Just Chillin'; Fishin'; A Mountain Marvel; Plan W; Vail; A Real Einstein

When I was ready to post the blog last night, I had to find a Wi-Fi hotspot. The nearest place to our campground in Fruita, Colorado, was McDonald’s. As I drove into the parking lot well after dark, I noticed that the lot was full of cars; there must have been 50-60 kids “just hanging out” there. I didn’t take a picture, but thought it was worthy of note. I was inside for about 20 minutes, and all of the kids were just “chillin’ out” and talking. I guess you see that a lot in small town America; can you imagine kids with cars in Orlando hanging out at Mickey D’s?

We were up early again today for me to try out the fishing in a small lake adjacent to our campground. I had gotten my Colorado fishing license at the state park office, put my spinning rod and reel in order, tied on a new Mepp’s Spinner (guaranteed to seduce even the craftiest trout), grabbed a net and bucket and marched over to the lake. It was a beautiful day, with another muskrat swimming by, frogs a-leaping and a-croaking, and a pleasant breeze. An hour later, I returned to the coach with my bucket and a smile on my face. And no fish. Suzanne looked at me and said, “Let me guess; sausage and mushrooms for dinner?” Sigh...  

When we are on the road, Suzanne usually reads or writes when it is not her turn to drive. This morning, however, she gave a highly emotional phone reading just before we got underway. The stunning evidence that came through from a young boy who had passed very suddenly left both her and the boy’s mother quite emotional as well as awed. She spent the drive staring out at the beautiful scenery deep in thought.

We had heard that the scenery in that section of I-70 near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, was spectacular, and that the highway itself was an engineering marvel. We were not disappointed. The highway follows the very narrow Colorado River canyon through towering mountains, with white water rafters on the river below.

There are several tunnels through massive mountains, and in some places there is so little space that the westbound lanes are on elevated roadbeds 50-100 ft above the eastbound lanes. I-70 here also has very tight turns and a 55 mph speed limit, the only part of the US interstate system with such a low speed limit). Luckily, I timed our driver change so that Suzanne got this part of the drive. (Naughty Ty... guess she’ll learn to make cracks about my fishing prowess.)

While Suzanne was driving, I was looking for a campground in Vail, our destination... no campgrounds in Vail, or even nearby... no Elks Lodges... no state parks... no Navy base... okay, so Plan W goes into execution... there is a Wal-Mart in Avon, only 6 miles from Vail! You may not have known that Wal-Marts across the USA will usually allow RV’ers to stay overnight in their parking lots. Of course, there are no hook-ups (electric, water, or sewer), but the price is right (as in “free”).

Suzanne found a great paved bike trail along Eagle River between Avon and Edwards. Suzanne forgot to mention that from The Bus to the turnaround was a 400 ft elevation loss, so we screamed downhill. Going back uphill wasn’t quite as much fun. We stopped for a breather to watch fly fishermen cast for trout; I was somewhat happy to see that they weren’t catching anything either!

After our fish dinner... oh, right, our sausage and mushroom pasta dinner... we headed for Vail, ski playground for the rich and famous. We didn’t see any Hollywood stars there, since Vail in the summertime is pretty quiet, but Vail Village is delightful.

It’s laid out like a European ski resort, with narrow pedestrian streets, a free shuttle bus from one end of town to the other, outside sculptures, and lots of restaurants and shops.

Vail’s founding as a ski area was the brilliant idea of a World War II veteran named Pete Seibert. He had trained near Vail as a member of the 10^th Mountain Division. Wounded in Italy, he recovered to become a professional skier after the war. Vail Ski Resort opened in 1962; the town of Vail was only incorporated in 1966. Today Vail is the second largest ski mountain in North America (after Whistler Blackcomb). There is a statue of a 10^th Mountain Division ski trooper in Vail Village to honor those men who served in that elite unit.

Suzanne also got to meet one of her heroes in Vail; here they are sitting on a bench together.