We visited Rocky Mountain National Park again, checking out different areas.
Starting with the Fall River Visitor Center:
Entrance sign:
Rocky Mountains:
Again we stopped at a picturesque picnic area for lunch:
Onward:
Holzwarth Historic Site:
A ranger memorial at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center:
Cancelation stamp:
A relief map:
We visited Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado:
In the Beaver Meadows visitor center, a relief map:
A line to get into the park, which was using a two-hour window timed entry system:
We headed along Bear Lake Road, and stopped for a picnic by a creek:
Rocky Mountains:
Another stop at Sprague Lake:
Fish in the stream:
Sprague Lake:
An accessible campsite:
We enjoy winding dirt roads… so headed up the one-way Old Fall River Road:
The dirt road ends at the Alpine Visitor Center:
Alpine Visitor Center:
Elk:
Outside the park, more elk on the side of the road:
We also saw a moose:
We stayed at St Vrain State Park in Longmont, Colorado. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Delightful waterfront camping.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Beautiful park, pity about the highway noise
This was a nice base camp to explore the region. On the plus side, our site was very nice, with a view of Mallard Pond. Everything was well-kept and clean. On the negative side, $36/night for electric only is a bit steep (plus the extra day-use fee for our rig and tow vehicle), and there is constant noise from I-25. We would stay here again, despite the noise, if we had a full hookup site. We camped at St. Vrain State Park in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: If you arrive late and have to use the “iron ranger” to pay for your day-use fees, don’t get the annual pass. Just get a day pass and stop by the ranger station the next day to upgrade to an annual if you’re staying a while (or visiting other CO state parks). If you have a motorhome and tow vehicle, you will need two passes.
The RV park map:
And an interactive map, showing all the ponds:
Our site had only electric, no water or sewer, so we arrived prepared, with a full water tank. We wouldn’t want to stay more than a week, but we coped just fine; the night before departure, our fresh water was only halfway, and grey and black were negligible (Jenn had a long shower on departure day, which reduced fresh to 30%, which is our preferred level for travel):
Our site:
The pond behind our site:
Canada geese:
Pelicans:
Other sites:
An accessible fishing pier:
Our coach across the pond:
I spotted a couple of hot air balloons — we’ll be seeing hundreds more of those soon:
This was a very nice state park; we’d be happy stay here again, and would enjoy staying longer, if we were in a full hookup section.
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 155 miles from Wheatland, Wyoming to Longmont, Colorado.
We drove our coach 155 miles, about 2 hour of driving, from Wheatland, Wyoming to Longmont, Colorado, with a stop to repair a leaking tire.
The map route, heading south:
Heading south on I-25:
Green hills and cell towers (I appreciate the good cell reception down the freeway):
Domes:
Interesting rocks:
Man, horse, dog artwork on a hill:
Mowing ahead:
Rain:
Expect fog… yep indeed:
We stopped at Little America of Cheyenne:
To visit Rocky Mountain Truck Center, to diagnose and repair a slowly leaking tire on our coach:
While they looked at it, we headed up to the Little America resort for lunch, passing a Sinclair Oil dinosaur dressed as a cowboy:
Little America buffet restaurant:
We cut lunch a bit short, as they needed us to jack up our coach, using the leveling jacks. We raised only the driver side, to keep the passenger side wheels on the ground — raising all of the rear wheels off the ground is dangerous, as that’s the parking brake:
They found and marked the location of a nail in the tire, and worked on removing the tire:
I didn’t get a close-up picture of the nail in the tire, but here’s a zoomed crop:
The inner tire of the dual pair, and the rear jack:
Paladin sitting on the driver seat:
The repaired tire re-installed:
After getting that repaired ($70 total), we fueled up at the slowest truck stop ever. Usually truck stops have high-speed pumps, but this one was not. It was taking so long, we decided to fuel from both sides for the first time ever:
The main pump, as usual:
The secondary pump, on the passenger side; it is activated by the main pump:
Continuing south, some hilltop buffalo artwork:
Budweiser factory:
Paladin in the steps:
Roadworks:
A fascinating concrete-laying machine (concrete freeways are the worst):
Our destination, St Vrain State Park:
Entrance station:
Due to the tire excursion, we arrived later than usual, so the entrance station was closed. We used the “iron ranger” (as the rangers call it) to purchase a couple of Colorado state park annual passes (one for the coach, one for the truck):
Though when we talked with the ranger the next day to exchange the temporary ones, it turned out that we should have bought one, with a half-price add-on for the second vehicle. So we did that, and submitted a form for a refund for the second one. Oops. (We decided to get annual passes as we’re staying just enough days at Colorado state parks to offset the cost. Ironically, next year we don’t expect to visit Colorado at all. Still worthwhile, though.)
This is a rather nice park; stay tuned for more pics from our stay:
We stayed at El Rancho Village RV Park & Cabins in Wheatland, Wyoming. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A basic RV park next to a freeway.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient stop off I-25
This was a decent place to stop on our way through Wyoming. Met by a friendly manager who checked us in. It feels like they’re still getting settled in at the office, but it’s very low-tech, with a manual form to fill out and hand-entered credit card details. Our site wasn’t particularly level, but we managed to beat the leveling system into submission eventually. Utilities all worked as expected. I really think they missed a prime opportunity, though, because all the sites face towards the interstate instead of the distant mountains. Expect road noise from the interstate. We camped at El Rancho Village RV Park & Cabins in a Motorhome.
