Bandolier National Monument

This is a great place to actually go inside of cliff dwellings in an easy access way.

Kiva.

Picture of cliff dwellings with access ladders.

View back down to Pueblo ruins.

Inside a cliff dwelling.

More cliff dwellings.

It appears there were exterior rooms attached to the interior rooms. You can see the old post holes.

Preserved wall art under plexiglass.

The path back offers shade.

Unfortunately we were initially caught behind a 40 person tour group. Once we got by I could get some good pictures. But I missed getting into the first cliff room because of their line. I think this site is a must see if you are in the area. Not nearly as crowded as Mesa Verde and very easy access to the sites.

Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Spa and Resort

Given that the Wyoming and Colorado National Forests were closed due to snow we decided to head south for our big trip. The first stop is a place I have always wanted to visit. Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Spa and Resort.
Ojo Caliente

The pretty grounds.

The entry grounds are very pretty.

It did not disappoint. For $40 you get a pretty nice RV spot with water and electric. As with all places some sites are better than others. If it is busy you take what you can get. Our 30 ftr had many choices but I don't think you would be happy trying to get something much bigger than that in. Both sites we had were perfectly level so no leveling required.

There were several nice sites like this one.

Our first site was in the more crowded area. Not great but not bad.

As an Rver you can access the spa pools at their day or evening rate. Both are more reasonable during the week than the weekend. For us we paid $16 per person to access pools at the after 6 weekday rate. It was a Thurs. night so probably not crowded but even so in some pools it was. Also as an RVer you get a bit of a second class treatment at the front desk. Try to listen to the spiel that the expensive room renters get to learn about the place. Once you get in no one knows who is who so you get treated very well. If you want to hike ask for a trail map. The trails were not well marked.

Amenities. For room guests only??? I have no idea. I got no spiel when I checked in.

My favorite pool was the cliffside pool due to the view. There was a lady there who shushed everyone who came in and talked, including us. I was glad she did because it was very peaceful when everyone was quiet.  No chance for pictures of the pool area as there would have always been people in view. However I did get one of the fire ring area out front just after a group left.

They had an evening fire in the courtyard.

I also really like the Arsenic pool as it was the hottest. I went in this one last and was very comfortable walking back to the changing room. Most pools you froze when moving between them because the night temperatures when we were there were on the cool side. Although with the more comfortable temperature you could stay in longer.

The mud area closes at 6 so not available for the reduced evening rate.

The only wildlife I saw was a cow.

A cow got through the barbed wire separating  the river and the campground.

We took off on a hike mapless. Not a good idea. Luckily we ran into another RVer who thought to ask for a map at the front desk and he let us look at it.

Off on a not very well marked hike.

After going up hill it goes along a drainage ditch.

Pot sherd piles were everywhere along the trail. At first we didn't see them because we were looking at the scenery.

I didn't notice these until late in the hike.

On the map the trail goes back down through a wash. However it isn't marked or signed.

We never figured out the end of the trail as it seemed to end in their storage yard so we cut across that to get back to the resort. Signs would have been helpful here.

Some of the room exteriors. They had several types.

If you visit Ojo Caliente I highly recommend you also visit the nearby Bandolier National Monument which is where we headed next.

Getting rid of RV stink

On our one day outing I noticed that the leak over the windshield had left a noticeable mildew odor up front. I had bought a product called RV shocker from Biocide which is supposed to kill odor with chlorine dioxide. We did all the prep and set it off over night. The reaction failed. We were within a couple of days of our big trip and there was no way I could RV in a mildewy RV.

Then I remembered that I used Lysol spray to kill a bad odor in my car air conditioning system. So I decided to try the same. I got the unscented one (which still smells like toxic chemicals) used a heavy duty chemical filtration mask for Chlorine Dioxide from the hardware store and set to saturating the front area, in all the cabinets and all over the dash. Lysol says to let it sit for 10 min. I probably left it closed up for a half  hour before opening all the windows and running big box fans.

But it worked! The odor was completely gone. I made sure to spray thoroughly the area of the dash and ceiling where the drip came in and went down the windshield posts.

I do not recommend doing this without a gas mask. And you may want to consider goggles for eye protection.

After about a day of airing it out the Lysol smell disappeared and the RV was back to neutral smelling.

There is a warning about applying Lysol to plastics and some other materials. Our dash, walls, ceilings, fabrics etc did fine. The only thing that seemed to discolor was the plastic electrical outlet above the dash. Not sure if it was like that before due to sun damage or if it was from the Lysol. I think it was the Lysol.

Lory State Park

On the way home we decided to stop at Lory State Park for a quick walk with the dogs. It is a day use park bordering Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins.

