2 Weeks, 3 State Parks

For the past 2 weeks we have stayed in 3 Colorado State Parks, each with their own special attraction: Cherry Creek State Park just outside Denver; Mueller State Park, about 10 miles west of Colorado Springs and Boyd Lake State Park which is  located in Loveland.

At Cherry Creek, Don takes a spin on one of the many bike paths located within the park. The park is used by many avid cyclists, so we stay on the right side of the path at all times.  It keeps us from being run over as the riders whiz past us!.

We didn't see too many birds this time, but we did see deer at different places in the park every single day.  We woke up two days in a row to have different mothers along with their new fawns grazing right beside our campsite.  Of course, I had my camera in hand to get pictures of those dear little deer.

Next stop was Mueller, located in the mountains near Woodland Park.  At an elevation of over 9000 feet, it was much, much cooler (44 degrees one morning).  Brr!

This little chipmunk was the first to greet us as we sat down for lunch outside at the picnic table.  He must have heard us opening up the bag of Veggie Straws!

A lot of the campsites here come with awesome views.  Eating outside with this landscape in the background is hard to beat.

However, there is one downside to camping at Mueller.  To get here, you have to use Highway 24 out of Colorado Springs.  After last year's wildfire, every time there is a thunderstorm, there is distinct possibility of being caught in a flash flood as you drive through Manitou Springs.  We delayed coming up here by one day and left a day early because of this.  On Friday, thunderstorms and heavy rain hit the burn area, washing away 40 cars, numerous homes, killing one person and causing a huge mucky mess in Manitou.

The clouds were building up early on Sunday, so we left a day early.  Highway 24 had been cleared the previous day and all 4 lanes were open.  Time to get outta Dodge!

You can see some of the branches and mud beside the guard rails.  On Friday, this part was a black, raging wall of mud and logs, racing down the gully also known as Highway 24.

The exit to Manitou was still closed.  After the massive clean up on Saturday and Sunday, another storm hit on Monday, causing more flooding.  It will be like this for at least 10 years, until there is regrowth in the burn area.

So, here we are now, at Boyd Lake State Park.  This lake is popular with the locals who use it for boating and water skiing.  You can see our trailer peeking out at the morning sunrise.

Beautiful sight.  However, I'd enjoy mornings more if I didn't have to get up so early.....