4/18/24
Growing up in New England, we were told that if we didn't like the weather, we should wait a minute. Well, New England hold Colorado's beer. Here, we're told not to take snow tires off or plant flowers until Mothers' Day. March and April are our snowiest months. Three weeks ago, we got more than 3 feet of snow. Our first planned trip with Rhoda, scheduled for April 1-3 had to be cancelled due to snow. We wanted to get to Bryce and Zion before school ended so we took our chances and booked a trip for April 18-22.
We planned to leave at 6:30am. I stepped out of the house onto our deck to bring provisions to our truck and nearly fell on my face. Everything, including our deck and truck were coated in ice. The temp was a miserable 26 degrees. We really didn't want to pull Rhoda in winter weather but the roads seemed ok. So we went to pick her up.. By the time we got to her storage facility and hooked her up, the ice was worse. When we hitch up Rhoda, my job is to stand outside and guide Jamie as he backs up the truck. By the time we hitched up
Rhoda, my hair, clothes and jacket were covered in ice. But the roads still seemed ok so we headed out.
We took Interstate 70 due west over some of the steepest roads in Colorado. It took us nearly and hour and a half to reach the top of Vail Pass, where the altitude exceeds 10,650 ft. In that time we drove through rain, sleet and heavy snow. Slowly conditions improved. At about 1pm, we pulled into James M. Robb State Park in Fruita, CO, where we planned to spend the night, The skies were bright blue, the grass was green and temps were in the mid 70s. Off came the parkas, sweaters, hats and gloves and on went shorts, t-shirts and sandals. Colorado, we love you.
On to Bryce and Zion National Parks tomorrow!
Love you guys!! Keep the adventures coming 😃