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July 2, 2010, a Friday
near Echo Lake Park to Camp Hale, Colorado, USA
— Fun at a Verizon Wireless Store and boondocked at Camp Hale
We got up around our normal time and checked the weather. It was sunny and breezy — not good for wildflower photography, so we decided to just leave instead of heading up Mt. Evans one last time. I had my normal breakfast then we prepped the RV to move. J left in the Jeep around 8:00 and I left in the RV around 8:05.
We met at the Idaho Springs City Park where I dumped.
We went to a parking area near the Starbucks in Idaho Springs around 9:00 to use their free Wi-Fi connection. I hooked up the Jeep to tow then went online. The connection was blazingly fast! :) I worked up a blog entry then did other things online. We left around 11:05.
We went to the Shell on the East side of town to fill up on propane.
Then we went to the Idaho Springs Public Works building to take on fresh water. A guy in a pickup truck was filling some tanks in his bed when we arrived so we had to wait. We took on fresh water then left at 11:55.
I had Clif Bars for lunch as we headed West on I-70.
We went to the Verizon Wireless Store in Silverthorne at 12:40 so J could buy a UMW190 stick to replace her flakey USB727 stick for internet access. She tried to Activate it in the store and it wouldn't Activate. She called Verizon Tech Support to get help, and I left around 1:15.
I went to a nearby bank to make a deposit then a liquor store to pick up some supplies. Then I wen to a Loaf 'N Jug to fill up both vehicles at $2.629/gal using our 3¢/gal King Soopers discount.
I returned to the Verizon Wireless Store around 1:50 and J was still trying to get a UMW190 stick (a second one) to Activate. After more calls to Verizon Tech Support, she was finally put in contact with a person who specializes in the Mac. It turns out that the UMW190 isn't compatible with a recent update to Mac OS X 10.6.4. While the Tech Support person was on the line, she was able to Activate her old USB727, so at least she can (probably) us that for now. J returned the UMW190, and she'll probably pick up a USB760 later. (The store didn't have that model in stock.) We left around 2:45 and continued heading West on I-70.
We got off at Vail to go to the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. J has wanted to go to the Betty Ford Clinic Alpine Gardens for a long time. Unfortunately, our GPS didn't quite know where it was located, so we drove around Vail for a while until we figured out that we didn't really know where we were going. We stopped to ask someone, and they gave us directions that were more or less correct, but we got on I-70 heading East unnecessarily and had to backtrack a few miles along the frontage road. We weren't allowed to park the RV in the lot near the gardens, and instead of parking on the top level of the Lions Head parking garage and then taking a free bus back, as suggested, we decided to keep heading down the road because it was getting late and there were intermittent showers.
We got back on I-70 West then on US-24 East.
We reached Camp Hale in the White River National Forest around 4:30 where we wanted to boondock. Camp Hale was built in 1942 to train Army troops for mountain warfare in WW II and became the home of the 10th Mountain Division. Today, there are a few structures and roads left in the nice flat valley. We drove around to look for a good place to set up camp, and came across a large herd of domestic sheep. We settled on a nice spot right next to the Eagle River. There was no Verizon Wireless or AT&T signal.
We left in the Jeep around 5:20 to go photograph some of the Yellow-Bellied Marmots and Richardson Ground Squirrels that we had seen while looking for a camp site. Dark clouds had moved in and the wind had picked up by this time, and the marmots were gone. We found a cooperative young Richardson Ground Squirrel though (left).
We returned to the RV around 6:00 and ...
Had dinner around 6:15 of leftover grilled chicken and rice with a salad.
After dinner, I did some file management to archive and backup recent image processing activity. I also downloaded the images I took today and downselected them in iView.
We watched It's Complicated on DVD. It's a funny and sometimes serious movie starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin. We both really enjoyed it.
We met at the Idaho Springs City Park where I dumped.
We went to a parking area near the Starbucks in Idaho Springs around 9:00 to use their free Wi-Fi connection. I hooked up the Jeep to tow then went online. The connection was blazingly fast! :) I worked up a blog entry then did other things online. We left around 11:05.
We went to the Shell on the East side of town to fill up on propane.
Then we went to the Idaho Springs Public Works building to take on fresh water. A guy in a pickup truck was filling some tanks in his bed when we arrived so we had to wait. We took on fresh water then left at 11:55.
I had Clif Bars for lunch as we headed West on I-70.
We went to the Verizon Wireless Store in Silverthorne at 12:40 so J could buy a UMW190 stick to replace her flakey USB727 stick for internet access. She tried to Activate it in the store and it wouldn't Activate. She called Verizon Tech Support to get help, and I left around 1:15.
I went to a nearby bank to make a deposit then a liquor store to pick up some supplies. Then I wen to a Loaf 'N Jug to fill up both vehicles at $2.629/gal using our 3¢/gal King Soopers discount.
I returned to the Verizon Wireless Store around 1:50 and J was still trying to get a UMW190 stick (a second one) to Activate. After more calls to Verizon Tech Support, she was finally put in contact with a person who specializes in the Mac. It turns out that the UMW190 isn't compatible with a recent update to Mac OS X 10.6.4. While the Tech Support person was on the line, she was able to Activate her old USB727, so at least she can (probably) us that for now. J returned the UMW190, and she'll probably pick up a USB760 later. (The store didn't have that model in stock.) We left around 2:45 and continued heading West on I-70.
We got off at Vail to go to the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. J has wanted to go to the Betty Ford Clinic Alpine Gardens for a long time. Unfortunately, our GPS didn't quite know where it was located, so we drove around Vail for a while until we figured out that we didn't really know where we were going. We stopped to ask someone, and they gave us directions that were more or less correct, but we got on I-70 heading East unnecessarily and had to backtrack a few miles along the frontage road. We weren't allowed to park the RV in the lot near the gardens, and instead of parking on the top level of the Lions Head parking garage and then taking a free bus back, as suggested, we decided to keep heading down the road because it was getting late and there were intermittent showers.
We got back on I-70 West then on US-24 East.
Richardson Ground Squirrel
Camp Hale, White River National Forest, Colorado, USA
Canon EOS 1D Mk III, 500 f4 & 1.4x,
1/180 sec, f8, ISO 400
1/180 sec, f8, ISO 400
We left in the Jeep around 5:20 to go photograph some of the Yellow-Bellied Marmots and Richardson Ground Squirrels that we had seen while looking for a camp site. Dark clouds had moved in and the wind had picked up by this time, and the marmots were gone. We found a cooperative young Richardson Ground Squirrel though (left).
We returned to the RV around 6:00 and ...
Had dinner around 6:15 of leftover grilled chicken and rice with a salad.
After dinner, I did some file management to archive and backup recent image processing activity. I also downloaded the images I took today and downselected them in iView.
We watched It's Complicated on DVD. It's a funny and sometimes serious movie starring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin. We both really enjoyed it.