Colorado is a well regarded state and certainly a popular one attracting many newcomers.  It’s charms include some vibrant cities and fabulous recreational activities in the dramatic Rocky Mountains that cross its north-south central region.  Often we forget that Colorado has three regions, High Plains, Rocky Mountains, and Plateau.  We also forget that although precipitation in parts of the mountains are significant, and provide a rich supply of of water, Colorado is largely a desert state.  The high plains are and were historically considered desert.  Today

Arrived here at 8,050 feet elevation this afternoon to find greening willows and snow banks.  The forecast is good and the Front Range is fabulous and completely snow covered across the eastern skyline. 

It is late-afternoon and we sit in the RV after laundering.  It is 41 degrees and remarkably raining lightly on this sagebrush desert at 7,700 feet.  We returned from a morning of touring to grocery shop in Gunnison and do chores here before moving to Montrose tomorrow.

Greetings from near Gunnison, Colorado.  We are camped overlooking the Blue Mesa Reservoir and sagebrush covered hills and snow covered mountains in the background.    The temperature is now 70 degrees F. but it went down to 16 on our first night here.  A forty degree temperature swing is common here.

I write from the High Plains.  It is 36 degrees F, rain is falling, and the rig shakes from the wind.  The folks here think that's great.  We're doing laundry and catching up on chores.  There are bills to pay, even when on the road.  With Internet access, I post blogs prepared in earlier days and compose this one now.  The temperature is forecast to fall today.

We awoke this morning at 4 a.m., made our Sunday breakfast of bacon and eggs, and then drove through the darkness to Quivira N.W.R.  There was a light fog that slowed us down.  The deer here are many and large.  When we reached the marsh it was already light.  All was gray.  We drove and walked a few miles through the area labelled “Black Rail Marsh” and heard no calls.  I flushed a Virginia Rail that we coaxed from the grass and watched for several minutes.  It was a great bird to see, but still no Black Rail.  It may be too early in the

Mid afternoon and the thermometer reads 69 degrees F.  The sky is almost clear and the grass at our campsite is dry.  Great.  The heater ran and rain fell off and on all night.  We awoke at five, breakfasted, put on warm clothing and moved through the mist to our car.  This low-key campground has no restroom, but the state has a fine rest area next door along two-lane U.S. route 50.  So, we stopped there before heading to Quivira. 

We left the Flint Hills region of Kansas this morning.  False intelligence suggested that the wildlife drive at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge was closed on weekends.  Noticing this we unmoored before dawn and worked our way through scattered showers (that are welcomed by residents) to this small and rustic RV park on US 50 south of Great Bend.  We arrived before Noon, leveled the rig but did not hook up, and took the car to Quivira.  There we learned that only the office was closed on the weekend.  Oh well, no harm done.  Travel on a rainy day is good.&n

We're staying in a great Corp of Engineers campground below the dam at the John Redmond Reservoir, but with no Internet access there I write from the comfortable and elegant town library.  We arrived two days ago and nearly froze the first night.  Today after two days of sun, the temperature reached into the 60's.  Still, we had hoped it would be a bit warmer by now.  The local folks say this weather is very unusual for late April.

The ship is equipped and all systems appear to be in order.  We plan to rise early, breakfast, load the last minute items (including this computer), and depart at 7:15 so we can obtain a charge of propane in Shippensburg before 8 o'clock.  Then we fill the gasoline tank at Giant, taking advantage of a 30 cent per gallon discount and aim the rig west on the historic Pennsylvania Turnpike.  We usually avoid toll roads with the RV, but the tunnels make passage through the Ridge and Valley Provence much, much easier.