Western Swing 2013 - 8 - Denver to Douglas, WY

This could be getting monotonous; the high winds, that is. Is it always this windy just before June?

It is now Thursday and time to leave the Strasburg KOA for yet another KOA to the northwest. Our next layover is in Douglas, WY. It’s another 270 mile drive or about 5.5 hours of driving time in addition to rest and fuel stops.

Once we pulled onto I-70 at Strasburg we could clearly see the "purple mountain majesties" rising above the plains. Looking slightly toward the south we could clearly see Pike’s Peak. What a beautiful sight in the clear, blue morning sky! Though Byron had flown to Denver in 2010 (and driven back to Louisville), he had never seen it from the surface. And, since Martha had never been in Colorado before, this was a totally new experience for her. We both had always heard how driving toward the Rockies was exhilerating as you see the mountains rise above the horizon but we had never experienced it. This is another one of those events that has to be seen to be properly experienced. And, to top it all off, we were not seeing aspen trees.

Martha was pleasantly surprised at what we experienced driving across I-70 an on to I-25. She had always imagined that Denver, since it’s the “mile high” city would be on the side of a mountains instead of on the flat plain at the edge of the mountains. The whole Denver area is actually a collection of smaller towns and cities that butt up to one another. While the roads may have been a bit rough, it seems that they do know how to build attractive overpasses, especially stretching northward up I-25.

The deep blue band of color on the horizon is the Rocky Mountains

coming into view just west of Strasburg, Colorado

The area north of Denver is in a growth mode. From Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming it seems that every other mile is ranch land and the other mile is filled with new houses and businesses. As to the businesses, every franchise name available can be seen somewhere along the way from a new Cabella’s to a new Walmart with a parking lot actually striped for overnight truckers and RVs. As far as Byron is concerned that Walmart should be called The Walmart Resort instead of Camp Walmart, as most RVers are prone to do. (If you don't understand the statement, ask someone that owns a motorhome).

Leaving Denver the road gradually rises to gently rolling hills and valley to an elevation of nearly 6,000 feet at Cheyenne. More pine trees were becoming more obvious on the hillsides. 

Cheyenne is the northern terminus of the extensive and fast-growing Front Range Urban Corridor. The Rockies begin to reduce in nearness to the interstate just after passing Fort Collins.

However, several miles before reaching Fort Collins we pulled into a parking area so Byron could climb onto the roof and, once again, secure the awning over the slide out. This time he pointed the motorhome into the wind. He had seen an advisory on an overhead sign stating that wind gusts could reach 55 mph and that vehicles with light trailers were advised to refrain from traveling. This time, he used some cord and also reinforced the anti-billow stop on the awning’s roller. We’re glad he did. From Fort Collins on to Douglas, WY the wind was strong from the northwest. We later found that the wind advisory for southeast Wyoming was in effect from 9 AM this morning to 10 PM tomorrow evening (Friday).

After crossing over into Wyoming and going past Cheyenne, the road continues on with a continuing rise and drop in elevation. More cattle could be seen on the large ranches and cottonwood trees were becoming prevalent. They were holding up against the wind rather successfully while we were being blown about by the gusts. We also happened upon what, to us, is an unusual sight. On either side of the road riders on horseback were herding cattle. That’s something we definitely didn’t plan to see but interesting that we did.

There was one place where we were protected from the wind. It was near Chugwater where rugged rock outcrops are clearly visible on the otherwise treeless and lonely plains of Wyoming. Sculpted by years of wind and weather, the rock formations provide an interesting contrast to the prairie scenery. The rock formations also offer a diversity of habitats, which provide homes for a variety of wildlife, including some animals not normally found on the prairie. For instance, there are rabbits, deer mice, bats, snakes, skinks, weasels, and bobcats as well as hawks and owls. Of course, we saw none but did read about them on the sign at the rest stop.

Historical marker at the Chugwater Rest Stop

In the shadows of the outcrops several people have built dwellings along the western side of the road. The outcrops, with steep cliffs of a few hundred feet, provide protection from the westerly winds.

Rock outcroppings along I-25 in southeast Wyoming. The outcroppings

are on both sides of the road with the highway being built

in what is called a basin. This is about 40 before crossing

the North Platte River.

By 4 PM Mountain Daylight Time we arrived at Douglas, WY, named for the senator of the Lincoln and Douglas debates. Douglas is a town of about 6,000 and is lower in elevation by about 1,000 feet from where we had been traveling. The drop in elevation is accomplished over a span of 15 miles or so. We coasted most of the way and felt like we were saving on fuel after loosing mileage on the climb over the 6,000-foot mark.

The KOA is quite interesting. It is one of the few open all year. There are several trailers parked here permanently serving hunters during some of the winter months. The KOA caters to horsemen, too, as there are several rings around the perimeter. In fact, when Byron was checking us in, a gentleman with a truck and horse trailer was also checking in for the evening. He had three horses with him and, yes, there was a fee for each horse to stay the night.

Tomorrow we head on to Cody, our destination in this third of the trip.

By the way, we failed to mention the temperature was 62 when we arrived. When we left Louisville the temps were around 70. In Oklahoma City it was close to 80. Will someone quit messing with the thermostat?