Yesterday seems so long ago after today’s long, grueling haul through the gut of Denver to get to this yet unremarkable RV park.

It’s still being built, its off the main highway, and there are only baby trees on some of the sites. Nothing much to see here, except the Rockies in the far off distance.

But the reason we are here is to see a friend, so that will be the highlight anyway. We will be here until Tuesday when from here we will start the trek to Illinois to see Dave’s cousin Holly and her family.

Driving to La Veta yesterday, the scenery was gorgeous, especially going through Wolf Creek Pass. We saw all the colors of fall just in that section. The park was cute, with a river running behind it-so low it was more of a trickle-but still.

I saw this lovely conglomerate of a rock along its bank.

The park was full of trees, and view of the Spanish Peak was lovely. I didn’t go to the office, my focus was the river. I’m drawn to the water wherever we go. The name is a play on words-We RV champions – haha, cute! Here is a gallery of some of the best photos featuring the fall colors. The tunnel at Wolf Creek Pass was closed, but e went through this little one before that one. Hopeful that you can enlarge to see the colors better.

Spanish Peak through my window

The drive here to this park was busy and congested. We were glad to get here and relax. This park’s name is Gopher Gulch RV Campground. It was 91° when we arrived, which we aren’t used to! Being wide open, no trees or wind breaks made it feel hotter.

Gary told Dave on the phone that starting tomorrow, they have plans to keep us entertained, so I’m looking forward to that. I heard something about going out on a lake, and visiting Estes Park. Gary is an avid hunter and makes his own bows, so he’s pretty special. When he and Dave were younger and he would come visit us in Texas, he was quite rowdy. It will be interesting to see if age has mellowed him at all.

As we passed through Colorado Springs, I was sad at not recognizing Pike’s Peak. There was no snow on the mountains like there was when I was stationed at Ft Carson. It seemed so much bigger then, but we were very close -at the base. I remember waking up to the view from my barracks every morning and thinking it was so awesome. Of course, I had never seen mountains like that before and I have seen many since then.

Before feeling too bad about my awful memory probably due to my misspent youth, I reminded myself I had just turned 19, so my perspective on things was very different. I was a wide-eyed, overprotected teen ready to take on the world. I had a couple of things on my mind and the view was just lagniappe. (cajun for something extra).

That was the year I learned all about drugs, sex, and rock & roll, as they say. I’ll forgive myself for my shoddy memory. Still, I was so ashamed and disappointed that I couldn’t remember that view.

Now its time for new adventures and I will have all my pictures to supplement the memory. Stay tuned!