 We started from the parking lot on the self guided nature trail.

 

The trails had good signage that told you whether you were doing the hard version or the easy version. We picked the easy version

Blossom pointing toward the hard version.

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 The sun was setting but there was just enough light to get some pictures.

 Blossom is very happy to be out of the RV and on a hike.

 View back toward the reservoir.

 Sunshine is also happy to be out and about.

It was a pretty hike.

We were there close to closing time so we had to make it quick. Very pretty area from what we saw and we would definitely go back. However at peak time it might be too crowded to enjoy. So maybe a weekday?

We get to see the reservoir as we drove out.

Deer were all along the road out.

The sun has set.

This ended our first trip of the season which ended with no place to stay so we came home. This is the first time this has happened to us. Normally we can always find something in the national forest. And I think one of the handicap sites at Curt Gowdy was open but it was down a spur with no turn around so we didn't investigate it. Perhaps if we had we would have camped there.

But we accomplished our mission of testing out the RV. All mechanicals (both house and chassis) were good. However two of the tire pressure system batteries appear to be dead so we will replace all 6. And there was a mildewy smell in the RV when we got it from the storage lot. It was toward the front. But an inspection in all cabinets and along the ceiling yielded no sign of leaks. But while driving we notices stains down both sides of the windshield pillars and the center pillar. Drat! Another leak. It is being fixed as I type this. Unfortunately we were only checking ceilings and cabinets throughout the winter so this got by us. We think the culprit is the front top lights along the cap of the RV.

1st day out - Happy Jack Trailhead

We decided to pull the RV out of storage this weekend. With all the work going into putting everything back that was removed for the winter we got a late start. Wyoming was painting the lines on the road. Unfortunately a cone jumped in front of us and damaged our right front bumper and slightly bent a body corner. Thankfully we had some eternabond to patch it all up and continued on. To do this we stopped at the Wyoming visitor center on the CO/I25 border. Very nice visitor center! Well worth a stop for anyone headed that way.

Eventually we got to Curt Gowdy State Park. They  had a campground full sign out. So during a quick breeze around to see what was what, we were shocked to see how very crowded it was. The day use areas were pretty full, lots of people everywhere. Very different from when we had been here before. I looked on-line and it still showed they had lots of first come first serve but the lady at the booth seemed to indicate it had all gone reservation except 5 sites. So we will have to do a bit of investigation if we decide to come again.

We continued on to the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, thinking we could boondock. But alas it was closed.

We continued on to Happy Jack Trailhead. 

Happy Jack Trailhead

Signs indicated there were two campgrounds down this road. But alas they were closed. I think we understand why when looking at the trailhead area. Very muddy with patches of snow. I think we have come out too early in the season.

After a brief dinner for us and the dogs we continued on.

The question was, should we go back east on 80 to try Vedauwoo Campground or take 287 home from Laramie Wyoming. We decided to take 287. Good thing we didn't try Vedauwoo because in checking this morning it was also closed.

287 toward home

Palmer Park Colorado Springs

We stopped for dinner in Palmer Park. This is one great advantage to the RV. You can pick where you dine.

Palmer Park is a huge park in the middle of the city, donated by the city's founder. You can drive to the top and get a great view. OK for our size RV (30 ft) but probably not for bigger. The roads are narrow and the turn around is not very big.

The dogs always enjoy exploring rocks.

One of the many parking lots along the road. We had dinner here.

This was the end of our first trip for the season. Most everything worked well and we brought along the stuff we needed (always a possibility of forgetting something important on the first trip of the season). The intermittent refrigerator outages have not been resolved. It works fine on electric (generator or shore power). When we turn it on to gas it is also fine. Sometimes when it turns itself off it does not relight. I have heard it trying and then it comes on but when on gas over night, in the morning it is not going and I have to turn it off and back on. We didn't have any food spoilage because the box stays cold enough but I would like to have it fixed so off to the repair place it will go.

The generator was a little rough sounding at start up and power down. I think I will have it serviced at the the same time.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument doesn't get great reviews on TripAdvisor. Unless you have nothing better to do like us, it isn't worth the time. The movie, displays and outside cards are highly redundant. Considering the number of fossils and species they tout in the movie they show very little in the visitor center.

Petrified Red Wood

 One of their claims to fame is the petrified red woods. However they also talk about how the site was descimated by tourists taking home samples prior to national monument status. It is likely why there isn't much to see today. Scientifically it is important as a site so I'm glad it is preserved.

Hanging out in the dog area since dogs aren't allowed anywhere except the parking lot, picnic or dog area. Not on the trails.

Sunshine says this is boring. Mom agreed.