Road Trips 2023

[Lemonade]

I saw a recorded interview with Annie. She referenced the part of Colorado where John used to camp often. That is the answer I was looking for. I’ll post the answer at some later date if no one figures it out.

Ridgeway?

 

[COcheesehead]

Ridgeway?

No, fairly north of there.

 

[skyking1]

If someone does go to Crater lake, be sure to check out nearby Diamond lake resort. That's kind of in the middle of the Oregon Cascades. In that area of Oregon. The Cascades are broad and quite lovely.
The resort is straight out of the 30s and 40s I think and really reminds me of Dirty Dancing. You can cross over from Crater lake past the silver lake area and down the Umpqua River.
At the I-5 end of things they make some really good Umpqua ice cream.

 

[oldphd]

I saw a recorded interview with Annie. She referenced the part of Colorado where John used to camp often. That is the answer I was looking for. I’ll post the answer at some later date if no one figures it out.

Based on the first picture with the dirt road, I was thinking about Kebler Pass area, there is at least one campground at Lost Lake. And that's north of Ridgway.

But, a google search based on your quote suggested it's still further north, Williams Lake area.

 

[audreyh1]

If someone does go to Crater lake, be sure to check out nearby Diamond lake resort. That's kind of in the middle of the Oregon Cascades. In that area of Oregon. The Cascades are broad and quite lovely.
The resort is straight out of the 30s and 40s I think and really reminds me of Dirty Dancing. You can cross over from Crater lake past the silver lake area and down the Umpqua River.
At the I-5 end of things they make some really good Umpqua ice cream.

We stayed at an awesome lodge along the Rogue River headed back into I5 from Crater Lake. They had a “family style” sit down dinner for all guests included. It was great.

 

[Mark1]

No. The “I’ve seen fire in the sky” line comes from a camping trip to this area as told by his first wife. It was a meteor shower.
Two more photos with hints.

The second photo matches Trapper Lake east of Meeker.

Look beautiful, I need to get there.

 

[COcheesehead]

The second photo matches Trapper Lake east of Meeker.

Look beautiful, I need to get there.

Bingo! The Flat Tops Wilderness. A hidden gem in Colorado. Some big names wanting to stay below the radar live there. Beauty for miles. We love it there. We have three nights booked the week after next.

 

[Car-Guy]

Just returned from my 2nd road trip to Vegas , this year. Even though it was "expensive", , it was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever taken. No schedules, no planned routes, just a distant destination that I plugged into my trucks nav system...

I've seen all the sights along the way so this time it was driving mostly at night. Actually took my new RAM 4x4 on this trip "in case" I decided to do any off roading along the way, but as it turns out, I didn't. Still I'm glad I drove the truck since it is equipped with a set of high intensity driving lights which came in handy many times and it was a super comfortable ride. I took an extra spare tire and 10 extra gallons of gas since I knew I was going to be driving at night and in many remote areas that I wasn't familiar with.

Once in Vegas I stayed at three different hotel/casinos over about a week. I wanted to take my time trying out many of the different restaurants and allowing plenty of "free" time for the Casino's. I go to Vegas often but don't usually stay as long as I did this time or drive so "leisurely". What a blast.

 

[aja8888]

Just returned from my 2nd road trip to Vegas , this year. Even though it was "expensive", , it was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever taken. No schedules, no planned routes, just a distant destination that I plugged into my trucks nav system...

I've seen all the sights along the way so this time it was driving mostly at night. Actually took my new RAM 4x4 on this trip "in case" I decided to do any off roading along the way, but as it turns out, I didn't. Still I'm glad I drove the truck since it is equipped with a set of high intensity driving lights which came in handy many times and it was a super comfortable ride. I took an extra spare tire and 10 extra gallons of gas since I knew I was going to be driving at night and in many remote areas that I wasn't familiar with.

Once in Vegas I stayed at three different hotel/casinos over about a week. I wanted to take my time trying out many of the different restaurants and allowing plenty of "free" time for the Casino's. I go to Vegas often but don't usually stay as long as I did this time or drive so "leisurely". What a blast.

What kind of fuel mileage did you get with the big truck?

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^^
Well pretty good IMO.. If I set the cruise control on 70, I got over 19 (almost 20 at times)... Overall I averaged 18+ for the entire trip. Not bad for a big 4X4 PU with a Hemi. This one is equipped with the new etorque system. Not sure if that helped or not.

 

[audreyh1]

Really looking forward to our upcoming long Colorado road trip with exciting and scenic mountain driving. We plan to cross several famous mountain passes: US50 across Monarch Pass elevation 11,312ft; CO133 across McClure pass 8,775ft; and CO24 across Independence Pass at 12,095ft. This last bit we will also be driving CO24 around Pike’s Peak. The stretch from Ridgeway CO to Telluride along CO62 then 145 is very scenic as well and crosses Dallas Divide at 8,970ft.

 

[Northforker]

Returned from NFLD to NS via the Blue Puttee ferry and now we are driving and camping along the Cabot trail in Cape Breton NP. Next week, The Bay of Fundy and onto Maine.

 

[COcheesehead]

Really looking forward to our upcoming long Colorado road trip with exciting and scenic mountain driving. We plan to cross several famous mountain passes: US50 across Monarch Pass elevation 11,312ft; CO133 across McClure pass 8,775ft; and CO24 across Independence Pass at 12,095ft. This last bit we will also be driving CO24 around Pike’s Peak. The stretch from Ridgeway CO to Telluride along CO62 then 145 is very scenic as well and crosses Dallas Divide at 8,970ft.

