2012-05-15 Central City / Blackhawk, CO

These two cities, separated by about 1/2 mile, have been feuding like Hatfields and McCoys for a very long time. It was snooty opera-house Central City vs. working-class Blackhawk; now the tables have turned somewhat - it is old-time charm, small casino Central City vs. glitzy big chain casino Blackhawk. Folks from Denver coming up the 119 will stop in Blackhawk and never make it further up the hill to Central City! Now Central City has built a parkway to get traffic directly to their town, but avoiding any easy connection to Blackhawk. In fact, they would not connect the KOA directly to the parkway because there is a dirt road from here going down to Blackhawk which bypasses Central City! So getting to the KOA is a bit of a round-about, up and down some seriously steep climbs.

Background on the feud over the parkway: Modern-day feud (LAWSUITS) over the Central City Parkway. Certainly an interesting area and a lot of history here.

Our pics from Central City, Blackhawk, and KOA

Never stayed at a KOA but after making our way up the incredibly long and steep climb following the blue campground signs, we decided to try it for a couple nights. The staff here is excellent and very helpful, park is outstanding, 5-star all the way. Plus they will shuttle you into either of the two towns if you give a buck or so for gas.

We also enjoyed the cheap food - $5.99 for prime rib at Red Molly's in Blackhawk, or $7.99 at Century Casino in Central City where the casino staff was very friendly and helpful, and the drinks were free.

So, I guess we didn't pick sides.

2012-05-14 Geology Museum a must see in Golden, CO

We really enjoyed our time in Golden, this is a town I would be happy to live in. When we stopped at the Golden History Center, they recommended a visit to the Geology Museum at the School of Mines. http://www.mines.edu/Geology_Museumat   Wow, what a fantastic treat - I highly recommend this for an hour or so if you visit Golden. Free and quite an expansive display.

Our pics from the Geology Museum and final day in Golden, CO

2012-05-10 Kayaking on Clear Creek

Gary had a good time kayaking this little stretch of Clear Creek from our RV park down to the Coors Brewery. It is very short but provides lots of eddies to practice handling your boat in and out of the rapids. There were lots of folks tubing, rafting, and kayaking. It's really a terrific free playground if you like to tube or kayak.
Pics from Kayaking on Clear Creek

2012-05-09 Hiking Clear Creek Canyon

We went for an early morning stroll up the creek, and ended up hiking for 5 hours! This trail begins in Grant Terry Park and follows a canal built into a canyon wall. It is still in development and will eventually connect with the Continental Divide Trail. http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R33.htm

Gary thinks this is his favorite hike ever, mostly because it is scenic and yet mostly level and easy. The area is frequented by black bears and mountain lions; we saw several fresh lion tracks in the wet mud from our rain 2 days prior.
Our pics from Clear Creek Canyon - Canal Zone

2012-05-08 Move to Clear Creek & met some new friends

We moved on Tuesday morning to Clear Creek RV Park (managed by the city) which is fantastic, right on Clear Creek in historic downtown. Fabulous location. In my mind, definitely beats out "the Best RV Park in Colorado", Dakota Ridge which was just across the street from our previous park Golden Terrace South.

We had just sat down to rest after the move, and here comes a fellow Titanium pulling in (we don't see many of these). We walked over and introduced ourselves as fellow Ti owners, and made some terrific new friends.

Charlie and Terry are from Ontario, Canada, and are heading west to watch the Solar Eclipse on May 20. We spent the afternoon and evening hanging out with them and had a great time! They gave us a tour of their RV - WOW! They have the superkitchen model our neighbors in Newport Beach had, the model which originally convinced us to shop for and buy a Titanium. And I love Terry's African theme, their RV is beautiful, plus we got lots of terrific upgrade ideas...Gary's got some work to do.

Pictures of our new location and new friends

Hopefully we can hook up with Charlie and Terry again somewhere down the road! 

2012-05 Lookout Mtn and Lariat Loop, Golden CO

Our neighbor Don recommended a terrific scenic loop and wow, it was a treat.
Pictures from our day: Lookout Mtn and Lariat Loop, Golden CO

We started with a quick visit to Dinosaur Ridge in the morning (http://dinoridge.org/). The we headed up Lookout Mountain Road which is incredibly popular for cyclists. A quick stop at Buffalo Bill's Museum and Gravesite (http://www.buffalobill.org/ ), then a short but wonderful trail (half mile) over to the Lookout Mountain Nature Center ( http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R14.htm), enjoying incredible vistas along the way.

We passed near the Mount Evans area (would love to do the scenic drive up that mountain, which I heard is the best place in Colorado to see Mountain Goats. (http://www.mountevans.com/)  Then through lovely and charming Evergreen, CO. We absolutely LOVED the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater (http://www.redrocksonline.com/ABOUTUS/PhotosVideos/PhotoGallery.aspx ) - will definitely be heading back there sometime to hike, and perhaps take in the Crosby Stills and Nash concert in August! Last stop on the loop was the Mother Cabrini Shrine (http://www.mothercabrinishrine.org/).

The entire loop included many more things than we had time to fully enjoy...there are parks and hiking / biking trails, museums, plus the views, views and more views.

There are so many parks with trails for hiking / biking, wish we had time to enjoy them all: http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R108.htm

More info on the loop: http://www.lariatloop.org/

2012-05 Golden, CO on the edge of wilderness

Met a neighbor who has lived in our temporary base park here in Golden for 29 years. He is about to retire, they've sold their little mobile home overlooking Golden, and are hitting the road as full-time RVers in a big toy-hauler. We've enjoyed visiting with him.

Spent all day yesterday in downtown Golden. Terrific place to stroll around, very scenic with lots of sculptures, museums, shopping, dining...could spend a couple more days down there.

A day in downtown Golden

2012 April-May Kansas to Colorado

We are on our way to Colorado for a hosting gig at a national forest campground. An uneventful drive is always a good thing. We used our Coast to Coast points for all our stays so no $$$ out of our pockets as it was all pre-paid a couple years ago.

Pics across Kansas / eastern Colorado

Now in Golden CO just west of Denver, very close to our new home at Kelly Dahl.