Motorhome Day 12 - New RV - Yippeeee

A short drive this morning took us into the mountain region of Colorado.

Wow, the scenery here is just magnificent.  The snow covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains emerged from the horizon as we exited the great plains of the Midwest.  At first, it just looked like a cloud formation, but as we drew closer we could see that it was snow covering high mountain peaks.

Mountains covered in snow - looks like low clouds

Mountains emerge from surrounding hills

We were travelling at over 6000 feet altitude and the mountains towered above us.  The seemingly endless plains became rolling hills, then steeper hills and finally we crested a large hill and entered the town of Castle Rock, which is just south of Denver.

The town of Castle Rock

Nestled below the rock

We were all amazed at the beautiful surroundings - mountains all around with the urban areas nestled into narrow valleys in between, the higher peaks covered with pure white snow. At times it resembled a painted scene.

Surprisingly, the air was not really cold - probably about 15C, but there was a hint of snow in the cool breeze. As we waited for the RV to be finalised a rain storm came through and dumped some enormous raindrops. Waiting to pick up another RV was a Pommy couple. after a while chatting, Brian discovered that the man worked in Civil Aviation in England, and knew someone Brian had worked with in Australia. Talk about a small world.

We transferred to the replacement vehicle - same design, but obviously in much better condition.  The woman at the RV place told us it was the newest one they had in their yard. So when all gear was transferred to the new vehicle we set off.

From the outset it was clear that this was a much better vehicle - it was tighter in the steering and suspension, didn't wander around on the road, and was much quieter.  It even has a better turning circle than the old bus which we had dubbed "Mary", as in The Queen Mary.  After refuelling the bodies at the Pegasus Restaurant in Castle Rock we headed south, hoping to make the border of New Mexico before night.

Helen feeds "Pegasus" the flying horse

The spectacular drive south

The drive south was spectacular, through more beautiful mountains which eventually gave way to hills, and then classic desert country.  Rod is in heaven - as an old Geography teacher he is loving the landscapes, and even knows a Mesa from a Butte.  I feel a Geography lesson coming on.

We stopped for fuel, ice and wine at a small town just short of our destination, and the guy in the bottle shop told the girls that the name of the place we we heading to, Raton, was Spanish for Rat.  File that in your useless information folder.

 We arrived at Raton, New Mexico around 7:30, and headed for the campground, convinced that now we had a comparison vehicle, we were definately shafted with the original RV.  More will be said about this when we reach LA in about 10 days.

Tomorrow Santa Fe and Albuquerque.