Day 16 - Wyoming to Colorado

I slept well last night and woke up to the sound of cows grazing in the fields next to where I set up my tent. There were also 9 Pronghorn Antelope out feeding; just waiting for me to try to take their picture so they could run off. I decided to go about my business and they just went about theirs.

I’m not really sure what my fascination has been with these Pronghorn? Maybe it’s because I wasn’t expecting to see any antelope out here, because for some reason I always associated these animals with other continents. Well they are here in Wyoming and in abundance. So much so that my intrigue in them has started to slowly fade. The first 10-15 antelope sightings I had to pull over and try to take a picture. After several hundred miles of seeing them in just about every other field, they have now become commonplace. I still consider them to be beautiful animals, but now I have been desensitized with antelope overload.
I think I’m finally starting to find my traveling rhythm. I no longer feel the need to squeeze so much into a single day. I’m sleeping until I’m ready to get up, not getting up because I need to get on the road. I’m also finding excuses to stop more often along the way, whether it be at a rest stop, coffee house or a McDonalds to kill an hour or two, just because. I’ve just about completely lost track of the days now having only my cell phone to remind me. I also haven’t read a newspaper or an online news article or watched TV for the past 16 days. I used to be so programmed to keep current with what was happening in the world as well as every economic report. I have to say that it feels pretty good to be unplugged. I don’t know for how long I will be able to stay disconnected from the matrix, but for now I have to say I like it? I guess it will depend on whether I choose the red pill, or the blue pill?

I’m thinking of stretching out this trip and heading out to the west coast as well. I know it will kind of depend on the weather and how I feel in another 3-4 weeks but I’m enjoying this so much that it’s sounding like a great idea.

The drive to Cheyenne, WY was uneventful. Not really much to see at all besides more cows, horses and antelope. I suppose that I could have driven the rest of the way last night in the dark, but then I would’ve missed my first sightings of the Rocky Mountains, something I’ve been anxiously awaiting.
I crossed the border from Wyoming into Colorado somewhere between 2 and 3pm. Fort Collins was the first real town I came to. After almost a week, I finally reached a piece of suburbia. The familiar stores and restaurant chains were a welcomed sight. As I drove through Ft. Collins, I saw a sign for the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour. I know these tours usually mean free beer. On one hand, I give Bud beer about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. On the other, free beer always gets a 10, so I figured this would be as good a place as any to stop and stretch my legs. This facility is the second largest Budweiser brewery in the US, right behind St. Louis, MO. They have the capacity to brew 60,000 kegs of beer per day, or 30,000 barrels. They brew up to 9M barrels on an annual basis. We toured every step of the process and also got to see some of the famous Clydesdale horses which this is the main training facility. After the tour we were able to sample a few beers. It still tastes the same, it’s still Budweiser, but it was free.
After the Budweiser tour, I decided to head to Estes Park in the Rocky Mountain National Park, via Loveland. Immediately upon getting to the base of the Rocky Mountains, it seemed all up hill. It was a beautiful drive through the Big Thompson Canyon (US-34). Winding and twisting roads with almost vertical rock walls on both sides. Lots of people were out fly fishing the stream that ran along the roadway. I got to Estes Park as it was getting dark. I tried to find a place to camp but the only thing available was a KOA, which was basically a tiny spot on a gravel parking lot for $27, more than I have paid to stay anywhere so far, no thanks. I decided to head south along SR-7 towards Boulder, CO. I didn’t think I was going to find anything but happened across Longs Peak Campground, serving only first come, first served tent campers, elevation 9,405ft. The road up to the site was a class 5 road (whatever that means), but my Subaru had to kick into low gear to get up the steep road. I found a spot and set up my tent in the dark. The ground was hard and it was too difficult to drive home the tent spikes, or I was too tired and didn’t really care at this point. It was a calm night with no wind so I would take the chance of not needing them. All around there were postings to “bear proof your campsite”. After 16 days of camping, I had finally reached bear country. Just a little something for me to think about at night.