximeter… just because I wanted one basically. When we got back to the camper, we were able to officially confirm all vitals were looking good and we probably just had a rough morning the day before. And now we could keep track of them as we go.
Now I wish I could say Alamosa was completely uneventful as a quick overnight on our way to Denver. But that would be a lie.
As I sat basking in the joy of drinking a beer and watching ACTUAL BASEBALL… Yankees baseball nonetheless… I hear a train off in the distance. I pay it no mind until it’s getting louder… and louder… and LOUDER… AND…
A freight train is literally rolling by about three feet from the back window of the camper. We’re backed up to a fence, and the train tracks are literally right on the other side. So I turned to Jenny and prophetically said, “well, that could get pretty interesting.”
Spoiler alert… it did.
My Cousin Vinny is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. There’s a scene where they’re staying in this s**t motel in this s**t town, and in the middle of the night a freight train rolls through and the entire room shakes with stuff falling off shelves… the whole mess. And Marisa Tomei just kinda looks around and laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.
We lived that scene in real life. At 3:45am we wake up to the entire camper shaking like it was a f**king earthquake. And it was a freight train, so it was rolling by at, what… 5mph? It took a half f**king hour to get by. We sat there lying in a shaking RV for a half hour. 30 MINUTES. Just amazed at how ridiculous this situation was. It was so crazy our cat Fred started growling at s**t for no reason, he was just hating his life too and didn’t know what to do about it.
Have you ever heard a cat growl? Me neither, until a f**king freight train ruined his life. Right there with you, pal.
So once that fun was over, we managed to get whatever sleep we had left and peace out the next morning.
Denver, CO (7/24 – 7/28)
FYI if you look at the map of our travels over the last few months, you might be questioning our path selection. And my answer to you would be that COVID f**ked our plans up real good. REAL GOOD. However, that loop down through Utah, across Colorado, and then back up through Wyoming was always the original plan. Why? Because July 28th we were supposed to be sitting at Hella Mega Tour at Dick’s Sporting Goods Arena watching Fall Out Boy, Weezer, and Green Day rock our faces off. Once that got cancelled, it didn’t make any sense to reschedule half the trip, so our funky path remained.
That being said, we were super psyched to be back in Denver and see as many people as we could squeeze in. Lots of emotions flowing being back there after everything we’ve been through the last five months or so. Also, it was a complete mindf**k realizing it’s only been that long… I was driving around feeling like it had been years. I was even doing that pointing at new buildings going “oh, that’s new!” thing you do when you drive through your old town WAY after you’ve left. Ridiculous.
But yeah, not much to talk about here, just personal stuff. Dinner and drinks with some of the people we love. And almost no pictures… we lived there for 6 years, what exactly are we taking pictures of? We did, however, get what is probably my favorite picture of all time of me and Jenny. We were trying to pose for a nice picture to send to her family, and obviously I had to be a jerk and keep messing it up. Thanks Sarah.
Douglas, WY (7/29 – 7/30)
Next we headed north and stopped for a few days in beautiful Douglas, WY… where the WiFi is s**t and the roads are s**ttier.
Since there’s f**k-all in Douglas, WY, we drove out to Laramie Peak Trailwhich is about an hour and half out and 75% complete s**t unpaved country road. Acceptable when you know it’s coming and plan on it, and still better than our road from Yellowstone to Idaho. This time we did meet some friends on the way though.
This was probably one of the harder trails we’ve done this trip, a little under 10 miles round trip distance, but a 2,600-foot elevation gain. And most of that is in the last two miles up to the peak. Oh, and those last two are through piles of rock as well. I’m sure that’s nothing for real hikers, but for us that was pretty grueling. Excellent payoff, however.
Oh, and this motherf**ker who thought he was going to win a game of chicken against a Ford F-250 Super Duty. Cows these days…
Lovell, WY (7/31 – 8/3)
Next was Horseshoe Bend Campground in Lovell, WY. We had 50-amp electricity and water here, which was bonkers since most places this far off the beaten path don’t have either. We were backed up facing the lake, so just looking out the window was just about the nicest view we’ve had sitting in an air-conditioned camper.
Then at night, since we were facing south, we had a shot of the moon, Jupiter, and Saturn. (Jupiter and Saturn are the two to the left of the moon)
Saturday morning we fulfilled one of Jenny’s goals for a while and went stand up paddle boarding. This girl stood up on that thing and motored around the lake like she’s been doing it for years.
Me? I immediately got nauseous, tried standing up with shaky knees like a wobbly newborn deer, and instantly gave up and went back to shore. Not for me. At all. But that’s okay. Jenny can paddle board and I’ll fish and drink beer. It works for us.
Speaking of which, we bought two cheap fishing poles meant for an 8-year-old and finally did some fishing on the lake Saturday night. First time on this entire trip. (Sorry Mike!) And it would have been pretty great except for a group of girls celebrating one of their 34th birthdays. They were in the lake in just their underwear, the water felt really good, and it was the greatest moment of her life. How do I know that? Because one of them had to have been drunk or high or tripping f**king balls because she screamed… non-stop… for about the entire hour we were out there.
“IT’S YOUR F**KING BIRTHDAY!!! WOOOOO 34 YEARS OLD WOOOOO!!!”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE IN THE WATER IN JUST OUR BRA AND UNDERWEAR OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!!”
“OH MY GOD THE WATER FEELS SO F**KING GOOD!!! THIS IS THE GREATEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!!!”
I was waiting for something way out there like “THE MOON TASTES LIKE THE COLOR GREEN!!!” Just so I could confirm they took some mushrooms or something and aren’t just complete lunatics. Never happened, so I guess they’re just f**king nuts.
Yesterday we took a hike up to Sykes Mountain. Not quite Moab hot, but still f**king hot. Great little hike with awesome views.
And congrats, you’re all caught up! We’ll see how the rest of Montana treats us. We’ve been here an hour and I’ve already had two people come up within three feet of me to talk without masks, so… we’re not in… I dunno, let’s just say Trump 2020 flags per capita has increased steadily over the past week or so. I’ll leave it there.