Breckenridge, CO

What a day it has been. I posted earlier today about the rain, and it has been all over the news. We were bored, and so we decided to drive into town (Estes Park) just for something to do. As we went, we were alarmed to see the erosion of the roads in the RV park with whole sections of asphalt washed out.

As I was taking this picture, a park employee rode up on a golf cart and Mike asked him about conditions. He told us the entire downtown area of Estes Park was flooded and that he believed all roads in and out were closed as well. That was even more alarming since we had visions of being stranded for days or even weeks.

We continued on into town and got our first view of the river. I'm posting a video below. If you can't see the video, then click right here. If not, you'll just have to take my word for it that the river was raging, and at this location, it hadn't even started flooding the roads. 

Indeed when we got into the main part of town, roads were closed off, structures were half submerged in water, automobiles were stranded, and it was quite a mess. We drove past the police station and decided to go in and ask about roads getting out of town. As it turned out the road through the national park was the only avenue out, and there was no guarantee it would continue. We were advised to check at the ranger station to be sure.

So then we really got serious about getting out of town. We drove up to the park entrance and spoke with the ranger. He advised that it was foggy at the top, but that the road was still open. Fortunately, we had driven it the day before and so Mike felt confident our rig could handle the winding road and the elevation, which it did with flying colors. When we crossed over the summit and began our descent into the valley on the other side of the mountain range, it was like a different world.

We stopped at the last visitor's center on the way out of the national park and found this sign posted on the door.

So, we made it, and we were glad. Things were only going to get worse in Estes Park. The next question was, what do we do now? Obviously a complete change of plans was in order, and we just kind of drove on with no particular direction in mind. We felt that southwest was our best bet, but none of the weather forecasts looked particularly promising. We decided to head toward Moab, Utah, a place we've visited before and always said we'd like to go back. At this point Pike's Peak and Great Sand Dunes National Park are off the agenda.

We were headed toward I-70 and had two ways to get there. The straighter road took us toward this cloud formation:

The winding way took us toward this cloud formation.

Just then a song popped into my head:

Blue skies smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds all day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my, how they fly

So I guess you know which way Mike chose. As he put it, "I'm not heading into that mfer."

We weren't quite finished with the rain, and in fact, it's raining as I write this in our new home for the night of Breckenridge, Colorado. We drove along the timberline for quite some time before making a descent.

You may be aware that there are lots and lots and lots of mountains in Colorado. Sometimes you drive over them, and sometimes you drive right through them. We were pretty excited to come upon the Eisenhower Tunnel. 

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the Eisenhower Tunnel:

With a maximum elevation of 11,158 ft (3,401 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world. The tunnel is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway system.

Woot! We do get excited about tunnels!

And that sucker was long.......

And there you have it: the official light at the end of the tunnel!

After that, we drove down a looooooooong steep grade, possibly 8-10% for six miles. One of the signs after a runaway truck ramp advised truckers: "Don't be fooled, Truckers," meaning it was still a significant distance steeply downhill. The valley below looked very promising.

And that is essentially where we ended up for the night. We're now in Breckenridge, Colorado for the night, and tomorrow we will continue on our way to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, weather forecast permitting.

We've had a chance to study the maps, and after Black Canyon of the Gunnison, our plan is to continue on to Moab, Utah, where we can see both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We've visited both parks before, but we've talked about going back many times. After that, there is some beautiful country leading down to Zion. And with Zion, we'll be back on our original route. I'll tell you more about that as we get on our way.

So phew! A happy ending to a day that could have been disastrous. We are sorry the weather was so poor for our first (and probably only) visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, but we are very happy not to be stranded there in that terrible weather.