Mileage:  67, 284   Redstone Campground White River National Forest Carbondale, Colorado

Please pardon us if there are not pictures posted with the blog each day.  Yesterday it took hours and hours to post the blog.  We have decided that we will try to post the journal every day that we have enough cell service.  We will add the pictures and catch up whenever we have better service…it will be much less frustrating that way!

We stopped along the Arkansas River for our breakfast.

The mountains over 14,000 feet are still garnished with patches of snow.  It is September and it won’t be long before the snow begins to fall again here.

Tim was getting a slight headache traveling at the higher elevations but it was better with ibuprofen and fluids.  We also took lots of breaks which gave me lots of opportunities to take pictures.

We passed over the Continental Divide at an elevation of 10,424 feet at the Tennessee Pass.

Today was a gorgeous ride on a curvy and winding road with occasional steep grade.

We are always scanning the boggy areas and ponds for moose and looking for bighorn sheep in the rock outcroppings.  We did see lots of ravens and magpies and an osprey scouting the river.

We passed through the town of Minturn, a pretty mountain town with big bright baskets of flowers and log cabins built along the riverside.

It was our intent to travel north of Salida through Buena Vista and on to Aspen.  There was a sign posted shortly before our turn that stated that no vehicles longer than 35 feet were permitted on Route 82.  The RV is 35 feet and then we tow the Jeep behind us.    

We decided to forgo that route and we continued north on 24 to Interstate 70…ugh an interstate!  If we turned and headed east on 70 we would arrive at the Baltimore Beltway in about 1611 miles!

This portion though of 70 is an amazing ride!  There was a rest area beside a small lake.

The drive through Glennwood Canyon had outstanding views. 

There was an extraordinary rest stop…like no other…on the Colorado River.

We have been on a lot of really beautiful drives…this ranks right at the top.

From 70 we accessed Route 82 and headed south to Redstone Campground.  We have a site with a view of the mountains along the Crystal River. 

There are active bears in the area.  Each morning, a mother bear and her cubs make their way down to the river across the campground.  Hopefully we will get to see them!

The Redstone coke ovens were built in 1899. Here impurities were burned out of coal. The coke was used to create steel for the railroads.

This evening we went exploring in the Jeep.  We took the road up to McClure Pass.

All along I have been thinking that the trees with white bark are birch trees…but they are quaking aspens.  The leaves are just starting to turn in some places to a limey green…it won’t be long before they are golden.

We found the Redstone Inn for dinner and enjoyed a delicious meal. 

The skies are slightly cloudy this evening as we work on the blog but it is pleasant enough to be sitting outside.