2012 - June 22-Leaving Ft. Collins headed for the Hi-Alt. Rally in Rocky Mountain National Park

Well, this morning we enjoyed the last few hours of the national rally. We left for Rocky Mountain National Park around 11:00 after rolling out of bed at about 6:30 so we could do laundry and say our good-byes over the provided continental breakfast. I took a picture of the KOA lake and a couple of rabbits hopping around the campground. Laundry was finished by 8:30, so we just hung around visiting and watching the Aliners roll out all morning.

We arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park in mid afternoon after photographing the elk roaming around in the town of Estes Park. We relaxed for a while after setting up. When we were at the AOC National Rally, we put in our pizza order so that we could have a pizza dinner on our first evening in Rocky Mountain National Park. For the next three days, we'll have NO hook-ups. We'll be running the fridge on gas and using as little electricity (12 volt) as possible, trying to make our batter last until Monday morning when we leave for the Colorado Springs area. We'll have modern toilets, but only showers with water heated in our solar shower bag. We'll let you know how it turns out.

Karl and Judi were the Rally Meisters for the Hi-Alt Rally

2012 - June 20 & 21-At the AOC National Rally and Adi is a National Champion!

The big news on Wednesday morning was that our granddaughter, Adi, won first place in trampoline at the National Championship Tournament in Wisconsin. Marsha cried when we got the news!

After that, the rest of the day was kind of anticlimactic. The pancake breakfast was good. The ice cream social was good. The "Cooking Outside the Pointy Box" (an Aliner) seminar was good. We covered solar cooking, cooking on a Cobb Grill, dutch oven cooking, and induction cooking. From the comments we received, everyone learned a little something.

The Mexican Dinner and entertainment was very good. There were many door prizes given out. Marsha and I topped the evening off with a late night cocktail at Jim & Jan's campsite.

Thursday began with another pancake breakfast, the Marsha and I went to town to pick up ice and a few supplies in preparation for heading to Rocky Mountain National Park on Friday to camp for three days at high altitude with no hookups. We were back for an informal lunch of leftover Mexican from last night's dinner.

After lunch, it was more ice cream, then we attended a DIY (Do It Yourself) seminar where we learned about the care and maintenance of an Aliner camper. First thing we knew, it was dinner time followed by more entertainment and door prizes. We won a collapsible bucket and I got a hat from Australia, but I had to eat Vegemite (look it up) from Australia to get it. Eating Vegemite is not a pleasant experience!

Of course, in between each of the above events, there was plenty of socializing and camaraderie.

Tomorrow (Friday) we will do laundry before packing up and heading for Rocky Mountain National Park. See you there!

 

2012 - June 19-We Arrived at the AOC North American Rally

We made the 22 mile drive from Loveland to the Lakeside KOA in Ft. Collins, arriving at 11:30am! We checked in and got set up, including our new canopy, before we started visiting with old and new friends.

There was an ice cream social at 2:00 and dinner at 5:30 followed by the kick-off announcements and credits. I took a few shots during the afternoon and evening. Enjoy!

2012 - June 18-Trenton, NE to Loveland, CO

It was only a 235 mile drive today and with the time change, we gained an hour, so we got to the park about 2:30pm with the temperature hovering between 100 and 102 degrees. The humidity is only 10%, so that helps.

On the way into Loveland, I snapped a few pictures of the Smokey, er, I mean Rocky Mountains. There is a lot of smoke from the forest fire all along the mountain range, but here in Boyd Lake State Park, it's smoke free. The fire is about 30 miles from here, and the helicopters are flying from the fire to Boyd Lake (here) to get water.

We couldn't believe how it started cooling down between 8:00 and 8:30 when the sun went down. I took a few more pictures and our neighbor gave us some firewood so we could enjoy a fire before turning in. It's 10:45 now, 75 degrees outside and going down! We opened the new window for a nice breeze to sleep by.


It's only about 20 miles from here to the rally site in Ft. Collins. Check-in time is noon so we won't be in a big hurry to leave here in the morning. See you there!