CFs and Boondoggles: Colorado Trip Day One

June 19th- Road trip.

We left the cities around 6:30 last night. The original plan was to get on the road closer to 8, but apparently J could wait no longer. Fun, fast moving water here we come!!! J did almost all of the driving, thank god. The original plan was that M&T would spell him in the middle of the night when the roads would be almost empty. This due to the fact that neither has yet tried to drive the truck with the fitty. But unfortunately we hit some pretty bad storms, and there was a lot of rain and lightening. M&T were both too scared to try driving the rig for the first time in such nasty conditions. Luckily, J had already come to the conclusion that he should also NOT let us try driving, as he apparently values his life. So M&T get to try and sleep in the fitty while J rocks out in the truck. It’s actually hard to get to sleep, due to the rocking and jolting. J later tells M&T that at one point the hydroplaned, and so that scary thought is sure to keep M&T from ever relaxing while driving.

J pulled over around 5 am to sleep. Got back up around 6:30 or so. The guy is a machine!!! M manages to lock the keys to the fitty at the rest stop. Sigh. Those readers who have been kayaking with us before will not be shocked to hear this. Despite all our careful planning and awareness of our “problem” with locks, we’re still managing to lock ourselves out. Luckily, T had not quite completely shut one of the windows during the rainstorm, so J slid it open and M crawled inside.

The drive in Colorado was beautiful! I wish we had mountains in MN. J might disagree, as our speed topped out at 25-30 during the many uphill jaunts. But slower just means more time to appreciate the scenery.

We stopped in Buena Vista at the Colorado Kayak Supply store. J got a new breakdown paddle (actually, T needed one, so J wanted her to buy a longer shaft and then trade with him for his shorter one). He also got the happy seat/leg lifter combo thing. M got a new dry top, creeking gloves and booties. T looked into possibly demoing the liquid logic river runner (C250?), but decided to wait and see how things go with the yaks she has. Ends up getting fleece-lined board shorts on sale and a paddle key chain.

Drove up to check out the elephant rock campsite that J had stayed at on his last trip to CO (2007). It was sunny outside, and although the temp was reportedly in the 70s, it was frickin HOT up there. We tried driving the rig into the free campground, but it wasn’t going to fit. Not too bummed out about it, because although the vista was very pretty, I think the desert setting would have been less than ideal for the pooches. So we backed out (bending one of the leveling jacks-grr) and continued to Salida. JJ had researched ahead of time and so we drove to the Salida welcome center to fill up with water. Then we drove to the free campsite that’s right on the Arkansas. We were able to squeeze into a sweet spot right on the water. The fitty provides a nice bit of privacy, along with the bushes on either side. Because it’s FibArk, there are tons of other campers, but when we’re sitting in front of the fitty looking at the river, it feels plenty private.

We dropped the fitty and leveled it. Then we all loaded up to go check out FibArk. It was after 6 at this time, so we weren’t sure if stuff would still be going on. Turns out there was still some competition going on in the rodeo hole. We saw EJ get in his boat and paddle around the eddy. But the competition itself was NOT fast moving and there was too much time waiting around for competitors. We were all very hungry and hot, so we left before EJ had his turn. We walked around looking at the booths for a bit, and then went to eat. By this point, J is starting to fall asleep standing up. So we head back to camp for an early night. So excited to be on vacation and start our paddling tomorrow!!!