When we left at 9 a.m. to head for Gunnison, the temperature was already 90 degrees in the Colorado Springs area. Neither of us would enjoy sightseeing this time of year. I guess we will have to return late spring or early fall some year to see what we would like to see in the area.
As we traveled on Hwy 50 towards the towns of Canon City, Salida, and Poncha Springs, we were amazed that between 6,000 and 7,000 feet you are still in high desert. In California, you would be in the pines at 3,000 feet. Takes some getting use to for us.
We drove along the Arkansas River which, of course, was swiftly flowing. We saw a lot of rafters enjoying themselves on the fast moving water. Sorry, the picture is fuzzy as we were moving swiftly and so were they.
We had to travel through the towns of Canon City, Salida, and Poncha Springs. We finally began to see some pine trees at the 8,000 ft elevation.
Before we knew it, we were soon tackling Monarch Pass (11,332 ft elevation). Whew, another tough mountain pass, ever bit on par with Wolf Creek Pass. Colorado sure knows how to grow them! To think, we have to go back over it when we leave. Maybe we won't ever leave! Wait a minute, it gets -40 degrees here in the winter. Scratch that, we will take on Monarch Pass once again when the times comes.
We pulled in to Palisades Senior RV Park (55+ park; benefit to getting older) in Gunnison around 1 p.m. No trains as tracks were removed in 1955! The park has 59 sites but there are only 21 rigs in the park right now. Neighbors have mentioned that the economy seems to be having an effect on occupancy this year because they are normally full. The park is quiet and does not have a lot of lighting so no light shining in my eyes while I try to go to sleep.
Mary (manager) got us checked in and escorted to a nice back-in site. This park has lots of maneuvering room for big rigs. Each site has a picnic table; pull-thrus have lawn while we have the lawn for the Chip n Putt course behind us. Beyond that, we look out on to a pasture with cows and a few horses. Our site size is almost that of what we had at Justin's Diamond J in Tucson so we definitely aren't cramped.
John was happy to "nest" our outside area. After we got all settled in for the evening, I went to raise our rear shades (as our kitchen has a western exposure) so that as the evening progressed, we might be able to see some deer behind us. To my surprise, they were already out there.
