We are finally really on our way back to Minnesota! It has been a great winter and spring touristy route but it will be great to be back “home” and see our kids.
Gateway River RV in Carbondale, Colorado was our first stop. This is a beautiful campground on the Roaring Fork River with Mt. Sopris in the back ground. Mt. Sopris is a 13,000 foot mountain, part of the Maroon Bells chain.
After getting parked and set up, we drove to nearby Carbondale to check out the town. We stopped in a neat little brewery for one beer.
The next day, we did some touring. First stop was the town of Aspen. It was neat to drive around and look at some of the really neat homes tucked into the hillside. We also saw some skiers! Downtown was neat, with a lot of really expensive shops such as Gucci and Dior. It is interesting to see how some of the rich people live! You could definitely tell which people we encountered were among the wealthy. We stopped for lunch at the Aspen Brewing Company and had a delicious spicy pepperoni pizza.
Aspen trees in Aspen 
In the afternoon, we headed to Marble, Colorado where high quality marble is mined. Some of this is used in very high profile places, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Before we got to Marble, we drove through Redstone, another quaint town. There is a Redstone Castle, reputed to have been visited by many famous people such as Teddy Roosevelt. Outside of Redstone are Coke ovens where coal was refined to coke before being shipped to steel mills. The ovens were right on the railway at the time.
We continued on to Marble where we stopped for another beer at a Smoke house. If we had not already had lunch, this would have been a great place to eat. However, we did buy some cherry jalapeno BBQ sauce. Yummy!
On to Central City, just west of Denver… As usual, the scenery was fantastic. We ended up going through the Johnson Tunnel, built in 1979 and is 1.7 miles long. This is for east bound traffic only. The west bound tunnel, the Eisenhower was built in 1973 and is the highest vehicle tunnel in the world at 11,155 feet. It is a few inches longer than the Johnson.
By the time we got to our campground, it was off and on rain and 49 degrees. Brrrrr! We’ve never set up or torn down in the rain yet and we were lucky again. This KAO campground has some neat views. However, we rarely stay in a KOA because they are EXPENSIVE!! Sometimes it is our only option. This as also our highest campground at 8,490 feet. It will not be warm for the two days we are here.
I was ready for a break from touring but Dave talked me into going into Central City. I am so glad he did! After driving and walking around the town, we went into a little bar with authentic swinging doors. It is connected to a casino, the only way to enter. Once in the bar, we had interesting chats with the two bartenders. One knew a lot about Minnesota and is a huge fan of Bob Dillon. Apparently, Dillon’s first paying gig was right across the street. The next bartender who came on is from Australia, a place on our bucket list.
Reed the sign! 
Old Gold Coin Saloon 
Here are some pictures looking over the hillside from our KOA outside Central City, as we were leaving. It is finally sunny!
We had planned a final stop in Colorado at a Harvest Host winery where camping is free, no hookups and they merely ask guests to purchase something on the premises. However, there was a lot of rain lately and this stop was on a gravel or dirt road. They called and suggested we might not want to come, so we boondocked in the WalMart in Lamar, Colorado.
Next stop was Watersports RV Park in Dodge City, Kansas for 2 nights. I was excited to view the Pony Express museum and the house where Jesse James was killed. We spent an afternoon touring Boot Hill and a museum made to look like the old west town. We learned a lot about the cattle drives that came here from Texas. We had a beer in the Long Branch Saloon. There were a lot of photos of Matt Dillon, Kitty, Doc and the rest of the cast of Gunsmoke.
Watersports RV
Wanted woman 
Mean Man 
The Long Branch
We also did a driving tour of old Fort Dodge and the Coronado Cross where Coronado landed in 1541 in his quest for the East Indies. Dave and Boo also took a walk to see remains of the Santa Fe Trail. It was a windy day and with hair in my eyes, I almost stepped on a rattle snake. Dave tried to shoo it away but it reared it’s head and rattled at him. I returned to the truck, afraid I would be too slow and would be attacked. I am a wuss.
May 21 brought us to St. Joseph, Missouri where we stayed at Sharp’s RV Park. Day 1 usually time to set up our house and relax. It was one of our longer drives and we were tired. However, on day 2, we ventured into St Jo. We toured the house where Jesse James was killed. The house has been moved about 50 feet down the hill from it’s original location. The man in charge was a wealth of information about Jesse James in the south, in Minnesota and also the Sioux Uprising in Minnesota.
Next door was the Patee House, which was one of the largest museums I have ever seen. It covered trains, autos, toys, Jesse James, the old west and much more. It has functioned as a hotel, Pony Express first stop, a shirt factory, court house and girl’s college. When the Pony Express started, the horses were ridden right up to the front desk. Next, we toured the Pony Express Museum.
We decided to hit up a couple of local breweries. First we went to The Angry Swede because “Suede” was Gavin’s nickname in high school. Next, we stopped at the River Bluff Brewery. My son Nate would have loved the pinball machines!
One last thing to do before fueling up…. Dave wanted to take me to Lover’s Lane, St Jo. Neat!
Our last day was meant to be a quiet relaxing day. As it turned out, we were very happy we had done our touring the day before. While I was enjoying my morning coffee, I had a text from Nettie DuBois. She and Hans were on their way to Kansas City to visit grandchildren. They planned to stop in to see us. What a wonderful way to spend a few hours.
The last night of our trip was a Harvest Host Winery in Lohrville, Iowa. This was a wonderful first HH experience. Yes, we did purchase something in the gift shop — a mixed case of their delicious wines!
Sweet Honeymoon Winery 