They didn’t have an RV park map, so here’s an interactive map, though they’ve made a few improvements since this satellite image:
Our site:
As usual on arrival, I used our outdoor shower and collapsable bucket to prepare to clean our windscreen:
Office and cabins:
Cute cabins:
Very basic playground and shelter:
Bathrooms with nice murals:
Other sites:
A friendly dog, I think belonging to the owner:
Stormy clouds:
Lightning:
This park is right next to the I-25 freeway:
A decoration:
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 205 miles from Buffalo, Wyoming to Wheatland, Wyoming.
We drove our coach 205 miles, about 3 hour of driving, from Buffalo, Wyoming to Wheatland, Wyoming.
The map route, heading south:
Leaving the KOA:
We stopped by the office to pick up some mail:
Wild pronghorn antelope roam the fields, apparently a nuisance:
I-25:
Wild pronghorn antelope:
We stopped at a truck parking area for lunch:
Paladin enjoying my seat:
Interesting rocks:
Casper:
Bridge construction:
Refinery:
Jackalope sculpture:
Roadworks:
Rather concerning: a fiver passed us with a broken awning arm swinging; fortunately it didn’t hit us:
Narrow bridge:
North Platte River:
The aforementioned fiver on the side of the road; I guess they noticed the awning arm:
An older Tiffin Allegro Bus:
Interesting rocks:
Part of Glendo Reservoir, looking rather low:
More roadworks:
Nice hills:
Our destination, El Rancho Village:
A month ago I celebrated the one year anniversary of buying our coach, and mentioned that I’d do an update on it. Here ya go — some pictures of the what our coach looks like now, after a year of modifications.
Here’s the 2017 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40SP floorplan, edited to show our options and modifications:
The outside is much the same, but we now have Sinclair Trails stickers on the side of the slide-out, along with a map showing the states we’ve visited, plus the Magne-Shades on the windscreen and side windows:
Looking down a bit, another addition visible there is a foldable wagon, and an extra step:
On the other side of the coach, we have National Park stickers for parks we’ve visited on the slide-out:
Heading inside, the cockpit area has a few changes:
For example, the steering wheel table and plants (the boxes contain our keys etc, to avoid Paladin knocking them off the table):
Speaking of the boy, he enjoys his boxes on the dash, and sitting on the carpeted dash cover:
Above the entry door is now a small cupboard full of internet devices, with the door removed:
We added hooks for hats and bike helmets:
On the passenger side, in front of the lift TV is a top-entry cat litter box and waste bin, plus IKEA drawers and cupboards, where there was originally a couch, and later a desk:
Here’s the main TV active (with Jenn’s video game), and the smaller TV over the windscreen (showing a baseball game):
Opposite that is new theater seating and cabinets, where there was originally an L-shaped couch, and later recliner chairs:
Here’s a view of the living area:
The dining table and chairs are unchanged, though we have Paladin’s food, water, bed, and a scratcher on the cabinet behind the table, and alcohol storage in the rightmost cupboard below:
Next to the fridge is a framed wooden map and sticker board that we recently added:
The kitchen / galley area has modifications like the towel rail, and a drying rack over one of the sinks:
A closer look at the kitchen counter:
The two sinks, with a drying rack and bottle rack on the right-hand one:
In the sinks are handy strainers, better than the stock ones:
Continuing back, the half bath:
The thermostat and Spyder control panel in the bedroom; upgrading this control panel was a huge improvement:
In the bedroom, we’ve added hooks for actively worn clothes:
Another cat bed, plus gaming headphones and controllers, a projection clock, and device chargers:
In the media cupboard, Jenn’s PS5 etc:
The bed is much the same, just different covers:
The bathroom:
The sink area has necklace hooks and under-cabinet lights:
The shower has extra hooks and dispensers, and we added towel rods next to the shower:
A look at the living area from by the half bath:
And a similar view with the slides in — somewhat smaller:
Still enough room to get by the couch, though:
The bedroom with slides in; can’t really get past the bed without difficulty; we pile the steering wheel table, air cleaner, etc on it for travel:
Heading outside, the basement cooler is the same; we have it unplugged, and just use it to store spare beverages:
The next basement compartment has houseware supplies, plus a box with the Starlink dish:
The next compartment has my tools:
A small one next to it has bottled water and less-commonly used camping supplies:
Continuing back, next is the air and hydraulic compartment:
The last compartment on the passenger side has chassis batteries and stuff; the only change there is the addition of a tire pressure monitor repeater, to enable sensors on the truck to reach the display in the front of the coach:
In the back, the engine compartment, unchanged other than replaced filters etc:
The DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) compartment; I do have a DEF simulator as insurance against a somewhat common failure:
The electrical compartment, home to a Power Watchdog smart surge protector when traveling (and a cloth I use to wipe the cord while winding it):
The wet bay has the water hose and sewer stuff; here’s what it looks like when in use:
And when packed up:
Next is the Aqua-Hot system, unchanged other than topping up the boiler antifreeze fluid:
The other side of the basement storage contains the water filters and hoses, plus the Blackstone griddle:
With the griddle and filters in use, you can see less-commonly used stuff behind:
The next storage, which also goes all the way across, contains the fold-up wagon, jack pads, etc:
The battery compartment:
We did upgrade the batteries to AGMs:
At the front of the driver side are fuses and such; I hope not to have to access this compartment often:
In front of the coach is the generator:
There have of course been lots of other changes, like getting ebikes, a pop-up gazebo, and other stuff. And a couple of extra solar panels on the roof:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. No doubt we’ll continue making improvements to our coach as we continue our adventures.
We took a day trip drive though Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming, along US-14 though the forest, then around to US-20, -31, and -16, passing through the forest again.