We are in the state of Colorado! But not the mountains yet....

We have driven over 1000 miles so far and are in the great state of Colorado!  The drive was actually not bad at all.  Our past two days have gone like this: we would drive for a few hours, stop for a break, drive some more, make a picnic lunch and eat it at a rest stop or under a tree somewhere, drive some more, take more breaks to walk Riley and ourselves, and then stop to van camp for the night.  The only part of driving that was somewhat tough was in Kansas.  There were very strong winds for about 200 miles or so that required lots of attention, two hands on the wheel, and care when passing semi trucks as they were swerving all over the place with the wind blowing them around.  We drove all day Saturday and found a really nice camping spot at Clinton State Park outside of Topeka.  Although a bit tricky to find, it was a great place to spend the night.  We made dinner, walked down to the lake, and just took it easy until it got dark.

It seems that there is always one family/group in a campground that feel it is appropriate to blast Kool & the Gang at 10:30 at night.  As much as everybody loves "Celebrate good times...." it was a little much.  Luckily they turned off their party at 11.  Greg and I both slept in the pop-top bed.  I made Greg get two mattress toppers to put up there as comfort is key to sleeping for yours truly although not as important for Greg.  It worked perfectly.  Riley was so good and didn't make a peep all night.  He has taken all this traveling extremely well.  He gets a gold star for being a trooper the past 2 days. A campsite a few down from us had twinkle lights up around their site and it was actually really pretty and worked as a great nightlight. 

Today we also drove all day and I was so tired that I couldn't quite make the drive into Denver tonight so we are stopped just past the border of Colorado at a kind of cheesy yet very functional KOA.  It has nice bathrooms, pizza delivery, and private showers with hot water.  Sold.  That's all I need to get ready for tomorrow.  

Everything so far has been really great although our radio/navigation/iphone player quit working in St. Louis.  So we have been using the iphone to listen to music for now.  On long trips music is crucial so we might go tomorrow morning to see if we can find someone who can work on it in Boulder or in Denver.  Then on Tuesday we go to Estes Park for our stay in Rocky Mountain National Park, although I feel like we have an obligation to stop in Golden, CO in honor of Riley.... we might make that happen but no promises.


Here are some pictures from the last two days.  More later!