Enjoy your time in Colorado. The monsoons have arrived so pack some rain gear. We went from no rain for weeks, to rain every day now. The high heat days have finally broken too. You’ll have fun.

 

[audreyh1]

14 day forecasts are looking really for our destinations. Regardless we always carry rain gear. I expect afternoon thunderstorms high up in the mountains.

 

[Ronstar]

^^^ yep we just back from Fort Collins / RMNP Colorado & Cheyenne Wy a couple of days ago. Weird weather. Hailed about 5 days out of the 10 we were there. Combination thunderstorm/snow/hail storm above 11,000 in RMNP.

eta - whipped up a video of the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo

 

[COcheesehead]

Really looking forward to our upcoming long Colorado road trip with exciting and scenic mountain driving. We plan to cross several famous mountain passes: US50 across Monarch Pass elevation 11,312ft; CO133 across McClure pass 8,775ft; and CO24 across Independence Pass at 12,095ft. This last bit we will also be driving CO24 around Pike’s Peak. The stretch from Ridgeway CO to Telluride along CO62 then 145 is very scenic as well and crosses Dallas Divide at 8,970ft.

If you are going over Independence on a Saturday, stop in Aspen. Their Saturday farmers market is a good one. I recommend White House Tavern’s chicken sandwich. Aspen is packed right now. We were there last weekend.
There is also a good lunch spot outside Paonia - west side of McClure- called Root and Vine. Get whatever the pie of the day is. Mom runs the restaurant and her son owns the locally sourced winery behind it called Qutori. I recommend both. Some of the only Colorado grown Pinot Noir.
On the east side of McClure in the storied town of Marble where the white marble used to build the Lincoln Memorial was quarried, the one and only restaurant, which I highly recommend, is called Slow Grooving BBQ.
It’s also rodeo season. Many of the small towns have them. Worth watching for sure.

 

[audreyh1]

If you are going over Independence on a Saturday, stop in Aspen. Their Saturday farmers market is a good one. I recommend White House Tavern’s chicken sandwich. Aspen is packed right now. We were there last weekend.
There is also a good lunch spot outside Paonia - west side of McClure- called Root and Vine. Get whatever the pie of the day is. Mom runs the restaurant and her son owns the locally sourced winery behind it called Qutori. I recommend both. Some of the only Colorado grown Pinot Noir.
On the east side of McClure in the storied town of Marble where the white marble used to build the Lincoln Memorial was quarried, the one and only restaurant, which I highly recommend, is called Slow Grooving BBQ.
It’s also rodeo season. Many of the small towns have them. Worth watching for sure.

We are staying in Aspen for week. Yes, will check out the Saturday farmers market.

Never been to Aspen and first visits to Maroon Bells. Have evening and shuttle reservations.

On 133 we may stop by Slow Grooving BBQ, you had mentioned it earlier. I was reading up on the marble quarry. They currently ship a lot of marble to Asia and Europe.

Seen plenty of rodeos in TX.

 

[COcheesehead]

We are staying in Aspen for week. Yes, will check out the Saturday farmers market.

Never been to Aspen and first visits to Maroon Bells. Have evening and shuttle reservations.

On 133 we may stop by Slow Grooving BBQ, you had mentioned it earlier. I was reading up on the marble quarry. They currently ship a lot of marble to Asia and Europe.

Seen plenty of rodeos in TX.

If you are in Aspen for a week, take a drive up to the ghost town of Ashcroft. It’s literally where the road ends. Cool old buildings and a great place for lunch or dinner, Pine Creek Cookhouse. https://pinecreekcookhouse.com/

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for all the help here. Getting across US50 was straightforward if time consuming Got lucky - arriving near the end of the line we only had to wait 12 minutes stopped. As we approached a long line of vehicles was streaming past from the other direction. They were completely done as we reached the waiting line. Once we got moving it still took 35 minutes to move through the mess.

Beautiful drive from Pueblo - gorgeous scenery and not much traffic most of the time. Beautiful Arkansas River canyon and stunning Salina Valley. After our charging stop in Poncha Springs, Monarch pass seemed to be over in the blink of an eye, then a long scenic descent into the Gunnison River valley.

 

[COcheesehead]

Thanks for all the help here. Getting across US50 was straightforward if time consuming Got lucky - arriving near the end of the line we only had to wait 12 minutes stopped. As we approached a long line of vehicles was streaming past from the other direction. They were completely done as we reached the waiting line. Once we got moving it still took 35 minutes to move through the mess.

Beautiful drive from Pueblo - gorgeous scenery and not much traffic most of the time. Beautiful Arkansas River canyon and stunning Salina Valley. After our charging stop in Poncha Springs, Monarch pass seemed to be over in the blink of an eye, then a long scenic descent into the Gunnison River valley.

You are out in my neck of the woods. Enjoy.

 

[audreyh1]

Charged the car at 9750 feet today - highest ever. Tesla supercharger at Mountain Village CO near Telluride. Amazing views!

 

[audreyh1]

Telluride has just been awesome!

We also managed to catch two farmers markets (Ridgeway, Telluride) and expect to visit two more.

Local Colorado peaches are in season, and there is nothing like buying tree-ripened peaches right from the farmer (I come from a family of peach growers).

 

[Ronstar]

Gassing up the F150 and heading to Glacier NP soon. Hope to find some good hiking and wildlife sightings.

 

[Ronstar]

Glacier road trip complete. Next up east coast, Florida and return.

 

[COcheesehead]

We are in the middle of a Durango/Farmington/Aztec NM road trip. Durango is packed. I remember its charm when it wasn’t so busy. Still a fun town for a few nights. Farmington is a good base to explore NM’s ruins without the crowds and has some nice galleries and good New Mexican cuisine.