FEELING THAT ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

It was awesome to hit the foot of the Rockies after days of driving across prairie. We could imagine the “oh shit” feeling the pioneers must have fest when they approached those babies. So different from the mountainous regions in the East, the Rocky Mountains seem to rise from nowhere and assume their presence.

We outskirted Denver for the moment since we were still dragging our house on our backs and decided to head straight for Bolder. Needing some dependably nutritious food we stopped at the Whole Foods and enjoyed soup and fruit. Boulder is home to the usual plethora of big box bullies. We patronized Barnes and Noble for a few travel books and then took a super scenic route to our new spot: A room, “cute as a button,” on a Farmstead in Lyons.

We’d spent the previous night in a KOA campground right along I70 after an exhausting ten hours of driving. It was comfy, but cool, so we decided to check in on our trustworthy buddy Craig. Once again he checked his list and checked it twice and handed us a suweet deal. A room less than a half hour from Boulder and just outside Rocky Mountain National Park for just $100 a week. Nice! Cheaper than camping!  Upon calling Barb we were informed that the “cute of as a button” room would be available today... and yes we could park our camper there.

After settling in and ridding ourselves of an alarming amount of garbage from our road trip, there was nothing to do but power up with the leftovers from Whole Foods and head for the mountains. I hit the trail running and Chris and the kiddos took it slower and soaked in the sites. Just two miles from our spot sits Hall Ranch Loop. Upon entering the trail, we were warned to stay alert for mountain cats. A few miles on that trail and my awe for those 100 mile trail runners more than doubled. I ran out looking forward to doing Sunday’s long run there. Isaiah walked out ready to pack a day’s worth of food and set out for the long haul!

UPDATES on the LOGISTICS:

GAS: We’ve been burning up far more than our fair share of gasoline. Pulling a camper with a huge truck loaded with tons of random junk inside isn’t the way to go green. It’s an expected expense totaling $603 right now.

TOLLS: Once we left the insane NY metro area, we’ve spent less than $10. Total to get from Long Island to Maryland: $94

FOOD: After wasting a mere $25 a day for two days at iHop we went PBJ. So much healthier and nourishing. We are buying minimal groceries, eliminating as much waste as possible. We anticipate eating out for a portion of our meals so we don’t stock up at the food store. Things seem to even out pretty well this way. Our total for food for a week: $250. That’s our average grocery bill, without eating out, at home.

LODGING: We camped, hit a hotel with a water park, and rented a room for a week all for $332.

INCIDENTALS: We’re really only buying necessities since we are already moving and organizing future landfills ad nauseum. We did snatch up a few travel books and socks and gloves though.