Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007
Subject: 188. Where are we?

We are still in the Equality State which is also the state that has the absolute lowest population! Those were two facts we had to look up. It's certainly a western state that has its share of cowboys, rodeos, and history based in the old west. The bulk of the original citizens here came because of the railroad. The city seems to be best know for a state Territorial Prison and it's 120 year old state university.

After we left Hardin Montana, we drove to Casper Wyoming in hopes of getting our generator serviced. We called the service center several times, leaving messages, requests for an appointment, and we finally gave up. In fact, they have yet to call us. We checked and there were other approved service center in Cheyenne so we called and got an
appointment. That was taken care of today (Tuesday, June 19). Now, it's not that there was anything wrong with our generator, it was just due for an oil change and, since we will be in a primitive campground, having to use our generator probably on a daily basis, we wanted to make sure we had all the normal maintenance done.

After getting our generator worked on, we only drove about an hour to our current locations. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we head for the National Forest Service Campground called Denver Creek in Colorado. That's where we will be for the next 2 1/2 to 3 months.

Now, a little bit more about where we are. Actually, we are now, and have been in the last several days, on the great plains (east of the Rocky Mountains). Even though we are on the great plains, we are at relative high altitudes. Right now are are at about 8000 feet above sea level, yesterday, we were at about 6000 feet above sea level. Most of the great plains in this area are really rolling hills with mountains in the distance. It's not the flat land that you expect to see in Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma, it's much more interesting and certainly more interesting to drive.

Now, Where are we? We are in Laramie, Wyoming, the home of the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Territorial Prison. Tomorrow, we head to Denver Creek NFS Campground, in Colorado. We are looking forward
to this new experience.

The Brauers
Havin' Fun
Seeing new sights.

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Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007
Subject: 189. Where are we?

We are now in the place where we plan to spend the summer. First, we are in the mountains, in fact the largest mountain system in North America. This Mountain system extends from New Mexico in the south as far north as Alaska covering 8 states plus 2 provinces and 2 territories in Canada. We are also near a National Park. The National Park is not one of the best known National Parks (like Yellowstone and Yosemite) but it is one of the most magnificent sections of the Rocky Mountains, some of the highest and most rugged mountain country in the United States are in the park. The state we are in is known for it's mountains. The state attracts tourists during the summer because of the scenic beauty of the Rockies and the cool pleasant climate. During the winter the deep, powdery snow attracts skiers to world-famous resorts.

We arrived here on Wednesday, June 20. The purpose for us to be here is that we will be camp hosts at a National Forest Service campground (actually two campgrounds). So far our instructions are, "It's your campground, follow the National Forest Service rules, but run it as if it were your own!" That's exactly what we are doing. Our jobs include maintaining a clean campground (including some weed wacking), greeting campers, helping campers, answering questions, collecting fees, selling firewood, cleaning vault toilets (not flush toilets) and preparing weekly financial reports. We are set up in a beautiful canyon in a very nice RV spot. Even though the length limit for RVs in these campgrounds is 25 feet, our site handles our 39 foot RV very well. We do have water and sewer hookups but no electrical hook ups. Fortunately we can exercise our generator when we need it. We even have a fairly large stream about 50 feet from the RV. Even though it is cool at night (typically it gets down to about 40 degrees), the daytime temperatures are usually in the 70s or 80s. Plus the area is really beautiful.

We are about 14 miles from the closest town, a small town but at least it has the necessities (including cell phone service and Internet service). No, our cell phone does not get a signal at our campsite.

We typically work about 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Sometimes we will work more than 5 hours a day but that's OK too. The campgrounds are called Denver Creek, a 22 site campground that is split in two parts. We are in lower Denver Creek Campground which has 10 sites. Upper Denver Creek is across the highway and has 12 sites. Two miles south of us is Sawmill Gulch Campground which has 6 sites. All three areas are really beautiful. Yes, we have a company truck for our work at the campgrounds.

The people we have met here are great. The company that has the contract with the National Forest Service to provide camp hosts is Thousand Trails. They have contracts in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. The Area Managers, Buddy and Lillie, are very nice and have been helpful. Our Unit Managers, Mack and Velma, are also very nice. The best thing is that we are kind of on our own, we do what we think is appropriate. Unlike one of the jobs we have had in the past, there is a lot of emphasis on customer relations and customer satisfaction. We love that!!

Now, where are we? We already said we were at the Denver Creek Campground but we didn't tell you we were in Colorado. The National Park we mentioned is the Rocky Mountain National Park and we are about 30 miles (by road) from the West Entrance to the park. The closest town is Granby Colorado about 14 miles away. By the way, even though we are in the mountains at 8800 feet in altitude, the roads are fine, much better than California Highway 1.

The Brauers
Havin' Fun
Also having a new experience being Campground Hosts in Colorado.

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Subj:     191. Where are we?
Date:     Sunday, September 9, 2007

We left the Denver Creek Campground yesterday and drove to our current location. We are now just south of a major city, also known as the "Mile High City." The city is a distribution, manufacturing, and transportation center for the Rocky Mountains. It's also known for winter sports and is the gateway to the Rocky Mountains.

It was kind of sad to leave Denver Creek Campground because we really enjoyed it. We spent about 2 1/2 months without electricity (but of course we had our generator). We did have water and sewer hookups which certainly helped, even if we did have to start the campground generator daily to run the water pump at the well.

The work at Denver Creek Campground was fine. It was certainly low key and our bosses were great. We worked 5 days a week about 6 hours a day. Some days we worked more and some days we worked less. We're sure it balanced out.

On our days off we toured the area. We visited Steamboat Springs, Rocky Mountain National Park, Mount Evans (the highest paved road in the US at over 14,000 feet), Fort Collins, Denver, Leadville, and many other places. We drove the Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park, the highest paved continuous road in the US at over 12,000 feet (the Mount Evans Road ends at the top of the mountain. We saw Moose including a huge Bull Moose, we even had a young bull in the campground. We saw lots of deer and elk. We caught rainbow trout in the creek about 60 feet from our motorhome.

In short, it was a great summer once we came to the Denver Creek Campground. In fact, it was so great we may be back next summer.

Now where are we? After leaving Denver Creek and driving over the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass (11,207 feet) we are at Chatfield State Park just south of Denver.

The Brauers
Havin' fun
in Colorado