Time to leave the mountains

We spent about 2 months in the Colorado Rockies. It was more than awesome. We had a great time and made some new friends. the weather is near perfect for us and the scenery is off the chart. It would be easy to spend much of our future summers in Colorado, but there is so much more that we want to see and discover. On Monday, September 29 we left Bogan Flats and drove all the way to the Denver area. It was only a 200 mile drive, but that was a long day. We started at about 7800 feet and drove down to about 5000 feet elevation in Glenwood Springs. Then we climbed to around 11,000 twice at Vail Pass and the Eisenhower tunnel portal and then dropped to Denver at around 5300. The truck did well and I can say that I am getting better at mountain passes. I can honestly say, I am looking forward to the flatlands of Nebraska. I am sure the truck would agree.

We had dinner on Sunday with our new friends Dave and Kay at the BBQ restaurant in Marble.

We got up and it was cloudy and cool. The clouds were interesting.

The drive up through Glenwood Canyon was slow because of road construction, but still beautiful.

We stopped in Edwards at the rest area because Dave had told me that they have a free dump station. That was an excellent tip. We were totally empty for the pull over the mountains. 

The colors were still beautiful around Vail.

The top of Vail pass with some fresh snow on the mountains in the background.

Here is Copper Mountain. It won't be long and those slopes will be covered with snow and skiers.

A cool shot of Lake Dillon and the threatening sky:

Here we are approaching the tunnel with the snow just above. The temp was about 50 degrees.

We had road construction three different times and we were totally stopped in Downeyville, so we stopped and had lunch. We then drove on to Chatfield SP. We will have issues with staying as long as we want, so we will have to make other plans. I miss the mountains already.