Fall Western Trip 2015: Fort Collins, Colorado to Nashville, Tennessee

Wednesday, 10/21:  254 miles and camped at the KOA at Goodland, Kansas

Fort Collins to Goodland, Kansas.

Squirrel patrol.

It was foggy and rainy most of the drive today, although the rain ceased for a few hours and we were able to set up dry.  However, it started raining later that evening.  In fact, it rained all night in Goodland, and it was wet, wet, wet the next morning.  On top of that, my phone on my bed stand said it was 5:30 when I woke, so I jumped out of bed.  Then I found out that the manual clock in the kitchen said 4:30.  GRRR.  Apparently we are so close to the time zone change border, the iPhone flipped over even though we technically were still in Mountain Time.  Oh well.  As we drove out of town the next morning I remembered a giant 80 foot tall Van Gogh replica that I had seen several years ago.  We had to stop, in the rain, and take a picture.

Thursday, 10/22:  240 miles and camped at the KOA in Salina, Kansas

Goodland to Salina, Kansas

It rained, sometimes very hard, all the way from Goodland to just a few miles from Salina. Fortunately the rain held off for us to set up.  Judy discovered that there was a Brew Pub in Salina, so we stopped there for dinner snacks and a sample.  Blue Skye turned out to be a nice stop, and we bought a growler of their IPA.  If fact, the bartender had lived in Eugene Oregon for seven years and we had a great conversation about the local brew pub scene in Eugene.

The Salina KOA was very empty, and very nice.  Across the road was an agriculture museum featuring antique farm machinery.  It turned out to be a great place to go for a walk with the dogs.

Friday, 10/23:  258 miles and camped at Riverside RV Park in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

The rain has stopped, the temperatures are in the low 70's, and it was a very pleasant drive.
The campground is small and crowded, but the staff is extremely friendly and helpful.  For some reason, I never got a photo of our campsite, and although it was not scenic, it served the purpose.

We arrived early and there was plenty of afternoon left, so we decided to visit the Woolaroc Ranch. Woolaroc is the creation of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum.

Bartlesville is also the home of the Price Tower, which was designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  In fact, it is the only realized skyscraper that Wright designed.

Saturday, 10/24:  187 miles and camped at Lake Fort Smith State Park, Mountainburg, Arkansas

This is amazing state park.  There are only 30 sites, 20 of which are full services.  The pads are all nearly level and paved.  We were on site 10, and had a pull through.  But these pull throughs are different.  They run parallel to the road, so the view from your awning is completely private and wooded.

Sunday, 10/25:  250 miles and camped at Delta Ridge RV Park, Forrest City, Arkansas

It rained most of the day today.  We arrived in Forrest City about 3:00 and quickly set up in the cold, wind and rain.  Not the most fun day.  :-)  We settled in for naps, left overs for dinner and TV watching for the rest of the day.

On to Nashville, Tennessee tomorrow.

Fall Western Trip 2015: Fort Collins, Colorado

Sunday, 10/18:  Fort Collins, Colorado

The Lakeside KOA is a gorgeous park with  a lake and hiking trails.  The lake trail is an especially great place to walk the dogs.  In addition, the fall colors were beautiful.

Fort Collins has a very active brew pub scene, so we decided to have lunch at the Odell Brewing Company.  It was a warm sunny day, therefore we sat outside to soak up some rays.

Later that afternoon we visited the home of Tanya and Dean Victor.  Tanya is the daughter of great friends Dave and Ann Wright, who we had visited earlier on this trip.  Tanya works at New Belgium Brewery, so we made a quick trip over to the brewery to grab some brews.  Tanya and Dean prepared a great meal and then we sat around the fire pit and shared stories.  Here's an bit of trivia. Tanya was born in my home town of Gouverneur, NY.

Monday, 10/19:  Still in Fort Collins

We lunched again at the Odell Brewery.  Later, we visited the home of Stan and Betsy Johnston for dinner.  We have visited them on previous visits, and always look forward to a reunion.  Betsy has local roots in that she graduated from Gouverneur High School the year before I did.  We had a wonderful dinner with them, and like the night before, shared stories to catch up.

Hate to admit it, but I used a selfie stick to take this photo.

Tuesday, 10/20:  Final day in Fort Collins

The morning was spent with chores.  Judy had her nails done, and I needed a hair cut really, really bad.  After lunch we took a short scenic drive up the Poudre Canyon.

Later in the day we connected with Judy's cousin, Denise, who lives in Fort Collins.  Judy rarely sees her, so it was a nice treat and a nice reunion.  I goofed.  We had such a great time visiting, I forgot to take a photo.  Darn.  :-((  Tomorrow, we are back on the road headed east again.