The 2021 Grand Adventure
AKA: The Come Hell or High Water Road Trip
A 6 Week Adventure through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado.
I had to do this in 2 Parts, so if you'd like to start from the beginning of our Adventure
just go to the Blog Archive to the right of the page, and click on 2021 July!
PART TWO
Day 27-33
Broken Arrow Campground
Custer, South Dakota
This is quite a large RV park for equestrian and non-equestrian campers.
Barn stalls are very roomy and fully covered with easily accessible water, large hitching rails,
and golf carts for campers to transport saddles and tack from RV's to the barn.
Trailers for Rent
All fairly roomy
Day 28
Took a short ride directly from the campground
Took a short ride directly from the campground
3 Ponds Trail
An old mine...under water
Nice view...through a forest of trees attacked by invasive insects
Day 29
Road Trip to the Badlands
So what's all that interesting??
Radio Controlled Pronghorn!
Day 30
Radio Controlled Pronghorn!
Day 30
Bug Devastation with a View
Day 31
Day 31
Famous Heads and a Hero Sioux
Mt. Rushmore
Crazy Horse Memorial
Now....
The Dream...
Amazing Bead Work
War Saddle
Day 32
A ride to Beecher Rock
Day 33-35
Day 33-35
The Terry Bison RV Park
AKA...The RV Park from Hell
Cheyenne, WY
This was horrendous for many reasons.
The RV's are spaced so close together
that our neighbor had to pull in their awning so we could get our slide out.
The staff was rude and unhelpful.
The laundromat's washers didn't spin and dryers didn't dry.
Our horses had adequate partially covered runs
but the third evening someone padlocked the barn where the hose bib was,
so we couldn't get water to them.
It was very close to I-25 so very noisy.
Stalls were okay...
The place was a decrepit amusement park.
The barn has definitely seen better days.
Even the Barn Cat was ornery!
Cheyenne was fun but we were there on a Sunday not knowing almost everything would be closed!
A variety of animals, including equines, goats, an emu,
peacocks, llamas and roosters.
Rusted out train taking suckers to see Bison
Even the Barn Cat was ornery!
Cheyenne was fun but we were there on a Sunday not knowing almost everything would be closed!
Made for easy parking...and getting a table for lunch!
Highly recommend this place for meals and their beer!
Old Railroad Depot
Trains still running
Day 36-37
Greenhorn Horse Hotel
Pueblo, Colorado
Nice layover but very close to I-25...so very noisy!
Partial hookups, stalls with large runs.
Day 37-43
Blue Allen Training Stables
Alamosa, Colorado
This is a private residence.
We had planned only 2 nights here and then 4 nights at Palisades Horse Camp in Pagosa Springs.
But upon reviewing Palisades, we decided to cancel and stay here longer.
Only one partial hookup, horses shared a large turnout pen.
Close to The Great Dunes and several wildlife reserves.
We also did the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.
The Great Sand Dunes
Cumbres & Toltec Railroad Scenic Round Trip from Antonito to Osier
(Colorado mostly but in and out of New Mexico)
The Engineer loves his job!
We splurged and took the Parlor Car
It was worth every penny!
The original trestle was likely a late 1800s bridge, but the original bridge burned in 1988 during the filming of the TV movie "Where The Hell's That Gold?" when a planned explosion set the bridge afire. (Willy Nelson, Jack Elam and Gerald McRaney)
The names "Ferguson's Trestle" and "Hangman's Trestle" stem from the hanging of Mr. Ferguson of Anotnito, Colorado, who was hung from the bridge for an unknown capital crime. According to the lore, those responsible for the hanging commandeered a locomotive out of the Antonito Yard and ran it out to the trestle which was the first structure suitable to hang him from. It was too low so they had to hang him from the top of the locomotive!
Sublette is a railroad ghost town in northern Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Originally built as a section station in 1880.
Telephone Poles are all along the route, from back when that was the only means of communication. There's a pic of a telephone booth towards the end here.
Telephone Poles are all along the route, from back when that was the only means of communication. There's a pic of a telephone booth towards the end here.
Going
into the Rock Tunnel. On the outbound leg we had the caboose behind us.
On the return trip we didn't, so we could take pics from out the back.
Coming out of the Mud Tunnel
Here's one of the old telephone booths along the tracks
Last year was actually the 50th Anniversary of the Scenic Rides,
but for reasons we are all aware of they couldn't celebrate in 2020.
Happily we were lucky enough to celebrate with them this year!
Happily we were lucky enough to celebrate with them this year!
After 6 awesome weeks on the road,
we are back in our favorite State of Arizona.
This is Church Rock on the Navajo Reservation.
Just east of Monument Valley
Elephant Feet
Painted Desert, east of the Grand Canyon
And just like that . . . 6 glorious weeks are over.
Time to start planning the next Adventure!
